Manny I know your reading..

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Won't matter if they are in the right spot if you get plowed over by a TE. There is a reason that you need guys in that 225+ range because if we don't have them teams will just play power football and run all night. A team playing with multiple TE's and an H could have as many as 3 guys over 230lbs charging at safetys. It would go very badly.

Jennings and Steed aren't the answer at LB. But we can't drop the position. Hopefully 2 years removed surgery both of these guys can play a little smoother this year. We need better lb's.
But nobody plays with three tight ends at once. Except maybe goal line formations and defenses counter that with extra linemen. I mean if you’re getting an offensive coordinator to totally scrap what he does 99% of the time just to counter your specific defense, you’ve already won the battle. If Alabama lines up with two tight ends a fullback, I really like our chances because they’re essentially giving up on passing the ball.
 
No way on the face of this earth are we running a 4-0-7 defense....C'mon @305to954 .....
It’s not really a 4-0-7, there would technically be guys lining up in traditional linebacker spots, they just would be faster and quicker safety types as opposed to 240lbs one dimensional guys. You know it’s nothing new for Miami football to play <230 lb guys at linebacker.
 
It’s not really a 4-0-7, there would technically be guys lining up in traditional linebacker spots, they just would be faster and quicker safety types as opposed to 240lbs one dimensional guys. You know it’s nothing new for Miami football to play <230 lb guys at linebacker.
We've had 235-240lb LBers who ran like RBs....
 
But nobody plays with three tight ends at once. Except maybe goal line formations and defenses counter that with extra linemen. I mean if you’re getting an offensive coordinator to totally scrap what he does 99% of the time just to counter your specific defense, you’ve already won the battle. If Alabama lines up with two tight ends a fullback, I really like our chances because they’re essentially giving up on passing the ball.
I wouldn't call it scrapping what your game plan, I'd call it taking the low hanging fruit. Any offensive coordinator would jump at the chance to ram the football down an opponents throat. Its not like running the ball is a weakness for them. You play with 6 or 7 db's and Alabama will do just that.

And yes, 2 TE and an H is situational but a basic 4 - 3 or in this case 4 -0 -7 can release the center on what should be a LB. If its a db they will lose that matchup most of the time. A db can use his quickness to make plays though so there's that.
 
I dont see this a Bama's game plan at all. I think they come out and try to run the ball down our throat. They probably feel they can beat us in the air as well, but the clear cut advantage for them is in the Trenches.
 
As to the original post. Bama is going to pound the rock and feature the tight end most likely to start off. They have a solid receiver core but the veterans don’t scare me quite as much. Metchie is good but playing with the heisman winner was a large benefit for him. Bolden is not scary. Good player though but that’s it.

Stevenson shouldn’t have a problem with metchie tbh. Billingsley will be featured quite a bit from what they’re saying and bill O’Brien is not a tempo guy. Very pro style. We shall see.

But I don’t think this will be 2019 lsu level tossing around of the rock. Auburn went to a 4-0-7 or 4-1-6 if I’m not mistaken and held them under 30 in Death Valley.
Reading articles and player/reporter comments says otherwise. The offense will be similar to the one last year but with a few tweaks. No way you try and run a pro style with the talent Bryce Young has lol Pace and space. Saban knows it.
 
Only Bama really knows what Bama will do based on what they are seeing on their end. They may come out and test a few things in the passing game or they may come out and pound and ground it.

One thing I think they tend to be good at is not overreacting too early. So if we go up 14-0 early, I don’t see them being a team that abandons the run and starts flinging it around for us to intercept. They are more apt to say, let’s run, get a score, grab some momentum back and now it is a one score game again.
 
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Only Bama really knows what Bama will do based on what they are seeing on their end. They may come out and test a few things in the passing game or they may come out and pound and ground it.

One thing I think they tend to be good at is not overreacting too early. So if we go up 14-0 early, I don’t see them being a team that abandons the run and starts flinging it around for us to intercept. They are more apt to say, let’s run, get a score, grab some momentum back and now it is a one score game again.
Coaching and game management is going to play an enormous role here. Even with similar talent, the question is can Manny coach as well as Saban? Can he motivate his team to press on when struck in the mouth? Can he handle a lead? If we're honest Manny still hasn't won the ACC so he's still got some ground to cover in terms of coaching. I feel like he's made some strides.
 
Also, you guys are getting too hung up on position names. An extra DB doesn't mean an extra 180 lb corner. That's why there's a difference between a 4-2-5 and a nickel. When I say replace a linebacker with a DB, I'm talking about a safety type. 215-225 lb. A guy who can play up on the line of scrimmage just as easily as dropping back into coverage 20+ yards downfield. Hybrid types. The position-less future of defensive football. Do you guys think it's a coincidence that we've loaded up on striker/safety types in recruiting recently? You need as much versatility as possible because nobody huddles anymore so you can't just keep subbing run defenders for pass defenders as you see fit. If an offense has you out there with a bunch of run stuffers, they're going to spread you out and work you over and over until you call a timeout to sub your guys out or they score. Same goes if you try to run some kind of dime defense four cornerbacks. They're just going to run the ball at you over and over. You need guys who can do both so you don't have to rely on substitutions.
 
No way on the face of this earth are we running a 4-0-7 defense....C'mon @305to954 .....
There will be guys in the traditional LB spots. Don’t confuse what I’m saying. But we need more speed and versatility on the field. Especially since I personally don’t think whoever the 2 ILBS are really impacting the run game
 
That's because our LBing recruiting and coaching have been *** for umpteen yrs...which in turn, dictates our defense...For the life of me, I never in a million yrs would have thought that the LBer position would literally drop off the map at UM...after 30+ yrs of owning said map...
Would definitely not say we’ve dominated at LB play like you suggest. We had All conference/all American level MLB for 4 szn..I agree we haven’t addressed that void in 2020..I don’t think we have that guy for 2021 either. This is CFB attrition that happens to 98% of teams..for that reason I think we’d be best playing towards our strength. There’s not 1 traditional LB I trust to play 65-75 snaps or 3 downs on this roster RN. Brooks has to get healthy, 9 needs to continue to develop. 17/44 aren’t those guys
 
Would definitely not say we’ve dominated at LB play like you suggest. We had All conference/all American level MLB for 4 szn..I agree we haven’t addressed that void in 2020..I don’t think we have that guy for 2021 either. This is CFB attrition that happens to 98% of teams..for that reason I think we’d be best playing towards our strength. There’s not 1 traditional LB I trust to play 65-75 snaps or 3 downs on this roster RN. Brooks has to get healthy, 9 needs to continue to develop. 17/44 aren’t those guys
Nowhere did I suggest we've dominated at LBer the last umpteen yrs....and where in tf have we had AA type LBing the last 4 seasons??...and if you say Shaq, I completely disagree....CFB attrition??...Stop it...this is UM...No way on Earth should our LBing have been so horrible for so long...both in recruiting and coaching...when for 30+ yrs we basically wrote the book at that position...
 
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Nowhere did I suggest we've dominated at LBer the last umpteen yrs....and where in tf have we had AA type LBing the last 4 seasons??...and if you say Shaq, I completely disagree....CFB attrition??...Stop it...this is UM...No way on Earth should our LBing have been so horrible for so long...both in recruiting and coaching...when for 30+ yrs we basically wrote the book at that position...
Well the ppl who actually vote on all conference seems to disagree with astute assessment of shaq and had him 1st team back to back year..AP all American is political as we know with past Miami snubs. His numbers compare and we’re flat out better than some of those guys..and yes Attrition..there’s not many programs who just plug In play annually. We aren’t on that level ..you literally said we’ve owned the LB map for 30+ years my man😂..I’m old enough to remember Glenn cook starting as a TF..LB play **** sure wasn’t a weakness from 2016-2019
 
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Well the ppl who actually vote on all conference seems to disagree with astute assessment of shaq and had him 1st team back to back year..AP all American is political as we know with past Miami snubs. His numbers compare and we’re flat out better than some of those guys..and yes Attrition..there’s not many programs who just plug In play annually. We aren’t on that level ..you literally said we’ve owned the LB map for 30+ years my man😂..I’m old enough to remember Glenn cook starting as a TF..LB play **** sure wasn’t a weakness from 2016-2019
Stop it with Shaq....I watched a Weak *** UNC QB drag his *** around like a rag doll on more than one occasion....and we DID own the LBer map from 83-2003....thats 30yrs...go back and chk out our LBers those 30yrs...then come back and apologize...not my fault you aren't old enough to have seen those LBers...
 
Stop it with Shaq....I watched a Weak *** UNC QB drag his *** around like a rag doll on more than one occasion....and we DID own the LBer map from 83-2003....thats 30yrs...go back and chk out our LBers those 30yrs...then come back and apologize...not my fault you aren't old enough to have seen those LBers...
You bringing in the 80s and 90s in a discussion about modern football 😂..you’ve outdone yourself on that one..and I don’t remember a UNC QB dragging shaq..but like I said from 2016-2019 LB play was not a issue..it was Hardly griped about..until 2020. And if you don’t see the drop off from 2016-2019..to 2020 then your just being woefully Disingenuous
 
Also, you guys are getting too hung up on position names. An extra DB doesn't mean an extra 180 lb corner. That's why there's a difference between a 4-2-5 and a nickel. When I say replace a linebacker with a DB, I'm talking about a safety type. 215-225 lb. A guy who can play up on the line of scrimmage just as easily as dropping back into coverage 20+ yards downfield. Hybrid types. The position-less future of defensive football. Do you guys think it's a coincidence that we've loaded up on striker/safety types in recruiting recently? You need as much versatility as possible because nobody huddles anymore so you can't just keep subbing run defenders for pass defenders as you see fit. If an offense has you out there with a bunch of run stuffers, they're going to spread you out and work you over and over until you call a timeout to sub your guys out or they score. Same goes if you try to run some kind of dime defense four cornerbacks. They're just going to run the ball at you over and over. You need guys who can do both so you don't have to rely on substitutions.
I feel like fans forget, substituting defenders is why Manny and a company went to a striker. Manny likes to sub a lot and match up his defenders, down, distance, and situations. They kept getting stuck in the 4-3 base defense against uptempo teams and couldn’t get subs in. McCloud and Pinckney were trying to cover slot WR’s and getting ate up on short drags and crossing routes. Does anyone actually remember watching games those first 2 seasons Manny was DC? How many times did Manny get a 12 man on the field penalty because of trying to sub when teams went quick? They got stuck with the wrong personnel and teams took advantage. So they transitioned to a 4-2-5 base defense with the striker as the 5th DB.
 
You bringing in the 80s and 90s in a discussion about modern football 😂..you’ve outdone yourself on that one..and I don’t remember a UNC QB dragging shaq..but like I said from 2016-2019 LB play was not a issue..it was Hardly griped about..until 2020. And if you don’t see the drop off from 2016-2019..to 2020 then your just being woefully Disingenuous
I absolutely DO remember the UNC QB dragging his *** around...and so does most of this board...and our 2016-2019 LBing was mediocre at best.....and YOU were the one who scoffed at my quote of our LBing from 83-2003...when in fact...I was correct...and of course, you conveniently left off 2000-2003 in your above statement....and that BS about "Modern Day" football is Douchebaggery at its finest...I can name dozens of UM LBers from 83-2003...that would EASILY start at UM today....
 
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