Miami Secondary 2017

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QB / O line?? We could b elite or borderline bad . D will not score enough to win ACC...
 
I think that the addition of Donaldson at G with Gauthirr at C will make the OL much tougher up the middle. We need KC and St. Louis to take a step in their progression. Darling needs to show something at G because the Spring reviews weren't great.

I think practicing against our DL will improve the OL play.

As far as QB - I hope that we let Perry play because even if he stumbles this year a bit, he'll be ready to take the team to the next level in 18'

We have more talent overall on offense but need the potential playmakers get the ball in their hands.
 
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I think that the addition of Donaldson at G with Gauthirr at C will make the OL much tougher up the middle. We need KC and St. Louis to take a step in their progression. Darling needs to show something at G because the Spring reviews weren't great.

I think practicing against our DL will improve the OL play.

As far as QB - I hope that we let Perry play because even if he stumbles this year a bit, he'll be ready to take the team to the next level in 18'

We have more talent overall on offense but need the potential playmakers get the ball in their hands.

I like the Linder (OC)/Gauthier (OG) combo a lot better than the Gauthier (OC)/Darling (OG) combo.
 
Not worried about the secondary at all. Infusion of major talent at CB. Safety shouldn't be a problem if no major injuries. I don't get why everyone is so comfortable with our LB situation. Yes the 3 Soph's are legit but no proven depth at the moment that we would be ok with starting. DO still doesn't seem all the way back, Smith is serviceable at best and Gordinier is coming off injury. That spot doesn't look all that great if injuries happen
 
I think that the addition of Donaldson at G with Gauthirr at C will make the OL much tougher up the middle. We need KC and St. Louis to take a step in their progression. Darling needs to show something at G because the Spring reviews weren't great.

I think practicing against our DL will improve the OL play.

As far as QB - I hope that we let Perry play because even if he stumbles this year a bit, he'll be ready to take the team to the next level in 18'

We have more talent overall on offense but need the potential playmakers get the ball in their hands.

I like the Linder (OC)/Gauthier (OG) combo a lot better than the Gauthier (OC)/Darling (OG) combo.

Linder better not be our starter
 
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Not worried about the secondary at all. Infusion of major talent at CB. Safety shouldn't be a problem if no major injuries. I don't get why everyone is so comfortable with our LB situation. Yes the 3 Soph's are legit but no proven depth at the moment that we would be ok with starting. DO still doesn't seem all the way back, Smith is serviceable at best and Gordinier is coming off injury. That spot doesn't look all that great if injuries happen

I understand your concern but I think you are misreading the situation a bit. According to all reports, Mike Smith was excellent this spring and he seens to be all the way back in terms of this lateral quickness and explosion. Charles Perry looked very solid and continues to improve under Diaz. Darrion Owens isn't completely back but is close as he was quoted as saying that he was 85% during the spring. Owens should be very close to 100% come fall camp and having the opportunity to get live reps in the 2 glorified scrimmages they are calling games to begin the season will benefit him greatly.

We also have Jamie Gordinier coming back from injury but that injury was a torn ACL so it's anyone's guess what kind of shape he will be in. Beyond that we have Bradley Jennings who was an EE and Deandre Wilder who will arrive this summer. That leaves only Terry McCray who will be a non factor and EE Waynmon Steed who is still recovering from an ACL tear and will most certainly redshirt. This is unfortunate as I am a huge fan of Steed and looking forward to watching him contribute. Steed will have his day soon enough.

Al things considered, the above is an example of good depth. Maybe not great or elite but good.
 
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Not worried about the secondary at all. Infusion of major talent at CB. Safety shouldn't be a problem if no major injuries. I don't get why everyone is so comfortable with our LB situation. Yes the 3 Soph's are legit but no proven depth at the moment that we would be ok with starting. DO still doesn't seem all the way back, Smith is serviceable at best and Gordinier is coming off injury. That spot doesn't look all that great if injuries happen[/QUOTE

Huh?? Looks a lot better than last year when we didn't know what we had.

Smith played extremely well logged a lot of time. Owens an additional year after the injury is still serviceable, and Gordinier was starting over the true freshmans who looked well. Add to Perry having played a lot of time here...we look to be shirting our incoming linebackers so id say there is solid depth currntly
 
Could the secondary be better than we expect?

We know how good the front 7 is, but news on the new players coming in have me excited to see their impact.

Barry Jackson has a good article on it - with info on Dean, Delaney and Bandy.UM injects high-end talent at cornerback | Miami Herald

I think the secondary will be significantly better than many think. What I'm about to say, I have said countless times but it bears repeating. Let me break down the reasons I have for my very positive outlook on this years secondary.

1. The front seven. I don't need to list all the starters and their key backups here. This front 4 will be one of the best in the nation hands down and they have 3 future All American linebackers right behind then all of whom started as true freshmen last year. Everyone knows that a good front seven makes the job of the secondary much easier. Our front seven is most certainly not good. It is elite and dominant.

2. Infusion of CB talent. After the 2016 season and before NSD there was a huge concern about the 2017 secondary with the loss of Jenkins, Carter, Colbert and most notably Elder. Now that we know who our defensive backfield will consist of I am not only less concerned but actually confident. The signing of Jhavonte Dean and Trajan Bandy to go along with grad transfer Dee Delaney has literally turned this unit from a potential concern to a potential strength. True sophomore to be Malek Young is a budding superstar and should be 1st team All ACC this year. Now add Dean 6'2" 190 4.3 who was considered the no1 Juco CB in the country and Dee Delaney 6'1" 195 4.4 a grad transfer out of Citadel who was expected to go in the middle rounds of the draft had he declared and what happens is you change the entire complexion of the secondary. Even this is before you add Trajan Bandy who I thought was the best pure cover corner in Florida to the mix. So now we go from having Malek Young being pushed by the likes of Ryan Mayes, Henley, Redwine and Jackson to having to compete with the 3 newcomers listed above. We go from having Michael Jackson as the #2 CB to MJ competing like crazy just to hang onto the #4 CB position. Night and day.

3. Shuffling the deck at Safety. The arrival of EE safety Amari Carter turned out to be huge. During Spring drills, Carter showed the staff that not only does he belong but that they will find it impossible to keep this true freshmen off the field. Mature beyond his years, Carter could very well be to strong safety this year what Shaquille Quarterman was to MLB last year. Pair him with Sheldrick Redwine who moves over from CB to what very much seems to be his natural position at safety and Junior Jaquan Johnson an instinctive playmaker and natural leader who is poised for a breakout year and you have the makings of a very solid core group at safety. A very improved Robert Knowles, Romeo Finley and criminally underrated true freshman Derrick Smith will have every opportunity to earn playing time this fall as well.

4. Two cupcakes to develop chemistry. This is self explanatory as we open the season with 2 patsies who we will easily destroy. This gives our secondary 2 full games worth of extremely valuable live reps in order to work through the kinks and develop some chemistry before things get serious in week 3 when we travel to Tallahassee to face the Seminoles.
 
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I think that the addition of Donaldson at G with Gauthirr at C will make the OL much tougher up the middle. We need KC and St. Louis to take a step in their progression. Darling needs to show something at G because the Spring reviews weren't great.

I think practicing against our DL will improve the OL play.

As far as QB - I hope that we let Perry play because even if he stumbles this year a bit, he'll be ready to take the team to the next level in 18'

We have more talent overall on offense but need the potential playmakers get the ball in their hands.

I like the Linder (OC)/Gauthier (OG) combo a lot better than the Gauthier (OC)/Darling (OG) combo.
How come?
 
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With the talent, year 2 in the scheme, and schedule...if this doesn't wind up a top 10 defense in essentially all the advanced metrics, it would be a very disappointing year. Even with the questions on offense. A few years ago, BC had the best defense in the country and the worst offense. Literally. An elite defense plays elite no matter what.
 
With the talent, year 2 in the scheme, and schedule...if this doesn't wind up a top 10 defense in essentially all the advanced metrics, it would be a very disappointing year. Even with the questions on offense. A few years ago, BC had the best defense in the country and the worst offense. Literally. An elite defense plays elite no matter what.
Get your point, but what you use to support your conclusion is questionable. BC may have had the worst offense, but it wasn't like it necessarily hampered their defense as one might think a crap offense (e.g. 3 and outs, etc.) would do.

BC executed a style of play that helped their defense's statistics. When you try to grind out every game (****, series), the number of plays and time of possession categories can really aide how your defense appears.

It's part of the reason the Golden crew seemingly tried to slow games down every now and then.
 
With the talent, year 2 in the scheme, and schedule...if this doesn't wind up a top 10 defense in essentially all the advanced metrics, it would be a very disappointing year. Even with the questions on offense. A few years ago, BC had the best defense in the country and the worst offense. Literally. An elite defense plays elite no matter what.
Get your point, but what you use to support your conclusion is questionable. BC may have had the worst offense, but it wasn't like it necessarily hampered their defense as one might think a crap offense (e.g. 3 and outs, etc.) would do.

BC executed a style of play that helped their defense's statistics. When you try to grind out every game (****, series), the number of plays and time of possession categories can really aide how your defense appears.

It's part of the reason the Golden crew seemingly tried to slow games down every now and then.

Based on the last 30 years, I think it's safe to say that Miami won't be controlling the clock this year.
 
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With the talent, year 2 in the scheme, and schedule...if this doesn't wind up a top 10 defense in essentially all the advanced metrics, it would be a very disappointing year. Even with the questions on offense. A few years ago, BC had the best defense in the country and the worst offense. Literally. An elite defense plays elite no matter what.
Get your point, but what you use to support your conclusion is questionable. BC may have had the worst offense, but it wasn't like it necessarily hampered their defense as one might think a crap offense (e.g. 3 and outs, etc.) would do.

BC executed a style of play that helped their defense's statistics. When you try to grind out every game (****, series), the number of plays and time of possession categories can really aide how your defense appears.

It's part of the reason the Golden crew seemingly tried to slow games down every now and then.

Based on the last 30 years, I think it's safe to say that Miami won't be controlling the clock this year.
Wasn't my point. OrangeBowlMagic was saying we should be a Top 10 defense no matter what (which may or may not be true). He supported that statement by using the BC example, which may be skewed because of ball control and offense style of play.

In any case, not sure what you mean by last 30 years. Last year, we were 106th out of 129 teams in plays per game.
 
I don't think there will be a drop in production from last year. Young will be a drop from Corn but should still be a positive player, Delaney will likely be better and more consistent than the #2 CB spot in 17. Quan needs to have a jump to be where Jenkins was last year but I think that is likely. Redwine/Carter should be able to replicate Jamal's production from last year.

Curious what the subpackage defense will look like this year. In 16 it was almost entirely 6 DBs, going with JJ/RJ/Chad - McCloud/Shaq - Delaney/Bandy/Carter/Quan/Young/Dean is a group you can do a lot with. They might go with more 3 LB and 5 DB looks tho.
 
Could the secondary be better than we expect?

We know how good the front 7 is, but news on the new players coming in have me excited to see their impact.

Barry Jackson has a good article on it - with info on Dean, Delaney and Bandy.UM injects high-end talent at cornerback | Miami Herald

I think the secondary will be significantly better than many think. What I'm about to say, I have said countless times but it bears repeating. Let me break down the reasons I have for my very positive outlook on this years secondary.

1. The front seven. I don't need to list all the starters and their key backups here. This front 4 will be one of the best in the nation hands down and they have 3 future All American linebackers right behind then all of whom started as true freshmen last year. Everyone knows that a good front seven makes the job of the secondary much easier. Our front seven is most certainly not good. It is elite and dominant.

2. Infusion of CB talent. After the 2016 season and before NSD there was a huge concern about the 2017 secondary with the loss of Jenkins, Carter, Colbert and most notably Elder. Now that we know who our defensive backfield will consist of I am not only less concerned but actually confident. The signing of Jhavonte Dean and Trajan Bandy to go along with grad transfer Dee Delaney has literally turned this unit from a potential concern to a potential strength. True sophomore to be Malek Young is a budding superstar and should be 1st team All ACC this year. Now add Dean 6'2" 190 4.3 who was considered the no1 Juco CB in the country and Dee Delaney 6'1" 195 4.4 a grad transfer out of Citadel who was expected to go in the middle rounds of the draft had he declared and what happens is you change the entire complexion of the secondary. Even this is before you add Trajan Bandy who I thought was the best pure cover corner in Florida to the mix. So now we go from having Malek Young being pushed by the likes of Ryan Mayes, Henley, Redwine and Jackson to having to compete with the 3 newcomers listed above. We go from having Michael Jackson as the #2 CB to MJ competing like crazy just to hang onto the #4 CB position. Night and day.

3. Shuffling the deck at Safety. The arrival of EE safety Amari Carter turned out to be huge. During Spring drills, Carter showed the staff that not only does he belong but that they will find it impossible to keep this true freshmen off the field. Mature beyond his years, Carter could very well be to strong safety this year what Shaquille Quarterman was to MLB last year. Pair him with Sheldrick Redwine who moves over from CB to what very much seems to be his natural position at safety and Junior Jaquan Johnson an instinctive playmaker and natural leader who is poised for a breakout year and you have the makings of a very solid core group at safety. A very improved Robert Knowles, Romeo Finley and criminally underrated true freshman Derrick Smith will have every opportunity to earn playing time this fall as well.

4. Two cupcakes to develop chemistry. This is self explanatory as we open the season with 2 patsies who we will easily destroy. This gives our secondary 2 full games worth of extremely valuable live reps in order to work through the kinks and develop some chemistry before things get serious in week 3 when we travel to Tallahassee to face the Seminoles.

Please stop, I can only get so erect
 
I don't think there will be a drop in production from last year. Young will be a drop from Corn but should still be a positive player, Delaney will likely be better and more consistent than the #2 CB spot in 17. Quan needs to have a jump to be where Jenkins was last year but I think that is likely. Redwine/Carter should be able to replicate Jamal's production from last year.

Curious what the subpackage defense will look like this year. In 16 it was almost entirely 6 DBs, going with JJ/RJ/Chad - McCloud/Shaq - Delaney/Bandy/Carter/Quan/Young/Dean is a group you can do a lot with. They might go with more 3 LB and 5 DB looks tho.
If Redwine steps up, Diaz will seemingly have infinite sub-package options. He should be really excited. I'm pumped.
 
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