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Post Game Recap: Clemson

@Memnon

Thank you so much! Been waiting for this man. Great stuff, as always.

JMO, but even though I think Chase Smith is a liability in pass coverage, he has to have the strongest hands on the team. Once he gets his hands on you, you are a going down. A great tackler.

Go Canes
 
Mr. Dynasty1 said:
@Memnon thoughts on Reynolds?
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As in Tait Reynolds?

Not good at all.

Has really poor accuracy, doesn't read the field very well & routinely makes ill-advised throws.

To be fair, he's a TF & he clearly isn't ready & shouldn't be playing this early.

But he's gonna take quite a while to develop into anything more than a game manager if he ever learns how to read Defenses.

A solid runner with some toughness, but at QB, that doesn't matter that much.
 
rascon said:
How do you see the safety rotation working itself out once XL and Antoine come back?

Before the season, it seemed like foregone conclusion that OJ and XL would go to the NFL after this year. Is that still the thought, even though both have had injuries?
Both Poyser and EOC could declare too, but hoping they are planning to stay.

Provided we don’t lose any unanticipated players, our secondary is going to be filthy for years to come, with Sears, Wright, Hall amongst others.
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I would assume Fitzgerald goes back to SS, Poyser stays at FS & Dunnigan plays more Nickel Safety.

But I personally would put Fitzgerald at Nickel & keep Dunnigan as a Starter.

I don’t think OJ or XL declare at the end of the season, I mean they shouldn't, but if they did it would be a huge mistake. Their draft stock will fall precipitously, it would be a similar situation to what we saw with Jerod McCoy last draft. Before the season he had a 1st round, but then he got hurt, missed the whole year & declared anyway, he ended dropping to a 4th round pick.

If Poyser declares he either just wants to leave or he received bad advice. I'd be shocked if he got anything higher than a 6th round grade.

EOC should absolutely declare, he'll at worst be a 3rd round pick. He's put together a fantastic season & has great tape for evaluators to boost his stock.
 
Memnon said:
rascon said:
How do you see the safety rotation working itself out once XL and Antoine come back?

Before the season, it seemed like foregone conclusion that OJ and XL would go to the NFL after this year. Is that still the thought, even though both have had injuries?
Both Poyser and EOC could declare too, but hoping they are planning to stay.

Provided we don’t lose any unanticipated players, our secondary is going to be filthy for years to come, with Sears, Wright, Hall amongst others.
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I would assume Fitzgerald goes back to SS, Poyser stays at FS & Dunnigan plays more Nickel Safety.

But I personally would put Fitzgerald at Nickel & keep Dunnigan as a Starter.

I don’t think OJ or XL declare at the end of the season, I mean they shouldn't, but if they did it would be a huge mistake. Their draft stock will fall precipitously, it would be a similar situation to what we saw with Jerod McCoy last draft. Before the season he had a 1st round, but then he got hurt, missed the whole year & declared anyway, he ended dropping to a 4th round pick.

If Poyser declares he either just wants to leave or he received bad advice. I'd be shocked if he got anything higher than a 6th round grade.

EOC should absolutely declare, he'll at worst be a 3rd round pick. He's put together a fantastic season & has great tape for evaluators to boost his stock.
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I was afraid you might say that about EOC. Kids a dawg and I think he’s going to do good things at the next level. But man, I thought our NIL could convince kids that don’t have a 1st rd grade to come back.

But as long as OJ and XL come back we are still cooking with grease with JA and the youngins behind them.

Back to Poyser, do you think he’s better at FS than SS? I feel like that’s Fitz natural position, and think SS is more suited to Poyser, but even there I’m tempted to think that JJ would be amazing there next to Fitz.
 
rascon said:
I was afraid you might say that about EOC. Kids a dawg and I think he’s going to do good things at the next level. But man, I thought our NIL could convince kids that don’t have a 1st rd grade to come back.

But as long as OJ and XL come back we are still cooking with grease with JA and the youngins behind them.

Back to Poyser, do you think he’s better at FS than SS? I feel like that’s Fitz natural position, and think SS is more suited to Poyser, but even there I’m tempted to think that JJ would be amazing there next to Fitz.
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Poyser is absolutely a Strong Safety, they just play him at FS because we have to move Fitzgerald around due to injuries & giving the Secondary more flexibility.

Fitz money position in the league will be FS.

Dunnigan is also a SS, but in a 3-4 years when it's his time to declare he'll likely be a Hybrid Safety/Nickel LB like Kyle Hamilton is now.
 
Memnon said:
As in Tait Reynolds?

Not good at all.

Has really poor accuracy, doesn't read the field very well & routinely makes ill-advised throws.

To be fair, he's a TF & he clearly isn't ready & shouldn't be playing this early.

But he's gonna take quite a while to develop into anything more than a game manager if he ever learns how to read Defenses.

A solid runner with some toughness, but at QB, that doesn't matter that much.
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Sounds like Arch Manning without the name recognition.
 
Memnon said:
You presume we can't go 3 & out while going slow & methodical? Actually, the slower pace you go increases the % of going 3 & out exponentially.

You can take your time & go slow against weak teams with bad Defenses. When it championship time, you better be able to strike fast & score quick or else you'll be playing panic ball late in the game because you're playing from behind in a deficit. Which then gives the opposing Defense the advantage because it limits your play calls & makes it harder for your protection schemes.

Not to mention, this year's OL isn't a group I would chance it too much with trying to Bullyball in crunchtime. I don't think you want playoff caliber Defenses tee'in off against this OLine when our backs are against the wall & we have to drive the length of the field to win a game.

We've been able to play the way we play thus far this season because we get an early comfortable lead & let our Defense hunt in the 3rd & 4th quarter. That dynamic changes against good teams coming down the stretch in a one score game.
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"What I've noticed thus far all season, is that the Offense operates at its best when they're striking fast & attacking with more defined concepts. The ball comes out quick & the WR's are able to make plays after the catch. I find that when tempo gets slowed down, the offensive efficiency grinds to a screeching halt & that's when we have fissures in the protection schemes, which allows for opposing Defenses to create pressure & get to Mensah."

@Memnon

You hit the nail on the head with the above quote! I love Mario but my one fear is that in playoff games that he will prefer to go at a slower pace from the beginning. Mensah is at his best when he gets into a rhythm. I'm not advocating for a hurry up Alex Golesh type offense and I no that neither are you. However there is no denying that offensively, we are at our best when the ball comes out quick.

Also, I defer to your knowledge of the game when I ask why can't we just have Bryce Fitzgerald at FS when we get XL and JA back? Why do we have to move Fitzgerald to SS? When our CBs return, should we have Bryce at Nickel with JJ Dunnigan at SS and Poyser at FS?

Originally I was thinking that Fitzgerald would go back to FS and we would move JJ Dunnigan to Nickel but apparently JJ isn't as cut out for Nickel as I had hoped and he is more of a SS like you have said.

PS. Great work my friend! I was wondering when your recaps were coming back. Awesome writeup!
 
canes23 said:
Honest question: was this Clemson’s defense one of the better ones we will face this year (pre CFP)? Thanks!
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Yes.

The best Defenses on our regular season schedule

VA Tech
Noter Lame
Clemson

Their DLine isn't as good as its been in years past, but they have a really good Secondary.

Noter Lame has a highly touted Defense, but aside from their CB group, they're a bit overrated. They have individual players who are very good & will likely be high draft picks, but as a collective whole they're not as good as they've been hyped to be.

VA Tech is probably the toughest pass rush we will face pre-playoffs, their DLine is very very aggressive, they get after it.
 
@Memnon

I had a question in my post as well. It was about why you said we have to move Poyser to FS and Fitzgerald to SS. Why can't we just have Fitz at Nickel , Poyser at FS and Dunnigan at SS? Maybe I misunderstood.
 
FrancisSawyer said:
@Memnon

I had a question in my post as well. It was about why you said we have to move Poyser to FS and Fitzgerald to SS. Why can't we just have Fitz at Nickel , Poyser at FS and Dunnigan at SS? Maybe I misunderstood.
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I personally would put Fitzgerald at Nickel as well, but I think Heatherman feels Poyser is best at FS in this scheme because he's not as good against the Run & putting him at FS allows for his range to be best utilized.

Also, the only way you can have Poyser & Dunnigan on the field at the same time is if Fitzgerald is at Corner, because both Dunn & Poys are essentially the same position as Rover Safeties.

With the way they use Thornton in the Nickel spot as an extra LB & Torpedo Blitzer, you basically have 4 Safeties for 2 spots.

We can run some 3-High Safety looks in Quarter-Quarter Coverage splits, but Heatherman doesn't really like to play the Nickel Safety in a 3rd shell because it his Defense is predicated on creating pressure upfront with numbers vs the run fits. Meaning, he doesn't want to pull an extra off the front 7 fit because it leaves the run Defense susceptible to getting gashed.

Ideally, Poyser would be SS & Fitz would FS if everybody was healthy, but then that takes Dunnigan off the field because he can't play Nickel.
 
Memnon said:
I personally would put Fitzgerald at Nickel as well, but I think Heatherman feels Poyser is best at FS in this scheme because he's not as good against the Run & putting him at FS allows for his range to be best utilized.

Also, the only way you can have Poyser & Dunnigan on the field at the same time is if Fitzgerald is at Corner, because both Dunn & Poys are essentially the same position as Rover Safeties.

With the way they use Thornton in the Nickel spot as an extra LB & Torpedo Blitzer, you basically have 4 Safeties for 2 spots.

We can run some 3-High Safety looks in Quarter-Quarter Coverage splits, but Heatherman doesn't really like to play the Nickel Safety in a 3rd shell because it his Defense is predicated on creating pressure upfront with numbers vs the run fits. Meaning, he doesn't want to pull an extra off the front 7 fit because it leaves the run Defense susceptible to getting gashed.

Ideally, Poyser would be SS & Fitz would FS if everybody was healthy, but then that takes Dunnigan off the field because he can't play Nickel.
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Thanks! Would you be in favor of putting Dylan Day at Nickel or SS in order to get Thornton off the field?
 
FrancisSawyer said:
Thanks! Would you be in favor of putting Dylan Day at Nickel or SS in order to get Thornton off the field?
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Memnon said:
I liked what I saw from Day.

I think he has the foot speed & movement ability in open space to play Rover or Nickel. I'd love to see him get more in the 2-deep rotation & be on the field in 3-High Safety looks from Cover 4 & Cover 6 split coverages.

He had a great read on a play coming down hill to make a tackle on the RB in the Flats.

View attachment 375368


Thornton was Thornton.

Good Blitzer, not so much good at the other stuff.

View attachment 375369
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I don’t have an issue with Thornton being on the field, just don't put him in situations to have to Cover downfield.

If they continue to use how they've been using him as a Blitzing LB, he'll be fine.
 
Memnon said:
I don’t have an issue with Thornton being on the field, just don't put him in situations to have to Cover downfield.

If they continue to use how they've been using him as a Blitzing LB, he'll be fine.
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I agree. I was going to say tbe same thing about the way they have been using him lately. However Thornton still needs to tackle better than he showed vs Clemson. Also I'm a big fan of Dylan Day and would love to see him used more like you described above.
 
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