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Romeo Finley this season

Samson Doyo said:
You could see his confidence grow last year. I think we’ll see that continue. The defensive staff continuity was huge for him. Second year in this system. Best hair in college ball!

Go Canes!
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And RF is going to make Polamalu look like Kojak before it's all said and done.
 
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Romeo was a beast last season, especially the TD run where he blew by everyone! Here’s looking forward to see more of those types of highlights from Finley in 2019, I think he’s got a shot to be one of the main defensive leaders on the team and a major reason; along with Rousseau, Silvera, Nnoruka, and Hill we will see no drop off defensively this year. Just have to grow up the young pups in the back 4 and this defense will post another Top 5 performance. Throw in @Top 35 offense and that will translate to 10-11 wins in Manny’s first year at the helm. It’s an exciting time for the players and the fans.
 
He made me a believer. Starting to see why it was down to us and Clemson for him. He was put into the right situation on D and played big time last year. Hope he takes another step this year. Hes definitely a "leader" on this D now.
 
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When it's all said and done, Gil is going to make a better playmaker at the striker (or rover) position. Smith would also be a good fit bc he has good instincts and can make plays near the line.
 
Odin said:
I wonder if the staff is at all thinking of moving finley to safety this season to pair him with one of Hall,AC or Bolden.
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No way imo. Not only do I not see us taking the guy who won the job and was our best striker last year and moving him, when it is clearly such a key position in our D, but I also don't think safety is a particularly good fit for him. I don't think he moves quite well enough to excel there and that's why he wasn't playing much to begin with. Striker is the perfect match for him and his skill set imo.

Based on a recent Banda interview, I think it's likely D.Smith that moves back to a traditional safety role.
 
Odin said:
I wonder if the staff is at all thinking of moving finley to safety this season to pair him with one of Hall,AC or Bolden.
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Why would they move him? Him and Willis were probably our 2 best defenders last season.
 
rokulika said:
He was made a striker in part because Jaquan and Redwine were the incumbent starters. Now that they're both gone I think he could lose a couple lbs and move back to safety. Derrick Smith is plenty capable of playing striker. The issue with Romeo at striker is that he split snaps with Smith and McCloud. As one of our best players he'll need to be on the field as much as Jaquan was imo.
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I disagree. I'm certainly not all-knowing, but I see this a little differently. I think this is the perfect role and number of snaps for him. He's more "solid" than he is "elite athlete." We go heavy on short yardage and obvious run downs, and Finley is on the field for the rest. With modern offenses that has him on the field 2/3 of the game anyway. Just right imo.
 
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D RevLee said:
When it's all said and done, Gil is going to make a better playmaker at the striker (or rover) position. Smith would also be a good fit bc he has good instincts and can make plays near the line.
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While I think this is potentially true, Gil needs to focus on just getting his head on straight and taking football more serious. Stories early in the year last year that he was more interested in enjoying college life than becoming a better football player, and then later many fans commented how he was always goofing around on the sideline and pulling teammates into whatever silly sht he was doing, even when we were losing. Laughing and joking on the sidelines during losses is obviously never a good look.

IMO his move to striker is less about the staff seeing him as a great striker and more about getting D.Smith back to safety as we need more experience there after losing JJ and Redwine.
 
You do not mess with what works. Finley was an A+ at striker last year and moving him somewhere else seems pointless. He comes off the field when they go with 3 linebackers (rarely) or when they go nickle in obvious passing situations. Although Manny would often go with a weird 3-2-6 alignment on 3rd and long and Finley was featured there too.
 
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I said on here two years ago I thought Finley was going to be starting at safety as a sophomore before they moved Redwine back there. His man to man coverage has improved immensely and there’s really nothing he can’t do. I’d like to see them move him back to strong safety for more reps then in the striker role on passing downs depending on what base the D will be going with this year
 
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Either Finley or D. Smith should move back to safety in 2019. We're replacing 3 starters and 4 of our top 5 DBs from 2018. As two of our most experienced back end players they should both be on the field for our first defensive series against Florida. Finley can be The Guy in the DB room along with Bandy instead of a rotational player at linebacker.
 
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