Spring Thoughts (Defense)

I think the DE position is deeper than the DT position, but it's nitpicking.

Probably right in terms of pure numbers. If Patchan and DJ can contribute, that's seven guys.

What I like about DT is the quality of the top four. Those are four starters.

I like our DT depth, but saying we'd could replace Kendrick Norton and Richard McIntosh with Anthony Moten and Gerald Willis without missing a beat is a massive, massive, massive overstatement.

Ya i mean it's not like both of them were blue chip recruits they must be a massive downgrade because they're behind top3 round NFL DT's. .....SMH miami fans.
 
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I like our DT depth, but saying we'd could replace Kendrick Norton and Richard McIntosh with Anthony Moten and Gerald Willis without missing a beat is a massive, massive, massive overstatement.

Norton and McIntosh are potential first rounders. I'm not saying that Moten and Willis are just as good. But when you can replace your top DTs with two fresh, physically gifted, fourth-year NFL talents you are where you need to be.

Kool will have no hesitation pulling them if they start believing the hype like the 2002 line. Fortunately, those guys haven't even shown signs of laziness.
 
If Brad Kaaya ****ing came back for another season we'd win the god **** ACC.
For as much **** as we give him, he was a top QB...and with a clearly improved OL, and this **** Defense. Man.

Too bad he had to ****ing leave. I think it's probably the right decision for him, since he could end up being a 2nd round pick but god **** it man, if he would have stayed, what could have been....

I just watched Kaaya murder an accuracy competition at an all-star skills challenge. He won hitting targets with ease, clearly superior to the other participants and it was laughable. Made me miss and appreciate him. He and Dalvin Cook's supportive interactions were weird to witness.
 
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is dj up to 255? wasn't there talk of him kicking inside to dt? he and bethel would make a nice duo
 
Thanks for the post D$. Man I really hope CMR & Brown figure out the offense (QB) so we don't waste the special talent this defense has.
 
If you have good DTs, you win ball games. Extremely excited to watch that group this season.

Wonderful news on M. Young. I was in the camp that thought we were thin at CB, and I didn't love what I saw from Young last year. While I still think we are thin, Young locking down one of the CB spots is great news.

And for all the hype we give him, I still feel that Shaq is UNDERrated. What a luxury to have a MLB with that kind of head on his shoulders. A true captain of the defense. Love that kid.


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I think you find a lot of the same at DE, if not better than the scenario at DT. The top 4 DTs are not perfectly complementary. You have only one true 1Tech in the group. Moten will play there and be fine, but he's not optimal and there's a dropoff between what Norton provides as a 1Tech and what Moten can give us in that role. Mcintosh can probably give us some there as well. Is it absolutely vital in our scheme? Well, not as much as other schemes. It's still nice to have someone who can command, sustain and even beat a C/G double team against the run. Willis is a 3Tech. Behind them, you have Pat Bethel as someone growing into a 3Tech.

I'm higher on Moten as a 1-tech. He's gotten pretty strong there. I think all four guys can be quality NFL players, and I'm not as confident about Harris and Jackson.

But this is nitpicking, like you said. I could easily see the case for DE and the freshmen might end the argument pretty quick if they develop as expected.
Guess I'd have to see Moten's progress as a 1-T. Last season, I talked him and Willis up a bunch. I love our DTs. I've also mentioned I think they're all NFL players to varying degrees. Don't think we're discussing which position has better NFL prospects/longevity, though. I answered in a post above why I think there's a quality and quantity argument to DEs over DTs. We're in a good spot at both. I just worry a little more about DT injuries.

Couldn't agree more about the number of NFL players on this D-line. I'm guessing at least (8).. Yes Eight will play on Sunday in meaningful roles. I am really drinking the coach Kool-aid
 
is dj up to 255? wasn't there talk of him kicking inside to dt? he and bethel would make a nice duo

He's a pretty lean well developed 250 pound de. At 6'5 I think he sticks at dend and develops into one of those freak edge rushers coming off th the edge like tak McKinley from ucla who ran a 10.9 before college. Dj is also ready 3 inches taller than him though and is the same weight as him
 
If Robert Knowles plays fold the program...good write up.... hey DMoney..I saw Demetrius Jackson a few months ago is it me or does he look out of shape?
 
If Robert Knowles plays fold the program...good write up.... hey DMoney..I saw Demetrius Jackson a few months ago is it me or does he look out of shape?

Yeah he does, he doesn't look like any of the other dends we have in the program physically. Looks more like a dt. Chad thomas is heavier than him and looks like he's in much better shape
 
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If you have good DTs, you win ball games. Extremely excited to watch that group this season.

Wonderful news on M. Young. I was in the camp that thought we were thin at CB, and I didn't love what I saw from Young last year. While I still think we are thin, Young locking down one of the CB spots is great news.

And for all the hype we give him, I still feel that Shaq is UNDERrated. What a luxury to have a MLB with that kind of head on his shoulders. A true captain of the defense. Love that kid.


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You and I debated this a bit last season and, until it shows up on gameday, it's actually still unsettled. I don't remember the reasons you gave for not liking what you saw, but always respect your opinion. What was it about his game you didn't like?
 
Here's my guess at the Defense:

SDE - Chad Thomas/ Demetrius Jackson/ D.J. Johnson/ Scott Patchan

DT - RJ McIntosh/ Gerald Willis/ Pat Bethel/ Jon Ford/Martin
DT - Kendrick Norton/ Anthony Moten/ Tyreic Martin/ Ryan Fines

WDE - Joe Jackson/ Jonathan Garvin/ Trent Harris/ Patchan

WLB - Michael Pinckney/ Darrion Owens/ De'andre Wilder/ Terry McCray

MLB - Shaquille Quarterman/ Mike Smith/ Bradley Jennings Jr

SLB - Zach McCloud/ Charles Perry/ Jamie Gordinier/ Waynmon Steed(RS)

(Once Steed comes back healthy, he can actually play both W/S LB spots, he's that good, but I think he's best at Will)

LCB - Malek Young (will play the Elder role in Diaz's Defense, with better Ball skills)
RCB - Dee Delaney
NCB - Trajan Bandy
CB4 - Jhavonte Dean (will backup Delaney)
CB5 - Michael Jackson (will backup Young)
CB6 - Ryan Mayes/ Tyler Murphy
CB7 - Terrance Henley (ST's only)

FS - Sheldrick Redwine/ Amari Carter/ Derrick Smith
SS - Jaquan Johnson/ Robert Knowles/ Romeo Finley

Wow, looking at that get's me excited. We actually have a quality looking defense for the first time in a long time. Depth is not quite there but there is a lot of talent lining up with that U on the helmet. DL is stacked everywhere. If they do what we all think they can do it will make everyone else's job so much easier and they will be able to make plays, lock dudes down, and get TOs!

Depth will get better with a couple of recruiting classes but think how far we have come from Golden in a very short time. That second string looks like a Golden starting defense. Couple that with the scheme improvement and we at least have some margin. Agree that could flip quickly. Would love to see a true three deep for at least a couple of backer positions and the defensive backfield. With the right roster management, however, we should be there, potentially next year (will need some more JUCOs, as DMoney mentioned).
 
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Like D Money mentioned in his OP, Demetrius Jackson is low-key elite at disrupting QB passing lanes and batting down balls. He may not always get to the QB, but he ends up being a major disruption on passing downs as a result.

I remember him doing it a lot in his HS highlight tape, and he's definitely carried it over to the next level.

The play that sticks out for me is 4th down early in last year's FSU game, Dalvin Cook is wide open in the flats for what would likely be a TD, but D Jax gets in the passing lane and swats away what would otherwise be an easy completion for Francois (at the 2:30 mark in the video below)

[video=youtube_share;8oyGsRfFb84]https://youtu.be/8oyGsRfFb84?t=148[/video]
 
If you have good DTs, you win ball games. Extremely excited to watch that group this season.

Wonderful news on M. Young. I was in the camp that thought we were thin at CB, and I didn't love what I saw from Young last year. While I still think we are thin, Young locking down one of the CB spots is great news.

And for all the hype we give him, I still feel that Shaq is UNDERrated. What a luxury to have a MLB with that kind of head on his shoulders. A true captain of the defense. Love that kid.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You and I debated this a bit last season and, until it shows up on gameday, it's actually still unsettled. I don't remember the reasons you gave for not liking what you saw, but always respect your opinion. What was it about his game you didn't like?

You can just watch certain guys play and immediately recognize them as playmakers. IMO, Young is one of these guys. I know he didn't play a ton last year but when he was in there, the kid seemed to always be around the ball.
 
Like D Money mentioned in his OP, Demetrius Jackson is low-key elite at disrupting QB passing lanes and batting down balls. He may not always get to the QB, but he ends up being a major disruption on passing downs as a result.

I remember him doing it a lot in his HS highlight tape, and he's definitely carried it over to the next level.

The play that sticks out for me is 4th down early in last year's FSU game, Dalvin Cook is wide open in the flats for what would likely be a TD, but D Jax gets in the passing lane and swats away what would otherwise be an easy completion for Francois (at the 2:30 mark in the video below)

[video=youtube_share;8oyGsRfFb84]https://youtu.be/8oyGsRfFb84?t=148[/video]

Man the defense played their *** off in that game, we really blew a great opportunity to finally beat those ******** again
 
Just a random thought from watching the scrimmage:

I'm pretty sure we play with field and boundary safeties. I noticed Redwine playing to the short side most of the time during the scrimmage. Considering we're a single high team, I can see us being able to play match coverage (man to the boundary; zone to the field). This means we would be rolling our safety coverage to the boundary and allowing Redwine to match up in man coverage with a slot receiver. If we roll safety coverage to the field under that same configuration, it probably means we're blitzing or playing some form of a checked coverage according to the formation displayed by the offense. Either way, it would allow Redwine to play matched up in the slot or in center field. In both situations I think he is being utilized according to his strengths.

The point of what I'm saying is that it's an interesting decision to move a cover guy like Redwine to boundary safety. There's no right answer on what body types and skill sets you're supposed to play at safety as long as your base coverages and assignments play to their strengths. Some teams like to put their bigger bodied player there and play him like an extra linebacker while primarily asking him to play underneath coverages or narrow deep quarter or half zones. Diaz and Banda have obviously put thought into this and I think it's a good fit.
 
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