I am pretty certain i was the first one on this board to harp on the poor play by Flagg. The reason was, he was getting a lot of positive comments about his play (namely one play) against Pitt his freshman year. From that point on, I decided to play close attention to him pretty much every snap from there on, because i was so desperate for good LB play.
It was insane what i was watching the rest of that year. Missing tackles, too slow to cover RBS or TE and just running himself out of plays (or into a blocker that he could never disengage). It was bad. I spoke out pretty loudly about it, and was met with a chorus of “You’re wrong, he’ s a bright spot for us” or “He is the smartest player out there” type of stuff. Eventually, most of this board saw what i saw.
I continued to watch him closely, and I must admit, towards the end of the year last year, spring game, and this first game here- he has improved. He sometimes clogs the correct lane now,,and sometimes doesn’t have tackles broken on him. He appears to me to be a very average linebacker now, which is nowhere good enough for what we as canes fans want and deserves. But he is no longer a negative on almost every play. He is now just an average player, imo.
I haven’t been as vocal against his play Lately for the reason of his improvement as well as the chorus of undeserving praise is not nearly as loud as it once was. That being said, i want someone else to step up. Cam Johnson looked better to me that the improved Flagg, but still not to the level of what a canes MLB should be. Maybe he will get there with more reps.