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Who do you want to start at nickel?

9oh4Cane said:
Thornton was made in a Heatherman lab to play Nickel in this scheme. I’d go as far as to say he’ll be more productive than K Scott there

Bigger question IMO is what do you do with Dunnigan. Wouldn’t be surprised to see some packages of JJ/Fitz/Thornton with Poyser off the field
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No GIF
 
After listening to the pod, seems like Bryce at Nickel is real. I’m confused as to why we would want our best ball hawking safety closer to the line of scrimmage and our most physical guy further away from the line of scrimmage. Wouldn’t we playing against Bryce’s strength and Omar’s strength ? Not sure if @Memnon has given his take but curious to here it on who fits where
 
DMoney said:
Fitzgerald, Thornton or other?
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Thornton isn't a man to man guy like Scott could handle, but he's the best tackler out of himself, Fitzgerald and Poyser.

If Fitzgerald is deep over the field side Thornton might need to play more as a flat defender and let the CB take deep 1/3, Fitzgerald Apex/#2 and Poyser to the boundary close to the box.

ZP's tackling fell apart when he had to defend a 2-way-go, was better in the box closer to LOS.

I expect Hetherman to push the 3 around based on D/D, personnel, situation.
 
Maybe I am thinking about this too simplistic but I actually think it will depend on our opponent..if we are facing a run-heavy offense..you would have to think Thornton is in the Nickel and Fitz at FS...if its pass heavy..put Fitz in the Nickel and have Poyser and Day playing safety with Thornton coming in as a "Rover" type on certain downs.
 
BoxingRobes said:
If Dunnigan can play meaningful snaps...you can get creative with Thornton, Fitzgerald, and Poyser back there.
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Options. High level ones at that. Crazy to think all could technically be back in 2027, too.
 
Keionte Scott is a psychopath with a motor that never stops on top of elite speed. Just a nose for the ball, especially near the line.

Fitzgerald is probabaly the most frantic on the field like Scott, but feel putting him close to the line and not back there patrolling the middle and deep field is taking 85 cents on the dollar.

Thornton looks like one of these new age linebacker/safety hybrids, but you can see this guy lining up in JaKobe Thomas' spot and laying the hammer at Boundary.

We got some PIECES at safety/nickel for sure. 4 players that can play 3 spots and give Heatherman some creative ways to **** with defenses.

Season 2 Fun GIF by HBO
 
Ironmanfootball said:
Thornton isn't a man to man guy like Scott could handle, but he's the best tackler out of himself, Fitzgerald and Poyser.

If Fitzgerald is deep over the field side Thornton might need to play more as a flat defender and let the CB take deep 1/3, Fitzgerald Apex/#2 and Poyser to the boundary close to the box.

ZP's tackling fell apart when he had to defend a 2-way-go, was better in the box closer to LOS.

I expect Hetherman to push the 3 around based on D/D, personnel, situation.
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FYI Ahmmon was saying in the pod he thinks Thornton is a lot better in coverage than people may think. Better than Jakobe. Compared to Keionte I doubt it.
 
Don’t get me wrong Bryce can be electric, but he is no thumper. Omar Thornton all day. That young man is swinging haymaker after haymaker. Every time he’s on the field, he’s got bad intentions.
 
Do we have to play the exact same coverages we did last year? I say no and we probably shouldn't.

I think we'll see more simulated pressure and creep back to Hetherman's original style.

When we play the Cover 3 stuff we did last year (crazy heavily), I hope there are some adjustments. Playing Thornton there and mainly blitzing him (we did this a ton last year) is too much of a tell, IMO. I didn't love what I saw from Thornton against the pass in the slot and I think teams would motion into matchups there against him, but maybe he'll look improved.

I'd personally like to see less Cover 3 (and I'm a huge Cover 3 proponent, generally).

I'd like to see more Cover 1 and Cover 4/quarters and press. I don't love our LBs in coverage, though.

If he's a monster this year, Lightfoot changes all of this.
 
ShadowSpring said:
Ironmanfootball said:
Thornton isn't a man to man guy like Scott could handle, but he's the best tackler out of himself, Fitzgerald and Poyser.

If Fitzgerald is deep over the field side Thornton might need to play more as a flat defender and let the CB take deep 1/3, Fitzgerald Apex/#2 and Poyser to the boundary close to the box.

ZP's tackling fell apart when he had to defend a 2-way-go, was better in the box closer to LOS.

I expect Hetherman to push the 3 around based on D/D, personnel, situation.
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FYI Ahmmon was saying in the pod he thinks Thornton is a lot better in coverage than people may think. Better than Jakobe. Compared to Keionte I doubt it.
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I watched 3-4 of OTs games in All-22.

I wasn’t high on Thomas after watching nearly every Miami game on A22.

OTs a little stiffer than ZP, I do like him more than JT but Bryce F is next level in coverage and free.

re OT: zone good.
man cov on a slot? Eh. Not 100% sold.

Loved his tape as a hitter though. A+ tracker. A+ tackler as a DB
 
Ironmanfootball said:
I watched 3-4 of OTs games in All-22.

I wasn’t high on Thomas after watching nearly every Miami game on A22.

OTs a little stiffer than ZP, I do like him more than JT but Bryce F is next level in coverage and free.

re OT: zone good.
man cov on a slot? Eh. Not 100% sold.

Loved his tape as a hitter though. A+ tracker. A+ tackler as a DB
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That's what i saw from Thornton in man. Looked late in breaks and change of direction, but again, I saw maybe 5 games. Who knows. I think we have better options if we need to man up in the slot. Fitz is better, plainly, but then that changes other things. KScott isn't walking through that door, so I'd just overall adjust.
 
SpringsCane said:
After listening to the pod, seems like Bryce at Nickel is real. I’m confused as to why we would want our best ball hawking safety closer to the line of scrimmage and our most physical guy further away from the line of scrimmage. Wouldn’t we playing against Bryce’s strength and Omar’s strength ? Not sure if @Memnon has given his take but curious to here it on who fits where
Click to expand...
Maybe he'll play Nickel on early downs and slide over on obvious passing downs. That's not a crazy strategy. He'd still have to tackle better on early downs, but we blitzed the FARK out of the slot position last season.
 
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