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Who's Our Striker?

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CaneDog66 said:
Interesting thought, and I suppose true given McCloud is doubtful going to the NFL until after his Sr season. I wonder though, does he have the mentality to play the Mike position?
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Coaches said in 2016 that McCloud was the more physical of the 3 freshman LBs...kid was the hardest hitter. I think he can settle in nicely to the Mike position for his last season...just like Perryman did.
 
Salt said:
So in other words we are either in 43 or 52 depending whether run or pass situations. What then has changed or how is this any different than what other teams do?

I thought the striker position was a hybrid role that would allow either /or to defend run or pass w/o need of having to change personnel on the fly?
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To be honest the striker is more of a personnel change ... The striker is the LB out of the box. We were in that situation often last year.. this year we are changing personnel better suited being out side the box / cover slot receiver. Offense try and fool with a pass formation to setup a run so the striker has to be able to come down hill and make a tackle also.... If Germain Grace was here there would not be a striker...
 
UknowWhat said:
To be honest the striker is more of a personnel change ... The striker is the LB out of the box. We were in that situation often last year.. this year we are changing personnel better suited being out side the box / cover slot receiver. Offense try and fool with a pass formation to setup a run so the striker has to be able to come down hill and make a tackle also.... If Germain Grace was here there would not be a striker...
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That is what I thought. It basically means having the personnel to line up in nickel most plays and having the flexibility to defend run or pass equally well out of that alignment. And I assume that by LB you can also mean Safety, since it seems that striker role lends itself to a guy that is physical and can still have coverage skills which is more predominant in guys who have played safety. Guys like Hall and Smith come to mind being types that can fit that role. Sean Taylor would have been the quintessential striker as well in my view.
 
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The Franchise said:
I’m not at all worried about our DL/DT talent barring significant injuries. If we continue to let average QBs shred us in the throw game we are going to struggle to be a good D. We got chewed the fck up way too often last year in the throw game.

Come to think of it, I actually like what our DTs can bring from a pass rush perspective better than I liked last year’s group.
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Agreed. We've got a legit 5-6 man DT pool unlike last year so the depth is there for sure. Better still and as was said earlier, each will be playing with a purpose with something to prove. I think production upfront will definitely be improved.
 
UknowWhat said:
To be honest the striker is more of a personnel change ... The striker is the LB out of the box. We were in that situation often last year.. this year we are changing personnel better suited being out side the box / cover slot receiver. Offense try and fool with a pass formation to setup a run so the striker has to be able to come down hill and make a tackle also.... If Germain Grace was here there would not be a striker...
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Of all the 'casualties' over the past few years, that one hurt me the most. Was really high on J Grace and his versatility. You need LBs/Strikers like him in today's CFB world. He would have helped us significantly.
 
gcane44 said:
There have been rumblings since Spring about the addition of the "Striker" role to the defense. We're not running a 4-2-5, but we have hints of it by adapting the 4-3 to include more of a hybrid Nickel/LB in the spot traditionally reserved for the Strong-side linebacker. This is a direct response to our issues in defending the short passing game, particularly when teams would be spread out and result in alignment of the SAM backer out over the slot or in space. The Striker calls for a player who can be more adept to handle what will be thrown at us on 50/50 downs and ideally make us less susceptible to simply scheming to exploit the SAM backer in coverage/space.

As such, the Striker needs to be someone with coverage skills in space, but the size, strength, and tackling ability to take on blockers (inline TE) without getting washed out of position and make tackles in run support.

All of the early talk was that Derrick Smith was likely to be that guy. As a true freshman he got reps towards the latter half of the season as a nickel back for us. This was likely the beginnings of Diaz wanting to implement this sort of response to what teams were doing to us. He had mixed results.

This spring, the talk was that Derrick Smith and Romeo Finley were both getting major reps at the Striker spot. The resulting rhetoric that we heard was that both were competing, with Smith looking stronger in pass coverage and Finley looking stronger in run support. Finley ended Spring at the top of the depth chart at the Striker spot.

Many of us that follow recruiting are familiar with Finley and Smith's skillsets and HS tapes. But, I think it's worth revisiting their tapes because now we're looking at them through a new lens. We're no longer looking to evaluate them solely as safeties, but rather for this new position in our defense.

Both guys have good size and athleticism for the position:

Derrick Smith - 6'2 215
Romeo Finley 6'1 215

So, based on the tape below and what we've seen and heard of these guys during their time at Miami, what do you all think? Who's best suited to get the majority of the reps at this role and how will they perform?

Romeo Finley



Derrick Smith
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gcane44 said:
There have been rumblings since Spring about the addition of the "Striker" role to the defense. We're not running a 4-2-5, but we have hints of it by adapting the 4-3 to include more of a hybrid Nickel/LB in the spot traditionally reserved for the Strong-side linebacker. This is a direct response to our issues in defending the short passing game, particularly when teams would be spread out and result in alignment of the SAM backer out over the slot or in space. The Striker calls for a player who can be more adept to handle what will be thrown at us on 50/50 downs and ideally make us less susceptible to simply scheming to exploit the SAM backer in coverage/space.

As such, the Striker needs to be someone with coverage skills in space, but the size, strength, and tackling ability to take on blockers (inline TE) without getting washed out of position and make tackles in run support.

All of the early talk was that Derrick Smith was likely to be that guy. As a true freshman he got reps towards the latter half of the season as a nickel back for us. This was likely the beginnings of Diaz wanting to implement this sort of response to what teams were doing to us. He had mixed results.

This spring, the talk was that Derrick Smith and Romeo Finley were both getting major reps at the Striker spot. The resulting rhetoric that we heard was that both were competing, with Smith looking stronger in pass coverage and Finley looking stronger in run support. Finley ended Spring at the top of the depth chart at the Striker spot.

Many of us that follow recruiting are familiar with Finley and Smith's skillsets and HS tapes. But, I think it's worth revisiting their tapes because now we're looking at them through a new lens. We're no longer looking to evaluate them solely as safeties, but rather for this new position in our defense.

Both guys have good size and athleticism for the position:

Derrick Smith - 6'2 215
Romeo Finley 6'1 215

So, based on the tape below and what we've seen and heard of these guys during their time at Miami, what do you all think? Who's best suited to get the majority of the reps at this role and how will they perform?

Romeo Finley



Derrick Smith
Click to expand...



Curveball: Jaquan Johnson should play the position. Amazing 1 on 1 tackler, can play man. Just need a solid free safety overtop to replace him.
 
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gcane44 said:
There have been rumblings since Spring about the addition of the "Striker" role to the defense. We're not running a 4-2-5, but we have hints of it by adapting the 4-3 to include more of a hybrid Nickel/LB in the spot traditionally reserved for the Strong-side linebacker. This is a direct response to our issues in defending the short passing game, particularly when teams would be spread out and result in alignment of the SAM backer out over the slot or in space. The Striker calls for a player who can be more adept to handle what will be thrown at us on 50/50 downs and ideally make us less susceptible to simply scheming to exploit the SAM backer in coverage/space.

As such, the Striker needs to be someone with coverage skills in space, but the size, strength, and tackling ability to take on blockers (inline TE) without getting washed out of position and make tackles in run support.

All of the early talk was that Derrick Smith was likely to be that guy. As a true freshman he got reps towards the latter half of the season as a nickel back for us. This was likely the beginnings of Diaz wanting to implement this sort of response to what teams were doing to us. He had mixed results.

This spring, the talk was that Derrick Smith and Romeo Finley were both getting major reps at the Striker spot. The resulting rhetoric that we heard was that both were competing, with Smith looking stronger in pass coverage and Finley looking stronger in run support. Finley ended Spring at the top of the depth chart at the Striker spot.

Many of us that follow recruiting are familiar with Finley and Smith's skillsets and HS tapes. But, I think it's worth revisiting their tapes because now we're looking at them through a new lens. We're no longer looking to evaluate them solely as safeties, but rather for this new position in our defense.

Both guys have good size and athleticism for the position:

Derrick Smith - 6'2 215
Romeo Finley 6'1 215

So, based on the tape below and what we've seen and heard of these guys during their time at Miami, what do you all think? Who's best suited to get the majority of the reps at this role and how will they perform?

Romeo Finley



Derrick Smith
Click to expand...


My vote is for Smith

The striker position makes the defense a 4-2-5
 
kgranger17 said:
Curveball: Jaquan Johnson should play the position. Amazing 1 on 1 tackler, can play man. Just need a solid free safety overtop to replace him.
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The defense would be amazing if we had 3 Jaquan Johnsons on the field (both safety spots and at striker). However, since we don't we're best served keeping him at safety
 
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The striker is position is nice but it doesn't mean **** if we don't line up correctly.

I hope we don't roll a striker out there and just leave the slot uncovered...
 
Cane Dynasty said:
Who's #2?
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Shiiiiiihhh, put Redwine back at free and muddy at the other corner spot. Redwine has started for a couple seasons in a row for a reason.

Idk, tbh, there are millions of cool combos we can come up with. It's a testament to our depth (thank you football gods) . Here's to Manny finding the best combo.
 
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Well we went with the 4-2-5 with Bandy roaming and basically ditched the 4-3. McCloud became a liability on gap assignments.
 
gcane44 said:
I'd like to see what happens with the traditional SAMs. In theory, I'd like for us to use the Striker as part of our base defense (i think it's trending that way), and just have McCloud come in as the SAM for obvious run situations.

If that were to be the case, I'd like to see McCloud train at the other LB spots, as well (particularly Mike). I'm even intrigued by the idea of him competing for the starting Mike spot in the 2019 season after Shaq presumably leaves for the NFL
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Mannys ability to keep Mcloud happy while reworking his role is going to be an important situation to monitor. Hopefully he's willing to buy in and we can keep him around to take over a more traditional LB role next season.

As for the original question, I am most excited about Smith. I loved his high school tape and the small sample size I saw of him last year. But it'll come down to whose built for it physically, who can handle the banging and stay healthy. I watched Sua Cravens take on a similar role in the NFL for the redskins, 1 year later he contemplated quitting football.
 
I think theoretically having a guy like Smith or Finley out there should close down the passing lanes based on their coverage skills and speed. Even if it is marginally better than someone like Mcloud, Qbs who take a second or split second longer to make their decisions and go through their progressions can pay a price as long as our DL does its job.

Now I know what the plan is and what actually happens on the field could be two different things. The players have to execute. But I think the coaches liked what they saw in the Spring so I am optimistic.
 
brock said:
both are good fits but smith is the more versatile player out of the two in terms of ball skills, he’s athletic, can run,hit. I like His potential at free safety more than Finley. Whereas Finley is more of an in the box guy and can see why he excelled there in the spring
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on point analysis here.
 
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