BillySee58

You still play 2 defensive tackles in a 3-man front though. One’s a nose and one’s a 3-Tech that is called an end. That’s basically what the situation was in our 4-3 we ran under Skladany.

So, again, coaching issue. Not on the players dictate identity. I don’t completely disagree, but also at the beginning of that App State game it didn’t look like a huge talent disparity. They weren’t doing whatever they wanted to us. We were stopping them and it didn’t look like luck or unforced errors. Then the long runs started where we just looked completely out of position. There was just no one in position to make a play on the second level and it looked like there were no third level defenders at all. You miss tackles, you get juked out, you get manhandled, that’s definitely a talent issue. And there was some of that. But all season it just looked like we were continually out of position, with no one able to provide resistance. I agree you can’t look at the team and say our starters are better. But our recruits certainly were and the coaches need to make sure it starts looking like they’re at least on equal footing against CUSA foes.

Again, then why didn’t we go out and get more transfer help this past offseason? Why were the ones we did get in here largely ineffective? We’re bringing in a bunch of guys who P5 coaches thought could play at the P5 level, and our defense is playing at an FCS level. Sounds like a development issue to me. Coaches don’t get to just sit there and say “welp, none of my guys can play. Not my fault we’re the 3rd worst defense in the nation.”

Oh it is definitely player related to a degree as well. But my point is when the on-field issue is player related, there are still reasons to point the finger at the coaching staff. I’ll try not to be nice and not name names, but we had multiple guys who were starters in 2019, performed at very subpar levels that year, and were still starters in 2020, once again performing at subpar levels all the way through this last Bowl Game. Why were these guys not replaced by the younger, potentially more talented players? If the answer is “those guys weren’t ready or better,” then why didn’t we go out and get guys who were ready and better this offseason when we knew those would be our starters again? Or why weren’t we better developing the young guys to step up and take those spots? We also have a lot of guys who were very highly recruited out of high school. I get that being highly recruited out of high school doesn’t mean you’re going to have a successful college career, but we have a lot of players in each position group to choose from who had big offer lists out of high school, yet our defense looks like an FCS defense. By my count we had 6 guys in our secondary this season who had offers from P5 schools when we got them. We can’t get 2 or 3 of those guys to be solid G5 players? Seems like a development issue or putting players in poor position to succeed.

This is huge. He has a legitimate chance to win the starting job now.

It’s going to be frustrating watching guys commit to other schools, but there could be some good options left without a home after a lot of the dust settles. Get guys you think can help and will be here for spring, but make sure you’re in position to benefit when solid guys who maybe wouldn’t have previously considered you are forced to listen. Teams still only allowed 25 spots per class.

He is definitely embracing it more than he did early on. We had essentially 3 P5 transfers playing on defense (one by way of JUCO in Mccrae), plus we’re bringing in another in Logan Wilson coming in at DB. Offensively we brought in Gilmore at QB and Jacob Farrell who just started at LT as soon as he became eligible, which implies he’s our guy there going forward. Plus, most of our skill guys offensively had P5 offers, which that’s essentially the caliber transfer we’re looking at. Guys who chose one of their 2-4 P5 offers but it didn’t work out, so I don’t think the “not enough transfers” thing is all that big an issue. Development, like you said, is the issue here.

I think JayD’s implying he doesn’t buy those listings. Which is fine, but I think they’re big enough with an offseason and more practice in that role. Joshua Wheeler played that role pretty well in 16 and 17 and he was listed at 6’3” 229 lbs. Ozougwu and King were similar sized on the 2018 defense which was really good. The issues lie elsewhere IMO.

We added a former P5 DE in Mccrae and two P5 DBs in John Davis and Jordan Rucker (opted out a few games in). We can add three more P5 transfers to the defense but if that’s all the coaches can get out of them, it’s not going to make a difference. We have signed talent, make it work.

I keep thinking back to the 2013 defensive tackles. We had Richard Abbe at the 1-tech using his size to keep the linemen off of Orr and Akunne, and then converted DE Ryan Boutwell at the 3-tech using his quickness and strength to not allow linemen to have clean blocks and releases to the second level. A size/quickness combo like that would be great. We had decent size this year at the 3-tech, but weren’t quick enough off the ball to muck things up for OL.

Littrell said in a recent presser that they basically know who will be coming back and who will be leaving from the senior class already. Tyreke Davis has said publicly that he is coming back but no clue who else. Offensively the only position I think we really need to look at is QB. Someone who can run the whole skeleton. With Bean it was limited what routes we ran and with Aune he had the ability but, because of his inaccuracy, they couldn’t always trust him. We have so many guys defensively who had the offer lists and film out of high school, but we aren’t developing or putting them in position to be successful. Add some guys to help out, but ultimately it falls on the coaches because they have the horses to at least be average defensively.

We’re obviously going to look to the transfer market to shore things up, so where does the help really need to be? First of all, I think we’re going to see a 3-3-5 where we have 3 traditional d-linemen and a Jack LB. One of our defensive end signees, Chris Wright, was classified as a linebacker so that tells me they see him fitting into that Jack LB spot when he gets here, so I think that’s what we see. As for who can play, on the d-line, if Novil leaves we have a lot of options but not a lot of proven play. The young guys should be improved but I think we need at least one, maybe two guys who can fill one of these three spots. I would trust the Murphy twins at the Jack spot, even though they aren’t perfect they have pass rush skills and should be improved in the run game with an offseason. At LB, with two traditional second level linebackers, we have two in KD Davis and Tyreke Davis who can play but just haven’t proven to be impact players (a common theme throughout our entire defense). Jordan Brown did not play well yesterday but he had made some splash plays and shown ability as a true freshman, and Nixon should be at least a solid backup. We have some okay options but no one who is a clear plus player, although hopefully KD Davis gets there since it looked like he was heading there. Then in the secondary we had so many bodies and actually had some decent performances against the pass the last three games. I feel really good in Upton Stout, and feel like he can make an impact either at outside corner or in that slot corner/safety spot Cam Johnson played. I also think Gaddie can play, and we have a lot of candidates after that. Between Jordan Rucker (Purdue), John Davis (Texas Tech), and Logan Wilson (K-State) we have a lot of P5 transfer talent already here. Overall we need to look for help at all levels but I’d look hard for: - a good 3-tech DE who is built sort of like Pickett and Rausaw (6’3” 275) but has quickness and experience. Let them develop behind him. - a traditional DE to compete with Mccrae. I think Mccrae can be good and JUCOs usually take a season to acclimate, but we need another option as an every-down DE. - a linebacker who can push the Davis twins and has more size. Again, they aren’t bad options but we’re looking to take a step forward, not stay the same - a well-rounded safety who we can trust against the run and in coverage. We rely on Makyle Sanders for this and too often it hasn’t panned out. I like Jaxon Gibbs as a strong safety type, and I like Gaddie as a coverage safety, but they would both really benefit from a safety they could each lean on. Otherwise, we have guys who should not be this bad on paper. We need some to step up and be playmakers, but otherwise it’s on the coaches to develop and get them in position. We have signed solid recruits, we have landed transfers, we need to make sure we have our best on the field and get the most out of them. We aren’t right now.

Not sure if Robinson should be in the rotation but he definitely shouldn’t be the last guy off the bench. Brings value on both ends

Mccasland needs to tell Simmons you get two dribbles on your back down, then either go, shoot, or pass. So many times he starts backing down from far out, keeps dribbling, and gets the ball stolen after that second dribble. It’s too slow.

Lewis is only averaging 13 minutes per game and he has basically been our best player in terms of advanced statistics. Maybe he’s not actually our best player, but he’s extremely effective and needs more minutes. Bell and Simmons are proven but they aren’t proven to the point of getting 10+ more minutes per game than him while he’s outperforming them.

James Reese’s 3 pt percentage coming into today was 39.4%, but his 3 pt percentage in each game has either been 20% or lower or 50% or higher. In other words, he’s either extremely hot or extremely cold

This is embarrassing given the opponent but they are playing really well. We are not, defensively. Definitely concerning. Rotations look lost which makes boxing out on jumpers hard when you’re still catching up to the shot. Lewis and Lewis continue to impress

Wouldn’t that lend even more evidence to the line being improved this year though?

What substance is there behind these claims? What evidence is it based on, besides just a theory on how that could have been the case?

Mentioned this in the game thread, but the broadcast didn’t say much about it, but Jacob Farrell started at left tackle for us yesterday due to the NCAA’s new eligibility ruling allowing transfers to be eligible effective immediately. He was previously sitting due to the previous NCAA ruling on FBS transfers needing to sit a season. Looks like this applied to Farrell, and the coaches thought highly enough of him to start him at LT and bump Cole Brown to LG, pushing Anterrious Gray to RG with Mose and C and Brammer at RT, bumping Daizion Carroll out of the starting lineup. So I would expect the line we saw starting the game yesterday to be our line next season. At receiver I expect Bryson Jackson to step into Darden’s spot and make plays right off the bat. He’s dynamic, even if he isn’t Jaelon Darden. Then the Siggers/Adaway duo will do numbers. Offense should be just fine. Sure they were. There was one sack on them where Brown had a miscommunication playing in his new spot, but the other two were coverage sack/extra blitzer and not on the o-line. Bean had all day on a huge chunk of his throws, and the run blocking was getting locked up and not letting a lot of d-line penetration throughout the day.

Thank you!

I’m not seeing the link for it at the moment but will post if/when it shows up

Yes and Wren needs to stop this at his level. The job’s easy when you’re winning and handing out raises, but you don’t get to do that when you’re losing. He needs to be able to do the hard part of his job, as does Seth, or else there’s no accountability or repercussions for showing up and not performing.

Brent, that you?