DRC: UNT-Houston depth chart

[Brett Vito]

 

[Cougar King]

Our starting lineup should also be out soon. I'm looking forward to seeing the true freshman we have starting at DT finally make his debut. Lots of hype around this kid.

[MrStrange18]

Still havent made a decision at QB.  Come on Seth

[MeanGreenTexan]

Nixon moved from a "JACK" to "WILL".
We seem to be running a true 3-3-5 now, with no "JACK" LB to act as a pass rusher.   
The blitzes are going to be where the pressure comes from... because our edges are not getting the job done, and Novil is being double/triple-teamed EVERY. SINGLE. DOWN.  

Edited September 22, 2020 by MeanGreenTexan

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

I’m doubting we see KD on the field this week. Probably Tyreke as well

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

10 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Nixon moved from a "JACK" to "WILL".
We seem to be running a true 3-3-5 now, with no "JACK" LB to act as a pass rusher.   
The blitzes are going to be where the pressure comes from... because our edges are not getting the job done, and Novil is being double/triple-teamed EVERY. SINGLE. DOWN.  

It’s getting to a point like last year when Hamilton was not really bringing a lot of pressure because of the double teams. A 4 man front is needed so bad

[Harry]

Interesting to see Bean listed as the "or" starter.  Argument could be made that Aune earned it.

[UNTLifer]

17 minutes ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

A 4 man front is needed so bad

This

[MeanGreenTexan]

30 minutes ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

It’s getting to a point like last year when Hamilton was not really bringing a lot of pressure because of the double teams. A 4 man front is needed so bad

It's the age-old chicken/egg argument I suppose.   Taking a man out of the secondary to put another hand on the line leaves a gap in coverage in these times of wide-open, pass-happy, quick-tempo offenses.   

Likewise, the DL, as it is, obviously isn't getting any pressure, despite having a 1st team All-conference, stud DT, which is hard to find these days.   Put another hand on the ground in a 4-3, and then these 01, 10 & 11-personnel sets will have tons of mismatches drawn up for our secondary if the pressure isn't there.

Either way, you're leaving a hole/mismatch to be exploited.   With as poorly as our secondary has been playing, do we really want to spread them out even more?

All that said,  I feel like our DL may be a slightly stronger unit than our secondary (simply because of Novil), so if we could get a DL of McCrae-LeBlanc-Novil-Frow, we would be helping our strength (Novil) get extra pressure more than keeping that extra Nickel ("Hawk") guy in for coverage help.

TL/DR:  I agree.

[H-towngreen]

If you have 2 quarterbacks then you really have none

[BillySee58]

10 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

It's the age-old chicken/egg argument I suppose.   Taking a man out of the secondary to put another hand on the line leaves a gap in coverage in these times of wide-open, pass-happy, quick-tempo offenses.   

Likewise, the DL, as it is, obviously isn't getting any pressure, despite having a 1st team All-conference, stud DT, which is hard to find these days.   Put another hand on the ground in a 4-3, and then these 01, 10 & 11-personnel sets will have tons of mismatches drawn up for our secondary if the pressure isn't there.

Either way, you're leaving a hole/mismatch to be exploited.   With as poorly as our secondary has been playing, do we really want to spread them out even more?

All that said,  I feel like our DL may be a slightly stronger unit than our secondary (simply because of Novil), so if we could get a DL of McCrae-LeBlanc-Novil-Frow, we would be helping our strength (Novil) get extra pressure more than keeping that extra Nickel ("Hawk") guy in for coverage help.

TL/DR:  I agree.

Maybe a 4-2-5 could be a good base, especially on 1st and 2nd downs. Keep that extra DB but hopefully make life harder on opposing o-lines.

Another thought is taking recruiting a true JACK more seriously, which is easier said than done. Not a lot of EDGE defenders in high school who have that experience. Since Littrell has been here, he really hasn’t recruited a JACK since Wheeler and Hamilton (originally recruited to play there) back in 2016. The other guys who played the position were Ejiya sliding over when Wheeler was injured, then Ozougwu (Mccarney grayshirt) and Jamie King (former Walkon) and now Wood and Nixon who are second-level LBs. This almost leads me to believe we wanted to transition to more of a stack look than when Littrell first got here.

Was hoping Jacobi Johnson could be this EDGE/JACK but looks like he’ll need some time. But having more of a true JACK with some size and length who could put some pressure on tackles in the run game and pass game would be great. Unfortunately, much like good d-linemen, players with those type of frames/skillsets get swarmed by P5s, as we saw with Jayden Jones. 

[GreenGang45]

1 hour ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

I’m doubting we see KD on the field this week. Probably Tyreke as well

I agree, Neither will play this weekend 

[MeanGreenTexan]

43 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

Maybe a 4-2-5 could be a good base, especially on 1st and 2nd downs. Keep that extra DB but hopefully make life harder on opposing o-lines.

Another thought is taking recruiting a true JACK more seriously, which is easier said than done. Not a lot of EDGE defenders in high school who have that experience. Since Littrell has been here, he really hasn’t recruited a JACK since Wheeler and Hamilton (originally recruited to play there) back in 2016. The other guys who played the position were Ejiya sliding over when Wheeler was injured, then Ozougwu (Mccarney grayshirt) and Jamie King (former Walkon) and now Wood and Nixon who are second-level LBs. This almost leads me to believe we wanted to transition to more of a stack look than when Littrell first got here.

Was hoping Jacobi Johnson could be this EDGE/JACK but looks like he’ll need some time. But having more of a true JACK with some size and length who could put some pressure on tackles in the run game and pass game would be great. Unfortunately, much like good d-linemen, players with those type of frames/skillsets get swarmed by P5s, as we saw with Jayden Jones. 

I thought about that...  Gary Patterson's defense.   

Man, that would put a ton of pressure on the DL to stay strong in their gaps otherwise the 2 LBs would be in serious trouble in the run game.

Honestly, I would say we have the personnel to run that system better than what we're doing now though.  KD and Tyreke are pretty quick sideline-to-sideline, and we'd still have that "Hawk" to help in the run game.

[BillySee58]

Just now, MeanGreenTexan said:

I thought about that...  Gary Patterson's defense.   

Man, that would put a ton of pressure on the DL to stay strong in their gaps otherwise the 2 LBs would be in serious trouble in the run game.

Honestly, I would say we have the personnel to run that system better than what we're doing now though.  KD and Tyreke are pretty quick sideline-to-sideline, and we'd still have that "Hawk" to help in the run game.

The LBs have been in serious trouble in the run game. 3-3-5 with a JACK or stack the last two years have not been able to keep our LBs clean. A large amount of tackles Saturday Howell and Wood were making while fighting off blocks.

[greeneagle1]

I would love to see the Murphy Twins go at it. 

[97and03]

Am I incorrect or are there 4 walk-ons in the defensive two-deep??

[MeanGreenTexan]

5 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

The LBs have been in serious trouble in the run game. 3-3-5 with a JACK or stack the last two years have not been able to keep our LBs clean. A large amount of tackles Saturday Howell and Wood were making while fighting off blocks.

True.  I would think simply having Novil at the Nose would keep him commanding the G/C doubleteam, which would keep the LBs clean outside of a TE engaging them... and that would certainly be easier to get around than a free OL.

I don't know what changing the defense mid-season would entail though.   I was honestly a little surprised Bowen stuck with Reff's base.

[UNT_FH_FR_YR]

Alex Morris no longer on the chart?

[edcollopy]

alex will be back in 2 weeks.

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

2 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

It's the age-old chicken/egg argument I suppose.   Taking a man out of the secondary to put another hand on the line leaves a gap in coverage in these times of wide-open, pass-happy, quick-tempo offenses.   

Likewise, the DL, as it is, obviously isn't getting any pressure, despite having a 1st team All-conference, stud DT, which is hard to find these days.   Put another hand on the ground in a 4-3, and then these 01, 10 & 11-personnel sets will have tons of mismatches drawn up for our secondary if the pressure isn't there.

Either way, you're leaving a hole/mismatch to be exploited.   With as poorly as our secondary has been playing, do we really want to spread them out even more?

All that said,  I feel like our DL may be a slightly stronger unit than our secondary (simply because of Novil), so if we could get a DL of McCrae-LeBlanc-Novil-Frow, we would be helping our strength (Novil) get extra pressure more than keeping that extra Nickel ("Hawk") guy in for coverage help.

TL/DR:  I agree.

I understand that for sure, but that would also mean we need to recruit faster corners and safeties because Cam and Maykle looked SLOW! Kemon and Nate really held it up, and it’s clear we got lucky with them. Know Gaddie will be good but he’s so young

[Wag Tag]

Why does the D have to be predictable? Come out with a 4 man front that would make it harder to 2 team Norvil . We are wasting his talent by not moving him around. The only time you can be predictable is when you can dominate! Would also like to see Shorter in motion more, even in the slot. GMG

[Ken14]

But on an upbeat note.... look at the Freshmen & Sophomores we have....I know things look crappy now but we DO have something to look foreword to.

[untjim1995]

9 hours ago, Cougar King said:

Our starting lineup should also be out soon. I'm looking forward to seeing the true freshman we have starting at DT finally make his debut. Lots of hype around this kid.

I’m sure he will enjoy playing fullback on Saturday in our backfield...