• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

2017 tOSU Defense Discussion

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Bestbuck36 said:
They do a lot of the time but, playing man is taxing and risky. If the DL don't get to the QB then those guys have to cover longer, and we really did just lose 3/4's of the best defensive backfield in the country. It works great when we have the best athletes having their A games but when we dont..... ugh.
A great defense can switch between zone and man and really confuse the offense but it doesnt seem that this defense can do that.
Click to expand...
True but now those back 4 are a strength if you ask me and we know we can go about 5-6 deep at LB if need be too. To me it seems the big hits come in zone coverage and most of the blown coverages happen in zone.

We have an athletic advantage over most of our opponents so IMO we should act like it. Sure in the playoffs it's different but when it counts we should be in man.
 
Upvote 0
Hstead said:
I was addressing the post referring to Harrison being "more athletic" than Booker which by all accounts is not remotely accurate.

I've watched a Harrison very closely. I'm not impressed with him that much. Getting to the ball is key. No one did it like Spiels. I've watched Harrison not get there too.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Harrison is a major liability. Always lost in coverage and looks astonishingly slow. It's amazing to me that someone like Justin Hilliard either hasn't been looked at to switch to the outisde or just doesn't have the ability.
 
Upvote 0
Now that the regular season is over what grade would you give the defense? I'd probably go B-, couldn't go higher than a B. Defensive line was obviously very good, but it wasn't the dominant, best-in-the-country type unit they were advertised to be. The linebackers were flat out not good enough. Corner position was solid overall but erratic. Safety very underwhelming.
 
Upvote 0
Tanner said:
Now that the regular season is over what grade would you give the defense? I'd probably go B-, couldn't go higher than a B. Defensive line was obviously very good, but it wasn't the dominant, best-in-the-country type unit they were advertised to be. The linebackers were flat out not good enough. Corner position was solid overall but erratic. Safety very underwhelming.
Click to expand...
B seems fair. I think the d-line has been great imo. CBs started off rough at Indiana but they've recovered pretty nicely. LB play has been utterly terrible and is responsible for a lot of the defensive woes. Almost every time we've gotten torched through the air it's been by the TE, RBs, or fullbacks. Even still we're a Top 15 unit in the pass which is utterly shocking when you think about it. It's actually kind of shocking that this is a Top 10 defense.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Systems_id said:
B seems fair. I think the d-line has been great imo. CBs started off rough at Indiana but they've recovered pretty nicely. LB play has been utterly terrible and is responsible for a lot of the defensive woes. Almost every time we've gotten torched through the air it's been by the TE, RBs, or fullbacks. Even still we're a Top 15 unit which is utterly shocking when you think about it. It's actually kind of shocking that this is a Top 10 defense.
Click to expand...

I feel this same way. Surprised me all year how there weren't a ton of impact plays - turnover or defensive td's. Just pretty consistent 3-down control defense that got the ball back in the hand of the offense. I'd be interested to see the stats on turnovers compared to the last couple years as well as opponent time of possesion. But, I'm too lazy to really go look them up :shrug:
 
Upvote 0
I'm pretty hard to please as most of you know so I'll go with a B-... D line to me has been disappointing in getting to the QB, the LB's are sort of silly the majority of the time, and the secondary early was struggling.

I'm actually happy with the secondary and where they are now. Sure they started slow but right now Ward, Arnette and especially Sheffield have been great since week 3 which considering what we were replacing has been great to see.

If our LB's just played semi competent football this would be a dominant defense.

Overall we don't generate turnovers, we don't tackle as well, we struggle with backs and tight ends out of the backfield, and considering the talent we don't get after the QB nearly as much as we should.
 
Upvote 0
bukIpower said:
I'm pretty hard to please as most of you know so I'll go with a B-... D line to me has been disappointing in getting to the QB, the LB's are sort of silly the majority of the time, and the secondary early was struggling.

I'm actually happy with the secondary and where they are now. Sure they started slow but right now Ward, Arnette and especially Sheffield have been great since week 3 which considering what we were replacing has been great to see.

If our LB's just played semi competent football this would be a dominant defense.

Overall we don't generate turnovers, we don't tackle as well, we struggle with backs and tight ends out of the backfield, and considering the talent we don't get after the QB nearly as much as we should.
Click to expand...

"Sort of silly" is the best description of the LB play I have seen this year. :slappy:
 
Upvote 0
bukIpower said:
I'm pretty hard to please as most of you know so I'll go with a B-... D line to me has been disappointing in getting to the QB, the LB's are sort of silly the majority of the time, and the secondary early was struggling.

I'm actually happy with the secondary and where they are now. Sure they started slow but right now Ward, Arnette and especially Sheffield have been great since week 3 which considering what we were replacing has been great to see.

If our LB's just played semi competent football this would be a dominant defense.

Overall we don't generate turnovers, we don't tackle as well, we struggle with backs and tight ends out of the backfield, and considering the talent we don't get after the QB nearly as much as we should.
Click to expand...
I agree with everythinh you wrote, but would give them B- verging on C+. This was a team that should have only 1 loss, and possibly be undefeated. Nothing OU did was extraordinary, they schemed to our main weakness, which everyone coming into the season was in agreement should've been a strength(our LBs). How bad the LBs have played is "silly", Baker has 1st round NFL talent. Worley and Booker are uber athletic LBs who should be flying to the ball. I get that Worley maybe isn't the best MLB against the run, but my god he becomes a downright liability at times along with Booker. The secondary was another line of defense many thought would have some but not major drop off, and Sheffield has looked just bad at times, and same with Arnette who goes from brilliant to boneheaded in the span of one play. Ward is the brightest spot on the back of the defense, without him this defense would be absolutely screwed in pass coverage. The D line has looked good to decent at times. I'm sure that its hard trying to be the focal point of the defense the entire time and your back end isn't helping, but I figured more sacks, more QB hurries, more fumbles and more QB/RBs forced into mistakes. Just doesn't seem like a NC caliber defense, IMO. But a solid B1G championship and NY6 bowl winning defense.
 
Upvote 0
pnuts34 said:
I agree with everythinh you wrote, but would give them B- verging on C+. This was a team that should have only 1 loss, and possibly be undefeated. Nothing OU did was extraordinary, they schemed to our main weakness, which everyone coming into the season was in agreement should've been a strength(our LBs). How bad the LBs have played is "silly", Baker has 1st round NFL talent. Worley and Booker are uber athletic LBs who should be flying to the ball. I get that Worley maybe isn't the best MLB against the run, but my god he becomes a downright liability at times along with Booker. The secondary was another line of defense many thought would have some but not major drop off, and Sheffield has looked just bad at times, and same with Arnette who goes from brilliant to boneheaded in the span of one play. Ward is the brightest spot on the back of the defense, without him this defense would be absolutely screwed in pass coverage. The D line has looked good to decent at times. I'm sure that its hard trying to be the focal point of the defense the entire time and your back end isn't helping, but I figured more sacks, more QB hurries, more fumbles and more QB/RBs forced into mistakes. Just doesn't seem like a NC caliber defense, IMO. But a solid B1G championship and NY6 bowl winning defense.
Click to expand...
Great thing is the 2014 wasn't dominant either until this time of the year 3 years ago... Just need to step it up all the way around starting tomorrow at 8pm
 
Upvote 0
bukIpower said:
Great thing is the 2014 wasn't dominant either until this time of the year 3 years ago... Just need to step it up all the way around starting tomorrow at 8pm
Click to expand...
Agreed. I just don't remember the secondary or LBs getting exposed so much. But I probably don't remember those issues because of the ending to the season
 
Upvote 0
DaBuckeyes said:
Agreed. Harrison is a major liability. Always lost in coverage and looks astonishingly slow. It's amazing to me that someone like Justin Hilliard either hasn't been looked at to switch to the outisde or just doesn't have the ability.
Click to expand...

Yes, it's hard to forget how Harrison was wandering around aimlessly in the end zone with his back to the Iowa TE (or maybe RB) who caught a wide-open TD about 5 yards from Harrison.
 
Upvote 0
Seems like middle of the D is the weakpoint starting with LB Corps. DTs and S aren't quite elite but do their jobs. We don't have a true 1tech.
Arnette and Sheffield turned the corner after a very rough start. Ward and the DEs are studs.
I don't know what to expect from Baker and Booker... do think the LBs are better with Borland in the middle letting Worley go back outside. Apparently Coaches are on the same page... Worley, Borland, Baker getting the start tomorrow.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top