Buckeneye
I lead, you follow.
I was mulling things over yesterday going back and grading line play from The Game.
This team has lacked a true 'twitchy' edge since Chase went to the NFL. I mean that elite first step, bend-the-corner, type edge rusher. Not that it can't work, there are plenty of ways to get things done. A lot of those defenses under Tressel didn't have one, and yes I'm aware I'm including Big Will (RIP) and Vern. What we have with JT and Sawyer isn't that. Those two are fine players in their own right even though I believe both have room for growth with another year at tOSU.
That said, I'm curious why JT wasn't used in a different way throughout the season to help provide interior pressure when the Bullets were facing obvious passing situations? I say that because, JT's build and playstyle remind me a great deal of Michael Bennett from Seattle. Solid burst, good wingspan, but the biggest attributes were playing with a motor along great hand-feet sync and strike technique. Bennett was also a bit stiff in the hips. He didn't have that elite hip-drop where you could swear he's parallel with the ground like Myles Garrett or TJ Watt are capable of. I see a lot of that mold in J.T.
Seattle, and I believe Tampa? Both coaching staffs responded by kicking him into a more 3 and 4i tech at times to help take advantage of his quickness on guards, his hand usage, strength and motor. I viewed it as the best way to play to strengths and minimizing weaknesses. As a result, the Hawks were really a Dline that got it done across the front. They could pressure the edge and collapse the interior consistently.
I thought this as far back as early as last year. But re-watching The Game only really reaffirms my confusion as to why the currently coaching staff hasn't considered this as a very real and effective approach to solving hit or miss pressures from our 4 man rushes. If this is a "philosophy" or "scheme" thing, then I don't know what to tell the coaches other than that's incredibly stubborn to the detriment of getting the most from your personnel.
I still think Knowles is a quality coach, and he is most certainly an upgrade from what we previously had. That said, it's the game of football, and there are always ways we can find to improve ourselves and our team. Watching the LB play slowly go downhill from mid-season is also a concern. These guys weren't ready for the scUM misdirection game and struggled to adjust the second half. The DL looked tired midway through the 3rd and I'm wondering how much the snap counts from the previous 11 games finally caught up with us.
This team has lacked a true 'twitchy' edge since Chase went to the NFL. I mean that elite first step, bend-the-corner, type edge rusher. Not that it can't work, there are plenty of ways to get things done. A lot of those defenses under Tressel didn't have one, and yes I'm aware I'm including Big Will (RIP) and Vern. What we have with JT and Sawyer isn't that. Those two are fine players in their own right even though I believe both have room for growth with another year at tOSU.
That said, I'm curious why JT wasn't used in a different way throughout the season to help provide interior pressure when the Bullets were facing obvious passing situations? I say that because, JT's build and playstyle remind me a great deal of Michael Bennett from Seattle. Solid burst, good wingspan, but the biggest attributes were playing with a motor along great hand-feet sync and strike technique. Bennett was also a bit stiff in the hips. He didn't have that elite hip-drop where you could swear he's parallel with the ground like Myles Garrett or TJ Watt are capable of. I see a lot of that mold in J.T.
Seattle, and I believe Tampa? Both coaching staffs responded by kicking him into a more 3 and 4i tech at times to help take advantage of his quickness on guards, his hand usage, strength and motor. I viewed it as the best way to play to strengths and minimizing weaknesses. As a result, the Hawks were really a Dline that got it done across the front. They could pressure the edge and collapse the interior consistently.
I thought this as far back as early as last year. But re-watching The Game only really reaffirms my confusion as to why the currently coaching staff hasn't considered this as a very real and effective approach to solving hit or miss pressures from our 4 man rushes. If this is a "philosophy" or "scheme" thing, then I don't know what to tell the coaches other than that's incredibly stubborn to the detriment of getting the most from your personnel.
I still think Knowles is a quality coach, and he is most certainly an upgrade from what we previously had. That said, it's the game of football, and there are always ways we can find to improve ourselves and our team. Watching the LB play slowly go downhill from mid-season is also a concern. These guys weren't ready for the scUM misdirection game and struggled to adjust the second half. The DL looked tired midway through the 3rd and I'm wondering how much the snap counts from the previous 11 games finally caught up with us.
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