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split from Russell thread- lock down corner discussion

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OilerBuck

OilerBuck

Sweet Crude
gbearbuck said:
I think the dey to this kid is his versatility... I think we are done with safties in this class... is it me, or are we becomming "saftey U"...?
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If we don't pick up some true lockdown corners, we will need to have some good safeties. You can tell they are recruiting more and more of the safety type guys and some will play corner ala Dustin Fox (Who I like, so don't label me a Fox basher).

It just shows how far we are moving from having a team with consistent man coverage. The coaches obviously feel it fits the scheme to have guys that can tackle better and can play an area of the field as opposed to being able to count on your corner 1 on 1 and using your safties to double team, play deep zone exclusively or blitz.
 
It just shows how far we are moving from having a team with consistent man coverage. The coaches obviously feel it fits the scheme to have guys that can tackle better and can play an area of the field as opposed to being able to count on your corner 1 on 1 and using your safties to double team, play deep zone exclusively or blitz.<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
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Oiler - its this very reason that I love lockdown corners - it allows you to play man! This opens up so many options for your team - ie, gives the LBs and safeties the ability to play closer to the line for run support or a blitz package. Playing good man to me allows for swarming/smothering type defenses that are fun to watch. Playing good zone allows for "bend but dont break" type defenses that give up yards but are tougher in the red zone because the zones shrink in size. I think perhaps the lack of a sure lockdown corner since Gamble left has forced us into a more zone type of defense.
 
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OilerBuck and NewYorkBuck: We have one lockdown corner already...Youboty. Besides, you just can't go out and search for "lockdown" corners...you think corners are categorized as "lockdown" corners and "soft coverage" corners? Trust me, any staff will take a corner on the spot if they see that he can blanket his man. It's not like our staff is purposely avoiding such corners. :roll1:
 
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Mili - I agree with you - "lockdown" corner is no like strong and weak safety. By lockdown, I meant corners who can play almost any receiver man. It seems to me that compared to these types of guys, safeties are a dime a dozen. True man corners are indeed rare.
 
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After Youboty things get awful thin at corner, IMO. Will EJ be around and if so will he improve? Will Ginn see some time at corner? Is Jamario going to end up at safety or corner? After that you have Michael Roberts, Shaun Lane and Brandon Underwood. While they may turn out to be good players for us you have to take a wait and see approach with every other corner on the roster other than Youboty. I like the fact the staff is going after Carlos Thomas. Maybe Sledge could get a look at corner as well?
 
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Lock down corners are very rare. Donte W. was the #1 rated cornerback recruit two seasons ago. The staff evaluated him once he was suited up and they decided that he would make a great safety (I think they made the right decision).

Teddy Ballgame again was the #1 cornerback recruit last season. I think the staff made a great decision to move him to WR.

Next season we have Jamaraio coming in. He is at least one of the top corner recruits in the country. I'll trust Tress and the staff on evaluating where he will help the team.

Chris Gamble turned into a lock down corner for us in 2002. He was a WR and was moved to cb out of need. In order to get him on the field, they had to play him man because he didn't know all the defensive schemes.

The past two season, Dustin Fox was our guy. Despite people arguing that he doesn't have the hips or that his rightfule position is safety, he became our most dependable corner since Nate Clements.

My point with this rambling? You cannot recruit a "lock down" corner out of high school. Ashton Y is a fine example. He is developing into one great corner. Key there, developing. Corner is such a tough position that involves such intricate technique and an understanding of not only your position, but the position of the WR. To conclude, I think the staff is doing a great job recruiting the secondary. They are bringing in guy's with tremendous talent and natural abilties and they are teaching them the position that they will excel at.
 
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the thing that some are forgetting is that for the last 2 seasons coming into this one, you couldnt run the ball on osu, which forced more teams into throwing situations and spread attacks. as such, there is an increased emphasis on having safeties with good coverage abilities. With the DL coming back next year, I expect running on osu is going to be a tough task.

while it is nice to be able to put your cb's on an island and run different blitz packages, its also a nice luxury to be able to run different zone schemes to confuse the offense and not have to worry about safeties getting burnt.

A good offensive scheme will figure a way to beat man coverage, and even the best get burnt. having both safeties and cb's that can cover, thereby allowing a defense to utilize several different schemes will only make the defense stronger overall.
 
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I believe Youboty was characterized as a safety as a recruit, and Whitner was unquestionably characterized as a corner. Things change. We cannot predict very accurately who in our recruiting class (or even in our group of redshirts) will be the next "lockdown" corner.
 
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During the 2003 recruiting period, Rivals had AY as a saftey, but the Insiders had him as a corner. Here's his Insiders (now Scout) profile:

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Ht: 6-0 Wt: 178 40: 4.38
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>Position: </TD><TD align=right>CB, WR </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>Projected as: </TD><TD align=right>CB </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Position Rank: </TD><TD vAlign=top align=right>24</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Date of Birth: </TD><TD vAlign=top align=right>7/7/1984</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Class: </TD><TD vAlign=top align=right>2003 Senior</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top><NOBR>High School:</NOBR> </TD><TD vAlign=top align=right>Klein HS
(Klein, TX) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>College: </TD><TD vAlign=top align=right>Ohio State</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE style="BORDER-RIGHT: #c0c0c0 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #c0c0c0 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #c0c0c0 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #c0c0c0 1px solid" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#e3e3e3>Biography:</TD></TR><TR><TD>Ashton Youboty (6-0, 186, 4.38) of Klein, Texas is one of the top defensive backs that I have seen in Texas this year. He is a tremendous cover cornerback, but he can also play either safety. He will be heavily recruited.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
 
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Nice info BB73. That was exactly my point that coaches do not recruit "lockdown corners". It's all a numbers game when recruiting DB's. Only so many pan out, and they hope that they find a true cover guy out of the 4-6 they bring in per year. Remeber JT's recruiting philosophy, it's something like speed, power, power speed. These three traunches cover every position (except QB, punter and place kicker). Look out for S. Lane in the future. I think he will man a corner spot in the future especially if Jamario is evaluated as a safety this Summer. Jamario will be in the defensive backfield in two seasons, mark my word.

Again, if AY continues to develop, he is our boundary guy. I believe he will replace Fox and we will need someone to fill in his other corner role. Jury is still out on Ted Ginn to be moved over. I'm sure the coaches will give him a look during the Spring, but he is such a gamebreaker with the ballinhis hands.

I'll bet that the coaches will give EJ another shot during Spring ball, and if he does not step up, then Lane will be given the nod. This is just my opinion.
 
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Yes, he's young, but he's still going to be a senior. I'm not sure if he was the first player selected in the Spring game. The coaches praised him last Spring and he was named the starter opposite Fox at the start of the year. He did not perform up to expectations and AY got his opportunity when Fox went down with the injury. AY stepped up and EJ went into the doghouse.

Hopefully you are right and he has the "Tressel Senior Year". I hope somebody else is waiting to step up and make him compete for that spot.

Does anyone know why he dropped the #2 halfway through this season and why he went back to his Freshman #29 jersey?
 
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ej's biggest problems on the field appear to be mental. he looks like a good cover corner, but he misses assignments. if they can get that corrected over the spring look for him to start weak side.

in fact, look for him to start unless someone else steps up big. forget about running against us next year and ay is going to eliminate 1 wr per game. now while that does mean the offense is going to be gunning for ej every chance they get. it also means the d is in a position to support him. so ej isn't going to be asked to play lights out coverage.

expect the d to play very aggressive next year.
 
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