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What is our weakest unit?

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Which is our Weakest Unit

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I know he'd be extremely small for a safety, but I wouldn't mind seeing what Marcus Williamson could do back there. He seemed extremely tough and physical in the spring game.
 
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bukIpower said:
I'm done listening to the youth excuse, the gap alignment excuse, the it's "a lot of small things making big things" excuse and the it's a poor angel issue.
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This is kind of what scares me.

I liken it to judging a flyball in baseball. It's just a natural thing to some and a complete mystery to others. It's an innate talent that can't be coached up if it's missing.

Taking the proper angle to get to a runner is kind of like that in football. If you can't judge an angle to save your life then you just can't play safety. Maybe I'm way off base but it's not something I see more reps solving.
 
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Clear answer is safety. This group is failing at their primary goal and the namesake of the position. They need to be the last line of defense and stop plays of 15-30 yards from becoming the 80+ yard plays we are currently giving up. IF we can address this issue, I think a lot of the problems and complaints we have from our defense go away.

Here is how I rank our units right now as far as weakness:

QB, RB, WR, DL, CB - This group are all solid overall groups and I don't consider them in the conversation for weakest. Flaws of course, but overall I am happy with the results.

TE - I think our TEs are average. I think we are in between periods of more talented players because of limited scholarships this position gets. But the importance of this position is reduced by our depth at WR. As for blocking, see below.

OL, LB - I have concerns about these two units. OL has looked bad for significant portions of the two games they have faced strong defenses. I think we will see them continue to roll against inferior competition, but I hope they gel as a unit before TTUN comes to Columbus. LB play has been spotty at best. Borland shouldn't be on the field against spread teams with speed (at least right now, jury is out on if it is injury related or not). Werner just doesn't impress me overall. I thought Harrison actually played a good game spying McSorely and thought the missed tackles were inevitable when playing against that type of athlete. I also think most of his rushing yards came when there was not a spy but have to go back and rewatch to confirm. The fact that Browning and Booker are not getting that many snaps is very telling and concerning based on the play we are seeing on the field.

ST - I actually think we are trending in the right direction here. Punt and short FGs are a strength. Kickoffs are becoming irrelevant due to the rules. We can't hit midrange or long FGs. My PTSD on our ability to catch punts and cover kicks means this unit will always have a special place in this conversation for me. Maybe one day I won't have to hold my breath, but that day is not today.
 
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Jaxbuck said:
This is kind of what scares me.

I liken it to judging a flyball in baseball. It's just a natural thing to some and a complete mystery to others. It's an innate talent that can't be coached up if it's missing.

Taking the proper angle to get to a runner is kind of like that in football. If you can't judge an angle to save your life then you just can't play safety. Maybe I'm way off base but it's not something I see more reps solving.
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Yeah I definately think some just understand angles like you said... Since I was never the fastest I had to understand angles. Every big play has been with a safety crashing down and then you see the panicked "oh shit" flat footed ordeal.

We keep putting these kids out there in the same position time and time again though. Coaches could minimize the damage by design and they fail to do it
 
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Honestly I personally think the way we cover is a large reason why our linebackers the last two years have had troubles. You can't have TUF Borland spying someone like McSorley. Everyone on the defense has their back turned running down field leaving mismatches athletically against quarterbacks who can run. Right now objective number one is to find any safety that can limit big plays.

You combine a extremely aggressive defensive line and a extremely aggressive secondary and it's no wonder our linebackers have difficulties.

Rewatching the film I thought Warner, Browning, Harrison, and even Tuff had a good game.

Just figure out the safety spot. That would do the most good most quickly
 
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