New Article Blasting our 2012 defense personnel

[BeastMan]

http://3rdand57.com/why-msus-defense-will-be-better/#more-1857

Coach has said it. I've said it. I finally wrote it out. It comes off as kinda negative byt its meant to be encouraging moving forward

[maroonmania]

Good article. Helps reemphasize that everyone on defense has a role and just because a guy fits in your defense and is effective at one position doesn't automatically mean you can place him at a different position and still expect everything to work cohesively like it should.

[Coach34]

very good breakdown

and Cherry has already been cut btw

[State82]

Excellent job. Makes me feel better about the upcoming season. It all makes sense when you lay it out like that.

[drunkernhelldawg]

Great job.

[SignalToNoise]

Between what you listed and the (hopefully) the different schemes Collins will install I am feeling better about the defense.

[Gen. Grant]

This is a huge sigh of relief! I had no idea some of those guys were hindered that bad by being out of place. I'm very optimistic about our D now. I feel like we need to concentrate in stopping fast no-huddle Os. Two of our winnable games rely heavily on those type of schemes.

[BeastMan]

very good breakdown

and Cherry has already been cut btw

Didn't see that yet. Him just making it to camp still shows he wasnt a slouch, just terribly misused by Wilson

[Original48]

Thanks for putting that together.

[CadaverDawg]

Good read. Great points. I'm going to end up changing my prediction if you guys don't stop forcing wool growth.

[messageboardsuperhero]

It really is amazing how unathletic our D-Line was position-by-position. Josh Boyd and Cherrington are both talented nose tackles and can take up space, but we asked them to play DT TOGETHER in a 4-3 scheme and obviously they didn't have the athleticism to consistently get in the backfield, which is what your tackles need to do in a 4-3 scheme. Eulls is quick for a guy who weighs 290 pounds, but there's no reason for him to be at DE. He will be much more disruptive in the middle this year. Although it took him some time to get his feet wet, Autry is a very good DE, but in passing situations he was always getting double teamed because the other three linemen aren't pass rushers at their respective positions. Combine all that with the fact that Wilson rarely blitzed and it's no wonder we put no pressure on QBs last year.

I blame our scheme for last year, and hopefully Collins won't make the same mistakes Wilson did. Just looking at the depth chart and position changes going into this year, Collins does seem to understand our problems and should put our players in better positions to utilize their abilities next year.

[CadaverDawg]

It really is amazing how unathletic our D-Line was position-by-position. Josh Boyd and Cherrington are both talented nose tackles and can take up space, but we asked them to play DT TOGETHER in a 4-3 scheme and obviously they didn't have the athleticism to consistently get in the backfield, which is what your tackles need to do in a 4-3 scheme. Eulls is quick for a guy who weighs 290 pounds, but there's no reason for him to be at DE. He will be much more disruptive in the middle this year. Although it took him some time to get his feet wet, Autry is a very good DE, but in passing situations he was always getting double teamed because the other three linemen aren't pass rushers at their respective positions. Combine all that with the fact that Wilson rarely blitzed and it's no wonder we put no pressure on QBs last year.

I blame our scheme for last year, and hopefully Collins won't make the same mistakes Wilson did. Just looking at the depth chart and position changes going into this year, Collins does seem to understand our problems and should put our players in better positions to utilize their abilities next year.

I agree.

And hopefully our fans don't freak out if we come out playing a lot of zone on D against OSU. I think Coach57 mentioned it the other day, but we are going to have to play some zone against those guys, especially with our young corners. That doesn't mean we won't be more blitz happy against the less air raiding teams we play after that.

[BeastMan]

We had the most unathletic defensive line in the SEC no doubt. Boyd ran a 5.3 at the combine if I remover correctly. What do you think Cheerington ran? Eulls might barely break 5. That's adds up to zero pass rush and no pursuit. It's sickening that Wilson allowed that as the DL coach first

[FlabLoser]

I'm OK with some zone. What I'm not OK with is all zone almost all the time, and waiting for other team's offense to screw up.

[SignalToNoise]

I'm OK with some zone. What I'm not OK with is all zone almost all the time, and waiting for other team's offense to screw up.

The way see it, you have to mix up the coverages. You can't give the QB the same look every time, so mix in zone/blitz with man.

[Coach 57]

Eulls was misused somewhat. Eulls had prototypical 4-5 technique DE traits to fit the 3-4. But this doesn't work with the 0 tech not having more strength & accountability. Then we didn't have or hadn't developed another 4-5 tech to offset. I'm going to let you guys in on a little secret had we HAD those two positions we would've been a top tier defense as we had all the other personnel to fit it. You bump Cam inside along with Mckinney let Skinner be the Sam & Wells be the Will. We then had the DBs to give us time to smash the QB or RB. Autry was too raw to be thrown into a 4-5 tech spot he is a traditional 6 tech/4-3 DE. As is everybody else on the depth cart. But I know what I am talking about. The 3-4 or especially right now in CFB you have to be multiple in your sets from week to week.....ESPECIALLY in THIS conference!


Cherry wasn't a legit SEC DT. And before you lambaste Boyd he should get alot of the credit for Cox blowing up his Jr yr. Boyd absolutely COMMANDED a double and freed up Cox with a single. Boyd was supposed to get his "turn" after Cox left but Virges got disinterested, PJ got in the dog house and everybody else was too young. I feel sorry for Josh he was better last yr than his stats. He had the best hands of all DL and also great footwork but unfortunately it just never came together for him.


Everyone else on you list I absolutely agree with. And you are right our defense will be FAR better this yr. Gonna be fun.

[BeastMan]

Great insight Coach 57

[Political Hack]

even so, Boyd isn't a true 0 but he did a damn fine job filling in so Fletch could dominate the 3 hole. This year we've got true options, which is exciting. Nick can play 0-3. Quay can play 1-3. Eulls can probably play everywhere but the 0 and the 6, along with PJ. I think Autry should be able to play inside/out on the edge, which he couldn't do last year. Also, Jones... as young and raw as he is... can be set free on the outside and told to wreak havoc on 3rd downs. We got a lot of opportunities to rotate our DL and keep people fresh. Great match ups when we can sub in and out. The fast pace offenses like Okie State and Auburn worry me, but outside of that I expect the D to be drastically improved.

I can tell you right now I'll love seeing this line up in 3rd downs.
Nick - 0
Quay/Eulls/PJ - 3
Autry
Jones
Wells
BMac
Skinner
Cox
Will
Nickoe
Hughes

That's lights out up front and will absolutely collapse a pocket in no time with solid fundamentals over the top and elite talent on the outside.

[Coach 57]

Guys I am no young spring chicken. I have seen the great front 7s of our beloved Maroons. The talent on this team in the front 7 rivals ANY to don those helmets. There is truly reason for optimism on defense.

[biscuit]

Nice breakdown

[Political Hack]

Guys I am no young spring chicken. I have seen the great front 7s of our beloved Maroons. The talent on this team in the front 7 rivals ANY to don those helmets. There is truly reason for optimism on defense.

there's no doubt about that. It's just a matter of heather they'll buy in and play. We've got to dominate the inside to free up our DEs and LBs. I've probably said it 100 times, but it all starts with the DTs. They produce and this defense is legit... 2 legit 2 quit. hey hey.

[Coach 57]

Lol....you knocked the dust off of that one Hack.