Question about our defense

[CadaverDawg]

I went back and watched some of our defense against A&M and ole miss last year, and we just looked slow. We looked bulky and physical, but we weren't able to get close enough to anybody to lay a lick. I saw it mentioned in a thread the other day that our 4th quarter performance leads you to believe we are poorly conditioned.

Are we focusing too much on weight training and not doing enough endurance training during the off season?

Are we getting too strong, and therefore losing all of our quickness on D?

The way offenses are flying around out there, it seems like Matt Wells types are going to become more the norm at LB, and that we need less Nickoe Whitley's and more skinny speedsters at Safety and cornerback.

I may be dead wrong on this, but our lack of speed and lack of anything in the 4th quarter has me concerned.

Thoughts?

[ShotgunDawg]

I talked about this the other day in the Balis thread, but since I didn't see any of our players play in high school, its really tough to make a judgement as to whether or not they have lost speed.

I does seem like a smaller speed type defense is the way to go though.

[TheRef]

I can tell you this right now, LP has definitely bulked up more and lost a little bit of speed. I watched him in High School his senior year and many scouts were saying he might have been the fastest they have seen in their lives but definitely the fastest in the state that year.

[engie]

I don't think you can take much from last year. Our personnel usage was just terrible.

Of course we are going to look "big and slow" when Lawrence and Skinner are on the field together with Wells on the sideline -- Whitley at FS limping around -- and essentially 3 DTs starting up front with Eulls playing DE.

Last year, less than half the whole defense that could run with spread playmakers. That was Broom/Hughes, Slay, Banks, and McKinney. Being "slow" at both end linebacker positions -- and at one DE spot -- was basically murder to us overall. Good teams would block our DBs and it was free running to the sidelines.

We're much, much better sideline to sideline this year. Just have to get healthy and experienced...

[Bothrops]

I agree with Cadaver. The lack of speed was a big problem on defense last year. We looked like we were running with snowshoes on against A&M. It's still a problem but not quite as big of one.

[ShotgunDawg]

I can't say I've seen a lack of speed thus far this year. LSU is the only team that has lit up our defense and that was more due to them having an NFL QB(That played well) and NFL WRs that beat us in air and with their ball skills. We actually never got beat deep by LSU.

[msstate7]

I can tell you this right now, LP has definitely bulked up more and lost a little bit of speed. I watched him in High School his senior year and many scouts were saying he might have been the fastest they have seen in their lives but definitely the fastest in the state that year.

And he still goes down with arm tackles. Only difference is it's easier to get your arms on him bc he's lost speed. We jacked up a tremendous weapon. He's still really good, but not the homerun threat he once was IMO

[mic]

the days off the big hitting SS and FS are gone with the new rules in play.. I want SS and FS that are basically CB's..
Fast and faster and can cover.. Nickoe isn't these..

[Political Hack]

we had a lack of speed on the DL and Skinner playing in space was just stupid. he's a north south guy, not an east west guy. Autry didn't know which way to run so it didn't matter how fast he was. Nickoe hopped as fast as he could.

Banks, Slay, etc... had plenty of speed.

[Jack Lambert]

If we had Slay and Banks we would only have one loss. I don't think they would have helped us with Ok St. We would have beaten LSU and Auburn.

[CJDAWG85]

We looked like we were running with snowshoes on against A&M.

We were in honor of the Snow Bowl.

[Political Hack]

If we had Slay and Banks we would only have one loss. I don't think they would have helped us with Ok St. We would have beaten LSU and Auburn.

I think we still lose to LSU.

if we hadn't played OSU, we would've won our opener and against Auburn. we lost two starters for the year in that game and our QB.

[smootness]

Perkins hasn't lost speed. He was never a true home-run threat because his top-end speed was lower than it seemed due to his very quick acceleration.

He has always accelerated to top speed quickly but never had that 'extra gear' that true burners have.

He has gotten bigger (and I think it has helped him avoid being brought down by arm tackles); but we just don't use him well. We use him like Emmitt Smith when he's much more Darren Sproles. That is why he's not having the kind of success he has in the past. It isn't because he's slower than he used to be.

And Whitley actually lost weight coming into this year for this exact reason, but he's just not the same guy he used to be; he's lost his explosiveness due to injury, not bulk. It seems clear to me that Balis understands that some guys need extra weight and others don't.

[Jack Lambert]

I think we still lose to LSU.

if we hadn't played OSU, we would've won our opener and against Auburn. we lost two starters for the year in that game and our QB.

The reason why I said we would beat LSU is because our yount CB covered them very well they just didn't have the experience when to turn or jump to beat the WR to the ball. But then again take back two miss tackles for long TD runs we still might have won. Other events in the 4th quarter may not have happened.

[bluelightstar]

I think we still lose to LSU.

if we hadn't played OSU, we would've won our opener and against Auburn. we lost two starters for the year in that game and our QB.

Injuries can happen in any game. Hughes was lost in the first half (and so probably would've been playing at that time against a nobody team). Better argument on Russell because that was late in the 3rd (I believe).

[CadaverDawg]

Perkins hasn't lost speed. He was never a true home-run threat because his top-end speed was lower than it seemed due to his very quick acceleration.

He has always accelerated to top speed quickly but never had that 'extra gear' that true burners have.

He has gotten bigger (and I think it has helped him avoid being brought down by arm tackles); but we just don't use him well. We use him like Emmitt Smith when he's much more Darren Sproles. That is why he's not having the kind of success he has in the past. It isn't because he's slower than he used to be.

And Whitley actually lost weight coming into this year for this exact reason, but he's just not the same guy he used to be; he's lost his explosiveness due to injury, not bulk. It seems clear to me that Balis understands that some guys need extra weight and others don't.

I disagree BIG TIME about Perk not losing speed. Go look at some footage from his first season when he was 175 lbs....he was lightning. Now he is not only being used wrong like you said, but now when we use him right on occasion he is not fast enough to break it open. Perk is his best as a 175 LB pass catcher and 3rd down back....not a 205 lb every down back. It makes me sick the way we have failed to take advantage of him as a weapon. Josh Robinson should be our Vick Ballard and Perk should be the Perk of the Ballard days. We used him perfectly back then. Sad to think about

[smootness]

I agree that we used him correctly then and now don't, but I still don't think he has lost speed. He just doesn't see open space like he used to. He is still very quick when he does get into open space, but most of the time, he's trying to simply squeeze himself through gaps in the line, and his biggest plays are those in which he can find a little hole and get himself 10 or 12 yards before the defense collapses around him.

The big plays we remember from the Ballard days were basically all screen passes from our last 2 games his freshman year (which he still runs well), but they caught the defense off-guard, and our WRs blocked very well. Perkins was able to accelerate quickly and bust through before any holes closed, but he had a lot of open space on those runs. I remember plenty of fans talking about the fact that Perkins didn't have the top-end speed they thought he did because he was run down on a couple of them before he got to the endzone.

His yards per carry his freshman year, in a limited role, was 5.6. Then 4.9, 5.0, and 5.0 this year. His yards per catch was 27.4 his freshman year (with those huge screens), then 4.5, 8.4, and 9.6 this year. He has a catch of 32 yards this year, longer than anything he caught his sophomore or junior years, and the longest run of his career came last year.

Does everyone forget the play he made last year against Auburn, where he burned everyone around the edge and somehow got himself into the endzone? He still has that quickness, he just doesn't get as much opportunity to showcase it. But he's always been more quick than purely fast.