re: Screw Seniority, Play The Best Talent

quote:

---

Then explain Sage Ryan getting snaps over Woodland or Stamps

---

Stamps started and is our #1 corner. Sage didn’t play over him. And Woodland played in some critical times. They obviously love him—most coaches wouldn’t have put a non-Stingley true freshman in that game at all. (But I’ll come back to this, because I do think you have a point.)

quote:

---

Or Penn getting snaps over Weeks.

---

If you’re talking about Whit Weeks like I think you are, he plays a different position than Penn. He plays the same position as Perkins. Unfortunately they have very similar skill sets, so it’s hard to have them both on the field at the same time without giving something up. If they’re the only 2 LBs on the field, teams will run all over us. If we play 3 LBs, we’re taking a DB off the field and becoming even more of a liability in defending the pass. We have a hard enough time defending it with the number of guys we have out there. Take one off the field, and it could be rough.

But, to one of your points, they are 2 of our best playmakers, and Baker has to figure out how to get both of them on the field as much as possible.

quote:

---

1 drive of football is all it would take you to tell who the better football players are.

---

This is where people like you (but I think you’re much closer to having the right idea than them, a lot is just semantics) lose me. “More talented” doesn’t always equal “better.” Woodland, Spears, and Kylin Jackson (for example) are all more talented than the guys in front of them. And Johnson and Toviano are more talented than Burns. They all have higher ceilings. But that doesn’t mean they are currently “better” football players Week 1 of the season, just that they likely will be eventually. When? Who knows? Some will be ready earlier than others. And it doesn’t matter how great they look in camp, the coaches don’t know how they’ll react under the lights in prime time. I takes time to build that trust to prove they are not only more “talented,” but indeed “better.”

But you make a good point about playmakers. BK said this wasn’t gonna be a bend, but don’t break defense. They would be aggressive and create explosive plays (turnovers, TFLs, sacks). A lot of that is by necessity—we just don’t have the horses inside (DT and LB) to just beat teams straight up. We are going to have to take chances. Now, it looks like our DTs aren’t as bad as we thought, and I thought Jones and Swinson played the run very well from the edge. Penn was not good, but were lucky that USC’s OL is not very good and their RBs are average, so they couldn’t really take advantage and run the ball on us like some of the SEC teams we face are likely going to be able to.

So we wound up looking more “bend but don’t break,” but I don’t think that’s gonna be this defense’s identity. We’re gonna have to blitz from different spots, show different looks, and try to confuse OLs and QBs. Gonna have to do some run blitzing on early downs. But that aggressiveness comes with risk. If we don’t get home and either sack the QB or make him rush a bad throw, we’re gonna give up some long plays. Which is fine if 1) we tackle well and don’t let 25 yard completions turn into 50 yard ones, and 2) we force fumbles, make interceptions, and get teams in 3rd and really longs.

But we have to have playmakers to take advantage of those. Like Sage Ryan is simply not a playmaker. He’s usually in decent coverage and around the ball, he just has zero ball skills. Rarely has a PBU, and I don’t think has a single interception his entire career. But the coaches currently trust him to be where he’s supposed to be mostly. However, we need a playmaker there, and I don’t think it will take long before one of the more “talented” younger corners proves to be “better” as well. But they probably weren’t Sunday night.

Im still so butthurt.
seeing freshman and sophomore make plays will be my copium until the ole miss game

quote:

---

Screw Seniority, Play The Best Talent

---

Some narratives never go away.

Too young

Our 4-5 star athletes forget how to play football until they’re juniors

Meanwhile at Bama…..

lol dude talk about Lacy but Lacy ate their lunch in first half and the coaches were too stupid to not get Lacy the ball in the second half. This isn’t a player issue. This is a coach issue. Sloan is in over his head. He is an La Tech level coach.

quote:

---

B/c they've shown that sometimes they'll play a veteran over a freshman star. Case in point last year playing Speights over Whit Weeks who was CLEARLY the better player last year

---

What is the benefit of doing that?

Kelly has also shown that he isn't afraid to play true freshmen, if they are indeed the best players at their positions.

quote:

---

It’s crazy how our young talent takes two to three years minimum to become serviceable on the field unlike the Alabama’s, UGAs, and Ohio St’s of the world. One can only dream

---

I don't think this is necessarily true.

This program is not on the rise.

Oh please, just because he was rated a three star by a bunch of guys who never played a down of college football doesn’t mean shite.

This program is not on the rise.
___________

Neither are you as a poster. Yet here you are.