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re: How much do we expect the defense to improve...
Posted on 9/29/19 at 4:45 pm to bamatide07
Posted on 9/29/19 at 4:45 pm to bamatide07
Issues on D are layered and multiple.
The DL...Dale/Eboigbe/Barmore - All have good tools and good power but all 3 have an experience issue. When they make "big plays" they have often cheated (guessed) to blow past the guy attempting to block them. If your assignment is 2-gap and you choose one over the other it creates a crease in the front both side-to-side and in depth with uneven penetration. Wider of depth spacing causes one of the other players to have to reach in an effort to cover more space.
Our front requires assignment spacing to stuff the run. Assignment spacing is learned and is not pure athleticism. Barmore has not played as much as his talent suggests he should because the coaches do not trust him to handle his assignment. Dale and Eboigbe have the same issue but it is not as dramatic.
The LB issues...
Lee is a run stuffer. He is not a sideline-to-sideline guy. He is still thinking too much and the only cure for that is experience. Counting on him to cover mistakes by other guys is foolish. He is still attempting to master his assignments. If a guy in front of him guesses at a gap rather than playing 2-gap, Lee cannot trust his cues and is also attempting to fill an additional gap that is not his to fill. All of that adds to his inability to play fast without thinking. Some is his fault but at least as much is the fault of the guys in front of him.
Harris is the Will (sideline-to-sideline guy). He is still learning to scrape. If the Mike is slowed by thinking he changes the scrape path the Will has to take. If the DL in front of him guesses and does not play 2-gap a big OL guy has a clean shot at a young LB that is thinking rather than just reacting. Even if he beats the OL in his face or scrapes a little deeper than he should have to do, he is a step or two late and tries to use speed to make up the distance. He is now a little out of control &/or on a bad angle to where he should be.
Lee and Harris need to master their basic tasks before they can have spying a QB added to their load. The only way we can spy right now is with #15 or #5. Carter is not mentally into his game like he was last year - not sure if he is frustrated by being passed by younger guys or what is up but he needs a neck-up check-up by the coaches. #15 is running the backend, add spying to that and his Defense-QB role will take a hit.
The good news, We have a week off for the coaches to shore up some of the assignment issues and the young players get some extra coached film time to correct errors. Then we get 3 weeks to see what they learned and another week off to expand the correction. If the 1st week off goes well, the coaches can add more of the defensive system back in during the 2nd week off.
Should we make it that far, after the SEC Championship game, the coaches get another mini-camp to get the D package more fully installed with players that by then should have enough experience to take it on.
The DL...Dale/Eboigbe/Barmore - All have good tools and good power but all 3 have an experience issue. When they make "big plays" they have often cheated (guessed) to blow past the guy attempting to block them. If your assignment is 2-gap and you choose one over the other it creates a crease in the front both side-to-side and in depth with uneven penetration. Wider of depth spacing causes one of the other players to have to reach in an effort to cover more space.
Our front requires assignment spacing to stuff the run. Assignment spacing is learned and is not pure athleticism. Barmore has not played as much as his talent suggests he should because the coaches do not trust him to handle his assignment. Dale and Eboigbe have the same issue but it is not as dramatic.
The LB issues...
Lee is a run stuffer. He is not a sideline-to-sideline guy. He is still thinking too much and the only cure for that is experience. Counting on him to cover mistakes by other guys is foolish. He is still attempting to master his assignments. If a guy in front of him guesses at a gap rather than playing 2-gap, Lee cannot trust his cues and is also attempting to fill an additional gap that is not his to fill. All of that adds to his inability to play fast without thinking. Some is his fault but at least as much is the fault of the guys in front of him.
Harris is the Will (sideline-to-sideline guy). He is still learning to scrape. If the Mike is slowed by thinking he changes the scrape path the Will has to take. If the DL in front of him guesses and does not play 2-gap a big OL guy has a clean shot at a young LB that is thinking rather than just reacting. Even if he beats the OL in his face or scrapes a little deeper than he should have to do, he is a step or two late and tries to use speed to make up the distance. He is now a little out of control &/or on a bad angle to where he should be.
Lee and Harris need to master their basic tasks before they can have spying a QB added to their load. The only way we can spy right now is with #15 or #5. Carter is not mentally into his game like he was last year - not sure if he is frustrated by being passed by younger guys or what is up but he needs a neck-up check-up by the coaches. #15 is running the backend, add spying to that and his Defense-QB role will take a hit.
The good news, We have a week off for the coaches to shore up some of the assignment issues and the young players get some extra coached film time to correct errors. Then we get 3 weeks to see what they learned and another week off to expand the correction. If the 1st week off goes well, the coaches can add more of the defensive system back in during the 2nd week off.
Should we make it that far, after the SEC Championship game, the coaches get another mini-camp to get the D package more fully installed with players that by then should have enough experience to take it on.
6
Posted on 9/29/19 at 4:58 pm to Tw1st3d
quote:
Tw1st3d
Post more often... please. 
This post was edited on 9/29/19 at 6:03 pm
Posted on 9/29/19 at 5:03 pm to Tw1st3d
quote:
Tw1st3d
Frickin fantastic post
More of this please. That was great.
Posted on 9/29/19 at 5:43 pm to Tw1st3d
quote:
Tw1st3d
Excellent.
Posted on 9/29/19 at 5:59 pm to BamaGradinTn
quote:
They had a 65 yard drive for a FG in the first quarter. And a 75 yard drive for a TD before the third quarter is even halfway over isnt the f**king "end". What game were you watching?
What game were you watching? They had EIGHT other possessions from the start of the game until that TD drive in the third. One was the short field TD. The other seven? Punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, end of half, punt.
If you're dissatisfied with that defensive effort, you're going to have a very difficult time enjoying modern football.
Posted on 9/29/19 at 6:03 pm to BamaGradinTn
quote:
From his bio:
"ranked as the No. 2 punter in the 247Composite and the No. 3 punter in the position rankings by 247Sports ... a five-star prospect by Chris Sailer Kicking and rated as the No. 2 punter nationally ... ranked third in the nation by Kohl's Kicking ... the No. 6 kicker in the country by ESPN ."
That's a solid eval from more people than Saban.
Yeah, he was very highly sought after. That's the really frustrating thing about kickers. You never know how they're going to react to the really big stage. You see the same thing when college kickers go to the NFL. His name escapes me, but the Auburn guy that was automatic in college and looks like Bulovas in the NFL is a good example.
Posted on 9/29/19 at 6:03 pm to Tw1st3d
One additional point for those on the "DC/LB coach sucks" train. Golding has managed to get two true freshmen to play at a very good level. A level above what you should expect with their lack of experience and the assignment requirements of the Saban defense system. There were two guys most of us viewed as "better" than the ones we got. One is at Tennessee and the other is at Georgia. Based on the impact those other two players have had this year compared to the impact the two we got have had...I like the two we got. They are both playing at a high level mentally.
The level they are playing at is a really good sign for them going forward but also says Golding has done a fantastic job of getting them ready to play week in and week out.
In other words...STFU about Golding. He is helping 6 freshmen grow up on the fly in our complex defensive system. That is amazing work!
The level they are playing at is a really good sign for them going forward but also says Golding has done a fantastic job of getting them ready to play week in and week out.
In other words...STFU about Golding. He is helping 6 freshmen grow up on the fly in our complex defensive system. That is amazing work!
Posted on 9/29/19 at 6:32 pm to Tw1st3d
quote:
The level they are playing at is a really good sign for them going forward but also says Golding has done a fantastic job of getting them ready to play week in and week out.
In other words...STFU about Golding. He is helping 6 freshmen grow up on the fly in our complex defensive system. That is amazing work!
As of today, this Alabama defense is ranked #38 in total defense in the nation. #48 in the country stopping the run. Now, put into context who we've played. Two SEC teams running spread concepts who both will struggle mightily to stay out of their division cellar.
Last year we finished #16 in total defense and it was considered the worse since 2007. Sometime between now and whatever we hope to accomplish at the end of the season it would be wise if Golding can somehow come up with some kind of defensive identity against these better spread teams on our schedule. So far we are getting a lot of conservative, passive stuff that lets freshmen QBs run and throw like a tested veteran. We ain't seen nothing yet.
This post was edited on 9/29/19 at 6:34 pm
Posted on 9/29/19 at 6:34 pm to bamameister
quote:
Last year we finished #16 in total defense and it was considered the worse since 2007.
By whom?
Posted on 9/29/19 at 6:47 pm to Funky Tide 8
Posted on 9/29/19 at 6:50 pm to bamameister
Oh 
I know that they gave up a lot of points and yards in the last two games, but didn't realize that it was that bad on the whole.
I know that they gave up a lot of points and yards in the last two games, but didn't realize that it was that bad on the whole.
Posted on 9/29/19 at 6:53 pm to bamameister
quote:
As of today, this Alabama defense is ranked #38 in total defense in the nation. #48 in the country stopping the run. Now, put into context who we've played. Two SEC teams running spread concepts who both will struggle mightily to stay out of their division cellar.
Four true freshmen in the front seven. They are talented but we should have expected this after Moses went down.
Posted on 9/29/19 at 6:55 pm to Tw1st3d
Well said Twisted. Although I know we have struggles at present I believe as you said we can improve and be off well enough. The offense is firing well and I have faith we are trying our best.
Posted on 9/29/19 at 7:19 pm to RollTide1987
quote:
Four true freshmen in the front seven. They are talented but we should have expected this after Moses went down.
Coach is always talking about playing with toughness. How do you play physical without being aggressive? How can you be aggressive unless the coaches give you the tools on gameday?
I get this funny feeling we are going to have to wait till Lewis is drafted to find out what he looks like in beast mode.
Posted on 9/29/19 at 7:27 pm to Tw1st3d
Posted on 9/29/19 at 8:10 pm to FWBFLlaw
I’m really anxious to see how we look after this bye week because I can’t tell a huge difference between the defense that played Duke and the one yesterday. The growth has been incremental at best and it needs to be quantum leaps. I know it’s asking a lot of these freshmen thrown into the fire but we all know what’s coming. The performance we have gotten so far won’t cut it in November and might not get us out of October unscathed.
Posted on 9/29/19 at 10:41 pm to Tw1st3d
quote:
They are both playing at a high level mentally.
C’mon man
Posted on 9/30/19 at 12:12 am to bamatide07
quote:
Our team looked disinterested and lost at times today. That's unsettling.
That’s what bothered me as well. Though, to be fair, it was freakishly hot. Turf level it was around 119 degrees at kickoff according to James Spann. I wonder if the heat kind of made everyone a bit lackluster?
Posted on 9/30/19 at 7:04 am to TouchdownAlabama
This defense is young and we can all hope they improve. They very well may. I think any improvement we see will be fairly minimal because of the youth and inexperience. I think one question Saban needs to ask himself is; where did we go so wrong that we ended up needing to play so many true freshman? Where are the juniors and sophomores who should be talented AND coached up by now? Is it eval failures? Is it developmental failures? Why aren’t guys like Benton, Ben Davis, Parks, Barmore and Wynn ready to play? Did we not evaluate their talent well or have we not developed them well? No way with our recruiting we should be playing this many new guys unless there have been some serious failures along the way.
The bottom line is this team will live and die with the offense. And maybe, just maybe, this offense is good enough to win every shootout they are in. But it sure would help if this defense can just get to a mediocre level to help. Right now they are painful to watch.
The bottom line is this team will live and die with the offense. And maybe, just maybe, this offense is good enough to win every shootout they are in. But it sure would help if this defense can just get to a mediocre level to help. Right now they are painful to watch.
This post was edited on 9/30/19 at 7:11 am
Posted on 9/30/19 at 7:16 am to BamaGradinTn
quote:
Chris Sailer Kicking
Same guy we've been getting evals from for years. He's had some bad evals.
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