Film Study DEFENSE review for UGA game

Thanks. Good watch.

Agreed. And Keon is playing really well.

Adding Keenan should really help what we are doing.

We need to throw the whole DL rotation at UGA. Having Latham would have been nice. But we have other guys. Keeley, Faga, Steve. All those dudes need to be ready to bust that UGA oline when they get in the game.

Deboer is going to put those guys on the field. We just need a spark from somebody.

Steve must just have no idea what to do, because he brings a physicality that nobody else on the DL has. You could see it when he got in against ULM.

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Why we keep dropping Russaw into coverage is beyond me.

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Clint Lamb had some thoughts on why Russaw isn't getting as many PR opportunities:

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Combination of factors as to why Russaw isn’t getting enough PR opportunities, some of which include…

1) Pierre is replacing him in a lot of Dime situations (3rd-and-long).

2) Alabama’s matching 12 personnel w/3-4 looks, which means Russaw’s flipping from boundary EDGE to the field (strong side) and replacing the Husky. Pierre is coming in as the weak-side/boundary EDGE. Similar to how the Star and Sam shared similar responsibilities at times in Saban’s defense, the field EDGE has to replace some of the coverage responsibilities for the Husky. Russaw is asked to do it because he’s probably more comfortable dropping than Pierre. It’d be nice if a guy like Justin Hill could work his way into a larger role because he’d be an excellent field/Sam option who can drop while Russaw continues to play the boundary and rush, but based on who’s in the rotation, I’m not surprised that Russaw is the one dropping — although, I agree that they need to figure out how to get him more PR opportunities.

3) When in a base 4-2-5 defense, Overton is the SDE to the field while Russaw is WDE/WOLB. The Husky plays to the same side as the Bandit (field), and handles those coverage responsibilities. If the offense motions a slot WR into the boundary and the Husky doesn’t travel because it’s zone and not man, that can also force Russaw into coverage because he’s essentially replacing the Husky to the boundary side. Not the same defense as Saban’s, but this was an issue when Alabama played A&M back in 2021. If I’m remembering correctly, the Aggies would motion into the boundary and force Will Anderson into coverage. Want to say that was the only time in his career he dropped into coverage double-digit times.

Russaw being the best/most comfortable at dropping, or at least best out of the guys currently playing, puts him in that position. You don’t want a guy who’s not comfortable doing it. And it’s hard to argue against Pierre rushing because he’s had seven pressures and a sack the last two games. Once again, I do think it’d be nice if Wommack could figure out a way to get him more PR opportunities, but understand that scheme can sometimes be limiting.

Sorry for the long-winded explanation.

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But the scary thing is even the Film Guy says Russaw doesn't look comfortable dropping. Also, as you can see on the film, Pierre lines up very, very wide to rush the passer, which takes him longer to get home where as Russaw lines up closer to the end of the LOS and gets there much sooner.

I'm sure Wommack has his reasons for dropping Russaw so much, but it's a weak spot on the defense that a good team is going to eventually exploit for big yardage.

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I remember Ryan Anderson and Dallas Morgan and Will Anderson dropping into coverage. Sometimes it comes with the territory of that particular position

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Chris Braswell put his heart and soul into covering Squirrel White on a wheel route. Still a td but the effort was there

Golding used to drop Will Anderson in coverage all the frickin time. It was infuriating seeing 31 drop at crucial times/downs in games, especially when Golding would dial up one of his infamous delayed safety blitzes where he’d blitz him from the next county over.

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But the scary thing is even the Film Guy says Russaw doesn't look comfortable dropping.

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Yeah we might get away with it against mediocre TE's but that is a losing proposition for us.

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Pierre lines up very, very wide to rush the passer, which takes him longer to get home where as Russaw lines up closer to the end of the LOS and gets there much sooner.

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Yeah it also creates other gap issues inside against teams with power mobile QBs like UGA, Vandy, USCe and AU. You catch Pierre spread wide like that with two ILBs to deal with all the interior gaps and you're handing the other team yardage if they hit you with an RPO look absent bringing safeties into the box which causes its own set of issues.

I don't mind it on 3rd and 15. But on 3rd and 6 you better get your arse back off the RT's shoulder or its an easy conversion.

I mean, how many reads does an interior Dlineman need to make anyway? Should pretty simple to know what gap to line up in. If he can't process that, then get the mlb to tell him. Dlineman is probably the easiest position to play as far as read responsibilities go, and processing on the field. Line that big man up and tell him to attack the damn ball.