I don't want to sound like I'm overreacting to this one game, but Bonner did play pretty bad tonight. Plus it's pretty well known that he's not the best in pass coverage. My question is, would Exum be a good replacement for Bonner? I mean Exum played CB last year so clearly he's pretty good in pass coverage and if I remember correctly, he played safety the year before so he would have experience. I think we all agree that "IF" Exum is 100% when he comes back, then we would want him on the field. But with Jarrett, Kyle and the 2 freshman CB's playing so well, don't see him taking any of their spots. So the one spot he could take would be Bonner's and it just so happens to be that he's not playing that well. Just a suggestion to spark some debate.
Exum replacing Bonner?
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Exum will be put in a role where he can ease back into the flow of the game, and shed the rust. Where that will be, I have no idea. I'd hate for him to have to change positions again.
I almost hate to see Exum only suit up a half season. I would rather he get fully healthy and apply for a medical redshirt, come back next year and light it up but I don't know what impact that extra year would have on his NFL status.
hes not eligible to apply for a medical redshirt
They've been picking on Bonner all season so far.
He's not good in straight up man, and doesn't get much of a jamb at the line. The secondary can cover for him against a team like GT, but spread teams will run people deep and get him overmatched in the slot, or run shallow routes and expose him in single coverage deep (several examples against Marshall.)
Exum is great in man press, something Bud has been asking Bonner to do with bad results.
So YES, Exum for Bonner.
Yeah Bonner didn't look great, but take in to account the competition. You play the run first which opens up the pass for them. I wont judge his coverage on this game.
We've got quite a bit of film on Bonner, to be honest...
Unfortunately, most of his bad plays happened on third and long situations where we knew they were passing.
He just needs to find the ball and turn around. He gets beat initially, then recovers well but doesn't turn for the ball and gives up big plays. This happened a few times against Marshall and a few more times against GT. The PI he had in the end zone would have been an easy INT if he just went for it and made a play. Not sure a rusty Exum should replace him but he definitely needs to (And can) play better going forward.
I would really be interested in seeing Dime Package with these DBs we have, but I don't think it'll happen
no, exum will not be put back at safety.
Let's let French do some film work on Bonner before we call for benching him. He had some less than optimal plays tonight, but I'm sure he had some good plays as well. At any rate, somebody has to grade out lower than everyone else.
I agree. He was really the only weak link last night, but to be fair to him both PI calls were on horribly thrown balls by Lee. The first one (like all of his long completions) was a back-footed underthrown prayer; yes, Bonner should have turned to find the ball, but good lord did Lee miss the mark. The Endzone PI was a floater that I think Bonner assumed was going to get to the receiver quicker than it did...when he arrived to break-up the pass, he almost had to catch himself by draping over the receiver's back.
Let's pump the breaks on benching Bonner right now. I sympathize with everyone wanting to find a home in the secondary for X, but let's let the coaches do what they do best.
Good points- the floater in the EZ and the underthrown bowl deep ball seem to ruined his timing. Just wish he'd locate the ball. WHen he did on the one breakup, he made a great play
I wondered at the time if Bonner had been playing a little softer coverage if he could have jumped the route and intercepted the pass.
Bonner played a fine game, I thought. He did his job in run support. And he had that amazing stop on that one long one thrown by Lee. The PI in the end zone was bad, but the other one was...meh.
Exum needs to play corner, if he's cleared. He's ALL-ACC. (I will be surprised if he's cleared to play though. His knee pretty much exploded back in January.)
He did have that great break-up in the 4th quarter, but he got beat by receivers not necessarily faster than him at least 4 times. I counted. It was either 5 or 6. He's great in zone coverage, but not in man.
Bonner's real issue is not turning around to the ball when he's got tight coverage. That happened twice vs Marshall, he was right with the receiver and all he had to do was turn around and stick an arm up and there's no completion.
All of Gah Techs passes tonight went to there match ups against our safeties. I didn't see any deep balls going toward Kendall or Brandon(edit: out side of the first quarter). They exposed Bonner tonight. These receivers were tall to. Anyone remember the play during the Marshall game when Bonner was pulling on the receivers sleeves, turning his shoulders, and causing him to not be able to set up properly for the receiption. He got away with that one, he was suttle. Not tonight. Nothing suttle about his play tonight. Mowing over receivers, wrapping them up before swatting the ball away.
*subtle. Sorry. I'm a spelling Nazi.
Proverbs 17:9
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"I'm too drunk to taste this chicken."
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EDIT: Thanks Blue Collar Hokie. I was going off memory and clearly left out an important part.
try again
Exum hopes to be back for UNC, right? Will he even see the field if he is able to dress? The way Kyle, Kendall, and Brandon are playing... I'm not sure he does. Teams will pick on Exum if he comes in. He hasn't seen much practice and game action is going to be tough for him after missing so much time. Look at RGIII's struggles so far. Similar injury. As much as I hate to say it, I think the lineup we have might be permanent. Exum might just play a depth role.
Saying Bonner is the weak link in this defense is kind of like saying a small piece of bacon is the worst piece of bacon. Yes it's not the best but damnit it's still bacon
I said this on another thread but I'll repeat it here. I love how our secondary is playing as a whole right now, and Bonner is part of that. Having said that, he's easy to isolate and when he has to cover someone deep, he's going to get burned, and if the pass is short, he doesn't get his head around to locate the ball.
I noticed that we started to play some kind of coverage where a deep ball always seemed to give time for another DB to get there to help him (I think Kendall's int came off of this), but it was helped by the fact that they always had two guys (at least) going deep so another DB was already back there. Combine this with the fact that Vad throws the ball really really high and there was usually enough time for help to arrive. This won't work all the time, so Bonner appears to be a liability in coverage.
If Exum returned to safety, our secondary would be too good for words. But I hate to disturb the team as it stands.
I don't think we played robber coverage, I think it was just that Vad airs it out when he is under pressure. the 40 yard pass was lucky and the second PI was stupid because the receiver stopped running, but bonner has to turn his head to find the ball
Lee was infuriatingly good at getting rid of the ball a split second before he got annihilated. Happily, it meant throwing off his back foot and hanging balls up there forever, which finally bit him on that last play.
Bud Foster proved again last night that he is the best defensive coordinator in the game. Whatever he decides to do I'll agree with 100 percent on principle alone.
One thing to keep in mind though, Bonner is asked to do a lot in Foster's scheme. He gets moved around a ton, he's responsible for making the calls in the secondary, he's responsible for providing great run support, playing man coverage, and playing zone coverage. It is not an easy position. Foster and Gray ask a lot of their free safety, and play so aggressively against the short routes and in run support that the free safety is put in unfavorable positions quite often.
Could Bonner have made more plays then he did? Of course. Is there anyone on the roster who could improve on Bonner's play? I doubt it.
Agreed. I think that because of GTs offense they were able to pick on Bonner a lot more than most teams usually will be able to. Bonner has made some excellent plays this year. He wont have to play that much man coverage with his back to the Quarterback the rest of the year. His coverage actually wasn't that bad. On that second pass interference he kind of got screwed because the ball was underthrown and the receiver had to try and come back to the football causing Bonner to collide with him early.
Quick point on this to: when exum was a safety foster always had someone else call plays, and from coaching interviews it seemed like exum struggled with pre play reads and calls. I think that was one reason they initially moved him to corner. Bonner may not have the man coverage skills, but he is great at calling the defense and does a good job in run support
French on point, as always.
I remember Kam Chancellor getting burned numerous times in college and thinking that he was weak in pass coverage, but that is largely due to the aggressive nature of Bud's scheme. Kam has proved at the NFL level that he's a great football player with a great mind for the game.
I always thought Kam was being used as a free safety because he was the best option there, but I also thought he would have been better as a strong safety. I think that is what he plays now for Seattle, no?
In fact, can anyone recall who the best free safety is that we've had recently, as far as man-coverage is concerned? I seem to recall liking DJ Parker a lot, but I don't remember why.
00:02:49–00:03:03
This is why I liked DJ Parker a lot.
Oh. And this. This is another reason.
00:02:06–00:02:13
Eddie Whitley fan here.
He had a great knack for the ball and for arriving "in bad humor". NFL took notice as well, as I think he at least got a try-out with somebody.
^^That's Mason.
This is definitely true. The FS has to be the most difficult position in Foster's current system. Leaving a FS on an island in the middle of the field is absolutely CRAZY. Think about it, without a side line, the receiver can run in any direction. That's why in most man coverage schemes, you will see a safety with help over the middle.
With that said, Exum could play Foster's most demanding position better than Bonner if he's at the top of his game like the final games of 2012. But, I wouldn't just throw him in there. He'll need to be eased back in, perhaps changing series with Bonner.
And if you are concerned that NFL GMs would downgrade Exum because he is playing safety and not CB, I would disagree. The amount of man coverage Foster is having his FS perform is ridiculously high, essentially making the safety play with CB cover skills. The versatility of Exum being able to run defenses, play tight coverage, and to close in on passes will trump any question to his lack of commanding one position in his collegiate career.
Edit: First two paragraphs were in response to Mason's comment. Last paragraph was a general statement that I've heard before about Exum and projections to the NFL.
I disagree to some degree.
Bonner is asked to do a lot, including making the secondary calls. But we've seen Foster change this around in the past.
I think Facyson is the new FS when Exum comes back FULLY at corner. And Facyson will be an improvement as well.
I will say, the one play that I was most impressed by was when GT tried to run a quick pitch inside the 10. Bonner got cut but recovered fast enough to make an assisted tackle behind the line of scrimmage. That quick pitch was one of the things we often struggled with against them but he blew it up perfectly. Also, 15 yards from penalty is better than 40 yards from the catch. And I honestly agree with the PI in the end zone. Had it been between the two 30 yard lines, it probably wouldn't have been called but as a ref you should be a little pickier in the end zone.
To be honest of you watch both PI Calls the 1 on the end zone he was playing text book D. You are taught to swat at ball with front arm and have your back arm behind receiver to wrap him up if you miss. If you jumps that route and they throw it over his head then he is wrong for playing too aggressive according to most people. The 2nd PI call was just severely under thrown although he should have turned his head out want a terrible breakdown. Better than getting burned for a 50 yard touchdown. I will now I do think he could work on turning his head and locating the ball better. I don't think it was as bad as it seems.
Wow swype combined with a horrible hangover without a proofread equals terrible at making your point.
True but it also gave birth to the unofficial TKP motto: "don't deny my pussy touchdowns"
I've seen that #8 in on a lot of plays this year (no, I'm not watching Greg Boone film), and rarely was I disappointed.
Temper thy expectations on Exum for this year.
So true.
I'm not going to say I'll be surprised if Exum comes back and actually plays better then how great Kendall and Brandon are playing right now... but yeah. I'll be surprised. Those two are both playing lights out.
Exum was the best single cover guy we had on the team last year. But considering how drastically Kyle appears to have improved and how stunning the two freshmen have played, if Exum comes back anything less then 100 percent he could very well be the fourth best cover guy this season.
Bonner is the DB who calls the defenses - I don't know any other player who could do that as well or better than Bonner. I think as fans we tend to make judgments about players based on their performance during their last game. In comparison to the way the other DBs played against GT, yes, Bonner had a "bad" game, but the defenses and alignments he called contributed to a nearly complete smothering of the GT offense. Think about it - we gave up 10 points to a team that was averaging 45 points per game, and we held their vaunted 345 yards per game rushing attack to 129 yards. Hard to mess with success. I don't know what Foster's going to do when Exum is 100%.
Well he is the best corner in the country... And I didn't even know it...