Recent Comments
Sorry to spam - but would really like to hear how our Mike backers (AM) performed. If the RB's were ripping off runs, then I assume we're just THAT awesome, or somehow we weren't as sound in our front seven.
So basically if I'm reading all the comments and French's analysis correctly:
VT requires a smaller defensive line because many times they are asked to quickly get to a gap that may be one or two gaps away from where they line up and yet still maintain the leverage on said gap. In order to do this, you need DTs and DE that can get there in a hurry but understand form and hands on an elite level.
I can see how this would potentially mess with blocking scheme since offensive linemen may end up blocking players directly into the gap that they want to get anyway and then have the second level immediately fill to the open gap. It seems really aggressive and I love the concept.
One thing I took away from the whole thing, is that DBs are required to do a lot of run/pass reading which could be problematic if they make the wrong read even for just a split second. And it seems that since the MLB is a run first defender with little to no pass coverage responsibility, that the middle of the field would be open on play action.
Our defensive line will not be blocked by your offensive line. They could not last year, so I have no reason to believe they will this year.
However, I'm sure Urban will have some tricks up his sleeve with misdirection, traps, etc to take advantage of our defensive line's aggressiveness and willingness to get up-field.
"Not sure why TKP staff is so concerned about the OL strategy..."
You've got to be kidding.
|
10 years 11 months
# | "Hokies beat West Virginia to win women's soccer tournament" (Roanoke Times) That girl should be ejected for life.
Moto reminds me of a QB who has happy feet in the pocket, which results in wasted motion and hurts his reaction time. He needs to clean up his decisiveness and getting move north and south quicker than he did last year. I think he can improve these things as he mentally develops his understanding of the defense / gap fits. He also needs to not get trucked by Trey Edmunds or Ezekiel Elliott in the hole when he gets there. We'll see.
I'm sure Jones would bring his own challenges that would cause Foster to tweak what he is doing, but the principle of first stop the run and make your opponent one dimensional will always be central.
How huge was signing Nijman? And then getting him to play OL? Kid has the potential / frame / feet to be a first rounder. I'll be rooting for him, and am looking forward to watching him protecting the blind side.
I see the Teller thing as nothing but a positive. If Osterloh is playing well, that means we have 7 guys who we know have a chance to compete, which is better than most years. I think Wyatt will be just fine.
Seems like Motley is improved? Saw some reports that he is the most natural looking veer QB, which makes sense since he has the ball skills from running a triple option in high school. Sounds like his passing has improved, and he has always had a pretty strong arm.
As it currently sits, no they are not a Keynesian economy. But they have certainly flirted with the notion. Their Peoples Congress recently proposed an increase in deficit spending, which is a hallmark. But they aren't quite there yet. As an aside, I also am not sure I would call the USSR a socialist state. It was an interesting propaganda point that both sides seemed to settle on during the Cold War, but there was little truth to it. Once Stalin took charge it pretty much became the ultimate capitalist state.
As to your second point, I believe the answer there is "A LOT"
I just really want to know how we should feel about the Mike position; I know there was an article analyzing it not too long ago, but looking for a break down of the position and how well AM performed during the scrimmage.
Bud won't adjust his philosophy based on the QB per se, but will adjust if man coverage breaks down. I get that Cardale has a hand cannon, but can he throw with poise under pressure? You guys demolished the opposing DLs in the games Cardale started, so we really don't know how he reacts to pressure/pain. If Dadi and Ekanem make a sandwich in the backfield early on, who knows how Cardale will react. I have no doubt Cardale has the more powerful arm, but can he throw into the face of the rush, knowing his ass is about to be drilled into the turf? We don't know, because we haven't seen it happen. But I will say, one trend with strongarm QBs I've noticed is, if you rattle them, they tend to just throw the hell out of the ball. You might see 12-gauge get sawed off if Foster can consistently apply pressure.
Leg for the reference
DO NOT SEEK THE TREASURE!
More Totalitarian than Kaynesian or Socialist. People own close to nothing and government controls most everything. They create their own currency and can implement stimulus quickly with only a few people making the call, but they are not simply spending from savings earned in the good years. How they respond could have great implications for the IMF decision in the next fee weeks.
I understand some people's concerns over the way Searels is handling the OL, but the way I see it, it makes perfect sense. Imagine he has a checklist of two main objectives: building a cohesive and core first unit, then building depth.
He spent the spring developing the first group and they bonded together. The beginning of summer practices he confirmed his suspicions that they are, in fact, ready to roll as one singular unit. First group: check.
The next part of the summer he has been mixing and matching to build confidence in possible replacements guards & tackles. Before this move did any of us believe Nijman or Osterloh were good enough to be 1's? No, and now that they have worked in with the starters they are confident and ready to go in event of injury.
I believe the rest of closed practices will getting the attitude and cohesion of the first group ready for AN Ohio State University all the while having improved depth for the rest of the season.
Just my $0.02
Its not so much about the blitz itself but disguising the blitz. Bud does arguably the best job disguising his defenses with alignment and personnel. Other times he will flat out give away he is blitzing and dare you to beat his corners.
TEAM PRY
|
10 years 11 months
# | Thoughts after Watching Virginia Tech's Second Open Scrimmage of Fall Camp I think one of the reasons for concern is that the OL, more than any other position, requires a very high level of trust and confidence in the people starting next to you. If you do exactly what you need to do, but your neighbour doesn't, you fail. If you want to be an effective line, everyone needs to do what they are supposed to. If you want to be an outstanding line, you need to know where your teammate is weak and strong and what you might need to do to help him out on any given play, as well as how he is likely to help you. If you have enough practice time with the same group, these tendencies become second nature. I think that is the concern on the TKP staff. If they don't practice together, they can't really know all of that about each other.
Agree with you 100%. A lot of Ohio State fans don't get the math part of football. Your QB getting sacked isn't always a result of bad blocking. Football is a numbers game and on offense you are always down at least one blocker because the QB is taking up a spot. When you give it to the RB you are now down 2 since the QB sure as hell isn't going to block . A lot of the time this numbers mismatch isn't noticeable because the defense will have two safeties playing deep or they will run a particular defense that protects more against the pass. The numbers game becomes a hell of a lot more apparent though when you run something like the Bear and bring the house on every damn play. All of a sudden the outside running lanes are clogged by DE's playing the far edge and the inside is just a mess with defensive lineman occupying every linemen and linebackers shooting through every gap. Then throw in some corners and safeties crashing down and you literally have nowhere to run regardless of your skill on offense. Unfortunately, all Ohio State fans see is bad blocking and not the genius of the scheme. Which is surprising because Urban's whole offensive philosophy is based around this basic math. Why do fans think his scheme is so dependent on the designed QB run? Could it be because it evens out the math and gives the offense an extra blocker lol? Anyway, I hear hear your pain with regard to Ohio State fans not getting it. I've all but given up trying to explain it to some of them.
Aye. OLB is pretty sound (if we even use a Whip but I think we will) but MLB has been a concern. The current guy has not shown his ability to find the bubble and get downhill through it to meet the RB or cut off his angle. He also tends to wait and catch the RB in the hole rather than try and run through him to make the tackle.
Shameless plug for TKP, but our very own Jonathan French did a wonderful writeup on the Gap Fit and how Foster uses it to his advantage. Bud Foster's Gap Defense
Good stuff. Makes me think even more that OSU has a better chance if Cardale Jones starts against you guys. He's got the arm that those guys do.
Rumor seems to be that it will be Barrett and that has me nervous for what Bud can do.
Interesting stuff. Hope my guys are more well prepared than last year. Bud put on a clinic.
lol. Poor guy. Gets 5 responses in about 5 minutes.
I would have to agree, I think the starting 5 are cemented and Searels is developing that depth we need.
I am pleasantly surprised at the level Nijiman and Osterloh are playing at - gives me hope for a solid OL rotation this year. This appears to be the best OL we have had in several years, but game time will tell.