Such a checkers point of view in a chess match. After 4 years of watching us acquire talent you should know better.
Nice post, now show the 2 deep star ratings and the 3rd string ratings for the first 4 players from the top also include the current class designation and you will begin understand our talent issue or lack there if
No need to recreate the wheel: Talent can be defined as an individual's potential or capacity to excel in a particular domain that requires special skills and training. cognitive, perceptual and motor skills are also important factors to determine talented individuals. Comprehension yes. Instinct? Not so much but a bit. A kid with great instinct who run a 6.5 40 isn’t enough Physical- A 5’ kid who can run fast and throw it a mile may not have enough talent to be a D1 QB (given 6-4 dlinemen). Lots of data defining talent.
Nobody is claiming we are the most talented D. We are literally last in 3rd down D. Near last in punts created. Even if we aren’t top 10 talent in terms of D would you really be willing to swap players with Vandy? Miss St? Georgia Tech? Duke? Oregon State? Or any G5 team? That’s absurd
The fact that Watson starts is all you need to know. In the shape he’s in, he should be getting at most 10 snaps a game.
What’s absurd is the responses to legitimate questions about quality depth wrt to talent level. You must realize my question was going to lead to an astonishing revelation that we are a paper tiger on defense. Would I trade our players isn’t a reasonable question b/c of the disparity in the competition faced. Don’t distract. I’m keenly aware of ingredients being used to make the meal. If memory serves last year you beat the drum loudly about star value leading to potential better upside while recognizing the hit rate wasn’t absolute. We are seeing last years future play out in 2022 This is evident by the sheer number of snaps our front 4 play in a game. Couple this with higher rated players playing out of position and we have an amalgamation of talent that doesn’t fit our needs. We clearly can’t play a 2-9 defense finding ways to manage experience opportunities and produce mediocre results has been a challenge. DBs play a cushion based on their perceived belief in their abilities bigger cushion less speed or recognition whether it’s demanded is irrelevant. We are experiencing fundamental busts in coverage and blitz rules that are elementary. Thinking the staff doesn’t recognize this is folly. Last year I cautioned posters this year could get really ugly but our record wouldn’t be indicative of the overall health of the program. I think we are now living out that reality.
You're speaking of depth... And I wonder what the talent level is on Illinois, averaging 221 yards/game against opponents? Their schedule thus far is rather weak, but they are the top ranked defense in the nation. Florida is ranked 106th. We averaged 407 yards allowed per game -- against South Florida (101st in total offense) and Eastern Washington (FCS). I guess Bret Bielema has more talent in Champagne-Urbana. Or Mullen and staff are the worst talent evaluators EVER. I'm not going to knee-jerk the temptation to say fire Toney. Nor am I going to blame Grantham in absentia. I'm old enough to remember the "Fire Hoke" hysteria every year he was here (and his defenses were All World compared to our current one). All I am saying is that every coach from Napier on down has to be accountable for this. If it continues, Napier will have to fire his defensive staff to save his own skin. The LAST think I want to see is a continuing coaching carousel, sifting through coaches ever 2-3 years until we hit pay dirt.
None of that can explain why we we are dead last compared to P5 and G5 teams. Your argument is legit if we were talking #50 rather than #130
It’s bad for sure, but it’s one defensive stat on many bad defensive stats. On the flip side, nobody mentions that we are 25th in 4th down stops. Lol
You misconstrue my question. It’s not depth it’s overall talent, the first 11 can’t be expected to play every down. So tell me what is the quality of the backup there is a significant drop b/c we are seeing extreme numbers for the dline. How “talented” are the 2s is there a real challenge for playing time in the secondary? V Miller never leaves the field. Our 1s don’t play like 1s wrt to acumen and assignments. I’m going to borrow a phrase that is appropriate given our rankings. “Rated like Tarzan play like Jane” this isn’t a slight on desire, attitude, gatorness, character, etc. It is an observation that players aren’t living up to star ratings after multiple years in college.
The problem with seeking explanation is its multifaceted quality of teams faced Utah, Uk, UT, LSU, mizz, I’ll omit the weak sisters. All those teams were full strength when we played them. Three of them were a direct challenge to our weakness our secondary (Utah, Uk,ut) mizz and LSU were good run teams although LSU was good on throwing the ball they do have an AA in #7. Every team on our schedule wants to lay the wood to us to avenge decades of futility or getting pummeled over the last 30 years. We are other teams circle game outside of an in state rival. The potential defeatist attitude from previous staff, MCB51 should chime in on this effect. (Note this is only defense related). I’m not sure any of us really “know” how effective our staff is at coaching/teaching vs scheming with ready made talent. Have we really raided the premier HS programs for their most talented players under the previous 2 coaches for ready to play top notch talent or did we subsist on lesser program players indicating a talent gap. I could go on you get the idea multifaceted. This isn’t engineering, root cause analysis isn’t necessary to develop a plan to address the issue. BN stated the obvious it’s “talent acquisition” and then development/scheme. The better the talent the better the scheme will look.
I can agree to this. And the reason? Is it? * They were all overrated * They weren't developed * They aren't familiar with the scheme * They aren't coached up Or a combination of the above? I do not know the quality of the backups, but I can assure you that in the SEC, outside of Alabama and Georgia, their 2s and 3s are also similarly talented to ours. And all teams got smacked by the portal, some a lot worse than Florida. Tragically, we aren't in Alabama's or (grrr) Georgia's class right now. We are a middle of the pack team.
You sure every team was at full strength? EVERY team? Utah?, Mizzou? LSU? Good question. But are they less talented than Mizzou or South Florida? I really don't think BN would ever say we have poor talent, especially in public. I think the talent is there, and they are lost. These are growing pains, people. We have to stoically endure this necessity...
I know this is basketball and may get lost on quite a few. The name that comes to mind is Dan Werner. He came after the '04s leaving. He was a stretch 4/perimeter defender type. And he was ridiculed BADLY on the NBN forum, because his skills were not up to our standard. And this was with the exact same coaches the '04s used instead of what we are seeing this season in football. Why do I bring him up? Because the "faithful" did not understand why he was out on the court so much; it was plainly because...he was all we had at that position. If we had a Brewer on the team, he would have been a situational player giving him a break instead of the focus of the "fan's" ire. No one wanted to recognize the hole(s) on the team, just that it "wasn't what we expect and we are not happy." Perspective is tough with this crowd.
I posted this on another thread. No one wants to believe the players take on a persona of their "chosen coach". Dumbo was arrogant, Napier is all business with some compassion. We can't own the fact that too many vets just can't overcome their "devotion" to everything Dumbo and Associates? It doesn't jive with human nature. So, no other new head coach has had to deal with the gyrations of different philosophies and team makeups? Really???
I'm okay with this opinion if we can get a top 3 recruiting class out of it. But if we do get that class look for some schematic changes on the defense. 4-3 base is a must... Without it we cannot be as good as we once were on defense.
