Managing the salary cap

[Bender]

What was the difference between 2017 and 2018? The 2018 defense was better in almost every statistical category yet they won three fewer games. The offense fell off a cliff in 2018.

The 2017 Miami team went undefeated in one score games. If 2021 Miami would have done the same, they would have went 10-2. Also, the 2017 non conference schedule was Toledo and Bethune Cookman. The 2021 non conference schedule has Alabama and Michigan State.

Put TVD on the 2017 team and they’re in the playoffs. Take the best lineman from 2017 and put him on the 2021 team and the defense is a bit better but still bad.

not to mention these 2017 games had a ****load of fluke in them that caught up at the end of the season. so it could have easily taken a turn for the worse

 

[DTP]

not to mention these 2017 games had a ****load of fluke in them that caught up at the end of the season. so it could have easily taken a turn for the worse

Playing a ton of close games can cause wild fluctuations in your record from year to year. It’s why Miami has been anywhere from 10-3 to 6-7 the last five years despite not having a massive difference in talent. That 2017 team wasn’t more talented than any other team, they just won a lot of close games against a weak schedule. They had much better talent on defense than the 2021 team but much less talent on offense so they tend to balance out.

We’ll know our team has made the jump when we’re no longer in fourth quarter battles against Georgia Tech and Virginia. If Miami is going to be a contender, they need to start putting up multi-score victories against mediocre conference opponents. Wins are always better than losses but you’re playing with fire in all these close games.

 

[scrantoncane]

Agreed, especially with a QB talent like TVD. It may sound like hyperbole, but given who we have at QB, I think a WR like Addison would be the difference between a 9 win season and the playoffs next season.

Lol

 

[scrantoncane]

We also had Manny Diaz, that neutralizes TVD & tbh our WR corps outside of Rambo wasn’t that great, but they were good enough. If Lashlee was our HC we probably would’ve won 9 games last year if he were allowed to run the team.

Oregon won 10 games because the Pac-12 is by far the worst P5 conference in college football, they were worse than the MW, AAC & Sun Belt as a conference last year.

They won games off running the ball & good defense, until they had to have an offense that could actually move the ball through the air & then they got completely stifled & looked like a FCS program.

They had a limitation as to how far they could go, they were able to ride that No QB/WR offense until when it really mattered & then they got shellacked by Utah & Oklahoma.

They went on the road and beat a team with arguably the best WR room EVER, and a projected top 2 QB.

 

[scrantoncane]

It's a fact to anyone who WATCHED the same exact teams a month earlier. You know the one where Alabama torched the supposed greatest Defense of all time, and little Stetson couldn't keep up on the scoreboard. Only thing changed was you took two Stud WRs off Alabama's team.

I will GUARANTEE you something D, Miami Will NOT ever win another national title without an elite QB. Again I love elite DL's, but you can be elite all day on DL if you don't have an elite QB it won't matter unless you get extremely lucky like UGA did. It's not 2007 again. If Kirby thinks he can replicate that formula again for a national title he will be sorely mistaken. In fact Saban is licking his chops to get UGA this year and lay half a hundie on them.

Chaison was listed as a LB in college and now in NFL. Still I know you're not hanging your hat on that LSU DL the driving force behind that team.

Alabama has had Elite level DL, but not loaded across the board with first rounders that is a fact.

Clemson is a great example of my point!! I just explained that look at their 2017 and 2018 teams playing Alabama. Same DL both years different QB's. 24-6 loss vs. a 44-16 win.

This year Clemson may have the best DL in America. They are loaded. It won't matter if they don't get much better at QB.

Yes, Georgia was extremely lucky to plow through the SEC undefeated, along with beating Clemson in non-conference play. With a walk-on starting over a 5-star.

Kirby should blow it all up and start from scratch.

 

[DMoney]

What was the difference between 2017 and 2018?

The difference between 2017 and 2018 is that QB play went from average to bad. It was never good. And the 2017 team was much better than what we saw in 2021.

Forget about the record in one-score games. The 2017 team was good enough to blow away ranked teams like Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. The defensive line was a huge factor in those games, especially Notre Dame. The 2021 team had zero chance against any team with a physical front.

The best comparison I can give is the ACC and the SEC. The ACC has had better QB play than the SEC in recent years. But nobody could ever compare the two conferences because the SEC has been bagging up the best defensive linemen since the early 2000s.

That doesn't mean that great QBs don't matter- FSU and Clemson had elite QBs when they won natties. But they wouldn't have had a seat at the table without their blue-chip DL.

 

[gogeta4]

No chance. Saban has evolved as a coach. He knows offense wins you National Titles these days.

Check these quotes:

"
Alabama has always been known for its great defense during the Nick Saban era, but in recent years the Crimson Tide have won national titles because of their offense.

This past season, Alabama had an explosive offense that was led by Najee Harris, Mac Jones and DeVonta Smith. That unit averaged a whopping 48.5 points per game.

During a recent media session, Saban explained why his coaching philosophy changed. He admit that he saw the game changing due to run-pass options and plays of that sort.

"The game is different now, people score fast," Saban said. "I grew up with the idea that you play good defense, you run the ball, you control vertical field position on special teams and you're going to win. Whoever rushes the ball for the most yards is going to win the game. You're not going to win anything now doing that.


"With the way the spread is and the way the rules are that you can block downfield and throw the ball behind the line of scrimmage - those rules have changed college football. No-huddle fastball has changed college football. So I changed my philosophy about five or six years ago, maybe more than that. When Lane [Kiffin] came here, we said we have to outscore them."

Its because his DEFENSE was getting lit up by teams less talented than his.

Will Anderson is their best player going to be going on 2 years.

I think you guys really overhype Bryce Young. I mean even him winning the heisman was ho hum for me. Is 5'11-6'0 180pd Bryce Young moving the needle at Pitt like the GOAT Kenny Pickett?.

 

[gacaneaddict]

Yes, Georgia was extremely lucky to plow through the SEC undefeated, along with beating Clemson in non-conference play. With a walk-on starting over a 5-star.

Kirby should blow it all up and start from scratch.

You got me, such a comedian! I was referring to 1 game, the 1 game UGA couldn't get over the hump against their nemesis Alabama regardless of how well they recruited, and they would've fell short again had Alabama not lost their top 2 WR's as we watched the game play out a month earlier when UGA had no answers with the beat defense in America loaded with NFL talent.

 

[rayray]

The difference between 2017 and 2018 is that QB play went from average to bad. It was never good. And the 2017 team was much better than what we saw in 2021.

Forget about the record in one-score games. The 2017 team was good enough to blow away ranked teams like Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. The defensive line was a huge factor in those games, especially Notre Dame. The 2021 team had zero chance against any team with a physical front.

The best comparison I can give is the ACC and the SEC. The ACC has had better QB play than the SEC in recent years. But nobody could ever compare the two conferences because the SEC has been bagging up the best defensive linemen since the early 2000s.

That doesn't mean that great QBs don't matter- FSU and Clemson had elite QBs when they won natties. But they wouldn't have had a seat at the table without their blue-chip DL.

to me it comes down to this: DL gives you a floor, but QB gives you a ceiling. the 2017 team is a perfect example. our defense, largely driven by the DL, gave us the floor of a top 15 team. we went on a nice run and rode that to a top 3 ranking, but we saw that team hit a ceiling largely because the QB play just wasn't good enough. Rosier repeatedly overthrew Richards in the Pitt game. it was clear against Clemson even with the injuries that we just didn't have the talent at QB (and elsewhere, in fairness) to play at that level. in the Orange Bowl, we outrushed Wisconsin in both total yards and yards per carry, but their QB went 23-34 258 4-0 where ours went 11-26 203 1-3. we finished the season ranked 13 which felt about right. if we have an elite QB do we run the table in the regular season and beat Wisconsin and finish as a top 6 or 7 team? I think we probably do.

I think you see this with the elite teams, too. teams like Bama, LSU, Georgia have won titles with mediocre QBs -- Bama and Georgia have incredibly high floors that include "winning a title" -- but we see the ceilings Bama and LSU have hit when they have elite QB play (I assume Georgia will get there at some point in the next 3-5 years). Ohio State has an incredibly high ceiling thanks in large part to their QB play -- they are capable of putting up the most dominant offense in college football in any given week -- but also a lower floor than Bama and Georgia because their DL isn't quite at the same level. Clemson showed us their floor last season w/ terrible QB play and a great defense, but we know their ceiling as well. ideally, you get it all -- Bama, Georgia, Clemson all go for the elite floor via DL and the elite ceiling via QB, and Saban in particular clearly adjusted his worldview when it came to offense and QBs, shifting from game manager types to superstars. he understands that sometimes even the best defense and DL needs the ceiling-smashing that only an elite QB can provide.

ultimately, I don't necessarily think one route is better than the other. if you can become a DL factory like Bama or Georgia it's probably more sustainable than the Clemson model of stringing together superstar QBs to elevate you to that level, or the Ohio State model where teams like Clemson, Bama, Oregon (2021) can expose your defense/DL talent. but there's also a reason why Bama and Georgia are Bama and Georgia and every other team is not, so how attainable is their model? I guess Texas A&M will show us.

 

[gacaneaddict]

Its because his DEFENSE was getting lit up by teams less talented than his.

Will Anderson is their best player going to be going on 2 years.

I think you guys really overhype Bryce Young. I mean even him winning the heisman was ho hum for me. Is 5'11-6'0 180pd Bryce Young moving the needle at Pitt like the GOAT Kenny Pickett?.

I agree from NFL draft standpoint Will Anderson is 1 projected for the draft, what I'm telling you is he is dispensable for Alabama's 2022 title chances whereas Bryce Young is not. Alabama IMO isn't beating UGA or Ohio State in 2022 without Young at qB.

 

[gogeta4]

They went on the road and beat a team with arguably the best WR room EVER, and a projected top 2 QB.

to me it comes down to this: DL gives you a floor, but QB gives you a ceiling. the 2017 team is a perfect example. our defense, largely driven by the DL, gave us the floor of a top 15 team. we went on a nice run and rode that to a top 3 ranking, but we saw that team hit a ceiling largely because the QB play just wasn't good enough. Rosier repeatedly overthrew Richards in the Pitt game. it was clear against Clemson even with the injuries that we just didn't have the talent at QB (and elsewhere, in fairness) to play at that level. in the Orange Bowl, we outrushed Wisconsin in both total yards and yards per carry, but their QB went 23-34 258 4-0 where ours went 11-26 203 1-3. we finished the season ranked 13 which felt about right. if we have an elite QB do we run the table in the regular season and beat Wisconsin and finish as a top 6 or 7 team? I think we probably do.

I think you see this with the elite teams, too. teams like Bama, LSU, Georgia have won titles with mediocre QBs -- Bama and Georgia have incredibly high floors that include "winning a title" -- but we see the ceilings Bama and LSU have hit when they have elite QB play (I assume Georgia will get there at some point in the next 3-5 years). Ohio State has an incredibly high ceiling thanks in large part to their QB play -- they are capable of putting up the most dominant offense in college football in any given week -- but also a lower floor than Bama and Georgia because their DL isn't quite at the same level. Clemson showed us their floor last season w/ terrible QB play and a great defense, but we know their ceiling as well. ideally, you get it all -- Bama, Georgia, Clemson all go for the elite floor via DL and the elite ceiling via QB, and Saban in particular clearly adjusted his worldview when it came to offense and QBs, shifting from game manager types to superstars. he understands that sometimes even the best defense and DL needs the ceiling-smashing that only an elite QB can provide.

ultimately, I don't necessarily think one route is better than the other. if you can become a DL factory like Bama or Georgia it's probably more sustainable than the Clemson model of stringing together superstar QBs to elevate you to that level, or the Ohio State model where teams like Clemson, Bama, Oregon (2021) can expose your defense/DL talent. but there's also a reason why Bama and Georgia are Bama and Georgia and every other team is not, so how attainable is their model? I guess Texas A&M will show us.

I think you are forgetting that Clemson recruits DL better than UGA and better or comparable to Bama on a yearly basis. They definate producue/recruit better pass rushers than Bama...and Ohio State is/has been a DL factory for years.

I think this one year of UGA has clouded every ones mind a bit. Also ppl thinking Clemson is "down" when they win 10 games should let you know something.

TX A&M seems to be going the UGA model of buying up alot of stuff on defense...mainly DL. I guess they are doing it because Jimbo is an offensive guy. They are the team i am watching...because i think their offensive talent is pedestrian.

 

[rayray]

I think you are forgetting that Clemson recruits DL better than UGA and better or comparable to Bama on a yearly basis. They definate producue/recruit better pass rushers than Bama...and Ohio State is/has been a DL factory for years.

I think this one year of UGA has clouded every ones mind a bit. Also ppl thinking Clemson is "down" when they win 10 games should let you know something.

TX A&M seems to be going the UGA model of buying up alot of stuff on defense...mainly DL. I guess they are doing it because Jimbo is an offensive guy. They are the team i am watching...because i think their offensive talent is pedestrian.

Clemson recruits high end talent on par w/ Bama, Georgia etc but from a depth perspective they aren't there. Dabo obviously seems to do this by design, taking smaller classes compared to the other big boys as you know. but Clemson and Ohio State don't churn out DL year after year after year after year like Bama does, and I think Kirby already has Georgia there at this point.

Clelin Ferrell, Dexter Lawrence & Christian Wilkins all went in the first round in 2019. otherwise in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022 the only Clemson DL drafted were Austin Bryant (4th round 2019) and Carlos Watkins (4th round 2017). that will obviously change in the 2023 draft and in the 2016 draft they had Shaq Lawson go in the first round and Kevin Dodd in the second round (DJ Reader went in the fifth and is better than either guy). also some of those 2019 guys could've come out the year before. but it's more peaks and valleys with them, they go through cycles. Bryan Breese got on the field immediately for them, partly because he's a beast but partly because they didn't have anyone ahead of him who was better. that pretty much never happens at Bama.

with Ohio State, where the difference really shows up is inside. they haven't had a DT taken in the top two rounds since 2013 (Jonathan Hankins). they definitely get the edge guys, more so than any other school recently, but they're softer in the middle. and in the last two drafts their only DL taken were Tommy Togiai (4th round 2021), Jonathan Cooper (7th round 2021), and Tyreke Smith (5th round 2022).

Bama just never ever misses, they're on a different level. just in the last five years alone Bama has Phadrian Mathis (2nd round 2022), Christian Barmore (2nd round 2021), Raekwon Davis (2nd round 2020), Quinnen Williams (first round 2019), Daron Payne (first round 2018). they're putting a DT in the top 50 overall picks every single year. and just like he did with quarterback, Saban seems to have decided that he wants to get in on superstar edge rushers. Will Anderson is obv gonna be the first DL picked next year, Dallas Turner will probably follow him up the year after, and they just signed the top two edge guys in the last class in Jeremiah Alexander and Jihaad Campbell.