@Memnon: in terms of
how far this team goes, health notwithstanding, a bit concerned with the secondary, particularly the corners. Porter's ok, but can't imagine his rating is close to last year's. I see you mentioned Richard having his best game, but as I recall he was beaten deep but for an inaccurate pass. #29 has really been a revelation. And I think Dyoni Hill may be coming for more reps. IMO, we need Damari Brown to get healthy for this thing to really ramp up as we face more accurate passers and athletic wideouts.
And then at safety Jaden Harris, while making plays, particularly in the run game, gives some up too (that seems to go unmentioned). He's been a pleasant surprise in his first season getting serious reps, but
at this point, do you view him from an overall standpoint as being much better than adequate? Not trying to be overly critical, just thinking in terms of the team's ceiling and areas that might be vulnerable against better competition. Obviously Mario has done a tremendous job stacking this roster with talent, and finally it's once again great to be a Miami Hurricane!
I think the issue with Porter this year is he's been playing out of position.
He's not really a Nickel Corner & has played 139 of his snaps at NCB, when he's played Right/Leff Corner for most of his career. Even at West VA, he played primarily at Boundary.
It's an adjustment in technique because playing Outside Corner, as opposed to Inside Corner is actually pretty different in terms of mechanics, footwork & what exactly you're watching for on a play by play basis.
USF was dragging him across the field when we were playing the majority of our snaps in Man. So they're presnap motioning Atkins to check the coverage & basically pull the Nickel into whichever area of the field they didn't want him in. DP2's problem was that he was giving Atkins at least 5-6yds of cushion on any given play & all USF was doing was running him on Drags, Crossers & Digs. They would motion him left & he would run the route to the opposite hash, then flip it & do the same thing going right, but run left.
It was real easy elementary stuff. But DP2 was playing him like an Outside Corner instead of Inside. All he needed to do was do a mental check of the routes & remember each play that they ran with him. Then, next time he lines up on either side of the hashes & goes in motion, come up to the line set his feet to whichever side of leverage he's on (meaning if he's left side go inside leverage, if he's right side go outside) & just bar off the route playing it like a Slant. Get in his hip pocket & force the QB to have to throw it up & behind his head to get it to him. He was playing a lot of trail technique as if he was worried that Atkins was gonna beat him on a Sluggo or something, but film study would tell you that's not what they do with him at all. He literally runs 3 routes a game & all they do is just switch sides of the hash that he runs them on.
As for Jaden Harris, I think he’s been a huge + at Rover. His Speed & instincts have giving us an added element we didn't have at Safety last year. His biggest plus has been in run support & as a Blitzer coming in on delayed stunts & has been successful twice this year getting to the pocket with 2 sacks.
In coverage, he does give up some chunk yardage plays, particularly in the middle of the field against Post/seam patterns. But that has more to do with simply reading his keys & adjusting based on the specific coverage being called, than it has to do with talent or ability.
The difference this year, is our Safety group doesn't have the physical limitations to cover certain Shells, so there's less gambling that takes place. Because they don't have to overcompensate for lack of being able to get from one spot to the next. There's way less Boom or Bust reads in the coverages, because they can actually run from point A to point B to point C.
Last year, it's if they don't guess right on point A, oh well we're sh*t outta luck on that play lol
