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The State of the Miami Defensive Line...13 years ago

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UMJer026 said:
Interesting post. Me thinks D$ is hiding something.
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Bruce Feldman @BFeldmanCBS
Ex 5-star DT Delvon Simmons who is transferring from TexasTech, is visiting #Miami this weekend. He visited #USC last wk.

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what happened in the summer of 2000 obviously has not impact on this summer.

what your story says is that we can all hope and pray for a miracle and sometimes it happens
 
Jerome Mcdougal, Andrew Williams, Vince Wilfork and Santonio Thomas were part of the foundation of our Golden age (00-03).

Let's hope DTs start falling out of the big ol' sky tomorrow. As we fight against the SEC, it's like Russell Simmons said: "get your money right." Any badass DT that comes here can parlay that into a big audition, on a huge stage, for the big money of the NFL. There's a spot or two open for 2014.
 
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I went to high school with Andrew Williams. Guy looked like an nfl player as a sophomore! Also played fb and te in high school. What a beast!
 
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DTs are so hard to predict. Two years ago people were raging on Pierre and now most are excited as **** about him. DTs are rarely if ever ready as FR. That said I have my concerns about the Moore, Ivery, King group, not to mention striking out in 13. We need a huge year recruiting DRs in 2014 with a few that are ready to play immediately

Good post D$. Will say I look at Walters as more then just a depth guy, pretty underrated college football player
 
McGahee2TheHouse said:
What is your opinion of the scheme of the DL itself?
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You and I discussed this on the other board. I didn't see any reason an elite DT would want to play in that set up last year. Not saying that's 100% of it but it could he a tipping point when you consider Keef and Bostwick were 50/50 shots.
 
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In each of Golden's two years he had players who were maligned their entire careers become solid players as seniors. Think Jojo Nicholas, Brandon McGee, Davon Johnson, etc. I would say a defensive lineman is most likely to be that guy this year. I would say Porter is the most obvious choice because at this point there's still the hope he will be able to play all season; but I think someone like Kelvin Cain could be that guy, heck Luther Robinson could be that guy.

Point is its May we really have no idea what the 2013 d-line will be like yet.
 
JHallCanes said:
McGahee2TheHouse said:
What is your opinion of the scheme of the DL itself?
Click to expand...

You and I discussed this on the other board. I didn't see any reason an elite DT would want to play in that set up last year. Not saying that's 100% of it but it could he a tipping point when you consider Keef and Bostwick were 50/50 shots.
Click to expand...

Yup. I don't think it's 100% either but I would highly doubt it hasn't been a large issue for at least some.

Just curious for what D thinks because to my knowledge, I've never seen or heard him comment about his opinion on whether he thinks the scheme is the right fit for the program and personnel.

I've recently watched parts of Bama games to get an idea of how the scheme should look when working (I've been told they run a similar 2 gap scheme and I don't know of any other team off the top of my head) and our players are so far off how it's supposed to look, it's scary. If Bama is an example of the type of personnel we need for that system to work, then I am simply not confident it will ever work here.

D or Lu, explain where I am wrong. I am not being sarcastic and legitimately want to hear about our scheme on defense and DL specifically.
 
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I am curious as well. I understand the coaches felt "hamstrung" a bit and we may have not seen the big picture yet. However you can just gloss over everything.

We lose Khairi Clark and a lot of excuses go out the window. Something really needs to be broken to lose a kid like that.
 
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McGahee2TheHouse said:
I've recently watched parts of Bama games to get an idea of how the scheme should look when working (I've been told they run a similar 2 gap scheme and I don't know of any other team off the top of my head) and our players are so far off how it's supposed to look, it's scary. If Bama is an example of the type of personnel we need for that system to work, then I am simply not confident it will ever work here.
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I don't think our DL personnel (as is) is good enough to excel in any scheme. Bad is bad.

Philosophically, I doubt we will ever be a majority 3-4 team because there aren't enough big, physical players in South Florida. It's a speed-first area. However, this area churns out stand-up rushers. It seems like every team has a fast, skinny defensive end in a linebacker's body who gets double-digit sacks. Michael Smith would be this year's example.

The reason I think some 3-4 might fit this year is because: 1) our best pass rushers are stand-up hybrids; (2) we don't have DL who make plays; (3) we don't have many quality DL period. Using less DL and asking less of them from a playmaking perspective helps mask those weaknesses.

But it's not a perfect fit. Porter has the strength to play nose but IMO is not a pure two-gapper. Pierre has the length to play on the outside and has improved his base strength, although for some reason we used Luther Robinson (classic gap-shooter) in that role last year. Chickillo can fit as a 3-4 DE. Shayon Green would have been a 3-4 OLB in a perfect world, but because of need and injury he's forced himself into limbo-- a rocked-up linebacker that we ask to stuff the run. Not sure he's big enough to excel in a two-gap scheme. Jelani Hamilton would give us an ideal 3-4 DE with his length and overall size, but he hasn't put it together yet. Let's wait and see if we add any more linemen this summer.

From a linebacker perspective, you don't want to line up Kirby and Perryman right in front of the guards but the outside linebackers fit well with the scheme. McCord, Bond, even Figueroa could give you what you're looking for in a 3-4 OLB with their size and pass-rush ability.

We will be multiple (D'Onofrio buzzword alert), but expect more 3-4 looks this year.
 
McGahee2TheHouse said:
JHallCanes said:
McGahee2TheHouse said:
What is your opinion of the scheme of the DL itself?
Click to expand...

You and I discussed this on the other board. I didn't see any reason an elite DT would want to play in that set up last year. Not saying that's 100% of it but it could he a tipping point when you consider Keef and Bostwick were 50/50 shots.
Click to expand...

Yup. I don't think it's 100% either but I would highly doubt it hasn't been a large issue for at least some.

Just curious for what D thinks because to my knowledge, I've never seen or heard him comment about his opinion on whether he thinks the scheme is the right fit for the program and personnel.

I've recently watched parts of Bama games to get an idea of how the scheme should look when working (I've been told they run a similar 2 gap scheme and I don't know of any other team off the top of my head) and our players are so far off how it's supposed to look, it's scary. If Bama is an example of the type of personnel we need for that system to work, then I am simply not confident it will ever work here.

D or Lu, explain where I am wrong. I am not being sarcastic and legitimately want to hear about our scheme on defense and DL specifically.
Click to expand...

You're not necessarily wrong. I wouldn't run a primarily 2-gap system in college.
 
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Good writeup but I don't recall Santonio Holmes playing DL or even attending Miami. You meant Santonio Thomas.
 
Doo-doo on a stick.

I don't know whether to feel puked out right now, or whether we can expect at least some marginal improvement. There are so many of you who know so much about football, and more specifically the status of our defensive line - can you tell me if we can expect some real improvement?

I recall back when, and JJ was loading up on speed, but that doesn't work anymore?

And this 2-gap BS D'Onofrio seemed to favor - I understand if you have some hosses, you can play two-gap. But we have different personnel - so what kind of defense could we run with what we have?

And DMoney. I too, felt you were holding something back when you wrote this post. Can you feed us a bit more?
 
CTCANE said:
Good writeup but I don't recall Santonio Holmes playing DL or even attending Miami. You meant Santonio Thomas.
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Yes, I did. I drink too much. How are there two kids from the muck named Santonio?
 
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