April 14th, 2009 at 11:01 PM ^
at this rate we're gonna play a 3-6-2 defense this season. Maybe he'll be used as a turner considering he does have some safety skills combined with minimal safety speed.
April 14th, 2009 at 11:05 PM ^
...yeah, the depth isn't optimal, but Smith wouldn't be moved (or Stevie Brown, for that matter) if the coaches didn't think it was possible. The CBs will be Warren, Cissoko, Turner, Witty and Woolfolk and assorted backups, and the safeties will be Vlad, M. Williams, Isaiah Bell, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few.
Dear God.
April 14th, 2009 at 11:06 PM ^
Actually, Woolfolk has been moved to free safety, hasn't he?
April 14th, 2009 at 11:16 PM ^
Yes.
April 15th, 2009 at 12:11 AM ^
Corners will probably be Warren, Cissoko, Floyd, Turner.
April 14th, 2009 at 11:12 PM ^
Will Isaiah Bell be used as a safety or a linebacker. Everything I've heard/read points towards him being a linebacker.
April 14th, 2009 at 11:17 PM ^
I think the general sentiment is that right now, he's a safety, but he's not done growing. Said growth would put him at LB.
April 15th, 2009 at 12:23 AM ^
On signing day he said in his interview with WTKA that they would use him as a nickelback close to the line of scrimmage. Sounds a lot like what Stevie Brown's hybrid role is.
April 14th, 2009 at 11:30 PM ^
Justin Turner said that he is being looked at as both a CB and a safety, IIRC. He may end up starting at safety now.
April 14th, 2009 at 11:34 PM ^
The depth on defense is scary. I hope the majority of the recruits in the rest of this class are on the D side of the ball or it's going to take forever to build any decent depth.
April 15th, 2009 at 12:08 AM ^
will start out at CB. Depth at CB is thinner than depth at S. He should get immediate PT as a CB and most likely stay at CB.
April 14th, 2009 at 11:33 PM ^
Did Smith move to hybrid LB/safety position like Stevie Brown did, or to a true LB position a la Ezeh and Mouton? If the former, makes complete sense. If the later... huh.
April 14th, 2009 at 11:36 PM ^
I read it as a pure LB position. Nothing was stated about being a spinner or whatever you call it.
the spinner being a DE/LB mix, not a S/LB mix. Actually, as far as I know, the former mix doesn't have a name, does it?
April 14th, 2009 at 11:47 PM ^
If for no other reason than just calling a spade a spade, I am glad that they made this move after evaluating his talent. To me, it shows that RR is going to put these kids in the best position to win games rather than stubbornly throw a kid out there that really can't operate at the position with continual success. Maybe this will work...
April 15th, 2009 at 11:22 AM ^
I agree, but, let it be understood that this isn't unique to Rich Rod and his coaching staff. Every coaching staff will have players move to a different position if they think it is a better fit for their particular skill set. Lloyd did this quite frequently throughout his tenure.
we probably just got quite a bitter better at LB.
While I'm disappointed that he's not going to pan out at safety, LB is a position of need as too.
How soon do you guys expect him to contribute/see the field as LB? Also, does anyone have any ideas as to which LB position he will play?
April 15th, 2009 at 10:09 AM ^
I don't see him playing until another LB departs, perhaps Steve Brown after the 2009 season.
April 15th, 2009 at 10:18 AM ^
I would assume that he'll compete with Stevie Brown for the SLB/S position and he'll fight Fitzgerald and Demens for reps at WLB. If he puts on a little bit of weight and learns how to shed blocks, he can probably compete later for the MLB position.
Does anybody know if the SLB/S position is going to be part of our base defense or is this just something that we're running as part of a spread defense package?
April 15th, 2009 at 11:53 AM ^
I believe it's part of the base defense.
Has anybody looked at our linebacker depth lately?! I think moving a third string safety who can't cover but can knock the snot out of people, to our position of greatest need is a good move.
April 15th, 2009 at 10:09 AM ^
Our safety depth isn't any better when you consider that the majority of them are/will be freshmen.
April 15th, 2009 at 10:17 AM ^
Don't be such a Debbie Downer. I heard moving 3rd string freshman to one position of great need to another of great need ALWAYS works out. Just look at shiny things. Ohhh, Freshman QB!
Wow. This seriously sucks. Smith has the body of a safety, not a LB. But I guess that is for RichRod to judge, oh well. Less depth at safety is all.
Your safety has to be able to cover. Apparently, Brandon Smith could not do that effectively.
He's 6'3" and 211 lbs. He could easily get up to 225.
Mouton is 6'2" and 218 lbs.
It's not that much of a stretch.
Larry Foote and Prescot Burgess were both safeties as well - this isn't that uncommon.
Out of curiousity, was anyone under the impression that we're very deep at LB?
Deep? Perhaps.
Talented? Who knows.
OK, to the the extent that we have bodies, sure. But I'm not enormously enamored with the idea of seing Brandon Herron or Marrell Evans on the field again. We have two LB's with any experience - Mouton and Ezeh. Mouton will be coming back from injury (hopefully), and Ezeh has been fluctuating between "bad" and "mediocre" for two years. JB Fitzgerald and Kenny Demens are virtually impossible to have an opinion of, although clearly they think something of Fitzgerald, as he got PT last year. Stevie Brown is Stevie Brown.
IMO, we could use a LB too.