Defensive player adjustments

Submitted by Captain Obvious on

I know these threads are pointless and the coaches know better than we do...but I think a couple changes are necessary for our long term success. I say long term because the defense is clearly not going to turn itself around and start heading in the right direction in the next 2 games.

1. Williams needs to be off the field. Yes, we have no one else and I have been one of the people saying this the past couple weeks. Also, I'm not saying "BC IT CANT GET ANY WORSE?!?!?" It can always be worse. The thing is, Williams has no future at the Safety position. If he gets moved to Brown's position next year and similarly flourishes, great. But for right now he has to get off the field. Vlad is the future at safety. Honestly, I don't care if he's ready anymore - RS is already gone and he needs some game-time reps back there. So - Vlad to S, Williams to bench.

2. Ezeh and Mouton to bench, Fitz and Leach to replace. This one is pretty self-explanatory. They have simply been better. Ezeh and Mouton are in the right place maybe 1 out of every 4 plays. That's not great.

Anything else?

KinesiologyNerd

November 7th, 2009 at 11:19 PM ^

Agreed, but I still wonder what is up with Vlad. I simply do not believe he is worse than Williams. I wonder if it relates to his knee, ACL's are funky injuries. Let's hope that Thomas Gordon can pan out for next year or somehow Williams learns how to play.

I guess it's good that JB and Leach were given a chance and panned out since they are both nice young players getting their first real game action, so let's hope we see some real improvement out of them.

Oh and also, we should start sacrificing small animals to keep Warren here

blueohio

November 7th, 2009 at 11:32 PM ^

I wanted to reach through the internet to stangle Frank today when he said Williams had a great game last week. Willams had outside contain and followed the fake to the back on the opposite side and let Juice go for over 20 yards at least 3 times. If that is a great game, then maybe that is why the defense is as bad as it is!!!!!!!!!!!

Captain Obvious

November 7th, 2009 at 11:51 PM ^

Thanks for the insight. Life is not a video game. Thanks.

Or, you could re-read my post where I leave open the possibility of Williams switching positions a la Brown and succeeding. Williams does not have the tools to play safety. He is putting up record-breaking negative numbers in the UFR every game. Moreover, he has not improved one iota. If he is playing safety next year it will not be a good thing at all. Thus, I think we should play the person projected to have a future at the S position, even if a bit raw.

david from wyoming

November 8th, 2009 at 12:00 AM ^

He is a a red shirt sophomore so he has played under three different coordinators in three years. Who the fuck cares about UFR numbers? Would you rather put someone worse in (meaning, someone not ready to play safety)?

I promise you, if Vlad was a better safety, he would be playing.

TheBigAC

November 7th, 2009 at 11:30 PM ^

Was anyone surprised with the amount of time Fitzgerald and Leach saw today? I expected a decent amount of time for Leach after last week but did anyone expect Fitzgerald getting that much time today?

k06em01

November 7th, 2009 at 11:36 PM ^

first of all - fitzgerald and leach started this game, but were replaced by ezeh and mouton because they both were stinking it up. three of these four players we are talking about are more than talented. it seems like more of a coaching issue to me than a personell one at linebacker.

second of all - if emilien is NOT red-shirting, and kovacs and williams are still starting over him, its because emilien is just not that good. maybe he will be as a senior or junior, but i wouldn't expect him to be next year either. recuit, recruit, recruit.

MGoPacquiao

November 7th, 2009 at 11:39 PM ^

I may be wrong, but I think Mouton was benched in favor of Fitz after the first TD. He seemed to make some plays. Hopefully that will continue.

I was surprised to see Mouton and Ezeh back together in the 2nd half because it seemed Fitz and Leach were doing fine. Maybe it was a situational thing.

BlueInDallas

November 7th, 2009 at 11:57 PM ^

We need to clog the middle next week or we're going to get steamrolled by the Wisky power run game. What do you think about getting Campbell and Sagesse more PT alongside Graham on the DLine, and getting SBrown and Roh out in place of Mouton, FItz, Ezeh, and Leach? SBrown and Roh are undersized and would get trucked by Clay. IMO, no one on the Defense is untouchable except Graham and DWarren. The rest of them should be used to form the best matchup.

Seth9

November 8th, 2009 at 12:02 AM ^

That lineup brings the best matchup if the linebackers are all in the correct position. However, all four have been deficient in that regard. Brown and Roh have played better than any other linebacker/quasi-linebacker because they are much better at following their assignments and reading the offense.

Captain Obvious

November 8th, 2009 at 12:03 AM ^

Roh and Brown on the field IMO. Not sure Big Will or Sagesse are ready to supplant Martin, either. You may be right in LB play, but size means nothing if you are out of position. I think I'd take my chances on getting trucked - just get the players in there that will be around the football (if such players exist).

Jeff

November 8th, 2009 at 12:25 AM ^

I think he was suggesting Campbell next to Martin so that the middle of the line is huge and hopefully dominant. I agree with you that it's probably not a good idea.

As Brown showed us today, even if he can't tackle the tight end (I believe) all by himself he will stop him from getting any extra yardage while the other defenders converge and bring him to the ground. Even though he didn't make the solo tackle, that was a very good play by him.

BlueInDallas

November 8th, 2009 at 12:58 AM ^

I like Martin and I think he does a nice job in the middle. But, I don't even notice that RVB is on the field most games. Next week is going to be ugly if we can't at least slow down Clay. A rotation of Martin, Campbell and Sagesse next to BG give us the best chance at that, IMO. As for being in or out of position as a LB, I don't think any of them are doing that very well, including Roh and Brown. I recall a 3rd down play in the 3rd quarter today where Purdue's RB took the ball on a sweep, Roh crashed into the middle rather than keep contain and the RB scored around the edge (after juking our secondary because both Kovacs and Williams took horrible angles, but that is a whole other story). Brown is a below average safety playing LB. That will not cut it against Clay. UW's offense is not fancy. Let's get our biggest DL and LBs out there and slow down the run.

Captain Obvious

November 8th, 2009 at 1:31 AM ^

especially for an undersized true freshman. If he comes off the field for any non-injury reason I will seriously question the decision. You are way off base on your assessment of Brown, too. RVB has been above-average too.

I don't think I agree with anything you just said.

BlueInDallas

November 8th, 2009 at 1:03 PM ^

My comments are geared to try and get good matchups against a power run game of Wisky. I think Roh, Brown, and RVB will struggle in that regard and I have not seen anything out of them that suggests they are untouchable components to the defense for this game. I think Roh is going to be fantastic next year and beyond when he gets some size. I'm just talking about how we might slow down the run next week. I appreciate the effort that RVB and Brown have given this year as 5th year seniors, but I fear that Clay is going to drag our tacklers for 5 YPC repeatedly if we don't have size out there.

Magnus

November 8th, 2009 at 10:58 AM ^

2007: Was groomed to play slot corner in Ron English's defense in order to take over for super-slot corner Brandon Harrison. Tore his ACL.

2008: Moved to strong safety for new defensive coordinator Scott Shafer. Played near the line of scrimmage.

Early 2009: Played weak safety for Greg Robinson, meaning he was basically an extra OLB.

Mid-2009: When Woolfolk moved to CB, Williams started playing deep safety against Iowa.

Michael Williams has basically played 4 different positions in 3 years under 3 different defensive coordinators. I don't see how you can write this kid off.