DL Speed vs Weight - Les Miles has his Defense drop in weight
Read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend (link). The age old story about how a Defense spent the summer getting to optimal weight / power / speed, and wound up loosing the former, and becoming more effective. In this case LSU in preparation for Oregon.
So we had Barwis, who seemed to be on the path of tear out the bad weight and build them up , and stories of our linemen adding weight each season. And then we had all the complaints about undersized line, compounded by a 3-3-5 front. Throw in Wisconsin's loss to TCU, and how our guys have been consuming salmon like no one's business, and ... worry beads:
1) Will we wind up too heavy?
2) Do we have to be too heavy to win the Big Ten, positioning us poorly in subsequent bowl games against speedier opponents?
Thoughts?
October 10th, 2011 at 3:34 PM ^
inside the mind of a person with A.D.D.? I feel like I just got done talking to Ghandi from Clone High
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3772351029415403863
October 10th, 2011 at 3:38 PM ^
I know many people who think the answer to your second question is a big yes. I sometimes tend to think so too. What it takes to win the Big Ten is going to hurt you, to some extent, when you play certain teams from other conferences. I have never seen a detailed analysis of this, but I do know a lot of people who suspect it is true.
October 10th, 2011 at 3:59 PM ^
I look at what Auburn did with Nick Fairely and Nebraska with Suh. I think if you have one athletic really big guy, you can really do damage vs B1G teams and faster teams from out of conference.
October 10th, 2011 at 3:51 PM ^
I wonder if Les had them on a grass filled diet?
October 10th, 2011 at 4:12 PM ^
I hear grass field diets are way better for you.
October 10th, 2011 at 3:57 PM ^
if you have NFL caliber DTs, such as the ones Alabama and LSU turn out on a regular basis, yes, having smaller but faster DEs and LB will make your defense VERY effective.
Howeva! You need to have interior line be able to regularly take up the OG, C so they don't get to the second level and rub out your LBs.
Wisky ran for 200+ on TCU, and dominated TOP. Didn't watch the game, so don't remember why they lost.
October 10th, 2011 at 3:59 PM ^
Some people are wondering if players like Wormley are being recruited to play tackle instead of end and that's why we've only taken one true defensive tackle this class so far. I think it's just a wait and see. We aren't going to know what Mattison wants on defense until he gets his personnel in here.
October 10th, 2011 at 4:07 PM ^
Some people are wondering if players like Wormley are being recruited to play tackle instead of end and that's why we've only taken one true defensive tackle this class so far. I think it's just a wait and see. We aren't going to know what Mattison wants on defense until he gets his personnel in here.
October 10th, 2011 at 4:23 PM ^
I think Wisconsin is the only team in the country to be able to beat LSU....they can negate that speed with extreme size and strength
October 10th, 2011 at 4:26 PM ^
so you sort of have to plan for that first, even if it limits you later. However, if you have elite talent, you will take the conference and that out of conference opponent. Les gets every recruit in Louisiana for the most part, many of those lineman are big and fairly athletic, not all of them carrying good weight on that southern diet. He is simply trimming that down to help their speed, we did the same with WC, Ash and Qwash who have not been told to add weight.
October 10th, 2011 at 4:33 PM ^
Not this again.
If you're too heavy and unathletic at a weigh, coaches will have you lose weigh. If you're getting pushed around, coaches will have you gain weight. Simple.
October 10th, 2011 at 6:39 PM ^
I'd assume that our DL still weighs less than LSU's DL.
October 10th, 2011 at 9:00 PM ^
It depends on a lot of things. Formations, plays and the players around a player affect how big a player needs to bulk up to. Athleticism is the bigger key though, a combination of strength and speed. Weight isn't what people are really looking at, they're looking at strength. You want to continuous bulk a player up until they start losing their burst of speed, then the weight is going to be counter-productive in most cases. Players like Suh and Fairley are perfect examples of guys who've put on the muscle but kept their speed in a perfect balance.
Whoever has the more athletic (balance of speed and strength) linemen are going to win in the trenches. Wisconsin usually goes with slower guys who can take on more weight, while some teams will take slightly smaller players who are much faster.
October 10th, 2011 at 9:38 PM ^
Throw in Wisconsin's loss to TCU, and how our guys have been consuming salmon like no one's business, and ... worry beadsShould we really ignore the fact that Wisconsin is 18-2 in its last 20 games (the best 20-game record in the country) because it had one subpar offensive outing? While we're at it, does that mean that because Oregon scored only 17 and 19 points in its last two bowl games (and was again largely held in check by LSU a month ago) that it means that undersized fast guys can't win national championships?