WarEagle1982

One reason he wasn't as big as Pickens in rankings was that he played at a smaller school before transferring to HT his senior year and then blew up on a lot of people's radars.

I would give it a B. I think they recruited well at several positions. Getting a legacy guy like Bo Nix to commit and sign was important especially after what happened with Rashaan Evans a few years back. I will say that Patrick Nix's experience at AU was a much different one than that of Alan Evans so that helped a ton. I hope Gus will give him the legitimate shot to win the job if he is the best guy. I think they recruited well on defense and set themselves up to continue being a solid defensive unit. I won't say dominant because they were not that this past year. The thing that stings, and I know I am beating a dead horse here, is the lack of OL signees. I think the guys that are coming in are going to be really good players, but quantity is a concern. The worst part is watching TurdTown bring in more elite OL talent (which BTW their O Line was the biggest reason behind Tua's success this past season), watching UGA pull the best O Lineman in the state to Athens, and watching, of all places, Tennessee pull in an elite O Line class. That is a huge area of concern, and something has to change.

I had actually thought about the Bucks, specifically Jibunor. He actually had more of an OLB's size (215 lbs.)

True. Maybe I should have said there just aren't a lot of LBs on the recruiting board and it looks to be a major position of need just like the OL is.

They don't have just a lot of high quality guys on the recruiting board. That is why I am thinking depth could be an issue for sure.

Been thinking about all of the recent news of guys coming back up front and in the secondary and realizing that the LB position will most likely be the make or break spot possibly on the entire team (as the Offensive Line was this year). I will say, up-front, that I believe that Travis Williams will coach these guys up to play to their full potential. But, what is their full potential? I believe Pappoe, if he is as good as advertised, will have to come in and probably play from day one. I also believe that Britt will step in and do a great job inside. What about Richard McBryde? Is he ever going to step up and be a dude in there? He really hasn't shown up much. This is his 4th year on campus now. Now, where does the depth come from? Who are they? Are there possibilities of someone having to move down out of the safeties? (Smoke Monday?) What does everyone think?

Also, your RB is coming off of the fake to help protect the edge. Had it been an RPO he would have continued through the line and do what we call "running without the football" to hold LBs in the box.

I would agree that it is a PA fake based off of the fact that there was a lineman pulling to kick the edge. Typically on an RPO you will have either straight zone blocking by everyone or if there is a puller they are either: 1. Skip pulling for an inside LB on a Power Scheme or 2. Have a 2nd puller (H-back typically) on a Counter Scheme.

😂😂. Funny story: the first time we put it in and ran it we had it set up perfect except for the fact that the opponent had a lazy lineman that tripped over his own feet and fell down right in the dang passing lane!! We still completed it but it affected the timing enough that it got tackled for like a 2 yard gain. This past season we were playing a huge rival at their place. We had not played them in 3 years because we had moved up in classification and then back down. They were on a 24 game regular season winning streak and had won back to back region titles while we were up. We drove on our opening possession and hit the middle screen perfect on 3rd and 6 for a TD and our folks went nuts. My LT knocked a LB down and then climbed and sealed off a safety that got our guy in. I absolutely went crazy cause I love it when my linemen get downfield and get work done! We won on a late TD in a 38-34 shootout!

I love coaching the screen game. We do a ton of it at the high school level. My personal favorite is the middle or missile screen where you release all 5 linemen through the middle of the field. We have had HUGE success with that one.

Great analysis. You are right about Seth Williams rubbing off that LB on the first TD. Anytime you can make that guy run underneath and chase on a wheel route you are winning the battle. I will add that on the screen pass TD to Slayton this is actually a double “read” screen. I listened to them talk about their progression on this a few years ago at their spring coaching clinic. Their first part of this is to identify the Mike LB. When the ball is snapped the QB’s first read is the Mike. If the Mike works out with the RB then the QB immediately goes with the tunnel screen because you now have one less LB to pin with the linemen. That is what happened in this case. If the Mike sits or goes with the tunnel screen then the QB reads the DE to the RB side. If he feels like he can beat the DE to the RB side he throws the screen to the RB. The first TD against FSU to Mason in the title game 2013-14 season is an example of that part of the read. We run this screen in our scheme at the high school I coach at except we don’t read the Mike. We simply read the DE to the swing side. We also release all 5 linemen so we have the center to pin the Mike LB if he tries to fall in on the tunnel screen.

Although I don’t think either has proven enough consistency to be a high choice. Brown doesn’t play hard all the time. I have seen some practices, and he gets ripped by Garner more than anyone. Davidson either needs to work on his burst and pass rush or move inside. That being said I think they both still come out.

I am saying that Brown and Davidson join and come out early.

Does anyone see more staff changes coming other than the OC? These usually start happening after signing day is in the books. My thought is that if one happens it could be Brown, the DB coach. If you look at his resume he hasn’t stayed many places over a couple of years. Thoughts?

I disagree. The last two times AU has beaten Bama (13 and 17) they did so by lining up and knocking them off the ball. The 13 OL was as good or better than what Bama has now. I also am not advocating firing the coach. I simply think much more emphasis should be placed on it.