Secondary

[cole256 17,043]

I don't get to come on here as often as I used to, there are a bunch of posters on here that I'm not too familiar with now. People that may be familiar with me knows I love talking football, and I can get in there and break things down with the best of them especially in the secondary. That's where I spent alot of my time at.

I'm going to be honest I'm a little worried about us here, especially at the safety position. I feel like this was the reason we didn't win a championship when we played against fla st. I can be pretty hard on evaluating us there but I do wish we had more depth. I wish we had a guy who was pretty good at both tackling and covering.

I was frustrated at our recruiting strategy at the safety position as well. We didn't recruit a couple of players from my area that one would be starting right now and the other could be but at the least he'd be number two guy. 

I didn't really follow progressions in summer camp or whatnot. So I was wondering if somebody who may know about defense or secondary play Was there a guy at safety and/or nickel that made a big jump or surprised this year? I'm interested in anybody's opinion but of course I prefer it from someone who doesn't get personally attached to players so the opinion is objective and not you know, saying a guy isn't good because you don't care for him or vice versa. It would make me feel better if so.

And if not thanks either way. Hopefully I can get back here a little more often soon. Be blessed.

[alexava 6,973]

Who from your area would be starting now? Florence, Shoals?

[WDEKC 187]

Corners from all reports seem to be elite level as long as they stay relatively healthy. Safeties, while maybe not elite, will be better than 2013. IIRC, Initial 2 deep in 2013 had Kiehl Frazier backing up Josh Holsey. Neither of which should have been playing a safety position.

[WDEKC 187]

5 minutes ago, alexava said:

Who from your area would be starting now? Florence, Shoals?

It's also quite a statement considering he's admitting he doesn't know much about the current secondary situation.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

30 minutes ago, cole256 said:

I didn't really follow progressions in summer camp or whatnot. So I was wondering if somebody who may know about defense or secondary play Was there a guy at safety and/or nickel that made a big jump or surprised this year? I'm interested in anybody's opinion but of course I prefer it from someone who doesn't get personally attached to players so the opinion is objective and not you know, saying a guy isn't good because you don't care for him or vice versa. It would make me feel better if so.

The word is that Javaris Davis is locking down the Nickel position, not because he's made a huge leap (he did get Freshman All-American love last year, so there wasn't a huge leap to make), but because Dean has really stepped up (some are saying he's better than Carlton Davis),  it's made it so that J. Davis can step away from corner, some, and focus on Nickel.  Dinson is apparently the other Nickel option.

Most of the talk coming from the safety position is Matthews and Roberts, but there is a little buzz about Thomas, who is apparently playing all over the secondary because they want to get him on the field, and Smith, who has already worked his way to second string according to some reports.

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

We have some very talented safeties and corners. We're not as deep in that area as other positions on the team, but we aren't paper thin either. I expect us to have a few all Americans in both spots if everyone stays healthy 

[AUpreacherman22 3,885]

That's great to hear about Smith!

Yes, our starters are very good!  The depth is a concern, although things are sounding better there with the good reports about Peters and Smith. 

[AUpreacherman22 3,885]

7 minutes ago, AuburnTiger4Life said:

. I expect us to have a few all Americans in both spots if everyone stays healthy

That's a really bold statement!

I think we're good back there, but probably not that good.  Another factor will be pass rush. If we improve a good bit in pass rush it will make our secondary look even better. 

[AUpreacherman22 3,885]

I believe C Davis and J Dean have the potential to be elite. If they both reach that level it will be the first time I can ever remember having 2 elite CBs on the same team.  

J Davis and J Dinson should be good to very good at the N spot. 

T Matthews is good to very good.  I would like to see him be a more secure tackler, not going for the big hit all the time. 

Roberts is above average to good. 

Other than those listed above at CB and N, Broussard is the only other CB I can think of that may be counted on for minutes, which makes us thin there. If Smith, Thomas, and Peters are all serviceable to good, we will have much better S depth than I thought we would. 

Thats 10 guys (5 CBs and 5 S) to fill 4/5 spots. Not great, but better than it was a few weeks ago. 

[djg0017 726]

1 minute ago, AUpreacherman22 said:

I believe C Davis and J Dean have the potential to be elite. If they both reach that level it will be the first time I can ever remember having 2 elite CBs on the same team.  

J Davis and J Dinson should be good to very good at the N spot. 

T Matthews is good to very good.  I would like to see him be a more secure tackler, not going for the big hit all the time. 

Roberts is above average to good. 

Other than those listed above at CB and N, Broussard is the only other CB I can think of that may be counted on for minutes, which makes us thin there. If Smith, Thomas, and Peters are all serviceable to good, we will have much better S depth than I thought we would. 

Thats 10 guys (5 CBs and 5 S) to fill 4/5 spots. Not great, but better than it was a few weeks ago. 

Where do you think Ruffin fits into everything? I think he's as sure a tackler as they come but not sure about his ability to do much else super well.

[AUpreacherman22 3,885]

3 minutes ago, djg0017 said:

Where do you think Ruffin fits into everything? I think he's as sure a tackler as they come but not sure about his ability to do much else super well.

Totally forgot about him?

Make that 11 guys. (I think Ruffin is inconsistent, I hope that gets better this year too)

[djg0017 726]

Just now, AUpreacherman22 said:

Totally forgot about him?

Make that 11 guys. (I think Ruffin is inconsistent, I hope that gets better this year too)

I read an article in the spring (couldn't find it a minute ago though) that said Ruffin actually had one of the lowest percentages of missed tackles. Probably not an overly valuable stat but an important one nonetheless. I agree with you though that he is inconsistent, especially in pass coverage. I had a class with him actually and his personality seems to match his play style -- somewhat wild and inattentive. I wonder if we could use him more as a safety/LB hybrid? May not be room for that though.

[Gowebb11 9,314]

1 hour ago, alexava said:

Who from your area would be starting now? Florence, Shoals?

Not Cole256, but I think he is referring to J'Marrick Woods. He was an early enrollee at Michigan and got great reviews there during spring training. Apparently his like a truck. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

Miss your postings Cole both on football and basketball but especially on basketball.

[WFE12 9,191]

2 hours ago, AUpreacherman22 said:

I believe C Davis and J Dean have the potential to be elite. If they both reach that level it will be the first time I can ever remember having 2 elite CBs on the same team.  

J Davis and J Dinson should be good to very good at the N spot. 

T Matthews is good to very good.  I would like to see him be a more secure tackler, not going for the big hit all the time. 

Roberts is above average to good. 

Other than those listed above at CB and N, Broussard is the only other CB I can think of that may be counted on for minutes, which makes us thin there. If Smith, Thomas, and Peters are all serviceable to good, we will have much better S depth than I thought we would. 

Thats 10 guys (5 CBs and 5 S) to fill 4/5 spots. Not great, but better than it was a few weeks ago. 

I want Dean And Carlton to be the two shutdown guys soooo bad. We should have a pretty solid run defense but pass defense...I haven't been confident in for years. Seems like that will change. I think they both have the size and athletism to be pests. Qb's didn't pass to CD's side much...Now that we hopefully have another elite CB in Dean what are qb's going to do now?

[cole256 17,043]

3 hours ago, WDEKC said:

It's also quite a statement considering he's admitting he doesn't know much about the current secondary situation.

I said I didn't follow summer progression. I'm pretty much asking how did the freshmen coming in perform and did anybody make an incredible jump during the off season (doesn't happen frequently but at times it does happen) but as a whole, I doubt you'll find too many people that know about the group more than me actually

[cole256 17,043]

3 hours ago, alexava said:

Who from your area would be starting now? Florence, Shoals?

Dee Smith, from Florence. Been starting at Louisville since he was a true freshman, and my guy was right about woods, he'd be at the least no 2 behind Matthews I believe.

[WDEKC 187]

4 minutes ago, cole256 said:

I said I didn't follow summer progression. I'm pretty much asking how did the freshmen coming in perform and did anybody make an incredible jump during the off season (doesn't happen frequently but at times it does happen) but as a whole, I doubt you'll find too many people that know about the group more than me actually

That's fair. I don't think Dean is necessarily a "surprise" to most who followed him last year. But it's good to see he has recovered well from his injury. I think we'll be pretty solid at CB, but I do think we're thin as far as solid talent depth at Safety.

[cole256 17,043]

2 hours ago, lionheartkc said:

The word is that Javaris Davis is locking down the Nickel position, not because he's made a huge leap (he did get Freshman All-American love last year, so there wasn't a huge leap to make), but because Dean has really stepped up (some are saying he's better than Carlton Davis),  it's made it so that J. Davis can step away from corner, some, and focus on Nickel.  Dinson is apparently the other Nickel option.

Most of the talk coming from the safety position is Matthews and Roberts, but there is a little buzz about Thomas, who is apparently playing all over the secondary because they want to get him on the field, and Smith, who has already worked his way to second string according to some reports.

I'm excited about Dean. But also no matter how good you are he's going to make mistakes early on. I expect he will have a big jump in the first 4 games

[boomstick 1,315]

Right now, I think our two starting CBs (C Davis and Dean), our Nickel (J Davis), and our two starting safeties (Trigga and Roberts) are solid to very good players. And I feel good about Daniel Thomas and Jeremiah Dinson being able to play multiple positions and providing depth at Safety or Nickel. Then, there's Nick Ruffin who has a bunch of experience but lacks some overall talent that others have. That's 8 guys that I think have proven they can be relied upon in the first game. My worry comes after that. Maybe it's a very good sign that Jason Smith can make the move and be in the 2-deep already. I'm not convinced of that though. We're probably going to need some young guys to step up and show they're capable of providing solid depth if needed. Sure would've been nice to have Dirty Mike on the roster.

[cole256 17,043]

I just REALLY hope we're sound with tackling. That's my biggest concern. Not going for big hits all the time keep everything in front of us. And of course the pass rush and even the run defense from the d line finishes this story but we'll have to see what life without Lawson and Adams will be like.

[djg0017 726]

1 minute ago, cole256 said:

I just REALLY hope we're sound with tackling. That's my biggest concern. Not going for big hits all the time keep everything in front of us. And of course the pass rush and even the run defense from the d line finishes this story but we'll have to see what life without Lawson and Adams will be like.

I agree. Don't really care for the dude or his bonehead plays, but if Trigga Tray wrapped up every player he tackled this year then he will be an All-SEC type

[cole256 17,043]

2 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

Miss your postings Cole both on football and basketball but especially on basketball.

Thanks bro. Things are slowing down for me at the plant but man the training is rigorous! Big boy britches type stuff, you make lower than an 80 on your tests or evaluations and you will lose your job! 

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

16 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Thanks bro. Things are slowing down for me at the plant but man the training is rigorous! Big boy britches type stuff, you make lower than an 80 on your tests or evaluations and you will lose your job! 

Mistakes can be kind'a problematic in your world.

Hang in there and post when you can.

[cole256 17,043]

Well I'm glad to see it's just not me. I guess it's safe to say there are many of us eager to see what we're going to be like in the secondary. Also it's good to know we have talent spread throughout. Very interesting season coming