My man!

[bigbird 60,491]

59 minutes ago, jAUSon said:

Jake. My bad. 

Loved his heart and desire. Wish his abilities matched the same level.

He was for sure one of the most criticised.

[GwillMac6 20,666]

2 hours ago, bigbird said:

Which one?

 

[jAUSon 2,836]

3 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

 

ikr?

[GwillMac6 20,666]

4 minutes ago, jAUSon said:

ikr?

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

15 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Deserved vs undeserved

Loud vs ear-splittingly, soul-crushingly caucophonous. Like I said, Jake wasn't very good, but I don't know if he deserved to be the poster boy for and punchline of every single discussion about bad defense for however many years it was. 

Could have been just as bad or worse for Neiko relative to his performance on the field. I only vaguely remember the discussion around him. Like I said, just an interesting conversation.

I do recognize that our defensive backs are constantly being criticized even though they are almost always pretty good at worst. Kind of like how people seem to think that our receivers are the only ones that ever dropped passes.

[AUApostle 7,651]

Will Herring was the original whipping boy.

[mcgufcm 4,096]

On 1/26/2020 at 5:12 PM, bigbird said:

Thorpe was the most hated/disrespected/underappreciated player I can remember

Neiko definitely belongs on that list, but I'd have to say Blake Countess and Jonathan Jones were criminally underappreciated. Not as much hate directed at them, but they were both BALLERS. I'm not sure why folks didn't see it.

It's an under the radar fact, but Auburn has been an NFL DB factor since Muschamp's last tour. Since that season, we've had five drafted (Countess, Holsey, Ford, Davis, and Dean). The last two guys were undervalued and have already out-performed their early 2nd round draft slot. We've also put Jones and Matthews (briefly) into the League as UFAs. We're about to add Noah and Dinson onto the draft list, and JD has a chance to jump into that group as well. That's a low-key but very, very impressive pipeline.

[dyehardfanAU 2,117]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Loud vs ear-splittingly, soul-crushingly caucophonous. Like I said, Jake wasn't very good, but I don't know if he deserved to be the poster boy for and punchline of every single discussion about bad defense for however many years it was. 

Could have been just as bad or worse for Neiko relative to his performance on the field. I only vaguely remember the discussion around him. Like I said, just an interesting conversation.

I do recognize that our defensive backs are constantly being criticized even though they are almost always pretty good at worst. Kind of like how people seem to think that our receivers are the only ones that ever dropped passes.

I'll always give props to Jake for stopping Erin Murry from crossing the goal line on 4th and Goal for the TD.  I was in the lower corner of the EZ and saw him get stuffed plain as day.  The need for the Hail Mary should've never been there.

[McLoofus 35,182]

13 minutes ago, dyehardfanAU said:

I'll always give props to Jake for stopping Erin Murry from crossing the goal line on 4th and Goal for the TD.  I was in the lower corner of the EZ and saw him get stuffed plain as day.  The need for the Hail Mary should've never been there.

My exact response to all the lucky play talk. Oh, and Tray Matthews didn't touch the ball at all...

[AUMASTERS 555]

On 1/26/2020 at 5:02 PM, bigbird said:

If they could only learn to look back for the ball...

I have been impressed with out DB play the last couple of years; I would rather them get beat with them hanging all over the receiver than what we used to do. We would hold them on 1st and 2nd down & teams would have 3rd and 18 and complete it every single time (that was so frustrating). 

[Swamp Eagle 5,131]

On 1/27/2020 at 12:00 PM, bigbird said:

The complexity of coverages and schemes has become exponentially more complicated and multiple. Certain schemes and techniques better allow for DBs turning to play the ball in the air. Unfortunately, Steele's preference and tendencies don't align with that philosophy most of the time.

My translation of that is, 'they've made it more difficult than it actually is.'  I'm pretty certain the number of eligible receivers has remained constant through the years. And I'm not arguing with your statement; the complexity of coverages and defense in general has evolved greatly over the years, much of it as a response to the changing offenses. 

As a DB in HS (39 years ago!), I had to know and recognize a few things based on reads and recognition. And once a read was made, I had a specific area of responsibility depending on zone or man-to-man coverage or where my run responsibilities were. The biggest difference from then and now from a scheming perspective is that we didn't do as much disguising back then, we just lined up and tried to win the one-on-one battles. 

As a whole, I have to come to the conclusion that DB play has not been enhanced by the 'complexity of coverages and scheming' of today. The good DB's are good, but there are less of them than there use to be. That isn't because they aren't talented, but if you have to think too much, you're half-beaten already.

[Swamp Eagle 5,131]

20 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Loud vs ear-splittingly, soul-crushingly caucophonous. Like I said, Jake wasn't very good, but I don't know if he deserved to be the poster boy for and punchline of every single discussion about bad defense for however many years it was. 

Could have been just as bad or worse for Neiko relative to his performance on the field. I only vaguely remember the discussion around him. Like I said, just an interesting conversation.

I do recognize that our defensive backs are constantly being criticized even though they are almost always pretty good at worst. Kind of like how people seem to think that our receivers are the only ones that ever dropped passes.

I don't think it helped that a certain message-board dad was actively 'putting his son out there.'