Pegues moves to DT

[aubiefifty 16,766]

 

[TexasTiger 12,835]

30 minutes ago, 80Tiger said:

If he played defense in high school, then it didn’t t resonate with recruiting because no one was recruiting him from a defensive perspective. I am not saying he can’t help on defense, it seems as some on here think this is a slam dunk move and they guy is going to be all SEC.  I just don’t see it. There is no history in his career to support it. Also I think it funny that many on here would go nuts because we moved dline people to oline the last few years.

Karlos Dansby came to AU as a lanky WR and Tubs saw an NFL LB. I don’t know what coaches who recruited JJ thought or said to him, but I do know our HC and DL coach are very impressed with him on the DL.

[DAG 33,980]

57 minutes ago, 80Tiger said:

I am sure they did this for depth, but he was recruited strictly as a tight end. That is all he played in high school. I could not find anything about him playing defense in high school or being recruited as a defensive player. So from a technique standpoint he knows nothing about dline. I am sure his quickness is an asset but I could see it being a real learning experience. 

That’s how I see it too. Like Prince Tega move. He has a great skill set but I hope people aren’t thinking nick fairley 2.0 right off the back , but just watch come fall if he doesn’t meet these expectations and the responses.

[TexasTiger 12,835]

1 hour ago, AUGunsmith said:

Why? He isn't a match up issue. Not tall, not super fast, his only plus with the ball is his size. A prototypical TE will bring more to the table with better opportunities to make plays with the ball in their hand. 

I never saw the superstar TE some folks on here apparently saw. I saw an athletic big buy do things few big guys do playing TE. He can make a contribution in a number of positions, but where will his biggest impact be? Right now the coaches think DL.

[Barnacle 9,064]

Don't care where the kid plays, so long as he's on the field. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

4 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

Don't care where the kid plays, so long as he's on the field. 

Amen. I'm excited to see if this works out for him.

What I also like is that this probably means that the coaches feel like they can count on some of the other guys in the TE room.

[AUGoo 2,662]

2 hours ago, AUGunsmith said:

Why? He isn't a match up issue. Not tall, not super fast, his only plus with the ball is his size. A prototypical TE will bring more to the table with better opportunities to make plays with the ball in their hand. 

I just wanted to see him mash some DB on the way to the EZ!

[McLoofus 35,182]

13 hours ago, fredst said:

Well, at least I didn’t call you numbnuts.....

To paraphrase Albert King, if it wasn't for small dubs, I wouldn't have no dubs at all.

I will point out that I never said it was a bad idea. And that we still don't know if he's got the stuff. But I'm optimistic that he'll be fantastic on D.

[metafour 4,969]

2 hours ago, AUGunsmith said:

Why? He isn't a match up issue. Not tall, not super fast, his only plus with the ball is his size. A prototypical TE will bring more to the table with better opportunities to make plays with the ball in their hand. 

100% factual.

The JJ Pegues at TE "hype" has to be the most baseless storyline in recent memory. He offers no real utilization on offense as anything other than a specialty player (blocking and occasional short yardage runs). That isn't an "impact" player at all. Being 300 pounds at TE offers absolutely zero benefits to anything other than blocking, and is actually a detriment to anything relating to catching the ball or being a ball-carrier. He is too slow to be a mismatch against linebackers in the passing game, he is actually SHORT for the position, and as a ball-carrier he isn't as hard to bring down as one might think because you will very rarely get enough SPACE for a guy that big to build up momentum. We ran a short-yardage run with him against Northwestern and he got stopped in the backfield with ease. It's a complete gimmick - even in a 3rd and 1 situation I will gladly hand the ball to Tank Bigsby over JJ Pegues 10 out of 10 times.

Here's what people seem to fail to grasp: Pegues is fast and athletic...for a 300-pound guy. At TE, you will have no problem at a school like Auburn to recruit a kid who will play at ~250 pounds who will: be faster, be more agile, be taller and more rangy (ie: larger catch radius), etc, etc. There is no standout TE in the NFL who plays at 300 pounds because there is absolutely zero benefit to being that big at the position. At 300 pounds Pegues is a weapon as a BLOCKER...but now we're getting into the question of optimization. What is more useful to the team? A freakishly athletic 300-pound DT, or a 300-pound blocking TE who only comes in on obvious running downs? And really, how hard is it to find a ~250-260 pound "blocking" TE anyway? There really isn't a shortage of those players. There IS a shortage of potentially elite DT's. 

This is a no-brainer move and was the obvious transition as soon as Pegues showed up on campus as a true freshman at ~290-300 pounds. 

[bigman334 56]

great move for him and the team. he would never get to the NFL  as a TE and he has the size and agility to make moves on the dline for us

[bigbird 60,512]

Thread cleaned up.

It'd be great if y'all would take this conversation to PMs. Thanks

[TexasTiger 12,835]

8 minutes ago, bigman334 said:

great move for him and the team. he would never get to the NFL  as a TE and he has the size and agility to make moves on the dline for us

Maybe he makes it as TE. But IMO his chances just got much better.

[Hank2020 3,199]

3 hours ago, AUGunsmith said:

Why? He isn't a match up issue. Not tall, not super fast, his only plus with the ball is his size. A prototypical TE will bring more to the table with better opportunities to make plays with the ball in their hand. 

I thought he did quite well with the ball in his hands, they just needed to get it to him past the los. I also like him on the DL. Same height as Davidson but much heavier. Hope he moves quicker than he did too.

[W.E.D 11,070]

20 hours ago, AUGunsmith said:

Where are all those people a few weeks ago clamering how this would be a bad move and he is a freak one in a million superstar unbeatable weapon on O?

I've said I question the move. I think his biggest issue is he's kind of between sizes and I'm not sure where he fits. 

He's an athletic freak for his size, but he's 6'. Maybe he's Arron Donald but there aren't many 6' DTs. There aren't many 6' TEs either.   

I like the idea that he's kinda off tackle to help fit his athleticism. Hope he fits somewhere and can make the NFL 

[TexasTiger 12,835]

4 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

I've said I question the move. I think his biggest issue is he's kind of between sizes and I'm not sure where he fits. 

He's an athletic freak for his size, but he's 6'. Maybe he's Arron Donald but there aren't many 6' DTs. There aren't many 6' TEs either.   

I like the idea that he's kinda off tackle to help fit his athleticism. Hope he fits somewhere and can make the NFL 

AU lists him at 6’3”.

[W.E.D 11,070]

6 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

AU lists him at 6’3”.

His recruiting profile has him at 6'2.

I'd be shocked if he's much over 6'1". Which is still probably in the 20-30 percentile for DL

[AUinGA44 265]

He will have the chance to be an NFL draft pick as a DL. The same could not be said of him as a gadget TE/H-Back. He is also likely one of the 22 best FOOTBALL players on the team and therefore the staff likely wants to put him in a position to impact and win games. I am beyond excited about this move and it gives me serious hope/belief that the new staff understands the big picture. WDE

[metafour 4,969]

14 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

I thought he did quite well with the ball in his hands, they just needed to get it to him past the los.

This is where the "storyline" clouds your interpretation of reality.

He had 7 catches for 57 yards and 5 carries for 14 yards last year. He did absolutely nothing with the ball in his hands that couldn't be replicated or OUTMATCHED by any number of players on the roster. Analyze the last part of your statement: have you considered that they couldn't get the ball to him past the LOS because....he's 300 pounds and not fast enough to stretch the field lol? The question answers itself. He has enough athleticism to get some short-area touches, but asking him to run any actual routes is futile because he's not going to "get open" at his weight and speed. Being 300 pounds doesn't make you hard to cover. Every single LB has no problem running with him because he's not faster than any of them. And by virtue of being 300 pounds, he has BELOW AVERAGE "stop-and-go" ability, short-area quickness, change of direction skills, etc. So what is he supposed to use to create separation on ACTUAL passing routes? He's slow, not very tall, and not quick enough to create separation by virtue of being "sudden". 

[metafour 4,969]

10 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

His recruiting profile has him at 6'2.

I'd be shocked if he's much over 6'1". Which is still probably in the 20-30 percentile for DL

His height at DT is fine. He does not look short. I think he's probably pretty easily 6'2 based off of pictures, which is not a problem at all for DT. 

[bigbird 60,512]

14 minutes ago, AUinGA44 said:

I am beyond excited about this move and it gives me serious hope/belief that the new staff understands the big picture. WDE

Faith in the staff and hope for the season, it's just so refreshing. I hated how apathetic and cynical I had become to AU football

[Zeek 16,649]

He can have WAY more impact and NFL Draft stock at that position. His top end speed was never going to allow him to be much more than a short yardage player. Back in the day of I formation fullbacks maybe offense would have been the place for him. 

Plus, if any position group can afford to give up a player it's the TEs. 6'2" 300 is a solid DT build. Not sure how strong he is but I hope he thrives there. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

I think this is a great move for both the player and the team. That said it is a new position and it will be a learning experience. For a DT he is very athletic and quick so will beat people sometimes with quickness but he has lot of technique to learn. I believe it will take some time before he makes a major impact but long term this was the right choice.

[Hank2020 3,199]

43 minutes ago, metafour said:

This is where the "storyline" clouds your interpretation of reality.

He had 7 catches for 57 yards and 5 carries for 14 yards last year. He did absolutely nothing with the ball in his hands that couldn't be replicated or OUTMATCHED by any number of players on the roster. Analyze the last part of your statement: have you considered that they couldn't get the ball to him past the LOS because....he's 300 pounds and not fast enough to stretch the field lol? The question answers itself. He has enough athleticism to get some short-area touches, but asking him to run any actual routes is futile because he's not going to "get open" at his weight and speed. Being 300 pounds doesn't make you hard to cover. Every single LB has no problem running with him because he's not faster than any of them. And by virtue of being 300 pounds, he has BELOW AVERAGE "stop-and-go" ability, short-area quickness, change of direction skills, etc. So what is he supposed to use to create separation on ACTUAL passing routes? He's slow, not very tall, and not quick enough to create separation by virtue of being "sudden". 

Really sounds like you know what you are talking about. I was just going on they threw it to him 9 times and he caught 7 of them for a little better than 8 us average (16 was the long) according to the stats. I thought that was a fairly high completion percentage even though mostly short passes. 

[TexasTiger 12,835]

1 minute ago, AuburnNTexas said:

I think this is a great move for both the player and the team. That said it is a new position and it will be a learning experience. For a DT he is very athletic and quick so will beat people sometimes with quickness but he has lot of technique to learn. I believe it will take some time before he makes a major impact but long term this was the right choice.

Reminds me of Jay Ratliff— recruited as a TE, moved to DE then DT. He just came with the weight already.

[Malcolm_FleX48 1,869]

6 hours ago, bigbird said:

@Malcolm_FleX48, have heard he is starting out at the 4i...which made me think of our previous conversations about the DL. What do you think? I believe he will remind a lot of people DeMarco McNeil in his quickness and explosion.  Eason has to be smiling everyday.

I LOVE 4i for TITE fronts, it allows them to get a little bit more push in the pass rush while not sacrificing that RUN DEFENSE that the inside presence can bring. Also can make it easier to go into Even fronts and get some decent pressure from blitzing LBs. 

That being said, if he can catch up to the hand-fighting techniques as well as leverage ability, then it will be great. I will miss the idea of him getting down to 270lbs and playing that FB/HB and mauling between the gaps but I like it if he becomes technically sound. He will be a mismatch against guards and don't let them pull.... Oh boy.