metafour 4,969 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I said it a hundred times that he should have been playing safety all along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunInRed 16,533 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Meta - how do you see the starting 4 shaping out next year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzurd24 11 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 That was Bates with the thought of getting more overall speed on the field. I've heard good things about Chris Davis so maybe they already see our new CB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metafour 4,969 Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 Meta - how do you see the starting 4 shaping out next year? Hard to tell since we haven't even had spring workouts yet; but if Thorpe sticks at safety then I'd guess McNeil and Thorpe starting as the safeties with Bell as one of the corners and Davis/Mincy battling for the other corner spot. From what I was told Mincy was very impressive during Bowl practices so he's a sleeper if he stays out of trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunInRed 16,533 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I really like Bell, he came on strong last year. He needs a bit of size but lots of upside in his performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCTAU 3,356 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Great. Now, instead of a free completion at any time on one side of the field, it will be down the middle. Torched again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defense(clap clap) 4 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Meta - how do you see the starting 4 shaping out next year? Hard to tell since we haven't even had spring workouts yet; but if Thorpe sticks at safety then I'd guess McNeil and Thorpe starting as the safeties with Bell as one of the corners and Davis/Mincy battling for the other corner spot. From what I was told Mincy was very impressive during Bowl practices so he's a sleeper if he stays out of trouble. What about Demetruce at safety? I figured we'd have the McNeil/McNeal combo back there this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metafour 4,969 Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 What about Demetruce at safety? I figured we'd have the McNeil/McNeal combo back there this year. I actually forgot about Demetruce which is ironic because I've been his biggest supporter since he committed. He is definitely a threat to take one of the starting safety spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lca408 366 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Interesting move to say the least. Can't say I disagree with it. As much as I don't like the way Neiko plays at times, he is a physical guy with alot of speed. When he does step up, he plays with authority. I think its a good move. He'll be a strong safety I'm sure so he'll be used more for run support than McNeil, though in the base defense, the safeties are basically interchangeable. I figured Demetruce would snag that spot opposite McNeil this spring. I think McNeal is more of a free safety type than a strong safety like an Erique Florence so maybe it would be better to sit behind McNeil and spell him. Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerguy 1 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Great. Now, instead of a free completion at any time on one side of the field, it will be down the middle. Torched again! Not necessarily. The called coverages will determine how he plays his position. There are no perfect defensive formations, but he can execute when put into the right place in space. Not our best CB, but his physicality can help at FS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgufcm 4,107 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Interesting move. I can see this working the same way Junior Rosegreen's similar move worked. Junior was a tight-hipped CB that was solid but beatable. He moved to safety and became an All-American. Neik is more fluid in coverage than Junior ever was, but he's had a difficult time with playing man-to-man over the top. Moving him to safety allows him to play the ball without worrying so much about double moves or whatever. I'll be utterly shocked if Neik isn't starting either back at CB or at S alongside Mike. He's the most experienced player in our secondary, and his combination of size/speed make him one of the most skilled. Demetruce showed a great ability to hit, but he showed very little in the way of playing Safety. Maybe that's about opportunity, but I think it says a lot that we basically went to a two-man rotation after Savage got hurt. We didn't give Demetruce more time. We just made sure Mike and Zac never left the field. Assuming Niek stays at safety, I'd place my bets on Mike and Neik starting. Demetruce serving as the primary back up at both spots and possibly one other Freshman contributing. At CB, this shows a ton of trust in T'Sharvan. You cannot make this move unless you believe he's a CB1. Chris Davis played well. I heard Mincy looked good. I think the coaches are excited about the Freshmen coming in (Whitehead and Rose). But you can't move a 3-year starter unless you feel 100% confident in at least one starting spot. Oh and think about the example of Darren Bates. You don't move a guy that can contribute at one spot to bury him at another. Darren moved to OLB because coaches thought he could start there (and he did). If they're moving him, they must believe he can start at S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCTAU 3,356 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Great. Now, instead of a free completion at any time on one side of the field, it will be down the middle. Torched again! Not necessarily. The called coverages will determine how he plays his position. There are no perfect defensive formations, but he can execute when put into the right place in space. Not our best CB, but his physicality can help at FS. I'll be the first to cheer if this happens. But I don't think I'll be needing any padded gloves. "Torched" wasn't an affectionate nickname. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,778 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 That's the only thing that makes any sense. Thorpe was either going to safety or to the bench. The past two years it hasn't been a question of "if" he 'd get burned deep, but when. If the coaches hadn't done this Davis would have put him on the bench anyway and one or more of the signees would probably have been ahead of him on the depth chart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgufcm 4,107 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Yeah, because all those freshman this year moved right by him on the depth chart as well. And all those stud LBs just bumped our poor ole vets from 2008. I'll take a guy with experience and some limitations over a hotshot freshman every day and twice on gameday. Freshman that are ready to start from Opening Day are few and far between... and they usually play RB. When's the last time a true freshman started from Game One for Auburn? I know everyone expects the new shiny toys to be used from the jump... I can't think of a single guy from this signing class I'd bet on as a starter. Not one. The big DT has a shot. Dismukes has a chance. Other than that, I'll bet on the vets. Neik is going to play. Either at CB or S. Odds are, he's going to start just like he has for the last three years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autigeremt 6,784 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Great. Now, instead of a free completion at any time on one side of the field, it will be down the middle. Torched again! Give the kid a break! He's had some good games and made some really good plays on the field. He had to play out of position for the team, in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShocksMyBrain 9,391 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Wasn't Thorpe also playing with a cast on in the latter part of the season? Or am I thinking of someone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,778 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Great. Now, instead of a free completion at any time on one side of the field, it will be down the middle. Torched again! Give the kid a break! He's had some good games and made some really good plays on the field. He had to play out of position for the team, in my opinion. The thing is, most of his good plays have been when he made tackles on run support. As last season wore on, Bell was playing more and more, Thorpe less and less. Had Davis not been injured on the opening kickoff, I believe he'd have seen a lot of action at CB in the BCS game too. We had this very discussion here not long ago, with the need to move or sit Thorpe being the focus. I'm glad to see our coaches agree with some of our members here! Experience is only good if one learns from it. Thorpe blew just as many coverages last year as he did in '09, which was just as many as he did in'08. He has good ability as a tackler, which he can put to better use at safety. I think had Thorpe not been moved, Bell and Davis would have been the starting corners with maybe Thorpe and maybe one of the freshmen being the first guy off the bench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgufcm 4,107 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Every team basically has three starting corners. Every team. You have two designated outside guys along with a nickelback. Over the course of the season, the nickel plays probably 70-80% as much as the other two (when you combine the snaps in which you have five DBs on the field with the times the nickel spells an outside guy). We'll just have to agree to disagree, but I think there was less than a 10% chance of Neiko falling behind Bell, Davis, and someone who hasn't played a meaningful snap. If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on him starting beside Mike over Demetruce and all the incoming stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCTAU 3,356 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Every team basically has three starting corners. Every team. You have two designated outside guys along with a nickelback. Over the course of the season, the nickel plays probably 70-80% as much as the other two (when you combine the snaps in which you have five DBs on the field with the times the nickel spells an outside guy). We'll just have to agree to disagree, but I think there was less than a 10% chance of Neiko falling behind Bell, Davis, and someone who hasn't played a meaningful snap. If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on him starting beside Mike over Demetruce and all the incoming stars. Did you not watch the SECCG? Torch started and immediately came out of the game. So the 10% thing just flew out of the window. His replacement was not involved in getting torched. That was probably the best game from the secondary that we had up til. GO back and watch all of the games, if there was a big play in the air, Torch was the one struggling to keep up with the WR. He was being replaced by the end of the season. A freshman that will get torched less than the experienced guy has an upside. Torch did not. I thought the way he finished '09, that he was going to break out in '10. But for some reason, he digressed. If he can help at safety, then great. But I don't want to see him back at CB. Had teams been smarter, they would have thrown every pass to Torched's side until he could prove to stop it. Thank God they did not catch on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgufcm 4,107 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 You mean except for AJ Green's second TD in the corner? That was Washington. Or maybe Julio Jones' TD? That was Bell and Mike. And getting replaced in the SEC Championship game? According to official game participation charts, Neiko started the game (opposite Bell), finished with one pass deflection, 3 solo tackles, and an assist. I'm guessing he was on the field a little more than you think. I've seen the game three times, but I've got them all recorded. I'll go back and check. A lot of people think Neik was the only guy in the secondary struggling. He wasn't. A lot of people make it worse in their memories because they think the big play to Maehl in the title game was his fault. It wasn't. I know what Stan White said. I also know Stan White was wrong. Mike hung Neik out to dry on the play. Neiko had good outside leverage, released Maehl into the middle of the field where he was supposed to have safety support. Mike bit on the play fake, ran himself out of position, and viola! Big pass play. Neik gets blamed because he's a corner, but it wasn't his fault. The guy was a full season started for an undefeated championship team. I'm guessing he's not the bum some folks want to believe. He never got replaced as a starter. Bell, Thorpe, and Washington all played equal shares for the last half of the season. Davis got reps after Washington got dinged up in the Bama game. Dollar to a dime Thorpe starts again next year at Safety or (if he gets moved back) Corner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgufcm 4,107 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Also for the record, it's not like Neiko got replaced as a starter in the SEC title game. He started the National Title game as well next to Demond Washington. Bell got bumped out of the starting lineup. Maybe I'm the only person alive that thinks Neiko is a decent player. I just think it says something that Tuberville, Chizik, Rhoads, and Roof thought enough of the kid to start him for three years. We could've played Bell over him all year. We didn't. We could've played Davis. We didn't. Is Neik great? No. But he has talent, he makes plays, and he contributes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,778 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 I believe he'll start at safety, at least early in the season. His run support and tackling ability should be a help at the safety position. I think/hope his days at corner are over. Some haven't seen enough but three years is enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzurd24 11 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Take it as hearsay but I've hear people who've heard the coaches say the biggest problem was the LB's pass coverage and so the DB's got pushed into a lot of soft coverage at times to help just keep everything in front of them so to not give up the big play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCTAU 3,356 Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 It wasn't always so obvious when Torched got torched. I can't remember the game (uga or bammer), but the safety got beat down the middle. It looked like the safety was at fault. But if you watch the replay and see the reason why the safety stepped over to the right and got burned, you'll see that torched got so burned by his man so badly that the safety felt he had to go help. The WR ended up running an out, but by the time the safety saw that, the pass was already in the air down the middle of the field for a TD. If you cannot cover, it affects other players too. Like I said, at the end of '09, torched looked GREAT. I have no idea why he digressed. But maybe at safety with his size and speed, he can cover the run and be deep enough that he doesn't constantly get beat. And Davis would have replaced him VERY early had he not gotten hurt on the kickoff. Davis replaced him in the SECCG also. Yes, Torched got to play a good bit, but the writing was on the wall. Davis, although young and inexperienced, got burned less than the veteran. At least we seem to have the talent up and coming in the secondary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCTAU 3,356 Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Take it as hearsay but I've hear people who've heard the coaches say the biggest problem was the LB's pass coverage and so the DB's got pushed into a lot of soft coverage at times to help just keep everything in front of them so to not give up the big play. If that was the case, I could have lived with that. The problem was that Torched failed to keep the WR in front of him. It looked like he was definitely playing run first, but was jumping on the pass a half-second too late. It wasn't just him, but it seemed his recovery was not as well as the others. Demond got burned a few times too. But he recovered more often than Torched. Hopefully they can find him a home at safety. The kid is too big and fast not to get some use out of him. Rare do you see a 6'2" DB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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