I have been watching the play of the defensive line and I wanted to make a few comments about what I have seen. Let me say that I understand that it is early in the season and they are still getting comfortable in KW's system, but I think the d line should be doing more, and they have the talent to be really disruptive. I will include Overton, Russaw and Robinson since they normally have their hand in the dirt and/or generally rush the passer. Right now I believe our best line players are Tim Keenan, who is really hard to move and he seems to consistently get penetration, and Overton, who has been a beast at getting to the QB and making life miserable for opponent QBs. Russaw and Robinson are doing pretty well but they need more consistency. I notice that they get stonewalled often and they don't really keep their motor going. I like J Smith and T Smith, and they are pretty good against the run, but they don't seem to get much penetration and they are not really disruptive in the passing game. And Latham is still developing. I see him making plays occasionally, but again he needs consistency. But my biggest question is where is Jaheim Oatis? Last year he was a beast on the inside and he had a great motor, and I saw him consistently making plays and being a disruptive force. This year he is hardly seeing the field? Can anyone shed some light on this? Is he recovering from an injury? Is he not yet used to the new scheme? I really thought he would be our biggest playmaker on defense. As usual your insights are appreciated.
| FTBL Defensive Line Play
- Thread starter Crtuneman
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Oatis has been getting about 15 snaps a game... I've heard his still no quite 100%, but I'm not sure how much that is impacting his snaps. I think it's mostly a case of them having a pretty good rotation of guys there and he hasn't broken though.
Overall, I agree the DL as a whole he been too inconsistent. Been that way for a while, well before DeBoer came to town. Wommack isn't going to let that be the weak part of his defense though... so one way or another, I anticipate things will improve over time.
Overall, I agree the DL as a whole he been too inconsistent. Been that way for a while, well before DeBoer came to town. Wommack isn't going to let that be the weak part of his defense though... so one way or another, I anticipate things will improve over time.
Scrape&Search1032
Member
Pass rush wise was up front was pretty bad Saturday, outside our called blitzes, we really didn't generate anything organically. Needs to improve as we continue down the line in conference play. However, they did really well against the run.... and I hope to keep seeing that.
24and7
Member
Wommack supposedly brought a guy with him with the sole purpose of developing each defensive player the way they needed to be built up.. To focus on each individual weaknesses and correct them.. project Samson
24and7
Member
It seems like a ROACH THING.. for the past few years..
Scrape&Search1032
Member
This has been a issue for while, but they have played well this season. Especially against the run, I'm glad that hasn't been a consistent issue. Just need them to get better at getting to the QB at a consistent basis.
24and7
Member
Matt Shadeed
Alabama Crimson Tide
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They are giving up 119 ypg and ranked #42 in rushing D. Not the type rushing D that needs to be happening at Alabama. D by far has been the biggest issue. 2nd is penalties.
I think UGA only had 80 yards rushing because they got down so much they abandoned the run.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama Crimson Tide team page with results, picks, power rankings, odds and stats.
They are giving up 119 ypg and ranked #42 in rushing D. Not the type rushing D that needs to be happening at Alabama. D by far has been the biggest issue. 2nd is penalties.
I think UGA only had 80 yards rushing because they got down so much they abandoned the run.
FWIW if you're going to look solely at a number, I'd suggest YPC average over total average per game. It's a less skewed, more practical number. But, IMO, even then, it should be used in conjunction with other stuff, especially after just 4 games when averages have barely began to settle yet.
But, the YPC against Bama is 3.41... not terrible, also not where they'd prefer it. It is better, as of now, than the last couple of seasons.
I noticed that as well. They are giving up 120 yds per game but only 3.4 yds per carry, which isn’t that bad. The logical conclusion is that the defense is not getting the opponents offense off the field. If you look at time of possession you see that opponents offense has 20 minutes per game on TOP. Part of that is the fast pace at which the offense scores. Here's something interesting. The defense is only allowing 17% conversions on 3rd down by opponents. What that means is that while the defense is getting them off the field in third down situations (Ga made 5 of 5 on 4th down, so that is an aberration) it is allowing teams to gain good yards on first and second downs. So what needs to happen is defense gets better penetration on first and second down to force the third down attempt. If they can do that (and don't let teams convert every 4th down they try) then the defense would look a lot better and the yds per game would drop.
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