bamafan9201
Member
What should I say? I'm not in the staff meetings, but his size, speed, and twitch as Terry said, make him look like a Jack. If he plays interior, I'd worry about him being able to take on guards in gaps with that size.
| RECRUIT Holy Hell what a defensive class.
- Thread starter Scrape&Search1032
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TerryP
Staff
It's a Festivus miracle. The official roster doesn't separate ILB from OLB: they're all LB'ers.
I see him as a SAM. I don't see him as a MIKE so if he's inside he's at WILL—a position that rarely sees the field. They don't play regular that much.
NickelDoubleDog
Member
It's a Festivus miracle. The official roster doesn't separate ILB from OLB: they're all LB'ers.
I see him as a SAM. I don't see him as a MIKE so if he's inside he's at WILL—a position that rarely sees the field. They don't play regular that much.
WILLs play all the time in nickel. The Nickel is basically a 2-4-5 with 2 interior DL most of the time, and the SAM, Mike, Will, and Jack. They will run a bigger Nickel sometimes which is 3 DL and usually the JACK, with the Mike and Will.
TerryP
Staff
Alabama's nickel formation is five defensive backs.
The WILL position took 47% of the snaps last season. Rarely isn't the right word. Moody saw just over 300 snaps, Branch over 650 (nickel.)
More importantly, considering Alabama only spent 2.8% of those snaps in regular, that also means they only used the WILL position in their 3/4 Over/Under scheme less than 3% of the time.
Don’t bet the mortgage but I have heard both
Scrape&Search1032
Member
The MIKE position isn't a set position under sabans defense, it's just a name given to the playcaller of the defense. He could be the MIKE, and be an off-ball linebacker. Dylan Moses did it, To'o To'o did it the last two years. Lawson is most certainly going to be the MIKE and he's going to be an off-ball linebacker. And the Will is just about always on the field unless we have certain situations where we need extra DB's on the field. But Will is almost always on the field under Saban.It's a Festivus miracle. The official roster doesn't separate ILB from OLB: they're all LB'ers.
I see him as a SAM. I don't see him as a MIKE so if he's inside he's at WILL—a position that rarely sees the field. They don't play regular that much.
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Scrape&Search1032
Member
Both inside backers are considered off-ball since they're not on the line of scrimmage, but when I think of an off-ball linebacker, it's usually the one that's responsible for the RB. It takes your most athletic guy usually to do it. That's why Fred Warner is the highest paid linebacker in the league right now, because he's the best at doing it. That's the thing with Russaw, he may end up not having to do it since weve got guys that are just as athletic as he is. It just depends on who the coaches want them to guard and what their strengths are. Russaw may struggle with covering a RB, so put him on the TE and see how he does, and let someone else have a shot at it. It all just depends.
Scrape&Search1032
Member
Made sort of a false statement at the beginning of this post. Both aren't considered off ball backers, off ball is responsible for coverage and work in space. The strong side Backer is the one that is on the side of the strength of the formation, so if he does cover, it's usually a tight end. And in sabans defense, he may not even cover him at all if they're pattern matching. He may just end up switching off him and passing him off to a nickel/Corner, or a Safety. He's still working in space, but not against a RB. If that RB comes out of that backfield, whoever the off ball backer is, is usually responsible for him. He could also end up passing him off to another player like a corner, or a jack backer if it's called. I mean both of the Inside backers could be considered off ball if they play a team like Tennessee who spreads a defense out and is usually in 10, 11 personal. Both guys are usually covering in space in that circumstance. That's why it's sort of a false statement on my behalf, it really just depends on the circumstance.
TerryP
Staff
What did I just get through saying here? Mentioning how little time they spent in regular is also saying how much time was spent in nickel and dime: an extra defensive back—it was just a little over 95% of the total snaps. It can't be said, "Will is almost always on the field" and preface that with "except when they have extra DB's" when they have extra DB's in, almost literally, all the time.
Moody played opposite MIKE, in this defense as a WILL. He took less than 50% of the snaps as compared to Anderson and Turner. (To'o To'o had over 100 more snaps than either of those two.) Hence, the WILL position isn't on the field as much.
You say you think he's going inside. Okay. I'm saying the signs point to him staying outside—SAM before JACK.
TerryP
Staff
ElephantStomp
Member
You’re far smarter about this than I am, but going by what Scrape is saying- why would a coaching staff move an edge guy inside? To me that makes no sense
Mentioning how little time they spent in regular is also saying how much time was spent in nickel and dime: an extra defensive back—it was just a little over 95% of the total snaps. It can't be said, "Will is almost always on the field" and preface that with "except when they have extra DB's" when they have extra DB's in, almost literally, all the time.
Moody played opposite MIKE, in this defense as a WILL. He took less than 50% of the snaps as compared to Anderson and Turner. (To'o To'o had over 100 more snaps than either of those two.) Hence, the WILL position isn't on the field as much.
You say you think he's going inside. Okay. I'm saying the signs point to him staying outside—SAM before JACK.
BamaFan334
Member
Not that you're asking me, but thought it was a great conversation question. Instincts/intelligence is my first thought. Ability to blitz is another. Being able to hold the middle down, cover routes, and plugging holes are probably more coveted than just having an edge guy, atleast to me. Both are important, but your middle guy is your quarterback. I would also go out on a limb and say you're seeing more action between the tackles compared to outside the tackles and you'd want that position to have the more all-around type able player.
Old saying in baseball is that you have to be strong up the middle and it certainly applies to football as well. In 22 we were not strong up the middle and it underscores the poor play of #10, 9, and 2. They were not only poor in coverage but they made up for it in not being able to tackle.
TerryP
Staff
Without solid defensive line play, who plays in the middle for the back two groups on defense really doesn't matter.
If you're still looking for the root cause of the two losses this season that falls as much on the loss of Justin Eboigbe as anywhere.
TerryP
Staff
Sideline to sideline speed would be one reason.
TerryP
Staff
It's the outside guys that are the coverage guys in Saban's scheme.
I find it interesting seeing those talk about how they should have just cut Anderson lose to get upfield last season. It seems those ideas haven't taken into account the need to set the edge. But hey, they'll love Chris B next season because he can get upfield with the best of them. Coverage? Don't expect much of that—it's not his forte.
Scrape&Search1032
Member
It was for you.
Scrape&Search1032
Member
Moody had less snaps because he was hurt for majority of the season. If he'd have stayed healthy, thise numbers be much higher. And let me go ahead and explain this now. Alabama plays with 5 DB's every snap, unless an offense is running a multiple TE look and crowding up the Line of scrimmage. Then we'll probably go 3-4. But our base defense now is the MInt front and 5 DB's. The Will can be taking off the field in either that formation, or our Dime package. He could stay on in dime as well, but it's whatever the coaches want to do in that situation. They could have 7 Defensive backs on that field if they decide to take the WILL, or the MIKE out. And fill that spot with a Safety or a DB they think can play in the box, and play in coverage. See what I mean? If I can find a clip, or a picture of it. I'll show you.
Mentioning how little time they spent in regular is also saying how much time was spent in nickel and dime: an extra defensive back—it was just a little over 95% of the total snaps. It can't be said, "Will is almost always on the field" and preface that with "except when they have extra DB's" when they have extra DB's in, almost literally, all the time.
Moody played opposite MIKE, in this defense as a WILL. He took less than 50% of the snaps as compared to Anderson and Turner. (To'o To'o had over 100 more snaps than either of those two.) Hence, the WILL position isn't on the field as much.
You say you think he's going inside. Okay. I'm saying the signs point to him staying outside—SAM before JACK.
ElephantStomp
Member
Ahhh makes sense. Thanks
TerryP
Staff
The year before the defense spent four times as many snaps in regular as they did last season. There was still a disparity between snap counts due to the time spent with three linebackers on the field.
