Our LB's are stuggling

[Essobee]

Part of it is a change in philosophy from Tenuta to Wommack. I'll be glad to explain further if anyone is interested.

I would like to hear your thoughts to see where they differ from mine. I felt that Tenuta had his linebackers in an attack mode while with Wommack they appear to be in a defensive mode.

 

[jacketup]

Essobee,

Tenuta used the DL to occupy blockers, and keep the OL from blocking the LB. The LBs were more likely to be free to make plays.

Wommack now lets the DL play the gaps, which lets them avoid blockers and make more plays. That's why the DL was excited when Wommack came. The downside is that the OL have clearer shots to block the LBs.

Since the DL is the strength of this defense, Wommack's stategy makes some sense. However, it also makes some young LBs look worse than they are.

It will be interesting to see what Wommack does next year. Anyaibe only had one tackle on Saturday according to a report I saw--which indicates that if the DL doesn't /can't take advantage of Wommack's scheme, the days can be long.

 

[lonestarjacket]

I understand the point about the youth of the linebackers and I am not trying to throw them under the bus. But I also recall that some LBs like Darryl Smith were exceling from their freshman year. (Remember the length of the field interception vs. UGA?)

Also, in particular against UVA, I saw some plays that we are unaccustomed to seeing at GT recently. Namely, I saw our LBs getting run over even when they were in position to make the tackle. One of the ealry long plays for UVA was when our LB looked like he thought the game was two hand touch.

As a whole the defense is playing well this year, but a position that we are accustomed to being our strength is now our weakness. The line and secondary are playing well enough that I think opponents are attacking our weak spot more often.

I can buy the idea that the change of scheme no longer features the LBs, but there was a time when a GT LB hit a RB that the runner did not get yards after first contact and certainly didn't break free totally.

 

[GTKyle]

and talk about a big miss....in 2006 Scout gave an NR to Michael Crabtree and did not put him in the Top 100 WR's in the country!

maybe because Crabtree was a QB in HS and was hard to project?

 

[hiveredtech]

maybe because Crabtree was a QB in HS and was hard to project?

Scout projected him as a WR...as did Rivals.

Rivals rated him #16 WR...and Scout did not put him in the Top 100.

If Rivals missed him to it would make it more plausible.

I am sure each site misses many every year.

 

[GTJohan85]

griffin was a 2 star
jackson n jefferson were low 3 stars

PJ Daniels was a walk-on who started out buried at 7th on the depth charts. He is 4th all-time as a runner in Tech's archives, and he owns a 300 yard game, which is a feat that can be claimed by maybe a dozen men. Ratings for recruits don't mean a whole hell of a lot, there's a lot more that matters.

Kind of a late response and a little off-topic, I just feel like this comment came across as a low blow to two players and felt like sounding off.

 

[hiveredtech]

I understand the point about the youth of the linebackers and I am not trying to throw them under the bus. But I also recall that some LBs like Darryl Smith were exceling from their freshman year. (Remember the length of the field interception vs. UGA?)

.

Daryl Smith is the only GT linebacker other than Keith Brooking to make an impact as a freshman in almost 20 years. That is a rare happening in any college program.

 

[stinger78]

Those guys are young, and due to our former DC's unwillingness to develop talent underneath, we have only Barnes and Bowen with any PT prior to this year. Knowing our number issues at LB, it would have made sense to have played a couple of them last year. Had Sed and Jefferson gotten any significant PT at anything other than ST's, they may be a bit more polished now. (I mean, it took until past mid-season for Burnett to see anything other than a nickle package last year, and he was clearly, as a true FR, our best DB.)

However, they didn't play much at LB, and here we are. They are good players, but they just simply have to mature. It will happen.

 

[Essobee]

Essobee,

Tenuta used the DL to occupy blockers, and keep the OL from blocking the LB. The LBs were more likely to be free to make plays.

Wommack now lets the DL play the gaps, which lets them avoid blockers and make more plays. That's why the DL was excited when Wommack came. The downside is that the OL have clearer shots to block the LBs.

Since the DL is the strength of this defense, Wommack's stategy makes some sense. However, it also makes some young LBs look worse than they are.

It will be interesting to see what Wommack does next year. Anyaibe only had one tackle on Saturday according to a report I saw--which indicates that if the DL doesn't /can't take advantage of Wommack's scheme, the days can be long.

This looks like sound strategy, given our outstanding D linemen and young linebackers. Thanks for sharing your insight, jackup.