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Orange Blooded [2507]
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Thoughts on 2018 Defense (Long)
Jul 9, 2018, 10:47 AM
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DL is going to be filthy. It's actually unfair just how talented our DL is and many a OC is going to have nightmares preparing for us
DT: Starters (Wilkins and Lawrence) Back Ups (Huggins, Pickney, Williams)
Not much to say about these guys. Our starting 4 have a wealthy of experience between them and Wilkins and Lawrence will be 1st rounders after this year. As many have stated previously, Lawrence was never 100% last year and now he will be. It's unfair to try and run up the middle but someone, GT, is going to try and get both their feelings and RB hurt. Only downside is that we're losing 3 elite level players after this year.
DE: Starters (Ferrell, Bryant) Back Ups (Foster, Rudolph, X. Kelly, X. Thomas, Yeargin)
This maybe our deepest position on the entire defense and it's the most talented as well. Every player listed above is a 4 or 5 star recruit. Ferrell and BRyant are what they are at this point which are long, athletic, terrors coming off the edge to put the QB in the dirt. Both will hear their names called in the 1st or maybe second round if the NFL GMs are stupid enough to let them fall that far.
The backups are the more interesting story to me. Foster and Rudolph were surprises last year to me with how they passed Kelly so early on the depth chart and got some snaps. Both of them are solid and very talented and it will be interesting to see if Yeargin and Kelly can hold them off. Thomas is the future at WDE, though he could play either of them, he's going to get on the field and make his prescnece known. I think KJ Henry and Mascoll take a RS to put on lbs.
LB: Starters (Joseph, Lamar, Simmions) Back ups (Davis, Smith, Willaims, Skalski)
We know what we have with Jospeh. He's the most complete LB on the team and the defenses QB. Getting him back for his last year is HUGE for the middle.
Lamar is a freak of nature and a heat seeking missle but he can get out of position at times and needs to be sure he's in the right gap. There is a reason the staff gave Skalski and Davis more of his snaps even when he was back and ready to play. Venables trusts both of them more so Lamar will need to do what Stephone Anthony did his Junior year and have his fundamentals catch up with his talent.
Simmions is just a crazy athlete. He's a bigger, stronger and faster version of O'Daniel, the only question is if he's a great FB player yet with his reads and reaction. He can get out of position and normally make up for it with his speed but he needs to be careful of double moves. Watching him blitz is going to be very fun indeed for us.
The backups are all solid if not overly flashy but that is all that we need with the DL and starters in front of them. Venables trusts them to do their jobs and do them well and all of these guys can and will play.
DB: Starters (CB:Mullen, Fields S:Wallace, Muse) Back Ups (CB:Terrell, Williams S:Johnson, Simmions?, Turner)
This is the thinnest position on defense, no surprise. Our starters are all more than solid but the backups, particularly at safety, are simply unknowns or will be a pretty big drop off from the starters. Losing Van Smith hurt a lot from a leadership and production standpoint. Smith rarely busted coverage and now we will have to rely on Muse and Wallace. Wallace is solid but not as good in run support. Muse is hyper talented but can and has been burnt on double moves last year and lost his spot to Wallace because of that. Both will need to take a step forward fast. The backups at CB are good but young and will be tested when put on the field. Thankfully an elite pass rush makes everything easier but they might not have that next year.
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110%er [7427]
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Re: Thoughts on 2018 Defense (Long)
Jul 9, 2018, 11:09 AM
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Solid write-up. A couple comments:
KJ Henry will not redshirt. We are going to have a rotation at DE and just bring a constant barrage at opposing offenses so those guys stay fresh all season. I foresee packages where XT and KJ come in on passing downs to get after the QB.
For depth, I'd like to see X Kelly move over to DT
I actually think we are in better shape with K'Von Wallace at SS instead of Van Smith. He is better all-around and much better in coverage. Van was aggressive in run support and many times it put him out of position.
I could see AJ Terrell taking over as the other starter at CB sooner rather than later.
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All-In [48078]
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Re: Thoughts on 2018 Defense (Long)
Jul 9, 2018, 11:33 AM
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KJ Henry may redshirt. It's not crazy to think there is a chance is there? How do you know he is coming in on passing downs? Maybe he will, but I mean he is still buried in the depth chart for a year? He needs to get a lot stronger supposedly and add weight. How do we know how ready he is?
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All-TigerNet [13031]
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We can only rotate so many guys.. KJ Henry could
Jul 9, 2018, 5:05 PM
[ in reply to Re: Thoughts on 2018 Defense (Long) ] |
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be 4th string for awhile. He's really going to have to earn PT at that position because it's a loaded group. Also remember that some guys will be able to play AND redshirt this year with the new rule. The staff may choose not to RS Henry either because he's too good not to put on the field or because they just don't think he will stay 5 years, but it is possible for them to get him some PT and still RS him this year.
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Scout Team [170]
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Re: Thoughts on 2018 Defense (Long)
Jul 9, 2018, 11:23 AM
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WHY DO WE PAY ALL OF THE MONEY THAT WE PAY OUR COACHES,WHEN WE HAVE BETTER COACHES AND RECRUITERS SITTING IN THE STANDS,OR IN FRONT OF THEIR COMPUTER.
GO TIGERS
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Heisman Winner [133464]
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just his thoughts and it was a good post. It's good to see
Jul 9, 2018, 2:44 PM
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what other diehard Clemson fans are thinking.
Message was edited by: MyfavOrange®
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All-In [40088]
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exactly at least the guy is talking football during this dt I’m
Jul 9, 2018, 2:56 PM
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All for any chance of starting a conversation
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Heisman Winner [133464]
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exactly at least the guy is talking football during this dt
Jul 9, 2018, 2:57 PM
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I guess that's why his pulse is only at 56%
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All-TigerNet [13031]
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All-TigerNet [10822]
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we finally get some good football discussion here
Jul 9, 2018, 7:15 PM
[ in reply to Re: Thoughts on 2018 Defense (Long) ] |
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And you come in screaming you kids get off my lawn?
We can only speculate on what the coaches will do. Nobody is second guessing the coaches.
This type of thread should be encouraged.
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Scout Team [170]
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Re: Thoughts on 2018 Defense (Long)
Jul 9, 2018, 11:25 AM
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WHY DO WE PAY ALL OF THE MONEY THAT WE PAY OUR COACHES,WHEN WE HAVE BETTER COACHES AND RECRUITERS SITTING IN THE STANDS,OR IN FRONT OF THEIR COMPUTER.
GO TIGERS
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Walk-On [116]
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Re: Thoughts on 2018 Defense (Long)
Jul 9, 2018, 1:21 PM
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I have seen several posts about he OL. There has been no mention of Jackson Carmen in anything. What gives with him?
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Orange Blooded [2507]
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The weigh in will tell us a lot
Jul 9, 2018, 2:35 PM
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If he's cut down on his weight he'll play backup LT this year to take over for Hyatt next year. If not he'll probably pmay backup at the OG position but I've heard the staff are really grooming him for that LT
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All-Pro [697]
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Re: The weigh in will tell us a lot
Jul 9, 2018, 8:45 PM
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The weight had been coming down and from the pictures of him during the camps a few weeks ago he looks like he's getting closer to where they probably want him to be.
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All-In [27366]
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The anticipation is record-breaking.
Jul 9, 2018, 1:25 PM
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Hope the season will be too!
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110%er [5045]
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Re: Thoughts on 2018 Defense (Long)
Jul 9, 2018, 2:17 PM
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XT is SDE not a WDE, KJ Henry is a WDE and I do expect neither to redshirt.
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Legend [18407]
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Re: Thoughts on 2018 Defense (Long)
Jul 9, 2018, 4:26 PM
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Just got a feeling that Shaq Smith is going to have a breakout year this fall.
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Orange Blooded [2507]
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I hope so. I'm honestly suprised we haven't tried him at S
Jul 9, 2018, 4:52 PM
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He's just as athletic if not more so then Green and Kearse was and he was a tweener coming out of HS.
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Legend [15492]
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Re: Thoughts on 2018 Defense (Long)
Jul 9, 2018, 4:42 PM
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Well put, I think your's is an excellent analysis. I would only offer that having watched a lot of last years games (youtube has them all) I've grown a great deal more appreciative of K'von Wallace's skill level. I'm sure he'll be even better this year. The thing that really struck me was his willingness to hit. That man can flat nail someone when he gets the shot.
I'm seeing Wallace and Skalski having surprising breakout years.
Go Tigers!
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Orange Blooded [2507]
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Wallace saved us against NC ST last year
Jul 9, 2018, 4:51 PM
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I've got the most confidence out of him for our safeties honestly.
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All-TigerNet [10822]
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Re: Thoughts on 2018 Defense (Long)
Jul 9, 2018, 7:19 PM
[ in reply to Re: Thoughts on 2018 Defense (Long) ] |
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I love Wallace too, I hope he has a great year. As a safety Muse scares me a lot coming in with the shoulder and not wrapping up. I love that he wants a big hit, but the way we play defense, he just needs to make a sure tackle sometimes.
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All-TigerNet [13031]
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I like our top 3 corners a lot. Unfortunately that seems to
Jul 9, 2018, 5:11 PM
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be a position where it's tough to keep guys healthy throughout the year so hopefully we can get lucky in that department and/or develop a little more depth there. Safety is kind of scary. I want to like Muse because he brings Boulware-level intensity and he hits like a LB, but he's also prone to doing bone-headed things. Wallace should be solid. We realllly need some other guys to step up behind them.
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