SPRING CAMP: Position Battles on Defense / ST

[BWahlberg]

So your assumption is that Strahm is going to redshirt?

Is Strahm here for spring camp?

 

[mikegriz]

There are serious safety issues with tackling with your head down -- maybe not in this particular instance -- but in general it is a really bad idea. If you can avoid it you really want to keep your head away from the knees of the person you are tring to tackle. I saw a really horrific video of a tackler put his head down and take a knee to the head then end up as a quadraplegic. Sickening to watch.

Learned that lesson the hard way playing rugby. Thought my neck was broken. Thanks Brint for another solid study guide.

 

[BWahlberg]

The front seven of this defense is the strength of this team. They should be solid again this year. The secondary should be better too, at least the maturing CB's. The safeties, who knows? All I can remember is the North Dakota coach at the post game press conference " we knew that the the Griz safeties were weak so we exploited that situation". The safeties played poorly last year. There isn't much you can say. Which of the following excuses were the reasons:

Poor coaching( Burtnett)
Poor scheme(Ty)
Starters slumps/ talent level
Key injuries that impacted depth(we did loose two players to season ending injuries)
Poor Speed
Poor Tackling
Better BSC Receivers

Maybe this Van Ackeren kid can make an immediate impact. We'll see. With JJ potentially back, the safeties are the last "weak link" for this 2013 Griz team IMO.

The issue with the front 7 being the strength this year... is it was last year as well (although one can easily argue this years should be even better).

Weakest link will either be safeties where there's little to no confidence right now or tight ends where there's virtually no experience. One could say on the positive side that the safeties bring experience though.

 

[Pounder29]

Nice review B-dub as always. Your depth of knowledge generates thought and creates some very interesting opinions. The defense I believe will hold it's own. The front D-line and backers will
have the ability to actually "fill the holes" instead of chasing. IMO sometimes last year they were in a hurry to fill the hole and ended up chasing, then being dependent on weak safety or corner play to make a tackle.WIth that said, I think the defensive scheme/play calling has to change. As I have opnioned beforethe scheme has to fit the situation. You can't put your secondary in a shell when it's 3rd and 4. The CB and safeties, have to be allowed to come up instead of playing 6-8 off the ball it killed us. With the DC having what I believe a full year under his belt he will adjust, and the CBs and safeties will play a more aggressive role, and maybe even be allowed to make adjustments. They are covering the routes. They will continue to rotate from game to game, in what I call who had the "best week of practice" instead of which player "see's the route" and can cover the ground. Just my very small opinon. Looking forward to all your great reporting throughout the year.

Pounder29
West Coast Grizz Fan!!!

 

[krammer]

my thought regarding scheme is we should be much better regarding defensive back play,,,with our front 7 being the best in the league, this should allow corners to play a style of in your face man to man coverage, with saftey help over the top, should they get beat,,we cannot play that umbrella type defense, like last year and further more we should not need to.....

 

[BWahlberg]

Was going to add; another thing I'm really looking for in the defense is a return to the "1-11" mindset (play your 1/11th on the team). Last year even our best players on defense found themselves out of position at times because they were trying to do too much and fill gaps or make up for errors of other teammates. And as we saw, it had a compounding effect. The NAU and SUU games specifically stand out as our normally talented front 7 was getting pushed around b/c the backers were trying to do too much, the D-ends were not playing the run properly, the DTs were running into each other.

Spring ball won't reveal much issue there - maybe a bit, but that's another thing I'm really hoping comes along this year for the sake of the defense.

 

[GottaluvGriz]

Was going to add; another thing I'm really looking for in the defense is a return to the "1-11" mindset (play your 1/11th on the team). Last year even our best players on defense found themselves out of position at times because they were trying to do too much and fill gaps or make up for errors of other teammates. And as we saw, it had a compounding effect. The NAU and SUU games specifically stand out as our normally talented front 7 was getting pushed around b/c the backers were trying to do too much, the D-ends were not playing the run properly, the DTs were running into each other.

Spring ball won't reveal much issue there - maybe a bit, but that's another thing I'm really hoping comes along this year for the sake of the defense.

This is what the NDSU defense does exceptionally well. Very seldom out of position and all 11 play their position well. Showed up dramatically against the Sam Houston offense two years in a row.

 

[granitegriz]

Though with particularly the NAU game, the offense lost the game with turnovers. I need to go back and watch the SUU game, but it seems that was the special teams being the main factor in the loss. The defense still played well enough to win both the NAU and SUU games IMHO.

 

[BWahlberg]

Though with particularly the NAU game, the offense lost the game with turnovers. I need to go back and watch the SUU game, but it seems that was the special teams being the main factor in the loss. The defense still played well enough to win both the NAU and SUU games IMHO.

The D gave up nearly 300 passing to SUU and nearly 300 rushing to NAU. Not saying the D being out of place was the one main reason why they lost those games - however it was a contributing factor.

 

[granitegriz]

BW~I agree with you on the out of position comments and pass defense being a factor. Though the stall outs with the offense was a big factor last year. Someone on here said it best, the best defense is a good offense. Sounds like MD will be focusing on maintaining drives. I do like the hurry up offense though, so hopefully they are not throwing it out all together. It could be an excellent tactic, especially late in games. I thought the Bobcats' defense was tired out in the 4th quarter last year and even a faster pace could have helped.

 

[Ken Jones]

Kendrick Van Ackeren is a versatile athlete. At Bellevue High School, in Washington state, as a junior and then a senior athlete, he played QB and S. After a redshirt year, at the University of Hawai'i, he played weak-side LB—that's not an easy position transition, but he handled it with style. This season, with the U. of Montana, although Kendrick is a versatile athlete, his best position will be S.

Either safety position will suit him. He may have just enough speed to play free-safety and more than enough muscle, speed, quickness and intelligence to play strong-safety in the Big Sky.

Side note: Marquin Russell is fast. I'd like to see him at free-safety or strong-safety in a year; however, the WR group may need his speed and hands.

I can't wait for spring ball 2013 ... let's get this party started.

 

[RobGriz]

Kendrick Van Ackeren is a versatile athlete. At Bellevue High School, in Washington state, as a junior and then a senior athlete, he played QB and S. After a redshirt year, at the University of Hawai'i, he played weak-side LB—that's not an easy position transition, but he handled it with style. This season, with the U. of Montana, although Kendrick is a versatile athlete, his best position will be S.

Either safety position will suit him. He may have just enough speed to play free-safety and more than enough muscle, speed, quickness and intelligence to play strong-safety in the Big Sky.

Side note: Marquin Russell is fast. I'd like to see him at free-safety or strong-safety in a year; however, the WR group may need his speed and hands.

I can't wait for spring ball 2013 ... let's get this party started.

Good post. I do think Marquin is better suited to the defensive side of the ball. Just my $.02

 

[Pater_Ursus_Arctos]

Brint - Do you have a back up battery for your phone? There's a lot of us that can't wait till Monday and to get your tweets....

Thanks for the insight. Look forward to getting actual updates on Spring practice.

Go Griz!

 

[IntuitiveGriz]

The adage of "See what you’re going to hit and run thru not to." is what we need a little more of at safety.

That is why we have a state of washington player of the year and former FBS linebacker coming in... Van-Ackeren. We haven't had a safety of his size in a long time. He's gonna fukc some siht up :!:

 

[IntuitiveGriz]

I actually think that Van Ackeren and Hermanson are going to turn into a really nice duo. I also believe that Dennard will be ahead of Goodwin.

Although I really like Chief (Goodwin), Dennard was the best cover corner on the team last year in my opnion. Sure he had some mistakes as all CBs do, but he was "on" a lot of the time. I wouldn't be suprised if the starters were Dennard and Goodwin. The both impressed at times last season. If nothing else, they will play. And play well.

Van Ackeren and Hermanson, along with some pretty good back-ups are going to shine at the safety positions (this coming from someone who played safety--me--granted it was a long time ago, but I still can see talent for the position. Just like anyone can see talent for the position they played... make sense? :lol:

 

[IntuitiveGriz]

Was going to add; another thing I'm really looking for in the defense is a return to the "1-11" mindset (play your 1/11th on the team). Last year even our best players on defense found themselves out of position at times because they were trying to do too much and fill gaps or make up for errors of other teammates. And as we saw, it had a compounding effect. The NAU and SUU games specifically stand out as our normally talented front 7 was getting pushed around b/c the backers were trying to do too much, the D-ends were not playing the run properly, the DTs were running into each other.

Spring ball won't reveal much issue there - maybe a bit, but that's another thing I'm really hoping comes along this year for the sake of the defense.

I COULDN'T AGREE MORE :!: Outside linebackers (Kanongata'a especially) and the DE's (everyone of them) were OFTEN out of position and giving up their gap/responsibility. It was painful to watch.

 

[Ken Jones]

Kanongata'a is goin' to be fine. He's has great football instincts and plays at his best when uninhabited at LB. I think pairing Van Ackeren with Kanongata'a will eliminate a lot of miscommunications and mistakes. Additionally, Kanonogata'a and Van Ackeren played together @ Bellevue; they've great football instincts that will enhance the synchronization of the defensive unit.