I know I'm "beating a dead horse" but its so important that I think it needs some discussion. As I mentioned in the last post, BYU has the philosophy of playing their corners 10-15 yards off the ball to try and prevent "big plays". I have a few problems with this.
1. I heard Nate Meikle say that he has talked with a number of players on the team about this and they've said that this is a typical NFL approach. What? Have they even seen an NFL game? I've never seen the corners play 10 yards off the ball in the NFL. Every game that I've watched I've seen them play either "bump" coverage with the safties over the top in "cover 2 defense" or between 4-7 yards off the ball.
Brandon Bradley#2. One of the reasons I've heard the coaches say we can't play up on the WRs is because our corners aren't "physical" or "athletic" enough to match up. I say this is ridiculous. Brandon Howard's main strenght is his speed and athletic ability. Scott Johnson's strenght is his physicalness and toughness. He's a great tackler. Are you telling me that Brandon Brandley isn't an athlete? That kid is amazing. He's a physical specimen. He needs to be on the field more. Then there is G Pittman, probably the most talented corner we've had in the program in a while.
#3. I've heard a few times (on the Greg Wrubell post-game show and coaches show) where Bronco and Nate Meikle say that the team has run statistical analysis on managing the total points in a game and that when you play "off" the WRs, it gives up yards but not points. Also known as a bend but don't break defense. This may work against terrible QBs but not against good QBs that will pick you apart. I understand where they are getting at but we need to realize that every situation calls for something different. Which leads me to some great news....
Bronco said in a interview that he may change some of the philosphy for different situations. I took this as meaning that he will move the corners closer on 3rd down situations. We got killed by TCU on 3rd down conversions when they just threw to their WR for 5-9 yard gains on third down. Its good to see that Bronco is willing to swallow some pride and adjust to what needs to be done. It will be interesting this week as we play UNLV because they have probably 3 of the best WRs in the conference. I know what I'll be looking for on 3rd down this week. They will either run a QB draw like TCU or attempt a 5-9 yards out pattern. Hopefully we can adjust this time!
Phillip Payne's Game Winning Catch vs Arizona State
No comments:
Post a Comment