Linebacker problems again

[USFBULL_08]

18 minutes ago, BullyPulpit said:

He was our most productive guy in the front 7 last year in the 6 games he played. His numbers in half a season rival what many on the team put up in an entire year. He wasn't the most physically gifted, but he played hard and smart. He was in the mold of an Auggie Sanchez and Ben Moffitt type that have always found success at USF. 

Against Elon, GT, Illinois, UMass, ECU and Tulsa....

He was good for what we have and that wasn't much on the defensive side of the ball.

[USFBULL_08]

5 minutes ago, Jonesy Bull said:

That is an unfair statement considering the plays he made for us while he was healthy.

The before and after play of the defense from the point of his injury is telling enough for me.  Cant just be coincidence.

Im not saying he was great but certainly alot better than what you are saying.

You don't think the schedule had anything to do with that?

I don't dislike him and I appreciate his efforts. I just think we should expect more from a guy in his position.

[BullyPulpit]

Just now, Corey lea said:

If you are saying that Sawtelle has the talent to play at a P5, name a school where this guy could start? We had the worst D in the country so using games he played in at the beginning of the season as a metric is absurd. You have to think that Macon saw better competition at practice than we mostly saw on our game schedule. Macon was not brought here because Nico was the man of year. He was brought here to play MLB, period! We had a dang safety playing lb..wth?

 

Sanchez was a player and could hold down the middle. Sawtelle was not even close to that kind of caliber. 

You missed the point. Even assuming that Nico couldn't start at any P5 (which I find laughable given some of the atrocious P5 programs out there), none of our other LBs besides Macon are good enough right now to start at any P5 either. I don't know what is so hard to understand about that. At some point in the season will Boyles and Grier be better than what Nico would have been? Possibly. But for this week, against Wisconsin, needing a good start and leadership, I would have wanted Nico out there with Macon. 

Using his stats in the games he played is not absurd. His stats were his stats. He was on pace for 16 TFLs, which would have been 32nd best in all of FBS and #11 out of all LBs. I'm not saying he was the most amazing LB ever, but he was a solid player who went out and made plays. 

[BullyPulpit]

2 minutes ago, USFBULL_08 said:

Against Elon, GT, Illinois, UMass, ECU and Tulsa....

He was good for what we have and that wasn't much on the defensive side of the ball.

There still isn't much in terms of proven talent at the LB position. We have seen quite a few guys come and go that were physically and athletically more talented than Nico, but they lacked what it takes to be an effective football player. I hope the new guys prove to be WAY better than Nico, but to dismiss the loss of a team leader on defense like it is nothing is silly. 

[Bulls On Parade]

Macon no doubt will be an improvement over Reeves at LB that we can all agree on.

 

 

 

 

[IBulleve]

1 hour ago, BullyPulpit said:

There is NO game experience out there with the exception of 2 starts from Boyles and maybe a few snaps each for Mims and Grier. We added 1 P5 player from the portal. While I am excited to watch him play, it has been 32 months since he has played a competitive down of football. You are grossly underestimating Sawtelle's value to this team. This isn't about participation trophies. If he wasn't injured, Sawtelle would be starting. That should tell you all you need to know about the coaching staff's level of comfort with the guys that will end up playing substantial snaps this week and beyond. I'm not saying that they won't perform, but no one knows if they are truly ready. 

Also, this crap that you are saying that Nico wouldn't even get special teams work at any P5 school is ridiculous. Beyond that, do you actually think any of our LBs, besides Macon, would be starting this week at any other P5? Of course not. You just have this absurd position that you have dug into that Nico is what was wrong with this defense last year when, in actuality, he was one of the few things that were right with it. 

Sure, Boyles may have only “started” 2 games last year, but the kid played meaningful minutes in almost every game in 2018. Let’s not act like he has no game experience. 

[NewEnglandBull]

Sawtelle would not have been 100% this year anyway. No way he was going to play the whole season without injury. Put some of the freshmen in and let them learn by fire. 

[BullyPulpit]

13 minutes ago, IBulleve said:

Sure, Boyles may have only “started” 2 games last year, but the kid played meaningful minutes in almost every game in 2018. Let’s not act like he has no game experience. 

He didn't play that much. Only 20 tackles all season, with 10 of those coming in the Tulane game. Not saying he isn't ready, just that he is still a little green. 

[NovaBull]

Guys, guys, guys...you are all missing the point here, which is that we have a kid on our team named, Camp Gobler!!!

Name of the year winner right there.

[Vivadiscordia]

16 minutes ago, NovaBull said:

Guys, guys, guys...you are all missing the point here, which is that we have a kid on our team named, Camp Gobler!!!

Name of the year winner right there.

Still waiting on Peach Cobbler.