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Linebackers

Bufffan68

Club Member
Club Member
So with Gillam healthy (hope he stays that way) and the good things coming out about Olugbode, Rippy, Watanabe...and the fact a badass like JL is coaching them...I am starting to think LB may not be as big a weakness as I thought. Or maybe it's just KoolAid time...
 
So with Gillam healthy (hope he stays that way) and the good things coming out about Olugbode, Rippy, Watanabe...and the fact a badass like JL is coaching them...I am starting to think LB may not be as big a weakness as I thought. Or maybe it's just KoolAid time...

KoolAid talking.

If Gillam is back to freshman form, then he will be good.

If Olugbode takes the next step in his development he will be good.

If Rippy has decided to take football seriously and apply his god given talents he will be good

If Watanabe has fully healed from his foot injury he has the potential to be good.

Lots of ifs for the top 4 to be good, but the biggest problem is what happens if any of them are injured. Our depth at the position is paper thin.
 
Weakness until proven otherwise. Too many questions to claim otherwise at this point. IF everything falls into place and we don't have a lot of injuries, the linebackers will be passable.
 
Just curious, has there been any word on Gamboa's abilities? I feel like no one has spoken about him.
 
Wait and see mode, but we will be living on the edge this season at this position.
 
images
 
why not convert a couple more DEs to the linebacker spot...if needed. lots of size and speed there.
 
So with Gillam healthy (hope he stays that way) and the good things coming out about Olugbode, Rippy, Watanabe...and the fact a badass like JL is coaching them...I am starting to think LB may not be as big a weakness as I thought. Or maybe it's just KoolAid time...

You keep posting that but what are these good things. I am not hearing them.
 
Potential is there.

Every season, we go into it thinking that certain position groups are strengths and others are weaknesses. It doesn't always play out that way.

Last year, for instance, we thought that CU was in good shape at RB but that our WRs were a huge issue.

So it could very well be that the cookie crumbles the right way and LB ends up being a very strong position for the team.
 
You keep posting that but what are these good things. I am not hearing them.

Olugbode - Gained 20 lbs to finally be at a good playing weight for LB

Rippy - New found motivation and work ethic... sits atop the depth chart

Watanabe - Mostly Allbuffs Kool-aid comments and old high school film in which he has been declared a "beast"

We will find out shortly
 
Olugbode - Gained 20 lbs to finally be at a good playing weight for LB

Rippy - New found motivation and work ethic... sits atop the depth chart

Watanabe - Mostly Allbuffs Kool-aid comments and old high school film in which he has been declared a "beast"

We will find out shortly

:nod:
 
Sadly we could be markedly better than last year and still not be good.

Any improvement though would be welcome and I think we will be better. As mentioned we can't afford injuries and we have some guys who have a history of not being healthy.

Time of possession is one of the least important stats in terms of winning but for this team keeping the offense on the field and the defense off could be the key to the season because of our lack of depth.
 
No one has talked about Gilbert or McCartney in this thread, why? They're 2 expected starting LBers and it is a drastic change in our LB corps.
 
Sadly we could be markedly better than last year and still not be good.

Any improvement though would be welcome and I think we will be better. As mentioned we can't afford injuries and we have some guys who have a history of not being healthy.

Time of possession is one of the least important stats in terms of winning but for this team keeping the offense on the field and the defense off could be the key to the season because of our lack of depth.

Relative to last year, markedly better at LB and on defense in general, would have had us vying for a bowl game instead of sitting at 2 wins. I'll take markedly better.

No one has talked about Gilbert or McCartney in this thread, why? They're 2 expected starting LBers and it is a drastic change in our LB corps.

I don't think they've been brought up much because there are fewer question marks surrounding them as players, as well as the OLB position, in general. The major concern on D lies with the ILB positions, IMO (also at NT).
 
Sadly we could be markedly better than last year and still not be good.

Any improvement though would be welcome and I think we will be better. As mentioned we can't afford injuries and we have some guys who have a history of not being healthy.

Time of possession is one of the least important stats in terms of winning but for this team keeping the offense on the field and the defense off could be the key to the season because of our lack of depth.
Why? We we're #14 in the country last year in ToP and #1 in the PAC12 and still went winless and we have more depth this year.
 
Why? We we're #14 in the country last year in ToP and #1 in the PAC12 and still went winless and we have more depth this year.

As I said TOP is statistically one of the least important stats correlated to winning. Some of the great teams have terrible TOP because they score quickly so often that the defense seems to always be out there. We aren't at that point.


Looking at the expected starters this year I would be highly disappointed if we aren't a better defense than last year, good enough to win some games. The starters should overall be bigger, faster, and lack of experience is no longer an excuse.

The biggest weakness I see is in depth, especially at LB but also in some other positions like interior DL.

If the offense can hold onto the ball and not have a lot of 3 and outs or turnovers in bad field position we can get those defensive starters more rest and fewer reps reducing the chance for injury. Not being backed up in our own zone a lot also lets the coaches substitute more again reducing fatigue and the chance of injury.

Of course the best way to protect a defense is to build solid leads and let them dictate what they want to do but at this point I just want wins, don't care if the margins are large or small.
 
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So, I don't have the best grasp on the 3-4. Assistance would be appreciated. If we are in fact running the 3-4. Who are the projected lineman and LBs.

Line: Kofavalu, Solis, Carrel
LB: Gilbert, Olugbode, Gillam, Mccartney

And in passing downs we move gilbert and mccartney to the front and bring in the nickel?
 
So, I don't have the best grasp on the 3-4. Assistance would be appreciated. If we are in fact running the 3-4. Who are the projected lineman and LBs.

Line: Kofavalu, Solis, Carrel
LB: Gilbert, Olugbode, Gillam, Mccartney

And in passing downs we move gilbert and mccartney to the front and bring in the nickel?

Pretty much nailed it.

Awuzie will likely be the nickel corner. Sounds like Awini is making strides in that department though.
 
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