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2015 CU Spring Football Practices

Just to clarify, what do you mean by "day one"? I think that mean just the 1st round now. I believe the old days was rounds 1-3. Is the old way what you meant?

Edit: To the point about turnovers... if we want to see more picks from our CBs then Leavitt better run more zone coverage.

One thing I learned was that, while they may have a "Quarters", "Cover 6", or "Sky Cover 3" zone coverage concept called, certain CB/WR matchups could easily turn into a Man to Man situation, depending on what the outside #1 WR does as well as what the slot #2 does before the 8-10 yard threshold. Point being, the defensive coverage is, at times, dictated by what the offense does just as much as the call on the field.

Also, it's hard to play zone coverage if you're being aggressive and dialing up the blitz. This is especially relevant to CU because we seem to struggle getting consistent pressure with only 4 rushers. Therefore, extra guys are sent to generate pressure and it forces us to play M2M on the back end.
 
Is it hard to play zone and blitz? I know Saban loves the zone blitzes and you'll like be less prone to terrible matchup with a zone blitz compared to a man blitz.
 
Is it hard to play zone and blitz? I know Saban loves the zone blitzes and you'll like be less prone to terrible matchup with a zone blitz compared to a man blitz.

It's about how many people you are bringing on a blitz, not necessarily the blitz itself. A zone blitz is great for disguising who is coming but it typically blitzes LBs/Rover types and drops DEs or sometimes DTs into shallow coverage. Not all, but most zone blitzes are still only bringing 4-5 rushers, at the most. Any more than that and you compromise your defense too much on the back end. You can't bring 6-7 rushers and only have 4-5 guys covering effectively. Instead, when you dial up 6-7 man blitz packages, you have to have the 4-5 guys manned up, and even that gets beat a fair amount of the time.
 
One thing I learned was that, while they may have a "Quarters", "Cover 6", or "Sky Cover 3" zone coverage concept called, certain CB/WR matchups could easily turn into a Man to Man situation, depending on what the outside #1 WR does as well as what the slot #2 does before the 8-10 yard threshold. Point being, the defensive coverage is, at times, dictated by what the offense does just as much as the call on the field.

Also, it's hard to play zone coverage if you're being aggressive and dialing up the blitz. This is especially relevant to CU because we seem to struggle getting consistent pressure with only 4 rushers. Therefore, extra guys are sent to generate pressure and it forces us to play M2M on the back end.

Zone blitz might be a little complicated for college. But it's not like it's impossible. At least to disguise who the 4 rushers will be out of a 34 and roll the LB coverage left, right or middle to account for who rushes.

What I hate about running as much man coverage as we've seen the past 2 years is that not only do you get fewer picks, but you also have too many DBs with their heads turned away from the QB and it's a killer when the QB runs. It also gets guys run out of the play when they don't recognize a screen. For what we see in the Pac-12, CU's secondary needs to be looking at the QB & backfield.
 
Zone blitz might be a little complicated for college. But it's not like it's impossible. At least to disguise who the 4 rushers will be out of a 34 and roll the LB coverage left, right or middle to account for who rushes.

What I hate about running as much man coverage as we've seen the past 2 years is that not only do you get fewer picks, but you also have too many DBs with their heads turned away from the QB and it's a killer when the QB runs. It also gets guys run out of the play when they don't recognize a screen. For what we see in the Pac-12, CU's secondary needs to be looking at the QB & backfield.

I would completely agree with you if we were a team that could get some consistent pressure with our front 4. The past 2 years we've had to bring 5-6 guys in an attempt to make the QB uncomfortable, and haven't really been afforded the opportunity to go straight zone behind it. Maybe that will change a little this year and we can run some more zone stuff with 7 guys in coverage.

Here is a pretty cool read explaining some of the zone blitz concepts out of the 4-2-5

http://runcodhit.blogspot.com/2010/11/split-safety-zone-blitzes.html
 
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I think Hendo could very well end up collecting NFL paychecks because he is a smart guy who works hard, understands defenses, and is willing to do what he has to do to be successful. The downside to him is that he doesn't have that special athletic ability that lets him be a great one on one defender and cover mistakes with quickness and speed.

KC does have that special edge. If he will take a page out of Hendo's book, and it looks like he is trying, he could be a high enough draft choice to insure that he will get a long look and decent money.
 
Zone blitz might be a little complicated for college. But it's not like it's impossible. At least to disguise who the 4 rushers will be out of a 34 and roll the LB coverage left, right or middle to account for who rushes.

What I hate about running as much man coverage as we've seen the past 2 years is that not only do you get fewer picks, but you also have too many DBs with their heads turned away from the QB and it's a killer when the QB runs. It also gets guys run out of the play when they don't recognize a screen. For what we see in the Pac-12, CU's secondary needs to be looking at the QB & backfield.

The lack of pressure was the main cause not the M2M coverage. The Utah game was a great example, Wilson was probably one of less talented passers we faced but he complete 67% of his passes (above his average) and was getting 8.1 yards per attempt. Make the opposing QB throw sooner and force bad decisions - When Sefo threw the pick 6 in that same game he was facing a hard rush with a DLineman right in his face. Bad decisions cause more INTs than great coverage.

Pick6Utah.PNG
 
Just to clarify, what do you mean by "day one"? I think that mean just the 1st round now. I believe the old days was rounds 1-3. Is the old way what you meant?

Edit: To the point about turnovers... if we want to see more picks from our CBs then Leavitt better run more zone coverage.
You're right, it is just the first round on day one now. I am thinking he could be a 1st-3rd rounder. He could potentially be a 1st rounder, but will need to show he can produce turnovers. He has the tools
 
After hearing some reports that we are running a lot of 3-4 in practice, I'm wondering how this relates to our personnel. We have more d-linemen then we have ever had before, 3 coming in as jucos, we just signed 5 in this class, and we are getting 2 back from injury, not to mention the 2014 class was D-line heavy. Where are all these guys going to play? Which one of our DE have a legitimate ability to stand up as an OLB?
 
I think Afolabi Laguda just became my favorite player after watching that interview Adam posted. Kid has a lot of heart and is definitely smart and a hard worker, I hope he sees plenty of playing time this coming season.


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After hearing some reports that we are running a lot of 3-4 in practice, I'm wondering how this relates to our personnel. We have more d-linemen then we have ever had before, 3 coming in as jucos, we just signed 5 in this class, and we are getting 2 back from injury, not to mention the 2014 class was D-line heavy. Where are all these guys going to play? Which one of our DE have a legitimate ability to stand up as an OLB?

I'm still not convinced that we'll be running a 3-4 in it's traditional sense. I think it'll be a mixture of fronts (as most defenses now are), but I think it's more likely going to be a 4-2-5 as the base defense with plenty 3-3-5 (3-5-3) as well. It's hard doing anything in the Pac 12 with less than 5 DB-types on the field. We seem to have a plethora of physical safety types, so I could easily see Laguda/White/Bell playing "Rover" positions.
 
I think Afolabi Laguda just became my favorite player after watching that interview Adam posted. Kid has a lot of heart and is definitely smart and a hard worker, I hope he sees plenty of playing time this coming season.


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Wow. Guda is a quality young man! What a great listen, thanks for the heads up. If he can play to match his perspective..... Look out for GUDA! Love the interview.
 
After hearing some reports that we are running a lot of 3-4 in practice, I'm wondering how this relates to our personnel. We have more d-linemen then we have ever had before, 3 coming in as jucos, we just signed 5 in this class, and we are getting 2 back from injury, not to mention the 2014 class was D-line heavy. Where are all these guys going to play? Which one of our DE have a legitimate ability to stand up as an OLB?

Our 3-4 is 2 ILBs like we've always had, a new LB spot called a "Jack" linebacker where Rippy is playing, and the old OLB spot has become a hybrid DE that tweener guys like Gilbert, Hasselbach and Matthewes can play.
 
Our 3-4 is 2 ILBs like we've always had, a new LB spot called a "Jack" linebacker where Rippy is playing, and the old OLB spot has become a hybrid DE that tweener guys like Gilbert, Hasselbach and Matthewes can play.

Interesting that you have specifics. Not questioning, just curious where you heard it or if you have a link to share that discusses it?
 
The lack of pressure was the main cause not the M2M coverage. The Utah game was a great example, Wilson was probably one of less talented passers we faced but he complete 67% of his passes (above his average) and was getting 8.1 yards per attempt. Make the opposing QB throw sooner and force bad decisions - When Sefo threw the pick 6 in that same game he was facing a hard rush with a DLineman right in his face. Bad decisions cause more INTs than great coverage.

View attachment 15849
That was also a screen pass, so the OL is supposed to let DL get in the backfield so they can block upfield.
 
Have we heard anything on Sanchez or Gamboa?

I haven't. I don't expect everyone to make his presence known as a freshman, but Gamboa's a guy I'm worried about. With the numbers at LB last year and the knowledge that Watanabe wouldn't be there for fall camp, Gamboa didn't arrive with the level of fitness I would have hoped for in a guy who had an opportunity to compete for early playing time. Hopefully he has dedicated himself to the S&C program.
 
That's what I thought. Engage the block, then shed. No?

Sure. Unless you want to get your QB popped and have the back 7 of the defense immediately read that it's a screen play. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that isn't the play design. :lol:
 
Sure. Unless you want to get your QB popped and have the back 7 of the defense immediately read that it's a screen play. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that isn't the play design. :lol:

I'm getting my learn on! :lol:


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I saw Gamboa in one of the practice videos and he actually looks considerably more "cut" than he did last fall (not really saying much tho). He is still short and unathletic however.
 
And Orchard got into Sefo before he could set his feet. You are suppose to delay them for a second.
Yeah but the point was to not use a screen pass as an example of getting pressure on the QB, it's in the play design to let them pressure the QB. And being real, that was a terrible throw by Sefo. Over Powell's head and to the left, terrible throw.
 
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