Which Position Group needs to "prove it" this season?

[Aclone]

Stop. Bacon had 60 tackles in his 'breakout' year. Freyler had 107 that same year. Klein had 117 while sharing with Knott and George. I hope Bacon has a great year, but let's stop comparing him to AJ Klein.

Stop.

This reflects a total misapprehension of our defense.

The whole 3-3-5 is designed to funnel tackles to the middle safety, the Star position. It’s been that way since they first shifted to it, when Greg Eisworth played the position.

I recall one opposing coach mentioning that his star safety had watched film, then told him, “Coach, if we played that scheme, I could lead the conference in tackles too!”

Knott and Klein did not play in a remotely similar system. You’re comparing apples and cantaloupes.

 

[demoncore1031]

We don't bring in highly rated recruits on the o-line, but look at other positions where it's the same thing. But at those other positions we develop players and have a good scheme. Look at the numbers from the Campbell era and the number of sacks allowed is always low. That's because of the style of offense we play and having QBs who can escape pressure. The biggest knock on our o-line, to me, is not being able to open holes in the running game. We have been fortunate to have some great RBs who could succeed behind an average line, but we don't have those RBs right now, so o-line improvement is a must. A lot of the success we had running last year was behind Jalen Travis. Running to the right did not work. I wish we would move Buhr to right guard, starting over Black. I felt like Buhr, when healthy, was really good as a run blocker.

Keep an eye on David Coffee at corner, Cooper Alexander as the #3 TE, and Trey Verdon on the edge. I think those 3 young guys are gonna have a big impact this year. Eskildsen at WR also.

 

[Aclone]

Patton has not done a lot to live up to the recruiting hype.

I’m curious how some of you think Patton could have done better.

Didn’t play defense until the coaches talked him into it at a summer camp. He played okay as an injury fill in as a freshman. Was stuck behind a three year starter who is one of our most talented players last year as a soph. Has not redshirted.

Just what else did you expect him to do?

By all accounts he had a great Spring, and may have been shifted to fill one of the open spots. Guess we’ll see.

 

[Frak]

I’m curious how some of you think Patton could have done better.

Didn’t play defense until the coaches talked him into it at a summer camp. He played okay as an injury fill in as a freshman. Was stuck behind a three year starter who is one of our most talented players last year as a soph. Has not redshirted.

Just what else did you expect him to do?

By all accounts he had a great Spring, and may have been shifted to fill one of the open spots. Guess we’ll see.

I don’t know…he was a big recruiting win for us, has played 2 years and hasn’t really done much. Has been a good ST player, looks a little lost on defense which is probably understandable given he played offense in HS. Guess I was hoping at this point he’d be a no brainer starter with the guys we lost. And he’s not that. We’ll see. I hope he steps up and takes a starting job.

 

[SouthJerseyCy]

Stop.

This reflects a total misapprehension of our defense.

The whole 3-3-5 is designed to funnel tackles to the middle safety, the Star position. It’s been that way since they first shifted to it, when Greg Eisworth played the position.

I recall one opposing coach mentioning that his star safety had watched film, then told him, “Coach, if we played that scheme, I could lead the conference in tackles too!”

Knott and Klein did not play in a remotely similar system. You’re comparing apples and cantaloupes.

I'll give you one thing. You taught me a new word today.

And hey, if you want to compare a former walkon who has played sparingly and been not seen the field for a year to a 10-year NFL vet, who am I to argue?

(ps - Gregg Eisworth was significantly behind both Rose and Hummel in tackles both his years here)

 

[SolarGarlic]

I'll give you one thing. You taught me a new word today.

And hey, if you want to compare a former walkon who has played sparingly and been not seen the field for a year to a 10-year NFL vet, who am I to argue?

(ps - Gregg Eisworth was significantly behind both Rose and Hummel in tackles both his years here)

What does his status as former walk on have to do with anything? He's proven he's a Big 12 player. This feels oddly personal.

 

[SouthJerseyCy]

What does his status as former walk on have to do with anything? He's proven he's a Big 12 player. This feels oddly personal.

[Sigh] I have no vendetta against Caleb and I hope he is an All-American this year. Just pointing out how off your comparison to AJ was. I'm done. I hope you are right as my whole point was that the LB core needs to 'prove it' IMO.

 

[SolarGarlic]

[Sigh] I have no vendetta against Caleb and I hope he is an All-American this year. Just pointing out how off your comparison to AJ was. I'm done. I hope you are right as my whole point was that the LB core needs to 'prove it' IMO.

What's off about it? I compared playing styles, not production.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

Cornerback was my pick. I get that none of our current safeties have ever started a game for Iowa State, but that position has been almost plug and play in Heacocks system. Guys always seem to pan out if not be wildly successful. Corner is concerning to me, after Jontez. That side of the field is primed to be picked on barring surprise from someone. D line would be my second pick. If they can take a massive step forward, especially in pass rush, whoever they throw out there at CB2 and safety won't matter quite as much.

Guess I should've picked D line. Oh well, I'm leaving it for the sake of argument.