Camp questions: Defensive line
Posted July 30th, 2007 by mrasor
Football
The situation: Akron's defensive line might be one injury away from a catastrophe. Depth certainly is thin this season. Only three d-linemen on the roster, Eric Lively, Jared Cecchetti and Nate Robinson, have some experience.
Robinson, once the No. 1 prospect in the nation, could not keep his job this spring. Sophomore Wallace Pendleton overtook him at nose tackle. In a way, that's good news because Akron coaches believe they have a fourth serviceable defensive lineman.
In the spring, a possible fifth lineman emerged in Shawn Lemon. The freshman worked his way onto the depth chart behind Cecchetti. But he's a lineman closer to the mold of Doug Williams, whom Akron converted to linebacker because he's not bulky enough to play line in the 3-3-5 defense.
The question: Will a sixth or seventh lineman emerge to lighten the load on the starters and lessen the blow on a potential injury? Also, will the 3-3-5 defense last all season?
Discussion: Akron was OK against the run last season, but the Zips defensive linemen totaled just 7.5 sacks all season. Allowing opposing quarterbacks so much time had two negative results. First, at times it made the Zips' secondary look worse than it really was. Second, it allowed mobile quarterbacks time to find gaps to run and crippled Akron on third downs.
Mind you, this was with a defensive line that included two future professionals in Kiki Gonzalez (Kansas City Chiefs) and Jermaine Reid (CFL). If the line can't affect the game with talented, adequately sized players, how will it fare without them?
That brings me to my whacky idea. Can we please ditch the 3-3-5? It's concealing the true talent on this defense while accentuating a weakness — interior linemen. With a 4-3 defense, which is pretty standard in any level of football, Williams and Lemon could play defensive end. The team would have depth at defensive tackle, but of course, lose some at end.
Prediction: J.D. Brookhart has sworn allegiance to the 3-3-5, and that's fine. It's not very feasible to switch during camp anyhow. With any luck, one of the true freshmen will show some ability to adapt to college football sooner than expected. Although I'm convinced Akron would be better served without the 3-3-5, the more important goal for camp is to find another lineman who can play. I think the Zips will.
Tomorrow: Who is the quarterback?
July 30th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
I would like to see the 3-3-5 defense go away as well. I would prefer the 3-4 because we have some great linebackers and they won't see the field enough with the current defensive strategy. I will say one thing that is good about the 3-3-5. We have a very talented secondary and this alignment allows us to keep 5 on the field at all times. Maybe that is JD's thinking.
July 30th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I suspect JD's thinking is that he can't find enough big talent at the DL position as the good ones are always stolen by the BCS teams….therefore load up on what he can get, linebackers or small, athletic lineman….if he can get some of those guys coming off the edge to get to the quarterback, we might just have some success
July 30th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Nitro,
We do have some great linebackers, and at least one can put his hand down and be effective coming around the edge: Doug Williams. With the 4-3, J.D. can stop specializing in the big-body lineman exclusively. How would Jason Taylor, for example, fit in with today's Zips?
Peter,
J.D. can make that argument, and I'm sure he's not exaggerating. Still, some of the other MAC teams — even some who are inferior at recruiting — have strong d-lines without resorting to another scheme.
July 31st, 2007 at 9:03 am
Akron's line and defense, good or bad, has typically done one thing well - keeping a game winnable. As much as the linemen are blamed, you don't often see Akron getting blown out, right? I don't fully attribute that to the restraint of opposing coaches.
J.D. seems to have his defensive strategy right on. I believe that whether we're running the 4-3 or the 3-3-5, he'll continue to call the right plays to keep games close. Last year, our only 'bad loss' was to K**t. I don't know how much a d-line can improve or show improvement unless the offense can start scoring once more a game.
My biggest concern with the 3-3-5 is that it feels like it makes it easier for other teams to run out the clock safely, taking away that extra drive from the offense.
July 31st, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Aaron is correct. Lee Owens' defenses couldn't make an opponent punt. Ever. JD's crew has pretty much gotten the job done since day#1.
The Zips D-line will be fine. Nate Robinson will give his obligatory 10-15 plays. The combo of Pendleton and Nate will be an adequate replacement for Kiki. Jermaine Reid will hardly be missed. One or two of the incoming Fr's…a few of whom have a year of prep school under their belts…will be ready to replace, and probably improve upon anything Jermaine ever did.
Our LB's are amongst the best in the MAC. Our DB's ARE the best in the MAC. Defense won't be a problem.
Scoring points MAY be an issue. I thing the changeover from JD calling plays to Moorhead calling them will help a lot in this department. JD stretched himself too thin last year.
So did you guys win the softball championship, Mike?
July 31st, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Jermaine Reid never had a shot in the 3-3-5 defense. He could've been a playmaker with another team, IMO. The same will go for Shawn Lemon.
As for softball … We won the semifinals last week, then Stow-Kent blew us out for the championship. Oh well. We will retool and come back next season. The way I played, I deserve to be put on the waiver wire.