I think James Smith will be at ss, LJ and Banks at corner. Will the juco safety commit be the fs? Will there be a position swithch (one of the corners) to safety? There is plenty of talent back here. Enough to win. We just need more pass rush or it will be the same thing all over again. imho
db questions about next year.
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Yup, been saying that for a while now that moving LJ to safety would really help the team. We're deeper at corner than we are safety, IMO.
Worst case scenario if the move didn't work - he goes back to corner and picks up where he left off.
Worst case scenario if the move didn't work - he goes back to corner and picks up where he left off.
I think LJ would be a great safety with his speed and hitting ability, he could be a real enforcer in the middle of the field. However, I don't know if they will decide that his ability at corner is too good to move him to safety..... he has the speed and hips that are hard to find at CB.
At least one of our corners needs to move to safety, IMO. Our safety coverage was just terrible last year and improving it is key to improving our defense. If Allen Bell doesn't win back his CB spot I think he could be a good free safety. Banks could do so as well I think . Benton could cover the safety position but he was a too poor of a tackler last year to play safety, but he was just a freshman so he could improve that aspect and make a good safety as well. Possibly Linder who RS last year could play their too.
The good thing is, our safety play can only get better from this season. Also, I would hope our new DC employs schemes that don't consistently leave our safeties covering Jeremy Maclin or Kerry Meier one-on-one. No safety will win those matchups.
At least one of our corners needs to move to safety, IMO. Our safety coverage was just terrible last year and improving it is key to improving our defense. If Allen Bell doesn't win back his CB spot I think he could be a good free safety. Banks could do so as well I think . Benton could cover the safety position but he was a too poor of a tackler last year to play safety, but he was just a freshman so he could improve that aspect and make a good safety as well. Possibly Linder who RS last year could play their too.
The good thing is, our safety play can only get better from this season. Also, I would hope our new DC employs schemes that don't consistently leave our safeties covering Jeremy Maclin or Kerry Meier one-on-one. No safety will win those matchups.
I'm pretty sure that in a tampa 2, there are no strong/free safeties. Just "safety". Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was something Brad Childress was saying about his collection of safeties.
I don't know why you guys think we're deep at corner. We never had enough corners. Didn't you see all those wide receivers people were playing? Why do you think Chizik is recruiting more corners? At the very least, someone (or, someones) is always hurt. Corner is one position that we actually have decent--not great--depth on the team.
I think that safety depth will come from newcomers, much as corner did for '08. Butler might be a starter, but Land will see time, and I don't think Chizik is done recruiting, either.
As far as those of you who keep clamoring for lJ to switch to safety--he's a freshman, and played at something like 5-10 179, for cryin' out loud. First off, that's hardly the size Chizik likes in his safeties--height is a good thing. Secondly, since he hadn't played corner before, at least let him get through Spring and Summer drills, and see how his coverage skills improve. There's no reason to switch a potential All American corner to safety just because you have some guys who might make all conference one day.
I don't understand the mentality on this board that if you have a good corner, you move him to safety. This kid won the starting spot at corner his freshman year. Just because he can hit you move him to safety? We need our best cover guys at corner. LJ needs to stay where he's at.
I'd leave LJ where he is. I think a year or two down the road he could be a shutdown corner on a Maclin/Crabtree/Bryant kind of receiver...and we'll see plenty of those down the line.
Smith was a redshirt junior this season.
edit: http://www.cyclones.com/ViewArticle...3&DB_OEM_ID=10700&ATCLID=325028&Q_SEASON=2008
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Broomfield, at 169 pounds, will have to put on a lot of muscle not to redshirt. Judah Linder is redshirting at the same size.
I could see Jacqes Washington playing as a true freshman, maybe at safety. Maybe Mosby. But I really expect Chizik to sign 1-2 more safeties who will be in the two deep.
We are not deep at corner, but we are very, very deep at corner relative to our safety depth. Our safety play was god-awful last year and two of the top three graduated. It has to be improved and counting solely on newcomers to improve a huge weakness is a recipe for disaster.
Also, nobody is clamoring to move LJ to safety, just some discussion on the fact that he could be a great safety. I think he will stay at corner though because of his ability there.
I also have read on another board that Land may have outgrown safety and end up being a LBer, so I don't know if we can automatically count on minutes from him at that position yet.
Well, to me it makes no sense to weaken one position to strengthen another. Like the people who suggest that Chris Lyle put on fifteen pounds to play strongside end. Aside from the issues of Lyle's "best" position, we would just be getting a three deep at rush end with Parker, Lyle and Maggitt, a nice mix of experience and youth, and we'd be destroying that to cover a different spot.
Or the people who say that James Carpenter doesn't matter, that we have "plenty" of talent to cover left tackle. We don't, switching someone from elsewhere just weakens those positions. Oh sure, we can probably "get by", but I'd really rather that Cyclone football were in a position where we weren't merely "getting by" any longer.
If a position is a strength, I'd rather have it remain a strength, rather than weakening it to cover another.
Besides which, both Banks and Bell will be seniors, so we'll need all of the experience at corner in '10 that we can get. :wink:
Can't argue with that.:no:
The advantage being that Butler will be here for Spring ball.
And "relying on newcomers" worked for cornerback last fall, even though signing Banks late was something of a fortuitous accident.
I don't see why people want to move of best player on d to the saftey spot! Seems dumb to me, I would much rather see Banks move to saftey before LJ...both are 5' 10'' but Banks is 193 and LJ is 179...I'm guessing LJ is going to put on more weight this offseason but still I would rather but a bigger Banks back there...
I'm just glad Hunley is gone...not to put down the kid, but i couldn't stand watching him, just didnt have the skill or athleticism or the will. I am kind of disappointed Chris Brown didn't get to play the full year, during the K-state game it seemed he was the only safety still trying.
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I've got the perfect solution. We should just have Nik Moser pose as an incoming freshman and get 4 more years of him! 
These past few years have made me appreciate how much Moser meant to our team for the time that he was here. A very under appreciated player.
These past few years have made me appreciate how much Moser meant to our team for the time that he was here. A very under appreciated player.
We can only hope that Land has outgrown safety. Our LB play was not great either. We couldn't cover the TE to save our soul. I think Banks or Alan Bell move to safety. I think the Juco safety plays. I thought Hunley was poor at safety. And James Smith made mistakes as well. Brown was injured too much to be much of a factor. I thought that Singleton got worse as the season wore on. LJ did well for a freshman but got burned on occasion. I thought Macklin from Mizzou had a whole 'nother gear when it came to speed. Not even close. Glad we were able to miss Crabtree from Tech. I thought Parker wasn't even a factor in most games. Nate Frere okay at DT. We will miss Taylor some, but he didn't have as big of a year as I had hoped. Jesse Smith is a bit slow. We need Tim Dobbins back. Garrin and Raven aren't the answer either. They are no Ace Bowen. We couldn't disguise a blitz if we wanted too. And we never had an offense off balance the whole year. And that includes SDSU and Kent State. My rant is done now.:smile:
Tim Dobbins was just as slow as Jesse Smith is but since we are playing a different defensive now Jesse is forced to try and cover the TE and sometimes WR...I just think we need a better cover LB and I'm sure the staff is going after them and Jesse is the best we have right now...
I agree with most everything you said but just wanted to point out that it seemed like when we did blitz our guys were right up on the line of scrimmage (showing blitz) or it was a delayed blitz (which i hate) and our guys were usually to slow to make a difference in the backfield or they would be out of control and run right past the QB (say that a million times this year)
