Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Fixing the Worst Defense in the Country (2)

Another thing you can do when trying to help the defense is move some people around. Here are a couple idea's that may have some merit. It isn't like we have an overload of talent on offense, but there is no reason to stockpile a 4th string RB that could be your first string safety, or CB.

This team needs to make a committment to get the best 22 football players on the field each week. Don James was great at that, and he aslo was pretty good at putting his best players on defense since defense wins championships.

DT

Losing Kosub was a blow because you lose the time you invested in the kid. They could move an offensive lineman over here to fill the void but nobody really comes to mind. This is a pretty tough spot to fill.

DE

Lappano said some nice things about Kirton's blocking last week, but they still haven't thrown to him all year. Moving a guy in his 5th year and having him learn a new position isn't easy. Walt Winter has some time at DE and is buried at TE, but you would think that maybe he will graduate rather than come back for a 5th year.

LB

Quinton Richardson at WLB? I think that could be a possibilty depending on how he fills out over the Winter. What about Yakaboski? They loved him early, the kid can really hit, but they might like him better as a power back. The thing is Yak is a football player, he needs to see the field. If he isn't going to be one of your top three RB's he needs to play safety or LB. these are a couple of kids that need to play in 2008. I think Sylvester is headed to LB one of these days.

CB

The Huskies are bringing in a boat load of CB/RB type of guys this year. Depending on what they see this Spring, and during Fall camp they could potentially interchange quite a few young kids. Curtis Shaw is going to compete for the starting RB job, but what if he ends up buried in the depth? That speed would look good in the defensive backfield, or maybe even receiver. Matt Mosley is a kid I could see being moved back to WR.

Safety

Yakaboski comes to mind because he knocks the snot out of people when he hits them. I am not sure what this kid will grow into. Will he stay at RB, or grow into a FB, LB, or S?

A lot of people have talked about Chris Stevens making the transition to safety for his senior year. The kid has played well but is more of a situational player. Once again, it tough to move a guy his final year.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well JohnB, totally off topic but I was thinking what movie they should show on the flight down to the bay area, around 2 hours. Remember The Titans, Hoosiers, etc have all been seen enough. I would choose either Invincible or my #1 choice for defying odds, not even a sports movie but Men of Honor (about navy divers). Hopefully that might get the kids inspired. The Natural might be good too but it deals with the stigma of a long losing streak. Or maybe just let them sleep and arm chair think the game. Once again, I say we win, but its getting harder to do this week after week. We leave for Bay area driving this time friday night after wife gets off work. Cheers

John Berkowitz said...

All would be good choices. Let me know how you like the new Stanford Stadium, I haven't seen it yet in person.

We will probably go to the California game next year. We both like San Francisco so it is a good excuse.