(08-05-2022, 10:40 AM)rfc17 Wrote: There was another thread on the board talking about the defensive and specifically the defensive line that I had planned on responding to but will do here instead. While I'm excited about the potential and versatility of our line, we are bringing back a lot of guys from last year's team. And last year's team was terrible at stopping the run and getting pressure. As a Vanderbilt grad, we always hear "we have an experienced group coming back that has been here for a few years" and your first thought is "well is that a good thing!?". Yes the coaching last year was awful. Under this new coaching staff I know we are all expecting that with a new scheme and better development, we'll see a lot of improvement from returning players. But on the otherhand, maybe some of these guys, such as Davon Hamilton, actually aren't all that good. All these guys (Brown, RRH, Gotsis, Smoot, etc.... ) all seem to have moments and will make good plays but maybe as a collective or maybe in the totality of their play, they are just average players. Or better served as backup rotational guys at best. When you look across the depth chart, it feels like this should be a pretty solid group. And while I'm hopeful we'll see much better play, I don't think we should be shocked if we wake up midseason and realize they still aren't strong against the run. Or if our pass rush doesn't take a huge leap forward. There could still be a lot more talent acquisition needed.
I was only able to see a few plays with Connor. He looked strong and runs hard. But one of things you noticed in his college highlights is that he doesn't change direction all that quickly. And has a little Fournette to him. Give him an opening and he can be really explosive. But doesn't often make something out of nothing. If he wasn't getting much good blocking not surprised to hear he wasn't very productive.
But at the end of the day, it's just preseason. Feels like these games get worse and worse with each passing year. Hard to take much of anything away from them.
Nothing against your alma mater. It certainly doesn't need my imprimatur to be long established as an outstanding school. But it's never a good thing for an NFL DL to be compared in any way to Vandy's DL.
As for Devon Hamilton, I had always been high on his athletic ability for a man his size. However, there seems too many times where that combination of size and athleticism does not translate into stoutness at the line of scrimmage. Hopefully I am just overreacting to a disappointing preseason performance, but I think of the game last night and the games against the Rams and 49ers last year, and wonder. But that scrutiny falls to the others you mentioned too.
I recall a few years back when the big preseason controversy was the Jaguars passing offense not scoring any TDs with Brunell. There was angst throughout the fan base as the masses worried about the offense being able to score. The regular season started and it all went away. I suspect (hope?) we see something similar with the run defense this year.
Worst to 1st. Curse Reversed!
