VTTW Board Index

The SECONDARY
We couldn’t cover our shadow most snaps
Yes there were time with good coverage but at the end of the day we haven’t found a Star who can cover the slot
All of the 3 corners are playing like crap
Burrell finally got some snaps in garbage time
Our safeties seem to be a day late and a dollar short all too often

As an extra added bonus our ILBs are poor at coverage

Despite what Henry T said post game KY went 3 wide often to spread us out and then their running game got better
Some of it was some really wierd formations
There was once we had essentially 3 defenders to defend the middle of the field (KY passes the ball)

Wasn't Taylor out today?  Also I only had the game on a long delay on my phone, but per Priest it was the slants that were killing us. And he kept making the point that the slant is an of the easiest throws to make.

They said Taylor was out with a injury

But #0, #5 and #12 PROVED they couldn't cover their ASS today
At least Lawrence hit somebody when he was in on the last drive at safety!
We have two (2) supposed world class secondary masters coaching them and we have REGRESSED!

Yep! Can't stop a slant and don't have a DB within 10 yards of a WR when they catch a pass on any route.

Remember how good we made that UGa defense look? Bama just shredded it. We have a long way to go to challenge either. How do we compete with inferior players and inferior coaches? Answer.....we don't. UGa was up 24-17 at the half. Nothing the second half. Bama won 41-24. Can Pruitt make halftime adjustments like that?

I did see him get burned at least once vs. Kentucky, but generally Thompson has been solid IMO.  He did get moved to Safety this year, maybe he is less effective there, but he has made some great hits behind the lines and causes at least one, if not two, fumbles, and I think he has a pick or two also.  He has been playing pretty well IMO.  Hopefully whatever you saw was an anomaly.  But he actually had a nice pass breakup in the first half.

Disagree
In the two home games I have attended I have watched the entire secondary, including Thompson, not cover anybody greater that 80% of the time.
Often, you will see the 2 corners initially lineup in press, then drop off 1-+ yards (understand the reasoning most times here) then watch the corner reaction times be measured by a sun dial
Often times there are up to 10 yards vertically and laterally between the receiver and the corner.
I have watched time after time the corner hips be so slow the receiver is 10+ yards pat them before they get turned in pursuit
I have seen the Star look like he is in quicksand on the slants time after time

Want to watch how a slant i supposed to be played?
Go back to the GA game several years ago, the game we spotted them a 24-7 lead in Athens before blowing them out (they STILL haven't covered Brett Smith).  Wade (a converted WR) conducted a clinic on how to cover the slant, including a pick that set up a TD in the 3rd quarter

To use an analogy:
The receiver is the road runner and our corner is the coyote.  The corner hears BEEP BEEP,  as the receiver blows by him, the corner goes to the store and buys the ACME book of corner skills and while reading it he trips over a blade of grass and face plants while the receiver scores and goes BEEP BEEP!!

And yes, I fee the two noon games should have been morning games as the secondary all too often looked like a cartoon!

 Does a safety generally cover a WR coming off the line or is he usually in zone coverage?  I honestly don't know.  But I do know that I don't hold a safety as accountable for coverage as I do a CB, and I also think that's generally how most see it.

Of course a safety does have to cover one on one sometimes, but often is not asked to.

Depends on the coffense, overage and what package we are in.
Last week Ky often (in the 2nd half) went three wide to the field.  We would typically cover with the CB, Star and a Safety.  The other CB to the boundary essentially played an OLB.
Sometimes we will show a safety rolling up to cover a slot but run a LB out to cover the inner slot while the safety drops back into a 3rds, quarters or 2 deep coverage - I think we will see this a lot Saturday with the deep safety playing over their fast receiver (Waddle?) to help the corner on that side

In the red zone against Ky in the 2nd half we typically went Zero, no deep safety.  Manned up on the receivers and sold out to stop the run.

I have seen some really exotic coverages on occasion this year.  Difficult to describe but we were moving the back 5 all over the place (Henry T ran from the right side of the formation across to the left to cover a zone in front of the left side slot for example).  Once that led to a sack because I don't think the QB had a clue what the coverage actually was.