Is Whitehead worth more in offense vs defense points? One could say it would

[mdpitt]

Be more valuable for him to be on offense 75% and defense 25%. He is elite on defense but if we are going to give up a td , does it matter if it is in 7 plays or 10?

He scored a td on 50% of the plays he was in last week. While that number is ambiguous, it's statistically significant. We are not winning the National Championship so I say throw the fans some red meat for the final stretch and see what happens.

My guess is we are about 7 points better on offense and marginally worse on d. He may shutdown an area of the field but when the red zone appears for other teams, they simply find spots where he is not.

Go for it. Put him on d on 3rd and longs or red zone.

 

[rpost3]

Five him 5 offensive touches per game but play him on a lot of offensive snaps to keep defensive coordinators honest. Watch how fast that double coverage on Boyd disappears.

 

[Consultant Panther]

Be more valuable for him to be on offense 75% and defense 25%. He is elite on defense but if we are going to give up a td , does it matter if it is in 7 plays or 10?

He scored a td on 50% of the plays he was in last week. While that number is ambiguous, it's statistically significant. We are not winning the National Championship so I say throw the fans some red meat for the final stretch and see what happens.

My guess is we are about 7 points better on offense and marginally worse on d. He may shutdown an area of the field but when the red zone appears for other teams, they simply find spots where he is not.

Go for it. Put him on d on 3rd and longs or red zone.

I disagree. You are making it seem like we give up a touchdown on every drive. That's not the case. If he is used significantly less on defense, we will give up more points. I do think it makes sense to use him a little more on offense and as rpost3 suggests, use him as a decoy sometimes. That way, he won't take as much of a pounding, but may open things up for Boyd.

 

[Pghfan]

RPost nailed it, 5 touches a game, couple snaps as a decoy and let him learn and thrive on defense.. Guy can get carries out of backfield, screens, patterns out of backfield, wouldn't surprise me see him line up as a WR in the slot.. Not ready to convert him 100% though, we still need him in backfield. Don't like our de-back depth at all.. You guys for whatever reason love Webb, I don't.. Mitchell has been "game day decision" since June.. Let's get some safeties first before we deplete the one we actually have..

 

[VAPITTALUM]

Whitehead leads the team in tackles for a reason, the SS position is extremely important in Narduzzi/Conklin's scheme. Whitehead can definitely draw a defense away from Boyd, but he shouldn't be used anywhere near 75% of the offensive plays. Like others said, 5 touches per game and some time with the special teams unit to field punts/kick-offs is ideal at this point.

I can't wait until PITT has some depth in the secondary!

 

[crharris8892]

When we finally recruit more Jordan Whitehead's on the team, we wont have this issue of robbing Peter to pay Paul on either side of the sticks.

 

[ZekeGadsonFan]

My guess is we are about 7 points better on offense...

Surely you jest? Id guess that there aren't too many players in the whole country that are worth +7PPG vs replacement that aren't QBs.

Also, there is no doubt that he could help the offense, hes very talented, but easy about him scoring on 50% of his plays being statistically significant with a sample size of four plays, all in the red-zone. He made a couple plays, one really above average one, thats all.

You need to pump the breaks some I think. He needs to be playing on defense. Anything he can contribute on offense is a bonus. We are trying to win every game not just say screw it lets make if more fun to watch for the fans because we cant win a National Championship. I don't think removing arguably your best defensive player for the whole game to try to get a few more splash plays on offense necessarily helps you accomplish that. If you feel that switching him to offense helps the team in the long run then do it in camp next year, not with a few games left this year after hes finally starting to get comfortable on defense.

 

[deepelemblues]

he'll come in on designed plays especially when pitt has the ball in the red zone.

take him out of the defense and you have last year's defense at a critical time in the season when the unit appears worn down and has not played well two games in a row. he needs to be in there unless you wanna see duke and louisville's and miami's RBs breaking 75 yard TD runs.

 

[paulbl99]

Be more valuable for him to be on offense 75% and defense 25%. He is elite on defense but if we are going to give up a td , does it matter if it is in 7 plays or 10?

He scored a td on 50% of the plays he was in last week. While that number is ambiguous, it's statistically significant. We are not winning the National Championship so I say throw the fans some red meat for the final stretch and see what happens.

My guess is we are about 7 points better on offense and marginally worse on d. He may shutdown an area of the field but when the red zone appears for other teams, they simply find spots where he is not.

Go for it. Put him on d on 3rd and longs or red zone.

Completely disagree. He is an elite safety in the making.
But would definitely have him on O.
Maybe 20 25 percent of snaps

WR. And Wildcat