Ranking the ACC LBs
- Thread starter joeydavid
- Start date
If there's one area to be weak in, it's LB.
Returning LB production has the weakest correlation to defensive success.
And as the article points out, you really don't need to have many of them on the field. He has Miami ranked number 1, and Miami ditched one of their LBs last year and now only plays with 2.
As long as you're strong at DL and DB, you can survive a weak LB core.
Returning LB production has the weakest correlation to defensive success.
And as the article points out, you really don't need to have many of them on the field. He has Miami ranked number 1, and Miami ditched one of their LBs last year and now only plays with 2.
As long as you're strong at DL and DB, you can survive a weak LB core.
I don't see Pitt talking a step back even with the losses at LB.
Reynolds, Brightwell, Bright and Johnson should at least match last year's production.
This right here is why I said there has never been a better time to be a physical run team. Defenses are basically screaming, "We are selling out for the pass, please run we are not built to defend that anymore."
Pine and brightwell should be a nice competition at money. You’d expect the fla transfer at star unless bright has a huge camp.
Reynolds at middle with a young Wendell Davis getting some praise last fall as competition. injuries happen you have Brightwell and PIne who can play middle also, although I think they are better at the strong side OLB spot.
Maybe Campbell throwing his name in the mix at star, as an outsider with a small chance? No clue about Nunn or tucker.
If the stats suggest the LBs weren't good as Mr. Hale states, why should replacing 2 of them be considered a red flag?
I cant for the life of me imagine our LBs being worse than last year. Replacing Zeise and Idowu Is not a tough task IMO. they were adequate but not exactly dominating in any way, shape or form.
i'd assume they aren't finalized yet, it being weeks before camp opens up and all. we know the 6 or 7 that will be in the mix..
You are asking us to predict the future. might as well ask if PItt is gonna cover the spread against UVA too.
MONEY: Brightwell and Pine
MLB: Reynolds, Davis
STAR: Fla transfer, bright and Campbell.
who wins the starting spots? We'll see..
I only asked that question because the author of the article doesn't know either. Now on to the Powerball #s...
these position predictions are silly. they look at '18 roster, see two returning seniors who wont be on '19 roster and they assume it will be a big decline. respectable line of reasoning in most cases but still a guess.
Look at our guards last year, again, losing two seniors but not too crazy to assume this year will be an upgrade..
Pitt doesn’t have an outstanding DL.... LB play has to be solid for this defense to be above average
seems to be a perception that our DL is better than it is. saw a post a few days ago with our rushing yards allowed last year, very disturbing.
I think this “ perception” applies to the defense as a whole....just show me...play solid defense for an entire season... that would be novel. On the DL, been a while back but Chris published the defensive stats for the DL last year including total tackles, tackles for losses and sacks. The numbers are dismal. A lot of these kids were young so that’s a factor but if these guys are going to turn the corner, this is the year for them to do it... most of these guys are juniors or RS juniors. Just do it! Time for hope, projections etc. has ended... time for real results.
Addition by subtraction, these LB's will be an upgrade over their predecessors
Sure, if you can spread them out.
Art Briles made a killing off of spreading you out, killing you on the outside, and then smashing the hell out of teams that dared to go outside with an extra corner.
But that doesn’t consistently work if you can’t threaten them on the outside. Which we saw last year.
I don’t think this is a stretch to say this, in the least. I’ll go as far as to say that we should expect improvement from last years LB play.
Where are the brainiacs who insisted the last three years that Pitt has had excellent LBs? Sheesh...
I had the same guy jump all over me on multiple occasions for criticizing the LB play... they’re out there!
There he is... the only guy in the universe who thinks Pitt’s LB play has been stellar... 11 th in the ACC...
I never remember using the word stellar .
You were the one scathing them at every opportunity .
The secondary has been pathetic in the last several years .
Crickets from you in that position . The linebacker position has been a bit subpar . You make them sound like the bad news bears .
By and large, they have been slow, poor tacklers in space and poor in pass coverage....bad news bears label would seem to fit. McKillopp was the last solid Pitt LB.
Haven’t given the secondary a free pass . Been equally critical of them and the DL.
Defense as s whole, as evidenced by stats like points per game, yardage per game, tackles for loss, sacks, and third down effectiveness have been average to poor.
Reality can be painful.
I agree. I also agree with Hale that the numbers accumulated by Pitt LB's last year were overrated and not truly reflective of their impact. I think our LB's this year will be an improvement. They have to be, right?
If you want to have a good defense in the ACC, you have to play sideline to sideline with some speed. Pitt's LB's couldn't do that last year and that's probably all you need to know.
Which is why they are going to be better this year. This whole defense is much quicker. I'm expecting a top ACC defense behind probs Miami and Clemson.
If they are going to leave LBs on the field when being spread out, you need guys that can run and cover. It seems the direction they are going.
Yep, the number of times an opposing RB burned our LB's on little dump off passes were far too numerous.
Similar threads
