Kevin Sherrer answers a Chip Towers’ question of interest:
Q: Last year the Star position was played primarily by Josh Harvey-Clemons, who was 6-foot-5, 215 pounds. How has a 5-9, 183-pound guy like Green been able to fill the role so well?
A: “It was a little bit of a different philosophy. Our Star is a little bit more of DB than linebacker. A third corner is what he is. Last year, it was a little bit different of a philosophy as far as coverages. The things we ask that guy to do, he’s got to do a lot of the inside receiver coverage by himself and that’s a challenge.[Emphasis added.] That guy has got to be versatile because he’s got to be able to blitz and he’s got to be able fit the box against the runs and he’s also got to be able to run and play coverages and everything has to be tied in with everybody else we have on the field as well. So it’s a little different in Coach Pruitt’s system than what they did at least last year.
Any DB handling inside receiver coverage has to be an improvement over an ILB. Thanks for giving me hope, Coach.
It also sounds like Green will be on the field a good bit: “Sixteen to 18 percent of the time we’re in our base defense that puts a SAM on the field. Our nickel package has a star and our dime package has a “Money” that puts six defensive backs on the field.” That’s less time for Herrera and/or Wilson on the field making tackles.
Get The Picture 
I would rather have our DBs swatting down/negating passes than our Linebackers racking up tackles that’s for sure. Thanks for that tasty sip of coolaid.
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Agree.
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Unlike Twisty above I’m not so sure. Without Herrara and Wilson on the field aren’t opponents gonna gash us between the tackles?
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Not if the Money and Star can tackle.
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Ivy, you’re talking about taking the #1 and #3 tackers in the SEC last year out of the game and replacing them with smaller DBs. It’s a given that 2 DBs can’t tackle like 2 LBs, not to mention that the LBs are the first and third best tacklers in the SEC.
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With smaller DBs in the lineup, teams will want to run against us. With an extra ILB, they will want to throw those drag routes. We’ll be putting nickel and dime packages in on passing downs, when teams are reluctant to run even though our defense is weaker against it.
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Yes. And we still have the ability to tweak the Nickel and Dime in certain circumstances, with a different type of Star/Money, even Mack, etc. Same with the Jack, he could be more of a run stopper on certain downs, more of a cover guy/rusher on others.
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A good point, Mayor. And please don’t view this as quibbling, because it isn’t. Just trying to make a few distinctions:
According to the number of tackles, yeah. But that doesn’t make them the best tacklers. If there was a way to quantify and qualify that, our guys would probably be lucky to make the top 10 list. There were a number of reasons they made so many tackles, as others here have pointed out many times. Fundamentally, IMO, they could be better, and I expect both of them WILL BE better tacklers this season, because they’ll be better across the board fundamentally.
In general, yes. But there are DB’s who are better tacklers than some starting LB’s … Davis and Blue would be easy examples. But the question for us now is, can JJ and Wilkerson make the tackles? Can they shed the blocks and handle the physical part of the Star position?
I think they can, just based on what I’ve seen of him as a players. And obviously the new coaches think so as well, having watched them this year.
But the other part of it is getting there, getting in position to make the tackle in the first place. That’s where our ILB’s have come up short, more times than it might appear. And not just make tackles, but make the play, whatever it is.
The same was true for the previous Star under Grantham, usually JHC. I was never a JHC fan. For a number of reasons. We all saw how we seemed to be better when Swann was playing Star. What Pruitt is doing is looking for a similar athlete to Swann, but one who is more physical, more of a complete football player. And that, IMO, is what he is seeing in JJ and Wilkerson.
Pruitt wants the speed and athleticism first. And I agree wholeheartedly with it. It’s immaterial how good of a tackler you are, if you aren’t there to make it. Even more so for pass defending. If you aren’t there, you can’t possibly stop the play, either by breaking up the pass or making the tackle upon reception.
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Not necessarily the best tacklers; the most tacklers. There is a difference. And we could not cover the crossing pattern. Big weakness that needs to be addressed. Given the new coaches the benefit of the doubt here.
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Good point. But in Nickel, one ILB will be on the field as a Mack. Not sure about the Money, whether he’s the most athletic LB or more of a DB/Corner type. Most of the snaps will be in Nickel, as they have been under Grantham, even moreso under Pruitt, I suspect.
Add Base + Nickel, and Wilson and/or Herrera will be on the field for most of the snaps. So we’ll still see them on the field most of the time, IMO.
FWIW, I like having more athleticism on the field. I never liked the Star position under Grantham, nor Grantham’s penchant for heavier, lumbering guys.
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Stones reference, Senator? nice 🙂
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I am still haunted by the Ark-Kansas Wheel Route…. as you said, giving me hope!
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