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Just a thought for our defense for next season. Switch to a 3-4, zone blitx style of defense. ala pittsburgh steelers.

I would switch our 2 undersized but quick DE's(crossley and Parks) to OLB to rush the passer and play some coverage.....their size is perfect and they fit the mold of some of pittsburghs better OLB(porter, gildon, haggans, brown, etc.)

Then the 3 down lineman could be all in the DT mold. Our current ones would have to do for now, but the bigger the guys the better they hold up blockers at let our LBs(reese, crossley, parks, haneline, etc.) use their size(good for LB) and spped to make plays.

Lets be honest coach beckmans defense is not working, and I think this would be a good option for the players we are getting.

05 front seven

DE Thaler 6-1 277
NG Leiniger 6-3 279
DE Cooley 6-2 276
OLB Crossley 6-3 248 / Reese 6-3 227
MLB Haneline 6-2 225 / Winovich 6-3 230
MLB Schaefer 6-4 250 / White 5-10 232
OLB Parks 6-3 239 / Sharpe 5-11 220

this would add some size to our line up and hopefully help us get pressure on the QB, along with stopping the run

Reese is gone, isn't he?

Our defense wouldn't be nearly the problem it is at times if we'd just make the tackles that are in front of us

Jenkins Reese is a RS Freshman

C'mon, try for three....

He's still gone, though

Reese IS gone, and you forgot to mention next years probable starter at MLB.... Teddy Piepkow. Well, middle or not, he's going to be back.

I wouldn't mind seeing some 3-4 thrown in there when it's called for, but we won't be ready to run it full time next year.

I'm not sure that 3-4 or 4-3 is not just semantics anymore. Our DE's can always drop into the seam depending on the coverage. Actually, our tackles drop back sometimes also.


I was really hoping Reese would be a stud LB for us. We are already weak there. Are we sure he's gone?

Good point about the difference between 3-4 and 4-3. Our set often becomes more of a 3-4 at the snap.

And one more time.... REESE IS GONE.
I was looking forward to seeing how he would turn out too, but it's not going to happen. I'm not sure what to expect from our linebackers in the future, but right now I definitely don't feel concerned. Piepkow provides the leadership we will need. I really don't have a clue if they will put him in the middle or not, but purely from a leadership and experience point of view, it would make sense. He backed up Burkes there this year.

Our starting linebackers will likely be chosen from the following next year:

Piepkow 6'0" 228 Sr
Sharp 5'11" 220 Sr
White 5'10" 232 Jr
Johnson 6'1" 232 Sr
Winovich 6'3" 230 Soph

That still leaves:
Schaefer 6'4" 250 fr
Haneline 6'2" 225 fr
Jakubowski 6'1" 217 soph

Who should all see playing time. That's not all the LB's we have coming back either. Many of them are somewhat unproven, but I think we will be fine.
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Shaefer will be a DE....or maybe a TE. I think Haenline and Winovich are going to earn some major time, but we'll see.

How about some guys put on some major weight?

rc_ziggy84 wrote:How about some guys put on some major weight?

Piepkow 6'0" 228 Sr
Sharp 5'11" 220 Sr
White 5'10" 232 Jr
Johnson 6'1" 232 Sr
Winovich 6'3" 230 Soph

Actually, those are some of the heavier weights we've had for LB's the last few years.

Falconfreak90 wrote:

rc_ziggy84 wrote:How about some guys put on some major weight?

Piepkow 6'0" 228 Sr
Sharp 5'11" 220 Sr
White 5'10" 232 Jr
Johnson 6'1" 232 Sr
Winovich 6'3" 230 Soph

Actually, those are some of the heavier weights we've had for LB's the last few years.

and for those guys height there weight is actually pretty normal. I would like to see more weight on the D line but not in the linebackers.

If you want to put some pounds on those boys, put them over in MacDonald quad. Every girl I knew that lived there put on at least 20lbs.
(I'm going to keep using that joke on every thread that mentions the need for heavier defensive players)

To thine ownself be true, Flip.

Flipper wrote:If you want to put some pounds on those boys, put them over in MacDonald quad. Every girl I knew that lived there put on at least 20lbs.
(I'm going to keep using that joke on every thread that mentions the need for heavier defensive players)

that reminds me of a story I can't tell

able1 wrote:Good point about the difference between 3-4 and 4-3. Our set often becomes more of a 3-4 at the snap.

And one more time.... REESE IS GONE.
I was looking forward to seeing how he would turn out too, but it's not going to happen. I'm not sure what to expect from our linebackers in the future, but right now I definitely don't feel concerned. Piepkow provides the leadership we will need. I really don't have a clue if they will put him in the middle or not, but purely from a leadership and experience point of view, it would make sense. He backed up Burkes there this year.

Our starting linebackers will likely be chosen from the following next year:

Piepkow 6'0" 228 Sr
Sharp 5'11" 220 Sr
White 5'10" 232 Jr
Johnson 6'1" 232 Sr
Winovich 6'3" 230 Soph

That still leaves:
Schaefer 6'4" 250 fr
Haneline 6'2" 225 fr
Jakubowski 6'1" 217 soph

Who should all see playing time. That's not all the LB's we have coming back either. Many of them are somewhat unproven, but I think we will be fine.

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I have seen White lay some big hits and Piepkow's interception against Marshall was great, but I'm still concerned. We need a couple of players with the heart of the O'Neil boys from years ago. That position determines if we can make it to a top 20 ranking next year.

Maybe we have a couple of juco's coming in.