I've been waiting for this announcement. Great news. Boiler up.
https://purdue.rivals.com/news/western-kentucky-linebacker-headed-to-purdue
https://purdue.rivals.com/news/western-kentucky-linebacker-headed-to-purdue
Official T.J. McCollum To Purdue
- Thread starter BoilerInChiTown
- Start date
I am somewhat optimistic about the defense for the first time in several yrs. The solid depth and experience in the linebacking corp combined with a raw athletic secondary with decent size for a change will be a strength going into the fall. If some of the DE's and DT's that have been around for the last couple yrs decide to get in shape and contribute, then we wont need to score 50 pts every saturday to put up a "W"
I'm thinking this probably means we are looking at a 3-4 defense this year. At least it makes sense with our personnel.
I think with this move, you could see Bentley being moved to DE. He just isn't fast enough to cover in space but he is a playmaker with good size. I think he could shore up the weakest part of the DL being moved to DE.
Doubt it. He is your second best LB on the roster. He did not fit last year's scheme, but should fit Holt's
Bentley admitted publically last year during the season, that he was still trying to learn the defensive system being put in place by our new def coordinator. And on many crucial downs, he was out of position to make the play. I will admit , I don't know anything about our defensive schemes, systems or play calling implemented last year, or how complex it was to learn. I do know it totally failed on many occasions. I did find it puzzling and sad that our best defensive player would admit to the fans in mid season that he was still learning the system. Is this a reflection on the complexity of the system? The inability of our coaches in teaching the system? Or the lack of ability of our players to grasp and learn a new system. I do know the obvious: our players were not prepared to play defense at the beginning of the year, and failed many times throughout the season.
Will Bentley improve with a different system? Will Robinson improve? We shall see.
We were playing a Nickel with a LB better suited to a 4-3. He can cover the middle of the box and the middle of the field in a zone. Giving him flat responsibility was pure stupidity.
There has been more than enough stupidity to go around for a while.
Hopefully with Bobinski and the new coaching staff the pendulum has shifted.
Cornhusker fans warned us about the guy and they were right. He ran their D when we scored 50 some points on them, nuff said.
as I said whatever we were running last year wasn't working. As I watched the games from a TV perspective, it was very obvious our defensive players were playing out of position and did not have a chance to make the play. and it wasn't like we were faked out. We were of position before the play started. there was one game where we were protecting the outside, and the other team kept running or passing right up the middle, and we never adjusted.
that's the type of thing that even I noticed, and what frustrated me so much. I can tolerate falling down or making a mistake or a missed tackle. I can't tolerate a total lack of adjustment. when things weren't working, we just kept doing the same thing, and so the opponent's offense kept doing the exact thing and scoring.
Moving a LB to DE is a de facto 3-4 but I get concede your point. It will really coming down to how the handle rushing and coverage with the front 7.
If he puts his fist in the dirt and we use him as the 4th DL, it is a 4-3. Same thing we did with Avril.
Spring practice should tell us who will be in the two deeps come fall, at least initially.
Agreed. I just don't think it's a foregone conclusion that's the plan. I'm actually looking forward to Spring!
Me either, but Bentley isn't moving. Eze could at least be a situational pass rusher
Projected depth
3-4
E Robinson, SR; Larkin, SR
N Neal, SO; Criddle, SO
T Wilson, JR; Brown, SO
SOLB Bailey, SO; Dawson, SO
WOLB Ezechekwu, SR; Miles, SR
ILB Bentley, SR; Hudson, SR
ILB McCollum, SR; Hudson, SR
CB Jallow, JR; Cason, JR
CB Hunte, SR; Shuman, SO
S Mosley, SO; J. Thieneman, JR
S Parker, SR;
4-3
E Robinson, SR; Larkin, SR
N Neal, SO; Criddle, SO
T Wilson, JR; Brown, SO
E Miles, SR; Simmons, JR
Sam Bailey, SO; Dawson, SO
Mike Bentley, SR; Hudson, SR
Will McCollum, SR; Ezechkwu, SR
CB Jallow, JR; Cason, JR
CB Hunte, SR; Shuman, SO
S Mosley, SO; J. Thieneman, JR
S Parker, SR;
This only includes people currently on campus. It is possible some freshmen can crack the depth, though I don't think it's likely except for maybe Jones or Barnes at ILB. Mackey may be the best shot in the secondary but that's it. Jallow is listed at a CB on the official roster which is why I put him there. We are paper thin at safety, though, so I could see him ending up there. We do have a lot of scholarship guys in the secondary so we could see more moving parts there. Side note - this is a just for fun projection. It will change a lot I am sure.
3-4
E Robinson, SR; Larkin, SR
N Neal, SO; Criddle, SO
T Wilson, JR; Brown, SO
SOLB Bailey, SO; Dawson, SO
WOLB Ezechekwu, SR; Miles, SR
ILB Bentley, SR; Hudson, SR
ILB McCollum, SR; Hudson, SR
CB Jallow, JR; Cason, JR
CB Hunte, SR; Shuman, SO
S Mosley, SO; J. Thieneman, JR
S Parker, SR;
4-3
E Robinson, SR; Larkin, SR
N Neal, SO; Criddle, SO
T Wilson, JR; Brown, SO
E Miles, SR; Simmons, JR
Sam Bailey, SO; Dawson, SO
Mike Bentley, SR; Hudson, SR
Will McCollum, SR; Ezechkwu, SR
CB Jallow, JR; Cason, JR
CB Hunte, SR; Shuman, SO
S Mosley, SO; J. Thieneman, JR
S Parker, SR;
This only includes people currently on campus. It is possible some freshmen can crack the depth, though I don't think it's likely except for maybe Jones or Barnes at ILB. Mackey may be the best shot in the secondary but that's it. Jallow is listed at a CB on the official roster which is why I put him there. We are paper thin at safety, though, so I could see him ending up there. We do have a lot of scholarship guys in the secondary so we could see more moving parts there. Side note - this is a just for fun projection. It will change a lot I am sure.
Thanks for posting this. I think I prefer the 3-4 based on talent on the field. But I'm fine with what the staff thinks is best.
Any depth chart with Fred Brown is tough to take seriously.
I figured you, Nat, would catch this before me. A little disappointed.
Feel free to post your own. It's simply a projection based on experience and speculation. There is no one else with any playing experience on the roster at this point. Should someone overtake that? Absolutely. But we are very thin there. This is a guess and it will change probably after day 1 of spring camp.
Watts? Given how thin we were last year, the fact that neither he nor brown played is telling
at least Watts was redshirting. The others lose nothing by playing. I'd rather save the redshirt than burn it, if they believe he has any potential
There's no one else here now.
Hopefully Comley is well enough to play, but to do a two deep is rough.
Want to scare yourself do a spring ball offensive line two deeps
I'll give Watts the benefit of doubt because he was redshirting.
With K Jones and Brown it is definitely telling. Throw in K Green, J Daniels, and A Miles.
A couple more guys that I'll give the benefit of doubt as well either do to youth or injury but you definitely see where attrition could come from.
A 3-4 exaggerates all of our shortcomings as currently constructed. We can barely put 4 DT sized bodies in the 2 deep for a 4-3 let alone 6 of the same size we would need for a 3-4.
Holt is a 4-3 guy anyway. Though it wouldn't surprise me to see him use the 4-3 with 3-4 personnel like he did at USC down the road when he has the players.
I wouldn't say Holt is a 4-3 guy. If you go back and watch some WK games he did use a 4-3, but probably less than anything else. He changes up his defense a lot. I watched a couple drives the other day from the LaTech game and of those couple drives id say about 60% of those he had two guys around the end spot with their hands on the ground and 2-4 guys standing at or near the line and McCollum was one of those standing near the line. He ran a traditional 3-4 on about 30% of those, and a 3-4 with a standing jack lb on about 10%. I know he does use a 4-3, but of the few drives I watched he didn't use it one time. I do agree with you though, we are short on bodies needed for a traditional 3-4 line.
Those sound like looks he uses against 3+ receiver formations. Your base D is really defined by your front 7 configuration on run downs with 4 DBs. Against a lot of college teams....you wouldn't get to play base D ever.
He ran similar schemes against Alabama so your theory is debunk. If anything, which he has also stated before, his base is a nickel but he varies his defense so much it's hard to know what his actual "base defense" is.
There is nothing to debunk. If you want to cite prevalence of sub package usage as support for what the base D is then you really just want to argue.
Belichick is more multiple up front than anyone, and plays nickel more than half the time, but his current base is considered a 4-3.
It honestly doesn't matter. People want to classify 3-4 vs. 4-3 definitively but the functional distinction is whether you are 1-gap or 2-gap in your front.
Did you really just say "you really just want to argue"?
Haha. I bring fact based information from his games at WK and you try to counter these "facts" with your delusional opinions and I'm the one wanting to argue, huh?
Right on, brotha! I think I'm done with our conversation here. Go back to your video games and basing your facts off what you learn from Madden.
You are evidently serious....and this over whether Nick Holt is a 4-3 guy or not. He ran a 4-3 at USC, a 4-3 at UW, and despite what you saw in limited games, ran a 4-3 at WKU (please see depth chart).
I don't know what facts you speak of. Those are the facts.
I assume you have some foundation level understanding of Pete Carroll's base 4-3 under principles?
If so, then you also understand how easy it is to blend a heavy dose of 3-4 variations when you have the LBs like they did with Matthews, Cushing and Maualuga.
You just don't give up. What more facts do you need? Let me guess, those articles are "fake news"? Do I need to find more articles? Nick Holt was the DC, it even said he took them from a 4-3 to a 3-4. Geesh! I'm done. I'm not responding anymore. You'll have some stupid counter argument to anything I post.
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