Replies: 21
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Ring of Honor [21305]
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Good gosh on Ladson & Ngata
Jul 28, 2018, 6:58 PM
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With no disrespect to any of our other receivers - many of whom are future NFL guys - I think it's fairly well-known that Tee Higgins is by a good bit the most-talented of any of them, maybe as high as a Top-5 pick when it's all said and done if he plays to his ability level.
I really thought we did an incredible job last year of getting Derion Kendrick - who IMHO is going to be all over Amari Rodgers pushing for time, and likely soon - and while I was happy Justyn Ross earned his 5-star rating and I definitely saw 5-star tools...I also saw some rawness around the edges probably owing mostly to the simplistic run-heavy offense he played in. Not knocking the kid in the slightest - that he stood out as much as he did is because Ross was a flat-out stud, but he's got some development ahead of him and might benefit from a redshirt.
But Ladson and Ngata are different beasts. They both look like they're in the Tee Higgins class, to me. Physical studs, and Lordy are they polished. Their handwork, footwork, the way they get off the press and shift into their breaks, how crisp their routes are...DC's looking at these guys are just going to despair of how on Earth they're going to cover them. It's Clemson so they're going to have to fight like crazy to break in...but why, say, Rivals has these guys as just 4-stars is head-shaking to me. Jeff Scott is likely imbibing more than a couple cold ones right about now.
Wide Receiver U indeed. For the forseeable future and then some. Jeff Scott is just freaking killing it.
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Clemson Icon [26692]
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The thing about Scott, it's every year, 'coming' and 'going'***
Jul 28, 2018, 7:02 PM
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Top TigerNet [31659]
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Re: Good gosh on Ladson & Ngata
Jul 28, 2018, 7:03 PM
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Great post. One thing that hurt us last season was our WR's getting off the press (yes, Higgins too). Do you see them improving this year??
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Ring of Honor [21305]
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Re: Good gosh on Ladson & Ngata
Jul 28, 2018, 7:07 PM
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Yeah. I was watching specifically for that in the Spring Game and it was obviously Higgins had been working on it because he was getting off the press much better...last year he just sorta...stuck, kinda like a bug on a windshield. Looks like he's gotten stronger and he's a lot more sudden and unpredictable off the line and he's clearly using his hands to shed contact better.
I'm sure you saw what they had to do with him last year - he could do a lot of damage down the field, but because you could press him they were sticking him at the other slot in a 4-wide set so he didn't get roughed up at the line. He's back to the boundary this year...which is where we need him and where he really belongs.
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Clemson Icon [26692]
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If he can draw the safety, Renfrow all day....***
Jul 28, 2018, 7:11 PM
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All-Pro [697]
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Re: If he can draw the safety, Renfrow all day....***
Jul 28, 2018, 7:21 PM
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The second safety will have to account for Rodgers or Kendrick more than they did for McCloud because they both seem like they have a better vertical game. At that point you're in trouble because you either have a LB on Renfrow or you're sitting in nickel with a 6 man box for the backs.
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Ring of Honor [21305]
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Re: If he can draw the safety, Renfrow all day....***
Jul 28, 2018, 7:25 PM
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The second safety will have to account for Rodgers or Kendrick more than they did for McCloud because they both seem like they have a better vertical game. At that point you're in trouble because you either have a LB on Renfrow or you're sitting in nickel with a 6 man box for the backs.
Yup. Whereupon Etienne gashes you for 10 a touch. Which is how I see it playing out if Clemson gets its vertical game sorted. People like to whine about our OL recruiting but we have a 5-star LT in his payday year and four dudes who can legit aspire to the NFL themselves around him, and they're all seniors and juniors.
I see some Tecmo Bowl scores this year.
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Clemson Icon [26692]
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Late third quarter development periods; #2s and #3s. I like.***
Jul 28, 2018, 7:28 PM
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All-Pro [697]
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Re: If he can draw the safety, Renfrow all day....***
Jul 28, 2018, 7:28 PM
[ in reply to Re: If he can draw the safety, Renfrow all day....*** ] |
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I'm not sure if we'll do much of it or not but I think our starting 5 on the OL is much better suited to running more complex schemes this year with pulling guards. Crowder had a lot of bad weight last season and was slow looking all season. Simpson could/will be a big piece.
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Ring of Honor [21305]
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Re: If he can draw the safety, Renfrow all day....***
Jul 28, 2018, 7:41 PM
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I'm not sure if we'll do much of it or not but I think our starting 5 on the OL is much better suited to running more complex schemes this year with pulling guards. Crowder had a lot of bad weight last season and was slow looking all season. Simpson could/will be a big piece.
Really wouldn't shock me. Elliott might be a former WR but he's been a RB's coach for awhile now and tends to think in terms of calling his plays from the inside out, so we could well see stuff like that backside pulling guard the NFL has started doing lately. We just didn't have two guards who could pull like that before; now we do.
https://www.sbnation.com/2016/11/2/13488862/nfl-offensive-trends-pulling-guards-outside-zone-technique
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Orange Beast [6232]
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Re: If he can draw the safety, Renfrow all day....***
Jul 28, 2018, 9:07 PM
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Thank you Quozzel and XenoTiger I always enjoy reading your stuff!!
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All-TigerNet [5704]
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Re: If he can draw the safety, Renfrow all day....***
Jul 29, 2018, 12:12 PM
[ in reply to Re: If he can draw the safety, Renfrow all day....*** ] |
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I get tickled when I read/see things like that article claiming a "new trend", when it's as old (or older) as me. I played HB in a full T-formation offense my junior year in HS, then we changed to single wing offense my senior year and I played S/S TE. Pulling a backside guard on power/sweeps was standard in the single wing and sometimes we pulled both guards and the center. It makes for a great big ol' monster hole off-tackle if you have a TE who can block - which is one thing we really need to get our run game going.
I would like to see us use 2 QBs in an RPO, moving the pocket to the right with pulling guards and slipping the TE to the flat. Several screwball plays could work off of that motion, like maybe cross-pulling the guards on a trap/counter, which could put some defenders in the hospital....
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Ring of Honor [21305]
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Re: If he can draw the safety, Renfrow all day....***
Jul 29, 2018, 12:22 PM
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I get tickled when I read/see things like that article claiming a "new trend", when it's as old (or older) as me. I played HB in a full T-formation offense my junior year in HS, then we changed to single wing offense my senior year and I played S/S TE. Pulling a backside guard on power/sweeps was standard in the single wing and sometimes we pulled both guards and the center. It makes for a great big ol' monster hole off-tackle if you have a TE who can block - which is one thing we really need to get our run game going. I would like to see us use 2 QBs in an RPO, moving the pocket to the right with pulling guards and slipping the TE to the flat. Several screwball plays could work off of that motion, like maybe cross-pulling the guards on a trap/counter, which could put some defenders in the hospital....
That's good stuff. Everything old is indeed new again, it seems. I imagine if you dusted off the old archives we'd find there was a whole heap of ancient tricks in there that nobody had seen in 20+ years and probably longer than that. I do know as guys have gotten bigger and bigger a lot of the subtlety in the run game went the way of the Dodo bird...and probably shouldn't have. Now that linemen are getting smaller and leaner again, it's probably time to re-open some of those old playbooks again, especially since folks have realized there doesn't have to be a huge conceptual gulf between the spread HUNH and the old option and more and more option concepts are getting re-integrated into the spread.
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All-TigerNet [5704]
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Re: If he can draw the safety, Renfrow all day....***
Jul 29, 2018, 12:40 PM
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Exactly right..... my HS coach was Hal Bullard, former FB for the Baltimore Colts and the San Diego Chargers and was a Little All-American at Lenoir-Rhyne, where they ran the single wing. The reason we changed from t-formation to single wing was a personnel decision, to take advantage of our strengths. We had a lot of small, quick athletes, but not too big on the line.
Clemson's O-line and D-line has changed greatly over the last 5 years or so, with our guys in much better physical shape than most of the teams we play. The difference was easy to see against LSU and the first couple of times we played 'Bama. Last year, 'Bama worked on conditioning and it showed in the game against us.
We have the athletes on the O-Line to run complicated blocking schemes. The speed and footwork is there, but I think we would need to improve the blocking technique. We don't seem to teach drive blocking with the forearm and shoulder, instead substituting push-blocking with the hands. I watched that '83 game against Maryland that someone posted a few days ago. I smiled from the first run plays..... those boys could block! Times have changed, but not always for the better.
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All-In [10134]
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Absolutely***
Jul 28, 2018, 7:06 PM
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Orange Blooded [2481]
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2019; These Receivers will be plumb "sick"***
Jul 28, 2018, 7:15 PM
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Walk-On [116]
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Re: Good gosh on Ladson & Ngata
Jul 28, 2018, 7:17 PM
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Man I can't wait........TREV gonna have it looking like an air raid out there in the near future......GO TIGERS!!
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Walk-On [149]
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Re: Good gosh on Ladson & Ngata
Jul 28, 2018, 7:23 PM
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Overton, Higgins, Ross, Ladson, and Ngata on one team. Have we ever had this many big WRs? It’s crazy lol.
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Ultimate Clemson Legend [98585]
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7700 well deserved points.
Jul 28, 2018, 7:53 PM
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Thank you, sir. I never miss one of your reports or opinions and I want to say I appreciate your positive attitude along with your good judgement. Thank you.
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Orange Blooded [2347]
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Re: Good gosh on Ladson & Ngata
Jul 28, 2018, 8:54 PM
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Don’t forget who’s throwing to them.
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CU Medallion [19710]
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Q, with full respect for all your great posts
Jul 28, 2018, 9:11 PM
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We know Dabo will tell us who has the most talent. Stars and recruiting analysts and game play will mean little - it will be what Dabo sees in practice and player attitude (Ref: T. Higgins is not a starter). Fortunately, Dabo gets it right most of the time, but not sure he ever knew Nuk was a better WR than Sammy. (And hopefully, Sammy will stay healthy and show his skill sets with Chiefs this year.)
Agree we are DL U and WR U. As you state, these young WR's have amazing potential with a talented passer under center. Scott is killing it.
As far as O-Line, ETN at 7.3 yds per carry, Feaster at 6.3 ypc, and Choice at 4.9 ypc. Receiving ETN at 11.4 yards per catch, Feaster at 9.3 ypc and Choice at 6.0 ypc. This is serious production - the knock on O-Line seems to be all QB related and yet our O-Line has never received more All-ACC recognition than 2017/18. The GOAT DW4 wins a championship vs lesser 2018 Bama team, but in fairness to all concerned, there is only one DW4 unless there are two (TL).
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Legend [18408]
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Re: Q, with full respect for all your great posts
Jul 28, 2018, 9:52 PM
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Yes, the coaches will get it right but one reason I’m pulling for TL to go from the get is I really do hear he’s a quiet DW4 and studies the film and playbook without any fanfare. Think just like DW4 he prefers that.
Not saying KB doesn’t, and he’s the sentimental fav but imo TL can take it to the field and get it done with poise... no knock on kb, I just think sometimes no matter how hard you try you just can’t do it.
Kids go undrafted every year because they think they can. Perhaps sometimes people aren’t being as brutally honest with them as they should be. Great college kids but few have that little xtra to play on Sunday’s.
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Replies: 21
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