Tony Rojas is sorely missed. Shocked at how either undeveloped or lack of fit on this roster.
Who thought the LB'er position would lack the ability.
- Thread starter Mr. Potter
- Start date
It's part of it. They needed at least starting caliber 2 LBs from the portal. His confidence in DeLuca was misplaced.
The weakness at the LB position is magnified because the interior of PSU's DL really sucks.
Love DeLuca effort but he is special teams player at best. Watching him get pancaked literally play after play last week was depressing. So much lack of depth at positions on this team.
The deemphasis in this position, like playing only two at a time, is stupid and needs to change under the next coach. We're not playing in the Big 12 from five years ago; we're playing in the Big 10 against power teams like Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Minny, etc., that like to pound the ball. God, even Oregon pounded the ball against us.
The new coach also has to make a concerted effort to recruit human refrigerators at d-tackle even if they can't move that much.
DeLuca plays hard is a Caption, but should not be a starting Lb for PSU.
Agreed. He's being put in a position to fail by being overexposed. Good kid. Obviously works hard. Just isn't an every down guy. If he been our 4th or 5th LB in a 4-2-5 Scheme he'd be fine.
DeLuca is a slow safety bulked up to play LB. He was fine as our Sam, but even then he wasn't playing every snap.
Knowles scheme asks a lot of LBs. You need size to play like a Mike and speed to run side line to side line. DeLuca really doesn't fit the bill on either. That's why his playing time diminished once Campbell showed up and Rojas recovered from injury (heck, Allen played him at less than 100% last season so that should have been a sign).
The fault is in the staff somewhere. Why did Knowles take this job if he thought our roster was inadequate? Or did this really just show up once we got to the regular season? The common thread about the defense coming into the year was:
-who will bring pressure off the edge without Carter and Vanover?
-who do we have at depth for DT without the 3 seniors?
-LB depth
-do we have 3 safeties to play this scheme?
Today, all of those issues are legit and we have more. Durant is being doubled into oblivion. Ford hasn't recovered or the weight loss is killing his previous strength. Teams mostly run away from DDS and all he seems to do is wide 9 rush himself out of plays. LB and DE depth is young, weak, and not ready. Corner has been a disaster as they are being made to look bad by guys who will be selling insurance in 6 months. Safety is even worse than that.
A lot of people are worried about losing players to the portal, but heck, that's probably a great thing. If these guys can't overwhelm UCLA, NW nor Iowa then we probably need a portal overhaul.
And this doesn't include the sheer lack of a downfield passing attack that AK apparently doesn't have in his wheelhouse.
I follow Duke sports, basketball obviously but also football.
Manny's team is playing well in many regards, but had trouble running inside vs Georgia Tech this past weekend. A big part of the problem was in the interior of Ga Tech's D-Line, particularly one DT who at 310# has reportedly benched 455# and squatted 625#. Duke had 3 cracks from the 1-yard line and could not move this dude.
The stud GaTech D-Tackle who might be familiar to PSU fans?
Jordan Van Den Berg
He's been gone for 2 years now. He's a casualty of the portal era. He couldn't break our 2 deep while we had JThomas and Ellies. Our failure is not developing any other DTs nor going to the portal to get them.
I think DDS should play inside since he's by far PSU best d-lineman. He lacks the discipline from the edge.
Penn state is supposed to have young talented DE's that provide better depth.
Who Knows?
Penn state is supposed to have young talented DE's that provide better depth.
Who Knows?
i was having a conversation about that in the offseason. Reminds me of Zordich so much.
Duke could and should have beaten both GT and Illinois. They made too many mistakes and just aren’t quite good enough to overcome them.
We're now "Linebacker Who" according to Neil Rudel of the Altoona Mirror.
Linebackers: F
When the QB is the leading rusher (and averages 14.4 on nine rushes), nobody is home here. DeLuca is a great story, but Linebacker U has become Linebacker Who. Wiley deserves more snaps. Rojas continues to be missed.
I looked through the roster-----Speca RS Fresh, Pryts RS Jr, Wylie RS Jr. , Jackson RS Fresh, Smith Fresh, Tatsch Fresh, Arrington II Fresh, Nelson RS Soph.
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Chicken and the egg story. Interestingly, current and former players supported JF, and said the losses are not his fault. The players went on to say they never lost a game and went off on blaming the coaches. Their thoughts turned to what could I have done better on the field to change the outcome of the game.
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The mistakes are on him. They are.
There's no one else to blame. Accountability is required.
In year 2 they should know the scheme.
Possibly. I don’t know how much is due to coaching and how much is simply a lack of talent.
He's responsible for the talent. With the portal you no longer get 4 years. See the money they spent to get him.a QB
Sure, but it's still Duke. Well renowned basketball school; football, meh. The portal changes timelines, but it doesn't change "basketball school" narratives.
Not that I think Manny is a great HC. Really good DC. Maybe great. I still have nightmares of that one 3rd down blitz Michigan burned us on.
Manny is doing a very good job at Duke. Duke Football does not have the same profile as some of the Big 10 and SEC schools; it's not an easy place to win.
If you don't think he'd do a good job as HC at Penn State, fine. I'm perfectly happy with him at Duke.
It shouldn't have come down to the portal. LBU should be able to recruit two 4* LBs every year..
Yeah, and part of the deserved F is not having any of those young players ready to play.
Losing Tony Rojas was a bad break, but a good team would be able to replace him with a younger player who had some talent for the position.
Indiana is a basketball school--see Cignetti
I wouldn't have Manny on my list--also have similar nightmares lol
Agreed--but when it does you have to find them. Transfers, injuries, etc.
It didn't help that LBer position was deemphasized for years by recruiting only 1 or 2 per class...while we recruited 6 DBs.
another example of JF hiring the new shiney toy without having the players to actually run the system.