'17 VA ATH Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (Notre Dame Signee)

[Irish Man3]

Great job by this staff.

 

[Guest]

ND going after the Rovers hard last year and this year.

 

[Luckylucci]

Very nice pickup. I think he'll be great in Elko's defense. Coach Lea described, in quite a bit of detail, what they look for in their Rover defenders, and Owusu seems like a perfect fit.

 

[beryirish]

I want to see the presser when this happened.

 

[greyhammer90]

Defense isn't my forte. Someone explain the rover position for me. Seems like a strong safety?

 

[Domina Nostra]

Alright!

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! Welcome to Notre Dame Jeremiah!

 

[Domina Nostra]

Defense isn't my forte. Someone explain the rover position for me. Seems like a strong safety?

If SS is somewhere between a FS and a OLB, the Rover is on the same spectrum but pushed closer to LB.

 

[arrowryan]

Defense isn't my forte. Someone explain the rover position for me. Seems like a strong safety?

Basically a SS that isn't asked to play coverage as much aka Drue Tranquill. DJ Morgan, Spencer Perry, and this kid will also probably get a look at rover.

 

[BGIF]

Lax is Loy's surrogate now?

There have been many accusing Loy of lax reporting.

 

[BobbyMac]

Thank God for:

1. Elko's 4-2-5

2. JOK and JGH signing

Otherwise I may have never gotten over losing Pete Werner.

This is ZERO sour grapes, cuz I was PW's #1 fan boi but... it turned out Pete just wasn't a must get.

That said, I celebrate JOK with a dance.

 

[zelezo vlk]

There have been many accusing Loy of lax reporting.

Lax = Loy. I won't stop stating this truth until Lax admits it!

 

[greyhammer90]

If SS is somewhere between a FS and a OLB, the Rover is on the same spectrum but pushed closer to LB.

Basically a SS that isn't asked to play coverage as much aka Drue Tranquill. DJ Morgan, Spencer Perry, and this kid will also probably get a look at rover.

What's the advantage in having essentially an OLB playing further back, rather than just having him play OLB?

 

[dublinirish]

Rover plays on the Line of Scrimmage alot though, its more LB than SS

 

[texbender]

wow, nice surprise. Liking how the day has unfolded.

 

[arrowryan]

What's the advantage in having essentially an OLB playing further back, rather than just having him play OLB?

Idk man. The 4-2-5 and the rover is new to me as well. I think I read that the rover is put in position to make a lot of tackles behind the LOS

 

[ozzman]

Someone needs to photoshop this with our guys

 

[BGIF]

Idk man. The 4-2-5 and the rover is new to me as well. I think I read that the rover is put in position to make a lot of tackles behind the LOS

Our safeties have been accustomed to making tackles behind the LOS for years. It's our standard Navy defense.

Hopefully we can do more behind the opponent's LOS.

 

[GowerND11]

the 4-2-5 gives a defense more flexibility. The guy can play some coverage, but he isn't asked to do so in a way that he can be exploited. He can play a walk up OLB role and funnel plays back inside, or the line can wrong arm plays to have the ball carrier bounce and spill to him to make plays.

It allows for a player to play close to the LOS, but he can be difficult to be counted for blocking schemes if the gameplan is designed properly. I know there are a lot more high school teams, at least in my area, looking to take advantage of having a good athlete who is strong, but he is a tweener, even in high school, in a position he can make a play. This way he isn't too small to be a LB, but not fast enough to be a DB.

 

[Luckylucci]

https://notredame.rivals.com/news/film-room-breaking-down-notre-dame-s-linebacker-roles

I thought this was quite a detailed conversation and article by Bryan Driskell and BGI. Coach Lea describes the 3 "LB" positions, including the Rover.

 

[arrowryan]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Props to Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah for best possible interruption to a press conference...<br><br>(and yes, Coach ordered 🍕)<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IRISHEL17E?src=hash">#IRISHEL17E</a> <a href="https://t.co/YtxlYnVtgw">pic.twitter.com/YtxlYnVtgw</a></p>— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDFootball/status/826880139942322176">February 1, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[IrishLion]

ND going after the Rovers hard last year and this year.

Rover is the new CAT linebacker. All of the Rovers.

Defense isn't my forte. Someone explain the rover position for me. Seems like a strong safety?

I understand it to be almost a run-first nickle defender. Rather than a coverage guy defending the slot, you put a big dude in there that's faster than an average LB but bigger than a safety.

 

[koonja]

Rover is the new CAT linebacker. All of the Rovers.



I understand it to be almost a run-first nickle defender. Rather than a coverage guy defending the slot, you put a big dude in there that's faster than an average LB but bigger than a safety.

Could swear I heard a podcast say Sam=Rover...

 

[Luckylucci]

Could swear I heard a podcast say Sam=Rover...

Some similarities but, ideally, its suppose to be a more unique skillset, maybe more of an all encompassing defender, might be a good way to put it. It sounds to me like the Rover should be able to be a run defender like a SAM LB but also cover like a Nickel CB. This way, allowing him to stay on the field and doesn't need to be substituted as much. When you go to Nickel, the SAM LB is the position that is substituted out, in general.

The way they recruit to this, is by recruiting bigger S's that will outgrow that position in time or don't have the necessary speed to run man to man with a slot WR. The length of the player will make up for some lack of coverage skills by closing down/narrowing throwing lanes, as well as with defeating blocks at the LOS. He's also going to be the most highly blitzed player, or as frequent as any other defender, is how Lea phrased it.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Rover is the new CAT linebacker. All of the Rovers.

Some similarities but, ideally, its suppose to be a more unique skillset, maybe more of an all encompassing defender, might be a good way to put it. It sounds to me like the Rover should be able to be a run defender like a SAM LB but also cover like a Nickel CB.

Seems like every defense has a Swiss Army Knife position that virtually no recruit (other than Jaylon Smith) could hope to fulfill its athletic requirements.

 

[irishandy]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Props to Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah for best possible interruption to a press conference...<br><br>(and yes, Coach ordered &#55356;&#57173<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCTop10?src=hash">#SCTop10</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IRISHEL17E?src=hash">#IRISHEL17E</a> <a href="https://t.co/YtxlYnVtgw">pic.twitter.com/YtxlYnVtgw</a></p>— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDFootball/status/826880139942322176">February 1, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Nice video!

 

[Domina Nostra]

Seems like every defense has a Swiss Army Knife position that virtually no recruit (other than Jaylon Smith) could hope to fulfill its athletic requirements.

To be clear, the precise reason we hired Elko is because he seems to put up good defenses without Jaylon Smiths.

I would hope the rover is a tweener spot to take advantage of the hyper-abundance of recruits who are a little too big and slow for safety, and a little too small for LB. That's important with the increased emphasis on spreading it out and passing.

 

[NDdomer2]

Seems like every defense has a Swiss Army Knife position that virtually no recruit (other than Jaylon Smith) could hope to fulfill its athletic requirements.

i did find it interesting shortly after we passed on Jacob Phillips and Antjuan Simmons because they didnt fit the defense, I read an interview with Elko that said he doesnt plan to force fit his defense to the players and is willing to adjust to the personnel we have.

 

[dwshade]

To be clear, the precise reason we hired Elko is because he seems to put up good defenses without Jaylon Smiths.

I would hope the rover is a tweener spot to take advantage of the hyper-abundance of recruits who are a little too big and slow for safety, and a little too small for LB. That's important with the increased emphasis on spreading it out and passing.

But I would have loved to see how Elko would have utilized Jaylon's skill set in his defense. I think he would have blitzed quite a bit more.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

i did find it interesting shortly after we passed on Jacob Phillips and Antjuan Simmons because they didnt fit the defense, I read an interview with Elko that said he doesnt plan to force fit his defense to the players and is willing to adjust to the personnel we have.

Wasn't the consensus that they were both middle guys?

I think that the breakdown shows that Elko can check the boxes with two of everything, Drop, Mike, Buck, and Rover.

Even though Elko says a Mike, and a Buck are nearly the same thing, a Buck does have weakside/wideside outside responsibilities.

The point is, I bet Elko felt ND was Mike, and Buck heavy already, only wanted another linebacker commit, and really wanted a Rover this year, that he could build. I have a sneaky suspicion that someone like Drue Tranquil is going to end up as Rover next year, and that Elko likes some of the big db's as cornerback.


I think a Rover is a second level defender that doesn't need to be limited to the box, or cover down field; they are blitzers, open field tacklers, etc. Not as big and solid as a true linebacker, and maybe not as fast as a safety. I think that they disguise the defensive formation, making it harder to attack, as someone earlier noted.