Riddickulous
"That" Guy
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These are the two things the defensive line has lacked in recent years that have prevented them from doing a whole lot.
Curious, I watched some game tape from 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. The games were Stanford, Navy, San Diego State and USC, respectively. Here's what I found.
In 2006, the defensive line explodes off the snap. This unit included Victor Abiamiri, Derek Landri and Trevor Laws. As soon as the ball is snapped, their hands are off the ground and they're charging forward to get to that quarterback or to get to that running back. They were lacking in strength, which was what prevented them from being able to get to John David-Booty, Chad Henne and Jamarcus Russell. They could dominate teams like Stanford and Army, but were not able to pressure the quarterbacks of USC, Michigan or LSU.
In 2007, against Navy, I had the terrible urge to watch the entire disaster from start to finish. And what I found was horrifying. Utterly horrifying. The defensive line, including our boy Trevor Laws, takes absolutely FOREVER to react to the snap. Navy is already in motion, executing the triple option, before our defensive line even makes contact with their undersized offensive line. And, of course, the lack of strength allows Navy to hold their blocks and put up 46 on the Irish.
I thought, "Well, it couldn't be much worse in 2008." So, I watched the SDSU game. Although they don't have the glacial quickness (reps to anyone who understands this joke) of the 2007 line, they are still horrifyingly slow off the snap. No pressure. SDSU QB Ryan Lindley gets all day to throw.
"2009 couldn't be thaaaat bad." I was wrong. I watched the tape from USC. It was awful. Ethan Johnson explodes off the snap. The rest suck. Big time. In fact, USC linemen literally have time to step back, plant their feet and PREPARE for the oncoming rush, as if they were Braveheart and they were waiting for the agonizingly long seven hour cavalry charge seen in the film. Ugh.
Since the DL has apparently never heard of a swim move, we were sorely lacking in any kind of rush.
The strength has improved. That's evident. When your nose tackle weighs 313 and squats over 600, you might have reason for optimism. When your best lineman (in this case Ethan Johnson) improves his squat by 155, you may also have reason for optimism, especially considering he was the only one last year who showed quickness off the snap.
So the question remains: How quickly can we explode off the snap? Quick enough to penetrate and cause a rush, perhaps stuff a run? Or will we see the trash of the last three years, a slow pass rush into a solid wall of often mediocre offensive linemen, and hours of time for opposing quarterbacks to throw? Let's hope Brian Kelly gets this problem fixed.
Curious, I watched some game tape from 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. The games were Stanford, Navy, San Diego State and USC, respectively. Here's what I found.
In 2006, the defensive line explodes off the snap. This unit included Victor Abiamiri, Derek Landri and Trevor Laws. As soon as the ball is snapped, their hands are off the ground and they're charging forward to get to that quarterback or to get to that running back. They were lacking in strength, which was what prevented them from being able to get to John David-Booty, Chad Henne and Jamarcus Russell. They could dominate teams like Stanford and Army, but were not able to pressure the quarterbacks of USC, Michigan or LSU.
In 2007, against Navy, I had the terrible urge to watch the entire disaster from start to finish. And what I found was horrifying. Utterly horrifying. The defensive line, including our boy Trevor Laws, takes absolutely FOREVER to react to the snap. Navy is already in motion, executing the triple option, before our defensive line even makes contact with their undersized offensive line. And, of course, the lack of strength allows Navy to hold their blocks and put up 46 on the Irish.
I thought, "Well, it couldn't be much worse in 2008." So, I watched the SDSU game. Although they don't have the glacial quickness (reps to anyone who understands this joke) of the 2007 line, they are still horrifyingly slow off the snap. No pressure. SDSU QB Ryan Lindley gets all day to throw.
"2009 couldn't be thaaaat bad." I was wrong. I watched the tape from USC. It was awful. Ethan Johnson explodes off the snap. The rest suck. Big time. In fact, USC linemen literally have time to step back, plant their feet and PREPARE for the oncoming rush, as if they were Braveheart and they were waiting for the agonizingly long seven hour cavalry charge seen in the film. Ugh.
Since the DL has apparently never heard of a swim move, we were sorely lacking in any kind of rush.
The strength has improved. That's evident. When your nose tackle weighs 313 and squats over 600, you might have reason for optimism. When your best lineman (in this case Ethan Johnson) improves his squat by 155, you may also have reason for optimism, especially considering he was the only one last year who showed quickness off the snap.
So the question remains: How quickly can we explode off the snap? Quick enough to penetrate and cause a rush, perhaps stuff a run? Or will we see the trash of the last three years, a slow pass rush into a solid wall of often mediocre offensive linemen, and hours of time for opposing quarterbacks to throw? Let's hope Brian Kelly gets this problem fixed.
