John Doe Breaks Down Defense vs Arkansas

JustNeedMe81

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Let's not come down to hard on him. From everything we've heard he's putting in maximum effort. He holds himself accountable, he meets with coach personally.

I think it's like coach sometimes says, "He's thinking too much and not reacting." It hasn't sunk in fully, it's just not automatic for him at this point in time. I have faith he will get there. MILB is a position that takes a long time to get good at. There has always been a very experienced player holding down that position. Mack is a true junior I believe. A lot of times it's a senior position - at least it was with Foster, Ragland, and Depriest.
At the end of the day, he is still held accountable for what happens on the field. If something didn't work on the field, he has to explain that. He is the one who calls out the play for the defense. If other player in secondary mess up or there is busted coverage, it's on him. Whether it's his fault or not, there are things he should've done better because this is not his first time playing the position. I would say 40 percent is on Wilson, 50 percent is on coaches. 10 percent on his foot.
 

Saban4Ever

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There was few plays where Mack was running with other LB in pass coverage, leaving middle of the field open. I always thought that was miscommunication. I'm not sure what is going on... but this is fixable and I felt little better after watching the film.

I am not sure what the issue is either, but since it has been happening too much all season, it seems it would have been mostly fixed already. I know after the Arkansas game, Saban probably looked into the issue even more (for this week's practices).

It needs to be fixed this weekend, and even more so by LSU. LSU will run the ball very effectively if our Linebackers do not communicate. And if Nick Fitzgerald runs on BAMA like he did on Auburn, he will get lots of yards. He is not a good passer but is one of the best running QB.
 

gtgilbert

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Let's not come down to hard on him. From everything we've heard he's putting in maximum effort. He holds himself accountable, he meets with coach personally.

I think it's like coach sometimes says, "He's thinking too much and not reacting." It hasn't sunk in fully, it's just not automatic for him at this point in time. I have faith he will get there. MILB is a position that takes a long time to get good at. There has always been a very experienced player holding down that position. Mack is a true junior I believe. A lot of times it's a senior position - at least it was with Foster, Ragland, and Depriest.


I've thought the same thing. I think this is the first year we have had a first year starter in charge of calling the plays. Everyone else I can recall had a year of starting experience before they were elevated to be the signal caller. Thing is, we don't really have any other good options. Do we elevate Mcmillon just to get more consistent communication (he's certainly louder and more clear about the calls - can't tell if they are the right ones or not, but no one on the field will NOT know the call fi McMillon is calling it) and move Mack over and then have Moses rotate in?
 

78Alum

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I always enjoy their analysis. I believe that some of those correctable things will be corrected this week. Looking forward to a great defensive showing vs. Mizzou.
 

Intl.Aperture

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At the end of the day, he is still held accountable for what happens on the field. If something didn't work on the field, he has to explain that. He is the one who calls out the play for the defense. If other player in secondary mess up or there is busted coverage, it's on him. Whether it's his fault or not, there are things he should've done better because this is not his first time playing the position. I would say 40 percent is on Wilson, 50 percent is on coaches. 10 percent on his foot.
No, at the end of the day Saban is held accountable for what happens on the field.

These are kids. Not professionals.

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B1GTide

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No, at the end of the day Saban is held accountable for what happens on the field.

These are kids. Not professionals.

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Sure, but players like Wilson hold themselves accountable. No one has to tell Mack Wilson that he needs to do a better job, and we don't even know exactly what he is doing wrong right now. We trust that he is going to do what he has to do because we have no choice. He is the best man for the job. He knows it. Saban knows it. We know it. He just has to do what he does.
 

Snuffy Smith

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To counter our banned piggie buddy - here is a screen grab of their long run. Luckily they fumbled the next play and we went on a 99 yard TD drive.



Check out the bear hug their lineman has on 15 to spring this run. If McKinney is not held this play is DOA


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JustNeedMe81

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No, at the end of the day Saban is held accountable for what happens on the field.

These are kids. Not professionals.

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Saban put them in the best position to be successful on and off field. It's up to the player to do their job. He's always telling the players and coaches this: do your job.

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BamaFlum

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Those videos are not only highly entertaining but very informative. I’ve learned a lot based on their in game analysis.


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Intl.Aperture

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Saban put them in the best position to be successful on and off field. It's up to the player to do their job. He's always telling the players and coaches this: do your job.

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Maybe not if the position coaches are not holding up their end of the bargain, which is what some here have speculated is happening.
I personally just think it's an experience thing. Mack can play better, but I'm not going to pile on when it seems pretty clear he's working hard to put it all together.

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Evil Crimson Dragon

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I've been saying for weeks that It was Mack and Moses not communicating with secondary. I watched the film again today and noticed Mack was going either wrong way or is too far out to make plays. You get my point, so I have to agree with RTR here. Something isn't right. Is it Golding? Is it Tosh? Is it simply case of calls coming in late? Is it Mack being overwhelmed? I honestly do not know. The good new is that everything is fixable. I suspect coaches are going to try something new. For example... DL get their play call from their designated guy on sideline. LB get their call from LB guy on sideline and Secondary get their call from Secondary guy on sideline. That might clean up some of miscommunication. Mack has to be aggressive when hitting folks. It's almost as if he is scared to do that for some reason. I got a feeling that this defense will be real good this weekend.
Said it in a few other posts, but I think they have heard the criticism, and aren't happy with their play............and I think they come out ready to go and quiet the critics...........I believe they will
 
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bigjue24

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Said it in a few other posts, but I think they have heard the criticism, and aren't happy with their play............and I think they come out ready to go and quiet the critics...........I believe they will
I hope you are right. I watched the breakdown and then went back and watched the game again. Our outside DB’s are doing well. The whole thing is ILB’s and CB’s communicating and making the right reads. Someone isn’t doing their job right and it’s obvious it’s the LB’s. All of it is fixable because it’s not a talent issue, but if it’s not you can bet teams will continue to run plays for TE and RB all day. If I’m UM this week I come out and test them early and often to see if they have fixed the issues and if not I’m going to it over and over. Run it until they stop it.
 

Evil Crimson Dragon

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I hope you are right. I watched the breakdown and then went back and watched the game again. Our outside DB’s are doing well. The whole thing is ILB’s and CB’s communicating and making the right reads. Someone isn’t doing their job right and it’s obvious it’s the LB’s. All of it is fixable because it’s not a talent issue, but if it’s not you can bet teams will continue to run plays for TE and RB all day. If I’m UM this week I come out and test them early and often to see if they have fixed the issues and if not I’m going to it over and over. Run it until they stop it.
Yes, it is fixable................it's frustrating, and I share the sentiment. I know in another post there was speculation that some position coaches might not be holding up their end of the bargain. Maybe, maybe not......I cant say, but I think ( and it's just my opinion............worth about .2 cents) a lot of it is experience. May be that the light hasn't clicked on yet. Again, I don't know, but the assistants on defense all were highly touted, otherwise Saban wouldn't have brought them on board. I would bet that the defensive coaches know UM will test them and test them hard, and have worked on getting them ready............we shall see. Maybe the refs will finally start calling holding calls................the defense got held a lot last week. And hopefully the communication improves...........maybe what JustNeedMe81 suggested above gets implemented.............sounds like a good idea
 
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bamacpa

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We've been spoiled with our succession of ILBs over the past decade. It seems we've always had the next guy ready to step in and play after his predecessor left for the NFL. Mack and Dylan maybe just need a little more seasoning to assume the mantle.
 

TideFan in AU

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In the 2 seasons prior to this year, our defense really took a hit with the loss of SDH. Some of that was minimized by Foster and Evans still being there, but this year we have less collective experience at ILB than we've had in quite a while. Mack has never had to be "The guy" before, and Dylan is highly talented, but still pretty green.

I think we are just feeling the growing pains that most teams have when replacing that much talent on one side of the ball. We have been fortunate to reload with little drop-off over the years, but I believe we simply lost too much at one time this year. I believe Saturday was a learning experience, and I believe they will improve.
 

gtgilbert

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In the 2 seasons prior to this year, our defense really took a hit with the loss of SDH. Some of that was minimized by Foster and Evans still being there, but this year we have less collective experience at ILB than we've had in quite a while. Mack has never had to be "The guy" before, and Dylan is highly talented, but still pretty green.

I think we are just feeling the growing pains that most teams have when replacing that much talent on one side of the ball. We have been fortunate to reload with little drop-off over the years, but I believe we simply lost too much at one time this year. I believe Saturday was a learning experience, and I believe they will improve.
Agreed - losing both ILB starters to the draft isn't something we've had before. We've always had a guy in waiting who had started one year before he had to be "the guy" and I think it's showing. This is also the youngest overall we have been at ILB since Rolando and Donta I think.
 

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