OK State NT Darrion Daniels To Grad Transfer To NU ( Older brother of Damion Daniels)

[ShortSideOption]

The gist of the argument is that BMH is saying that the DL has nothing to do with pass rush. He continues that their only job is to stop the run. My point is that even if they do not get the sacks. They are a huge part of pass rush in that it is their job to eat up blocks.

I would say your DL needs to absolutely be involved in pass rush. But when you are only rushing those 3, people need to understand we probably aren't going to get home. When we bring 1, 2, even 3 extra guys, all of a sudden they can get home. Our guys with the second most sacks on the team was Ben Stille who plays DE. All that said, we don't have a dynamic pass rusher at OLB right now. Hoping that changes for 2019.

 

[South Omaha Husker]

I would say your DL needs to absolutely be involved in pass rush. But when you are only rushing those 3, people need to understand we probably aren't going to get home. When we bring 1, 2, even 3 extra guys, all of a sudden they can get home. Our guys with the second most sacks on the team was Ben Stille who plays DE. All that said, we don't have a dynamic pass rusher at OLB right now. Hoping that changes for 2019.

Amen, argument over!!

 

[Huskerthom]

I would say your DL needs to absolutely be involved in pass rush. But when you are only rushing those 3, people need to understand we probably aren't going to get home. When we bring 1, 2, even 3 extra guys, all of a sudden they can get home. Our guys with the second most sacks on the team was Ben Stille who plays DE. All that said, we don't have a dynamic pass rusher at OLB right now. Hoping that changes for 2019.

Thank you.

 

[BigMacHusker]

For the love of all that is holy, never did I say the DL isn't important to the pass rush....where do y'all come up with this stuff? I simply said if we are going to fix/get better at pass rush the DL is not the issue. We need a dynamic pass rusher at OLB like pretty much every other 3-4 in the country, the edge threat in a 3-4 is the OLB. Here is my summary/opinion

What do we need to better stop the run- NG
What do we need to enhance the pass rush- OLB
Which position group would I want to fix first- S We just graduated 3 S and D. Williams no longer as a veteran next to him to make sure he is lined up correctly. Sorry I didn't pick DL

Big D Daniels is still a very good pick up

 

[goodnterribles]

For the love of all that is holy, never did I say the DL isn't important to the pass rush....where do y'all come up with this stuff? I simply said if we are going to fix/get better at pass rush the DL is not the issue. We need a dynamic pass rusher at OLB like pretty much every other 3-4 in the country, the edge threat in a 3-4 is the OLB. Here is my summary/opinion

What do we need to better stop the run- NG
What do we need to enhance the pass rush- OLB
Which position group would I want to fix first- S We just graduated 3 S and D. Williams no longer as a veteran next to him to make sure he is lined up correctly. Sorry I didn't pick DL

Big D Daniels is still a very good pick up

That's a valid point about safety. I think Williams has all the skills in the world, hopefully another offseason helps him. Will the staff move Domann back there? Can a holdover take the other spot (Dismuke, Anderson)? Or will one of the young kids like Jones or Smith be ready?

 

[Middle-aged_Ball_Coach]

I’ve read it’s hard to find quality DL recruits. I’ve never tried myself, so I am unable to verify these statements.

I picked up a couple on clearance at Walmart, but they fell apart and didn't last long.

 

[HuskerHeathen]

Do you think we continue to stockpile OLBs looking for answers so we can stop the run? Moving to the 3-4 created the NG and OLB positions, my vote is in for the NG to stop the run and OLB to get after the QB. The staff has spent very little time looking at the transfer market for DEs, I have a hard time believing it's due to lack of availability.

I'm sorry....what were you saying ?

 

[BigMacHusker]

View attachment 19155
I'm sorry....what were you saying ?

Are you putting a vote in for going back to a 4-3?

 

[Middle-aged_Ball_Coach]

Your first sentence would only be true to the casual fan that does not understand football. Many of us can look at a Dline that is drawing double teams thus leaving clean shots for the LBs to get to the QB and know that it is the DL that set it up. So those people would not panic about the DL only getting 7-8 sacks a year while the LBS are topping 30+ .

The second paragraph is absolutely false. Again the DL may not get a lot of Sacks. However, they are still responsible for pushing the pocket. When you hear about an OL maintaining a "Clean Pocket". That means that the DL is not doing their job. When you hear the announcers talking about the QB can not get his feet set because he does not have a clean pocket. They are getting the job done. Even if the DL is not getting any actual sacks. Moving the QB off his mark and outside the pocket is what leads to most sacks.

@ShortSideOption @Middle-aged_Ball_Coach I know I have oversimplified this but would you agree with my assessment? You have both done a great job explaining these types of things.

I am not sure what the argument is as it has gone for multiple pages. Our pass rush needs to get better. But there’s definitely situations where our pass rush induced a quick throw or interception and we didn’t get a sack out of it so the front 7 didn’t get credit when they caused something. We need to be way more consistent. Even when we brought pressure many times we wouldn’t get home. We also graduate our sack leader so that has to be replaced for 2019. That being said, if we can’t replace Luke Gifford as our best pass rusher we have bigger problems.

The problem is when you play a 3 man line and don’t bring an extra guy or two to help, you pretty much aren’t getting home. Alabama didn’t even get home against Georgia when they did it and I’m sure our fans would be screaming about pass rush even tho they finished 7th in the country in sacks not understanding we were playing coverage. We played coverage too much in my opinion.

I think that everybody here is saying different versions of more or less the same things, but we're emphasizing different aspects. Here's what I've said before, and I still believe to be true about our D-line:

1. We have a lot of bodies, and some of the guys have a lot of mostly undeveloped potential; Dawson can both say that he has more depth than he's every had before, but also wish that his first string D-line was more stout against the run. He has never publicly criticized them from what I've seen, but he frequently compliments their effort. Freedom is a great example of this. I love the guy, but how many B1G teams would have traded a starting DT or DE to have him instead of who they already start? He provided leadership, character, and effort, but he frequently got bulldozed against the run, and he rarely got to the QB, even when we brought blitz packages where he was left 1-on-1. We can win games with guys like Freedom, but we won't win B1G championships.
2. Roughly half of the B1G had a better starting D-line than us last year. You can compare our 3+1 OLB to another team's front 4 (if they run 4-3), or you can compare our front three against any 3 of their 4. Again, I recognize that I'm criticizing our guys' level of talent, but I genuinely love the effort. Mick, Freedom, and Gifford (who was usually the 4th pass rusher) are great people who are going to be successful, but none of them would be likely to ever play professionally if they pursued it. That's where we were at this past year. We don't need to have Suh, and we don't need to crank out a 1st round NFL draft pick every year (which is pretty much what OSU and Alabama do), but we do need to have guys who are at least talented and developed enough to get looks by NFL teams.
3. Chinander likes to blitz, and he's very good at dialing up some pretty awesome blitz packages, but that stuff needs to be the icing on the cake and not the cake, itself. Go back and watch the 4th quarter of the Northwestern game (if you have the stomach for it), and you'll see a veteran QB doing a masterful job of picking apart our defense, usually directing his O-linemen who to pick up when/if they blitzed. Montez (from CO) was baffled in that first game, probably because he hadn't seen enough film of Chinander's defense to know what to expect. Take those 7 sacks out, and our stats look pretty anemic. When/if we send 5 guys on a blitz, they MUST get home to the QB. It doesn't have to be a sack, but he should have to either move around and hurry his throw, or use his Hot Read receiver to avoid it.
4. We need better OLBs. This would be the area where *** is concerned, and it also seems to be where @BigMacHusker is focused. I do not disagree, but I think that Chinander can scheme around having average OLBs if his D-line is a lot better. Either one helps the other, but if I had to choose, I'd put as much investment as possible in the D-line. If the D-line holds up against Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa's O-line when they run the ball, the OLBs will be more free to roam and make plays. It would be great if the guys playing there are NFL caliber, but I don't think that they have to be.
5. I agree that the primary role of the NG is to be a 2-gap run-stopper. Ideally, he NEVER moves backwards, even against a double-team. Against the pass, he needs to help make the pocket as tight and uncomfortable as possible, and it would really help if he would be athletic enough to grab a QB who is trying to scramble up the middle when everything else has been shut down. Guys like that are incredibly hard to find, but the run-stopper part is not.

I'm very glad that we got Daniels from OSU. He'll give options that I don't think we had this past year.

 

[Huskerthom]

For the love of all that is holy, never did I say the DL isn't important to the pass rush....where do y'all come up with this stuff? I simply said if we are going to fix/get better at pass rush the DL is not the issue.

Sure about that?

Our pass rush issues have little to nothing to do with the DL

I'm glad we got him too, to stop the run.

I simply said the DL has little to nothing to do with our pass rush issues, seeing as how many bodies the staff is throwing at OLB I'm thinking they agree. If we are going to rely on the NG to be the difference in the pass rush we really are going to need a Suh or Donald.....good luck with that.

Now to address your question. Is it the ONLY answer to our problems no. Is it part of the answer to our Pass rush issues, yes.

 

[HuskerHeathen]

You will get shredded to the bone around here when you throw out a one-dimensional D strategy like this :

" my vote is in for the NG to stop the run and OLB to get after the QB"

Any successful DC will follow your strategy some times but certainly not all the time.

 

[Huskerthom]

I think that everybody here is saying different versions of more or less the same things, but we're emphasizing different aspects. Here's what I've said before, and I still believe to be true about our D-line:

1. We have a lot of bodies, and some of the guys have a lot of mostly undeveloped potential; Dawson can both say that he has more depth than he's every had before, but also wish that his first string D-line was more stout against the run. He has never publicly criticized them from what I've seen, but he frequently compliments their effort. Freedom is a great example of this. I love the guy, but how many B1G teams would have traded a starting DT or DE to have him instead of who they already start? He provided leadership, character, and effort, but he frequently got bulldozed against the run, and he rarely got to the QB, even when we brought blitz packages where he was left 1-on-1. We can win games with guys like Freedom, but we won't win B1G championships.
2. Roughly half of the B1G had a better starting D-line than us last year. You can compare our 3+1 OLB to another team's front 4 (if they run 4-3), or you can compare our front three against any 3 of their 4. Again, I recognize that I'm criticizing our guys' level of talent, but I genuinely love the effort. Mick, Freedom, and Gifford (who was usually the 4th pass rusher) are great people who are going to be successful, but none of them would be likely to ever play professionally if they pursued it. That's where we were at this past year. We don't need to have Suh, and we don't need to crank out a 1st round NFL draft pick every year (which is pretty much what OSU and Alabama do), but we do need to have guys who are at least talented and developed enough to get looks by NFL teams.
3. Chinander likes to blitz, and he's very good at dialing up some pretty awesome blitz packages, but that stuff needs to be the icing on the cake and not the cake, itself. Go back and watch the 4th quarter of the Northwestern game (if you have the stomach for it), and you'll see a veteran QB doing a masterful job of picking apart our defense, usually directing his O-linemen who to pick up when/if they blitzed. Montez (from CO) was baffled in that first game, probably because he hadn't seen enough film of Chinander's defense to know what to expect. Take those 7 sacks out, and our stats look pretty anemic. When/if we send 5 guys on a blitz, they MUST get home to the QB. It doesn't have to be a sack, but he should have to either move around and hurry his throw, or use his Hot Read receiver to avoid it.
4. We need better OLBs. This would be the area where *** is concerned, and it also seems to be where @BigMacHusker is focused. I do not disagree, but I think that Chinander can scheme around having average OLBs if his D-line is a lot better. Either one helps the other, but if I had to choose, I'd put as much investment as possible in the D-line. If the D-line holds up against Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa's O-line when they run the ball, the OLBs will be more free to roam and make plays. It would be great if the guys playing there are NFL caliber, but I don't think that they have to be.
5. I agree that the primary role of the NG is to be a 2-gap run-stopper. Ideally, he NEVER moves backwards, even against a double-team. Against the pass, he needs to help make the pocket as tight and uncomfortable as possible, and it would really help if he would be athletic enough to grab a QB who is trying to scramble up the middle when everything else has been shut down. Guys like that are incredibly hard to find, but the run-stopper part is not.

I'm very glad that we got Daniels from OSU. He'll give options that I don't think we had this past year.

Thank you well said. Paragraph 4 and 5 are what I was trying to say. Dline is not the full answer but it is part of the answer.

 

[Deleted member 3889]

Nebraska didn't bring Daniels in to rush the passer. They brought him in because mediocre running backs were having career rushing days against NU. Everything else in this turned is just noise.

 

[Huskerthom]

Nebraska didn't bring Daniels in to rush the passer. They brought him in because mediocre running backs were having career rushing days against NU. Everything else in this turned is just noise.

I would say it is a bit from column a and a bit from column b

 

[Keefover]

Amen, argument over!!

Oh thank god.