Give me your 2009 two-deep lineup for FSU

by the 3rd or 4th game opposite PRob. He’s just amazingly gifted and competitive. I also expect to see Demps and Harley get serious reps at S throughout the year. Moody starts at SS in my opinion. 6’1, 235 lbs and can seriously lay the lumber. He’s got a nasty attitude and I think he offsets the finesse of Jamie Robinson at FS. J. Robinson is more of a ball hawk while Moody is the headhunter/enforcer.

Similarly, our Linebackers also emote “concerned optimism”. I understand the conditions and constraints that Mickey Andrews’ unique take on the 43 under scheme place on how we utilize the talent we’ve available, so my two deep here would be considered given these limitations, whereas positional changes along the Defensive Line would do nothing to impact Mickey’s scheme.

The Weakside LB (Will) in our scheme is liberated from concerns of being blocked down, engaged, pressed to the line of scrimmage, or otherwise. With this freedom, comes the responsibility of being able to read the flow of the play and track it down from the weakside. So, he needs vision, concentration, an innate instinct and confidence to trust it, and burst to get where he needs to go. I’m not sure Nigel Bradham has all these characteristics, but I’m beginning to believe that until we can reevaluate our defensive scheme with specific relation to the linebackers, we’re not as bad off with Bradham here than some pessimists (myself priorly included) imply. The game very well could have slowed down between last season’s end and this fall. That could very well produce a player that seemingly has the intuition and instinct and clarity of vision to read the play. He does have the burst and especially the power to deliver once he’s reached the target.

A recognized benefit of Mickey’s scheme is that it relieves entirely the responsibility a Will would have in coverage and those that would make him turn his back on the ball (invoking necessary agility to flip one’s hips and track). I don’t think Nigel would be effective in coverage, nor would he be able to flip and run. So at least some of his deficiencies and strengths are reflexively maximized / minimized under Andrews’ stewardship.

Behind Bradham, I’d have preferred head hunter extraordinaire CJ Mizell, but he was the unfortunate casualty of class-attrition. So in his stead, Senior Recardo Wright. According to his close circle, Recardo was initially very new to football when he was recruited by FSU and is a natural “libero” 43 under WLB. However, he was lost in the shuffle and mistakenly placed in the middle. He’s 6’2 and around 220, and has the speed to sufficiently cover the range that a Will needs to govern. We don’t know if he has the vision, intuition, instinct or confidence, but I am pretty certain he has it more so than Maurice Harris or Aaron Gresham.

The Middle Linebacker needs to be stronger, bigger, but curiously also more inclined to cover in Mickey’s LB schema. He needs to be able to handle the hectic interior of the field, read and recognize and stymie playside action, but also occasionally pic up backs out of the backfield. Luckily, it seems we have a tweener available for this tween-y responsibility, Kendall Smith. At 6’1 and 235, and with natural 43 under WLB speed and flexibility, Smith is prime for this position for FSU. His weakness last year was considered to be his vision and decisiveness in space – putting him inside at the MLB relinquishes him of these concerns by putting him closer and more involved initially with the play (so less decisions to be made).

Behind him, Vince Williams. Vince is a more archetypal fit at MLB than Kendall at 6’0 and 240+. He’s a hard hitter and a confident leader. He may be a liability in coverage because of flexibility concerns, but placing him second in the two deep implies that he would be used more situationally should we evade injury. Thus, he could be implemented whenever the down and distance or specific match ups lean run instead of pass. Admittedly, the game film and even practice film on him his limited, but he is very accelerated in his physical development after now two springs and one fall.

The greatest discrepancy between our 43 under scheme under Mickey and the normal one is the pressures it puts on the SLB. Because of our strict and overbearing propensity to play man to man, the SLB shadows the Tight End or playside flexed out back. He needs to be able to cover him and shade him, turn with him in coverage or track him down. At the same time, because he’s deployed like a traditional SLB in a traditional (Pete Carroll) 43 under scheme – that’s to say, within 1.5 yards of the LOS on the strongside – he still needs to be able to shake the TE and dictate the play as it approaches him.

Dekoda Watson, it would seem, is the best compromise we have. His 4.39 (wow) speed and comfortable shuttle times imply no foreseeable issues in running with a TE or flexed out back, and hopefully this speed and a heady knack for play-recognition earlier than usual will result in play-dictation on the strongside much like Jacobbi’s taking of space with his burst dictates the Center and Guard.

Behind him, Nigel Carr. While initially disappointing in his dedication and physical development, all reports reveal a changed player. Nigel tore it up during the spring while Dekoda was on the mend. He showed an adequate ability to cover his route-responsibility, while his size and strength and more importantly energy (much like Markus White) and willingness to play through contact led to consistent success against the run on the strongside.

So

WLB: Nigel Bradham 6’2 240 So; Recardo Wright 6’2 225 Sr
MLB: Kendall Smith 6’1 235 Jr; Vince WIlliams 6’0 240 So
SLB: Dekoda Watson 6’2 235 Sr; Nigel Carr 6’3 235 So

I’m more optimistic about the prospects of our defensive line this year than I’ve been in a long while.

However, my optimism doesn’t fully erase some concerns, most of which are centered about our defensive ends. Surprisingly, (given our recent history and especially last season) I’m not really sweating the interior DL, even with its potential youth should the two or three deep be invoked.

Instead, my preoccupation once again hovers around the SDE position. Its importance and unique responsibilities in our scheme cannot be understated for me. It’s not just a right or left defensive end. It’s more similar to a nose tackle than a defensive tackle or the weakside end. Arguably, it’s (much like the NT in a 34 stack) the fulcrum or hinge on which the entire front is anchored. It’s the position which creates leverage for the defense, which forces the offense’s hand, and liberates other defenders that are deployed in more advantageous (1 on 1 or within space) situations to attack and penetrate.

For this, the strongside end needs to have an understanding of engaged technique (how to play with and through contact), the ability to fight off a second blocker, the motor and attitude to engage in physical play, and the size for all this to happen.

I think we have two players who could be up for it and could be very good at the SDE, but it’d require some out of the box and flexible thinking from our coaches. Namely, I think Markus White and Everett Dawkins need to move to SDE and Kevin McNeil to WDE.

If you’re privy to the recent summer workout photos on other sources and seminoles.com, you’ve seen Markus White’s physical condition. He’s 260 pounds today with a severely underdeveloped (for a DL) upper body. The dude’s base is incredible; his build is very similar in its belying nature to Zebrie, who looks 250 if you see him from the waist up but is confirmed to be approaching 290+. I think if our coaches encouraged weight gain, his upper body would develop at a rapid pace and White could sprout from his 260 now to 270 or more by the season’s beginning.

From his play last year and this spring, he behaves more like a strongside end than a weakside end. Because of orientation, a strongside end needs to be high energy and eager to play through contact. That’s how Markus White plays! He wouldn’t be hamstrung by placing him against doubles, he’d relish it, in my opinion. Whereas a weakside end is more strictly a 1on1 player. He’s usually isolated against the weakside tackle and is given the spatial leeway that aggravates this isolation. White’s ability to play through contact and his size isn’t maximized, here.

That being said, I think Kevin McNeil would be much better suited for the WDE position and would give us a different, not better or worse, player there than Everette Brown. EB was strictly a pass rusher. In the NFL, he is considered more of a 34 rush LB than true WDE because of his apparent inability to defend against the run. I think a Kevin McNeil gives us more presence against the run, and does so without foregoing too much of the pass rush (remember that McNeil was actually more impressive than EB at the same time in their relative careers). I also don’t think McNeil’s frame could support the necessary weight for the SDE position. He doesn’t look like he could effectively play with the energy needed against double teams and within the strongside chaos play in and play out. But he could excel at WDE and give us more girth than EB did, there.

I’m very comfortable in Brandon Jenkins backing up McNeil at WDE despite his youth (this will be a prevalent theme). Not even a month long on campus, Jenkins was drawing rave reviews by both offensive and defensive coaching staffs and quickly supplanted more experienced players at his position for playing time.

Also from the summer workout photos, it seems Everett Dawkins weight gain from 233 to 270 has been miraculous, because it doesn’t appear to be bad weight. He actually looks trimmed. He also looks to have the low center of gravity and solid base that is advantageous for a strongside end. I think he would be a brilliant sub for White and would serve as an improved Neefy Moffett style player over there (but with 15+ more pounds).

At the Nose, Moses McCray has me geeked. He’s approaching 310 pounds and looks like a monster. His wrestling background denotes manual dexterity and experience, his 6’2 build leverage and the low center of gravity, his size the ability to handle himself at the 1 tech. I hope the coaches give him the opportunity, because I think Jacobbi McDaniel wouldn’t waste it and would become our second stringer at the 1 tech sooner than later. He came in at 295 and – while a bit out of shape – has still been called “the most dense high school player” people close to the program have ever seen. Jacobbi was unique during All American practices for his ability to burst and blow by linemen while not sacrificing strength and staying power. These are enviable characteristics for a 1 Tech NT.

While the more conventional method of occupying the space and blockers against which he’s deployed is by being an intractable object, the ability to burst and take the space that the Center and Guard are responsible for is another way to do it. Jacobbi can do both. He can force the Center and Guard’s necessity to block him by taking that space. And thus, they’re occupied, freeing the linebackers behind him and the 3 tech to his side.

At that benefitted position, Justin Mincey and Demonte McAllister. Mincey looks much bigger than the 275 he’s reputed to weigh. Regardless, he was our best lineman at times last year and without a doubt our most disruptive interior lineman. I honestly don’t care if every motivation he has for this season is selfish; because if he’s playing for the NFL paycheck, we will directly benefit as a team. The 3 tech needs to be a selfish player. He’s isolated with a small cache of space with the weakside Guard. He needs to maximize his disruptive potential and pierce the line of scrimmage. Mincey can do this, if he’s motivated, and so can Pete Carroll’s best three tech he’s ever seen.

Namely, Demonte McAllister, who weighed in at 278 pounds. Demonte is a beast and a future first rounder. His frame and style are masterfully crafted for the 3 tech position, and even flexed out to a 2nd rush end on strictly passing downs. Despite his youth, I think he will give us a much better threat of disruption and play-dictation than either seniors Ken Stewart or Bud Thacker.

WDE: Kevin McNeil 6’2 255 Sr; Brandon Jenkins 6’2 240 Fr
DT: Justin Mincey 6’5 280 Sr; Demonte McAllister 6’4 285 Fr
NT: Moses McCray 6’2 308 So; Jacobbi McDaniel 6’2 290 Fr
SDE: Markus White 6’4 275 RSJr; Everett Dawkins 6’2 270 RSFr

Heavy on youth, heavier on talent.