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2009 Linebacker Discussion

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RB07OSU;1525382; said:
Honestly, you are going to see your MIKE running down ball carriers and gaps the same as your outside backers. In fact, the MIKE may have more to cover given that the play can go either way and they have to pursue. If a play goes the opposite way of the outside backer, they still have to take angles and it's not like they are usually in the mix for a tackle behind the LOS. Plus, many times they have to stay home and make sure the play doesn't reverse field, which can take them out of the play most of the time. Granted I was a tad confused to see the smallest LB we have playing MIKE, I still think theoretically it makes sense, maybe just not in light of what we see traditionally. While many times you want a strong guy in the middle to stuff the inside run game, against the spread and perimeter run game it may be more valuable to have your fastest guy at MIKE. I think you may see Spitler in the middle against the Wisconsin's of the world, but Rolle in the middle against the Northwestern's. We'll see.
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What he said, plus I'll add a couple more opinions:

The middle linebacker position is one where its much less likely to overrun a play at the point of attack. It is Rolle's speed combined with his aggressiveness that causes me to want to see him on the field as much as possible. However, this could also lead to putting himself in bad positions on the edge if he doesn't have controlled speed and aggression at all times. Spitler is a crafty veteran, he may not make as many spectacular plays but he's less of a risk (in my opinion only) to make a mistake and give up big plays. Which brings up my next point...

You may want the fastest linebacker on the field the closest to the action at all times in case you need him to aid in a tackle or even run someone down from behind. If someone is stood up on the the weak side or there is a sweep that direction, I'd much rather have Rolle racing to help bring him down from the middle of the field than from the strong side and I'd rather have the fastest guy rushing to get there. It's going to be hard for O-linemen to block Rolle without holding in space so getting off blocks with Rolle's strength and quickness should not be an issue.

In my opinion, there are several reasons to put Rolle in the middle, at least against some opponents as RB07 pointed out.
 
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As much as it pains me to add to a discussion that was started the way this one was...


It has been touched on but it should be stressed: Rolle is going to be a good Mike because he is smart and instinctive. I like his quickness and his motor, but I am comfortable with him starting at Mike because of his game from the neck up.

As with everything else, my knowledge of this comes from reports out of practice and his play on special teams. I reserve the right to re-assess a week from now.
 
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Also remember Laurinaitis? Everybody thought he would be a SAM. Everybody was surprised when the coaches put him at MIKE. And he in turn, surprised everybody with his performance at MIKE. Just trust the coaches on this one. Not worried at all.
 
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im not worried about rolles play in the middle im worried about spitlers play on the outside, yeah shure we will be fine against michigan, wisconsin and northwestern but once we face juggernauts like florida or alabama idk how we would do with all that speed. i guess we will just have to see when sc comes to the shoe in 13 days!:oh:

you guys need to quit freaking out too, im not saying anything bad about osu.
 
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k2onprimetime;1525563; said:
im not worried about rolles play in the middle im worried about spitlers play on the outside, yeah shure we will be fine against michigan, wisconsin and northwestern but once we face juggernauts like florida or alabama? idk how we would do with all that speed. i guess we will just have to see when sc comes to the shoe in 13 days!:oh:

you guys need to quit freaking out too, im not saying anything bad about osu.
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eh?
 
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k2onprimetime;1525563; said:
im not worried about rolles play in the middle im worried about spitlers play on the outside, yeah shure we will be fine against michigan, wisconsin and northwestern but once we face juggernauts like florida or alabama idk how we would do with all that speed. i guess we will just have to see when sc comes to the shoe in 13 days!:oh:

you guys need to quit freaking out too, im not saying anything bad about osu.
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Rather than an I-O sign, here's something you can use:

shovel.jpg

Just keep diggin'.

these things really bug me and i think if ohio state would make better decisions we would win more.....
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NateG;1525381; said:
Advice for k2.... quit while you are behind. Just because this is a buckeye forum doesn't make the red ratings good.

:hatepc:

:bonk:



and back to subject, I think that the backers will be fine regardless of where they are put due to the depth at defensive line.

6 days :oh:
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BB73 we try to help people but they never listen... lol

and I guess I'll :io: myself :(.
 
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k2onprimetime;1525702; said:
wow whatever guys....
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Just quit drinkin the ESPN Southern Speed crap.

Hawk, Carpenter, Laurinaitis, Jenkins, Freeman - some of the most recent dominant Buckeyes to play in our backfield, and guess what they all have in common? They are from Northern states.

Not bad for a bunch of slow defensive boys from the North huh?
 
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SEREbuckeye;1525711; said:
Just quit drinkin the ESPN Southern Speed crap.
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Might be annoying as hell, but to ramp it down you have to beat USC (and hope nobody else gets hurt to given them an out) by something more than a last second FG - and keep whatever chucklehead that scheduled the UA and STA high school game from doing that again.

Like that did not give a gazillion self styled experts yet another excuse to ramp it up on the speed thing. :shake:
 
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k2onprimetime;1525563; said:
im not worried about rolles play in the middle im worried about spitlers play on the outside, yeah shure we will be fine against michigan, wisconsin and northwestern but once we face juggernauts like florida or alabama idk how we would do with all that speed. i guess we will just have to see when sc comes to the shoe in 13 days!:oh:

you guys need to quit freaking out too, im not saying anything bad about osu.
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Shut the fuck up already about "all that SEC speed"...their LBs aren't any faster than ours. By the way, it's "sure", not "shure", dipshit...
 
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