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2021 tOSU Defense

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DaddyBigBucks said:
I’ve seen posted elsewhere that Ohio State MUST have better defensive talent somewhere on the roster

This opinion utterly baffles me

In order to separate talent from coaching, we have to define talent as whatever the athlete brings to the table that isn’t coaching

Even by this vague definition, you could pick any competent (non-OSU) B1G defense of the last few years and easily determine that Ohio State 2021 inarguably has more talent.

In fact, go back through college football history and try to find ANY defense that was in the bottom 10% of FBS defenses, statistically, and had anywhere near the talent that this defense has. Based on that thought experiment, I submit that it is not hyperbole to say that this defense performs farther below their talent level than any in college football history. The only question at this point is if anyone was ever close.

Face it: with the number of athletes they’ve been playing on defense, it is obvious that they are playing anyone and everyone who has any chance of helping. The problem is painfully obvious NOT that they haven’t tried the right personnel yet. The problems do not change based on who’s out there. The problem is never that they are not fast enough or big enough or strong enough. The problem is that they’re not in position to make the plays. Whether that’s because the scheme is not suited to 2021 football (it isn’t imho) or because ALL of the players haven’t been taught and/or trained adequately (they obviously haven’t) it comes down to coaching.
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Any defense that starts Tuf Borland is not overflowing with endless talent. And I love the guy, but he didn’t have enough speed to play anywhere on a college defense.

Our linebacker room has been seriously deficient of talent since 2018
 
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GovTressel said:
Any defense that starts Tuf Borland is not overflowing with endless talent. And I love the guy, but he didn’t have enough speed to play anywhere on a college defense.

Our linebacker room has been seriously deficient of talent since 2018
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Our linebackers from 2018 were the same ones that dominated in 2019 under a new scheme. Personally, I don't buy the lack of talent argument.
 
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A student is judged based on whether he learns, regardless of the quality of the teacher.

Borland was a good student. He did not have more, or even as much physical talent, as the people around him. He started because he was a good student (of what the coaches were trying to teach).

A teacher is judged based on what is learned, regardless of the quality of the student(s). For the best students, a teacher is not even necessary. For the best teachers, nearly any student will do.

When a good teacher is on the staff, the whole unit plays "smart" and the best will play (see Ohio State's wide receiver room)
When there is a (are) bad teacher(s), those capable of learning regardless of the quality of teacher will play. Whether they have any physical ability is a crap shoot.
 
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ScriptOhio said:
BUT WHERE ARE THE LINEBACKERS? I saw a lot of folks worked up about the defensive line on Saturday, and my personal #take after a few rewatches is that even though the line was certainly not great, it probably wouldn't even make the top-20 problems from the game.

For the most part, Oregon just had a game plan that took the defensive line – particularly the pass rush – right out of the game. And even sometimes when it looked like the line did something especially wrong, that wasn't necessarily the case, either.

I give you The Case of the Missing Linebackers, by Matt Finkes.





Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/skul...-doing-their-job-and-tbdbitl-is-doing-roaring
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We went through all of this back in 2018. Chase Young stopping McSorley on 4th down. OSU DE's are responsible for the inside run/spill the play outside. Just like then, the question is where the fuck was the guy who was actually responsible for contain?

Al Washington's name needs to come up right after Coombs in wrathful conversations. His players are not bad athletes.
 
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Jaxbuck said:
We went through all of this back in 2018. Chase Young stopping McSorley on 4th down. OSU DE's are responsible for the inside run/spill the play outside. Just like then, the question is where the fuck was the guy who was actually responsible for contain?

Al Washington's name needs to come up right after Coombs in wrathful conversations. His players are not bad athletes.
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All of the LBs off last years team had a chance at the NFL, two made rosters and one did not, Tuf. We do not have a lack of talent problem.
 
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Hstead said:
All of the LBs off last years team had a chance at the NFL, two made rosters and one did not, Tuf. We do not have a lack of talent problem.
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Three made rosters. Hilliard went from the 49ers to the Giants. Niners wanted to stash him on the practice squad and the Giants jumped at him. 3 out of 4 guys on rosters just solidifies your point even more which I completely agree with.
 
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GovTressel said:
the linebackers were covered up by an NFL secondary and the most dominate player in college football on the defensive line
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Disagree strongly, Harrison was an All-American, Werner was a speeding bullet who allowed us to do a lot exotic things defensively (the dude dropped into deep safety coverage on a pretty regular basis) and Browning was a playmaker albeit a bit inconsistent. Not to mention Hilliard was a reserve.
 
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I just peeked at ESPN's defensive efficiency rating (Football Outsiders doesn't have data yet) and Ohio State was ranked 82 after two games in defensive efficiency (No. 4 for offensive efficiency).

I usually don't care about ESPN's data, but it's all I could find.

I thought it would be worse than 82nd after two games. It's 11th in the Big Ten after two games (Illinois, Northwestern, and Minnesota behind).
 
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BVistahC said:
I just peeked at ESPN's defensive efficiency rating (Football Outsiders doesn't have data yet) and Ohio State was ranked 82 after two games in defensive efficiency (No. 4 for offensive efficiency).

I usually don't care about ESPN's data, but it's all I could find.

I thought it would be worse than 82nd after two games. It's 11th in the Big Ten after two games (Illinois, Northwestern, and Minnesota behind).
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That is because the Gophers faced the OSU offense lol. Just think where our D would be ranked if it played our Offense?
 
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