• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

LB Pete Werner (New Orleans Saints)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
brodybuck21 said:
GREG MATTISON ON PETE WERNER: “I REALLY BELIEVE HE IS A TOP GUY AT HIS POSITION”
Dan Hope on August 14, 2019 at 3:06 pm @dan_hope
105918_h.jpg

Email this ArticleShare on RedditShare on TwitterShare on Facebook18
3 COMMENTS
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison aren’t ready to name starters quite yet at linebacker, but it certainly appears likely that at least two of the Buckeyes’ starting linebackers will be the same as last year.

Malik Harrison has always been expected to retain his starting job at the weakside linebacker position, and nothing appears to have changed there after 11 practices of fall camp. After the linebacker unit struggled as a whole last season, however, there was reason to believe that strongside linebacker Pete Werner and middle linebacker Tuf Borland could be in jeopardy of losing their starting jobs with a new defensive coaching staff.

The Buckeyes have a deep group of linebackers who have been competing throughout the month of August, giving other linebackers the opportunity to potentially seize those jobs. Mattison made it clear on Wednesday, though, that Werner has done what he’s needed to prove to Mattison – who is also his position coach – that he belongs in the lineup.

“I really believe he is a top guy at his position,” Mattison said of Werner. “I've had the opportunity to see a lot of pretty good football players and I am really impressed with him. I mean, he plays extremely hard. He's very physical. He's got great size and strength and he can run. And he's got unbelievable character. There's not many other things that you need to be a good football player, and that's what he's showing.”

Werner’s name first came up on Wednesday when Mattison was asked about true freshman Cade Stover, who lost his black stripe on Tuesday and is also among the players competing for playing time at the Sam linebacker spot. Mattison’s face lit up with a smile when he was asked about Stover, who Mattison described as a “very, very talented young man,” but he indicated that Stover has been running behind Werner – a true junior – and learning from him.

“A great thing for him is he gets to watch Pete Werner every day,” Mattison said in relation to Stover. “And when you’re a guy behind him and you see the way Pete plays and his dedication to doing things correctly, it’s been really good for him.”

K’Vaughan Pope, who Mattison said has “had a very good camp so far,” has also been competing for playing time at the Sam linebacker position, while the bullet – Brendon White’s new position – will also take the place of the Sam linebacker in some packages. Werner has been running with the first-team defense throughout camp, though, and Mattison’s comments Wednesday suggested that he’s still likely be on the field for a majority of Ohio State’s defensive snaps.

“We have a Sam linebacker that is very, very athletic and very, very fast,” Mattison said, referencing Werner. “So the bullet position ends up being a way for us to have great depth at the Sam position.”

44575301224_3bff30f138_o.jpg

Greg Mattison believes Pete Werner has just about everything he is looking for in a Sam linebacker.
When asked whether Borland was still the top guy at middle linebacker, Mattison wasn’t quite as committal. He mentioned that Baron Browning, who is also still practicing at middle linebacker, has “really, really had a good camp,” and he said Teradja Mitchell has also performed well in camp.

Borland has taken most of the first-team reps at middle linebacker during portions of practice that have been open to the media, though, and Mattison – who doesn’t spend as much time with the Mike and Will linebackers, who are primarily coached by Al Washington while Mattison is the primary coach for the Sam linebackers and bullets – said Wednesday that he likes “everything about Tuf Borland’s game.”

“Tuf Borland is another one that comes out to practice every day, extremely intelligent. Takes great pride in getting the front lined up,” Mattison said. “I like his physicality. I like his intelligence.”

With 17 days still to go until Ohio State’s Aug. 31 season opener against Florida Atlantic, Mattison said the Buckeyes still haven’t made decisions about who will start at linebacker – in part because they want to have many more than three linebackers who are playing at a starting-caliber level.

“With the tempo we're going to see, with the way teams are going to try to attack us, we'd better have a first starter or a second starter and a third starter, and that's how I look at it,” Mattison said.

Mattison did say, though, that Harrison, Werner and Borland have earned the first-team reps that they have gotten.

So while Browning, Mitchell, Dallas Gant, Pope and even true freshmen like Stover and Craig Young could all potentially factor into the linebacker rotation and earn playing time in various packages, it seems more likely than not that the three linebackers who played the majority of snaps for Ohio State last season will be the first linebackers on the field in their base defense to begin this season, too.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...YZ9-tTqBC2iM_qyM_QU04kufPjaob6fRFjCtCwvm_thLI
Click to expand...


I know a lot of folks were down on him last season...but I really liked the way he flashed on the screen as a young player and to me he seemed like one of our most talented next to Browning... Talent wise I would go Browning, Harrison and then Werner and he may have better instincts than either. I think scheme and him being young can explain most of the way he looked overall last year, but I've never been down on the kid and i'm excited to see his growth this season
 
Upvote 0
MARVYMARV14 said:
I know a lot of folks were down on him last season...but I really liked the way he flashed on the screen as a young player and to me he seemed like one of our most talented next to Browning... Talent wise I would go Browning, Harrison and then Werner and he may have better instincts than either. I think scheme and him being young can explain most of the way he looked overall last year, but I've never been down on the kid and i'm excited to see his growth this season
Click to expand...

Assuming that they stop asking him to cover WRs 1 on 1 on the outside. I expect him to look much better this year.
 
Upvote 0
brodybuck21 said:
while the bullet – Brendon White’s new position – will also take the place of the Sam linebacker in some packages.
Click to expand...

Jagdaddy said:
Assuming that they stop asking him to cover WRs 1 on 1 on the outside. I expect him to look much better this year.
Click to expand...

This is the only thing that gives me pause about the defense.
You know we're going to be caught in the wrong package and LB covering WRs.
And teams gonna gameplan to get those matchups.
I'm not sure i really want White covering slotdots like Rondale Moore either. But how is White not the first of the back7 to step on the field. I dont care if he's playing MLB, OLB, SS, Star, whatever you want to call it... White has instincts nobody else showed last year.
 
Upvote 0
Pete Werner Comfortable In New Role With Buckeye Defense

Pete-Werner-tackle-1170x780.jpg


Over the offseason, Ohio State implemented a brand new defensive scheme, which included the addition of the hybrid linebacker/safety position known as the Bullet.

In the spring, it was clear that Brendon White and Jahsen Wint were the new Bullets taking on the responsibilities of this position. From play to play, they could line up at an outside linebacker spot or in the slot, or fall back into a deep safety position. Buckeye teammates expressed how well both White and Wint were performing their new duties.

But against Cincinnati last Saturday, it was junior linebacker Pete Werner moving all over the field. Werner, who has traditionally played as the Sam linebacker, was roving all over the place, seemingly doing everything people expected the Bullets to do.

At times in the game, Werner was back as a deep safety, replacing senior safety Jordan Fuller as he ran to another part of the field.

Seeing Werner in deep coverage situations came as a surprise to many, but co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley sees Werner as a guy who can play a number of different roles.

“He’s athletic. He’s way more athletic than anybody gives him credit for,” Hafley said. “So that gives us a little bit of a weapon that he can move around and do things that you or people don’t think that he can do. Right? So Pete’s an athletic guy. I mean, he can play a lot of different spots. So it’s fun to have him out there. You can do different things.”

Despite some who might raise an eyebrow or two, Hafley is completely confident in having Werner in that spot.

“If there was risk, I don’t think we’d run it,” he said. “So I think we feel pretty confident in Pete doing that.”

Although his role varies and will probably continue to change based on the matchups, the coaching staff clearly trusts Werner to make plays wherever he is on the field. And that trust goes both ways.

Werner admitted to having some trepidation about what his role would be this year with the addition of the Bullet, but his trust in the coaches made this an easy transition. He never questioned his playing time or how he would fit into this defense, and he never feared that a Bullet on the field would take away from his own opportunities.

“I just know that I trusted my coaches, they would put me in the best ability to make me play as well as I could. So I kind of trusted in them. But I didn’t really know anything about the scheme,” Werner said. “I was just knowing I was going to go out there and try to impress coaches and do my thing. So yeah, as far as Bullet, I didn’t really know anything about the Bullet at that point. I knew that I was going to give it my all and show my capabilities.”

Entire article: https://theozone.net/2019/09/pete-werner-comfotable-buckeyes-defense/
 
Upvote 0
wow, it's amazing the transformation of all these backers. They looked so lost last year... WTF were the coaches doing? It isn't just one, the entire group looks so much better in run fills, their pursuit angles, responsibilities and tackling too. There just isn't anywhere to go for opposing RB's when u watch the tape. Some credit should go to the DL as well. Extremely impressed.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top