S Anderson Russell (official thread)

[CHU]

The only thing I'm hoping for is no residual effect due to the Texas play that carries over into this season.

I think he'll be fine (I hope he'll be fine).

 

[mattynokes]

It's simple. He's a FS and FS aren't supposed to play man-to-man coverage. FS are supposed to either be playing weak side deep halves or middle deep thirds. Russell can't man up, so simply keeping him in centerfield is the best option for him and for the team.

 

[generaladm]

On the second, he seemed to have 2 choices...conceded the pass for a nice gain but make the tackle or go after the pass and if he misses...give up a huge gain. Seemed like second choice was made and bad things ensued. Thoughts?

That's exactly what I saw. He probably thought he could take a swipe at the ball and still make the tackle, but he stumbled playing the ball and couldn't recover. Had he just played his man, he would have made the tackle at the point of the catch. Bad decision for a safety, IMO, hopefully he learns from it.

 

[DSelwyn]

That's exactly what I saw. He probably thought he could take a swipe at the ball and still make the tackle, but he stumbled playing the ball and couldn't recover. Had he just played his man, he would have made the tackle at the point of the catch. Bad decision for a safety, IMO, hopefully he learns from it.

Remember Anderson Russell last year against USC?? USC was in the red zone and Sanchez play-actioned and looked over the middle for the tight end. Russell bit on the play-action, tried to reverse direction, stumbled, fell and rolled into the legs of USC tight end Blake Ayles as he caught the TD pass. On that single play, Russell looked as uncoordinated and unathletic as..., well, me. Because of our misadventures in recruiting the safety position, Russell has been a 4 year starter( if you count the 2006 season before he injured the knee).

 

[Jaxbuck]

It's simple. He's a FS and FS aren't supposed to play man-to-man coverage. FS are supposed to either be playing weak side deep halves or middle deep thirds. Russell can't man up, so simply keeping him in centerfield is the best option for him and for the team.

Just as simple is the fact the other team has coaches who can see this plain as day and can scheme to take advantage of it.

 

[SEREbuckeye]

Does anyone that is better at critiquing players know exactly what is Russell's problem is in man coverage? Does he have stiff hips? Is it a speed issue?

 

[starBUCKS]

Does anyone that is better at critiquing players know exactly what is Russell's problem is in man coverage? Does he have stiff hips? Is it a speed issue?

Slow reaction is part of it IMO

 

[Jaxbuck]

Does anyone that is better at critiquing players know exactly what is Russell's problem is in man coverage? Does he have stiff hips? Is it a speed issue?

Multiple knee surgeries have to be the main culprit imo.

Also worth pointing out is yes he seems to struggle in coverage but we won a NC in 2002 with a FS that wasn't exactly Ed Reed. Not making any comparisons between the 2 teams just that superman at FS isn't a necessity for a championship caliber defense.

 

[RB07OSU]

I think the injuries may be playing a factor. He gets his feet tangled up but his recovery speed just isn't there. Also, I'm not seeing Anderson fly up to ball in run defense like he did before his injury. His hips don't look terrible but he definetly can't swivel like Coleman can. I like Russel on special teams and his role as a leader can't be taken away, but I just think he is a liability out there as well, especially in pass coverage...he just doesn't look comfortable with the ball in the air.

I'm with Selwyn, we just don't have anyone else to play here. If Hines takes over, you have a void at the Star position and this is where not having Moeller hurts bad. Moeller could be playing Star and Hines could play safety exclusively. I don't think Ohrian Johnson is healthy now and doesn't he back up Coleman? The defense should be able to pin their ears back more now with Navy's triple out of the way, so maybe that will cover us up there now.

 

[OSUbuckeye09]

I think the injuries may be playing a factor. He gets his feet tangled up but his recovery speed just isn't there. Also, I'm not seeing Anderson fly up to ball in run defense like he did before his injury. His hips don't look terrible but he definetly can't swivel like Coleman can. I like Russel on special teams and his role as a leader can't be taken away, but I just think he is a liability out there as well, especially in pass coverage...he just doesn't look comfortable with the ball in the air.

I'm with Selwyn, we just don't have anyone else to play here. If Hines takes over, you have a void at the Star position and this is where not having Moeller hurts bad. Moeller could be playing Star and Hines could play safety exclusively. I don't think Ohrian Johnson is healthy now and doesn't he back up Coleman? The defense should be able to pin their ears back more now with Navy's triple out of the way, so maybe that will cover us up there now.

didnt russel and Hines rotate between safties and the star. If we put Hines at Saftey and russel as the star i think that could work.

 

[mab]

I posted this on another site, but would like your opinions on this.

Can Torrence move to FS? He has obvious athletic ability and can cover. He seems to have enough football intelligence to be able to handle the move. I understand this opens a hole at the 3rd CB spot, but safety is a hole that needs to be corrected prior to USC if we have any chance. He could go back to CB after USC when the competition level drops (after USC) and we can develop another FS in time for the PSU and Mich games (hopefully).

I am a fan...not a coach or football expert, so I guess I need to know why a CB with Torrence's abilities would not be able to make an easy transition to FS.

Thanks for your help.

 

[OSUbuckeye09]

I posted this on another site, but would like your opinions on this.

Can Torrence move to FS? He has obvious athletic ability and can cover. He seems to have enough football intelligence to be able to handle the move. I understand this opens a hole at the 3rd CB spot, but safety is a hole that needs to be corrected prior to USC if we have any chance. He could go back to CB after USC when the competition level drops (after USC) and we can develop another FS in time for the PSU and Mich games (hopefully).

I am a fan...not a coach or football expert, so I guess I need to know why a CB with Torrence's abilities would not be able to make an easy transition to FS.


Thanks for your help.

doesnt sound too bad dont really know how big torrence is but we doo need a change for this game...

 

[buchtelgrad04]

I posted this on another site, but would like your opinions on this.

Can Torrence move to FS? He has obvious athletic ability and can cover. He seems to have enough football intelligence to be able to handle the move. I understand this opens a hole at the 3rd CB spot, but safety is a hole that needs to be corrected prior to USC if we have any chance. He could go back to CB after USC when the competition level drops (after USC) and we can develop another FS in time for the PSU and Mich games (hopefully).

I am a fan...not a coach or football expert, so I guess I need to know why a CB with Torrence's abilities would not be able to make an easy transition to FS.

Thanks for your help.

Could work, depending on his run stopping ability. Then, that also depends on Travis Howard or CJ Barnett, if they're servicable enough to work a whole game as the 3rd corner.

 

[mab]

Could work, depending on his run stopping ability. Then, that also depends on Travis Howard or CJ Barnett, if they're servicable enough to work a whole game as the 3rd corner.

His tackling seems to be pretty good to me (again, I do not claim to be an expert). The third CB comment is what I was wondering about also. I guess I was thinking that with Hines playing the Star and Amos and Chekwa manning the corners, the 3rd CB would not need to be used that often during the USC game. Little unrealistic thinking that Amos and Chekwa could play the whole game without coming out for a few plays during the game, but we don't have to play the 3rd CB very often since we use the Star position when we are in the Nickel.

Is my thinking flawed in regards to the 3rd CB?

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

I kinda thought that Russell was not ready during the first TD as he was still communicating/looking backwards w/ a teammate and then was caught in awkward position. This seemed to cause him to take a bad angle.

he was trying to "communicate" to the ref that there should have been a false start called on the WR who caught the TD.