Where the Problems might lie: DE Edition

Every year I like to think about problem areas we are not focusing on and try to predict where potential breakdowns might exist on the team. Last year I think the area we were weakest at but no one was talking about was the Safety position, which culminated with our spanking by WV.

So where could it be this year? We know that the offensive line will be a question mark especially depth along the offensive line. So that isn't very interesting. Timothy Gifford seems to be stepping up potentially in the RT spot and as I predicted Thomas has moved to LT because you can't start two freshman tackles and not be really worried. Right now we need Kalon Davis and a tackle to step up but we really lack any proven quality depth. Remember last year we had two back-ups in Cloy and Smith who had played a lot of quality snaps in their careers. Can Norton step up? He has been less than stellar as a back-up center so far. Will guys get into shape?

What are we overlooking? I was going to write this last week but Coach Venables beat me to the punch (which is really encouraging because I think he has made some great personnel and coaching decisions already), by saying that the DE's need to improve. Last year we were not playing at the same level as in the past with the departure of Bowers to the NFL. Branch did a great job and was at times dominant but was not as strong against the run. Goodman was not very good. He didn't set the edge with any authority and had virtually no pass rush. A Batson victim, he has gotten to big and lost some of his speed and agility while at Clemson. As a Sophomore he was one of the first flying down the field making tackles on special teams. Now as the only returning starter he has a lot to prove.

Corey Crawford is going to start on his other side. In a back-up role Crawford did fine last year, especially as a true freshman but he needs to take the proverbial next step and has yet to show he is an every down kind of player. Our back-ups haven't really played yet. Very little competition to push the top guys. Vic Beasley is an athletic specimen who was on the offensive side of the ball his red-shirt year and was on the DE depth chart last year. He still has to learn to play the position. The reports say he is fine athletically and is developing technique but needs to get the defensive mentality. This is understandable since he never grew up playing the position. Byers and Dodd are are a red-shirt frosh and a true freshman. They need time to develop into back-ups.

What is the theme here? Lack of depth and susceptibility to injury. DE recruiting (and DLine) needs to be a serious priority in this cycle. It should have been more of a priority last cycle. I think we are looking good with TE's and WR's...We are bringing in Shaq Lawson and Martin Aiken this year who will be fine players but will need a year or two. We will probably end up burning one of their redshirts to provide depth. We need a top flight 4* recruit badly. Its the first time in probably 8 years we will not have a borderline 4/5 star DE on campus. Sapp, Bowers, and Goodman were all in this area with Merling, Branch, Gaines Adams, and others being low rated recruits who got drafted in the 1st/2nd rounds.

Other potential pitfall areas we aren't thinking about:

• Punter: Benton has positive reviews so far with Pinion a quality recruit to back-up
• Safety: Can Hall recover from the injury to return to at least his Soph year productivity, will Meeks learn how to take better angles. Do we have any depth after wasting Robert Smith's redshirt?
• CB: How much does the departure of Sensabaugh hurt our secondary. He was an every down player. Breeland was decent last year but Robinson took a step back. Blanks training at the Nickel is a big positive because Brewer statistically last year was picked on and below average. The Football Scientist uses Yards Per Attempt as a metric and according to YPA Brewer gave up 10.3 YPA which is horrid. Jenkins improved last year but it will be interesting to see how the types of players Venables uses in his scheme. More SAM backer with Lateek or a smaller Nickel back like Jenkins.

 A quick note on Venables: I love the move of Hawkins to WILL! Seems like Steele was worried about playing favorites or guys transferring because this should have been done long ago. Hawkins was never suited to play MLB and hopefully will benefit from the change. Anthony will be the most important player on defense this year. As he goes I think our defense goes. Not having a stellar line will put more pressure on our LB play. I love hearing Lateek Townsend's name being put in the mix. He is the kind of athlete that needs to see the field and it is positive to hear Justin Parker's career could still have some legs.

I like Venables decision to stick Blanks in the Nickel spot. If he can lock that spot down and perform well he gives us the flexibility to adjust to any offensive scheme. It is encouraging to hear the interior DLine coming along but I am always worried that it is more about our poor OLine play than DLine talent. Gotta love spring ball!

Clemson's Light Shines

Man...

How many of us when the score was 17-35 didn't believe...

I am physically tired, physically drained. In retrospect it was a thrilling game that I strangely enjoyed but only in retrospect. What a rollercoaster. So I have to ask the question, what have we learned??

The Defense still can't handle a running QB or the zone read. This reminded me of 2009 against Maryland where we couldn't stop the slowest QB I have ever seen run the zone read. I am sure Edsall saw the film and that's why they went with Wilson. It is partly scheme but more a result of poor Linebacker play (MLB specifically) and poor containment. We have to get this figured out for GT and South Carolina and Conner Shaw. We play better against more pro-style QB's I think. Maryland just steam rolled the D with tempo which is what let us back into the game. Ultimately we gassed them in the fourth though.

We learned that Watkins is human with the punt muff and then we learned we were tricked and that he was just disguising his superhero status. Watkins won us the game today. We finally got the return game going. I would like to see Bellamy back there on kickoffs. I don't think Brown has the speed.

Boyd showed great poise again. He seems to have one hair pulling stupid moment a game. The pass to Werner, last week it was another throw of the ball when he was sacked, and this week it was a pick 6 right to the DB Chism, I believe. Boyd threw two passes that should have been intercepted in the beginning along with throwing high and looking horrible. He settled and put together a great game. Made some pretty throws at the end.

We are really missing Benton. Lots of short kicks and our coverage teams need some serious work. Lateek is one of the only bright spots--this is both kick and punt coverage. Way too many returns to the 30-40 yard line. Got to get that fixed.

We had been 2-3 against Maryland in the last 5 games. I am thrilled to walk away with the win. Lets hope this builds confidence and keeps any thoughts of overconfidence at bay. Lets hope we can keep our legs for North Carolina but we need to do better tackling.

More thoughts later...I'm off to bed. Sleeping the sleep of victor's! Go Tigers!

Lateek Townsend=Awesome

Now that we have a solid LB, I have personally deemed this class a success. I am glad Dabo got his man Morris and Hobby is certainly a great coach. But I still give Dabo one year to right the ship. Anyway, welcome to the Clemson family Lateek. Glad you said what you wanted, give the kid his thirty seconds...