Forget QB Talk....LB play should be focus

[DMAC]

I get it with Boo's injury and the possibility  of Sam starting a lot of QB talk going on.  QB was hardly the reason for our inept start.  Sure it would great if the QB was another VY to overcome some of the deficiencies but hes not.

We should be talking why 4 years later why our defense is so bad.  Why are we not able to fit the run with a seasoned and experienced LB core.  Defense is why we continue to lose games. 

Has anyone asked Tom Herman or Orlando why he didnt play Gary Johnson in the middle on Saturday?  

One of you X's and O's guys....Daniel, Harrison, Ryan or anyone else have an explanation as to why our LB's are consistently in the wrong gaps?  

Maryland had a play of at least 25 yards (25, 50, 46, 27, 40, 40).  Most of these are runs.  Fix half of those and we probably win that game.  

Everyone knows im picking on Wheeler here but does anyone truly believe hes trying to hard?  Locke and Jones played terrible to but we all should be concerned with teams defensive ineptude.

 

[NLeininger]

Malik to Wheeler's spot, Johnson to Malik's spot. If Malik continues to struggle go with Freeman. Though I'm not sure Malik really had a bad game. It seemed that the big runs came at the expense of Wheeler choosing the wrong run fit, and the secondary knocking themselves over with their poor angles.

That Johnson kid was electric though. Wish we had a RB like that on our team.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

One of you X's and O's guys....Daniel, Harrison, Ryan or anyone else have an explanation as to why our LB's are consistently in the wrong gaps?  

You need a psychic to find that out.

 

[DMAC]

Every press conference Herman is asked about who the starting QB is or if Sam will see playing time.  This has been the case even before Shane's injury.  I understand the QB is more interesting but no one asks why our highly rated JUNIOR LB's repeatedly fill the wrong gaps, hell if they even fill a gap at all.   Let me put it this way.  I dont care who the QB is if we let the other team score 51 points just how games should we expect to win.  What are we the Texas Tech now?

 

[Adferrum]

Absolute true, QB isn't the biggest of our problems. From what I've been seeing, Malik's game wasn't that bad. Most of the mistakes in the run game came from Wheeler and Locke, plus some bad angles from Jones, but he was also put in unfavorable positions at times because other missed their assignments... I'd like to see Johnson and Thompson on Saturday getting some snaps. And I'd like some other  guys getting reps as well, Bimage was solid on ST but don't know if he's ready yet.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Every press conference Herman is asked about who the starting QB or if Sam will see playing time even before Shane's injury.  I understand the QB is more interesting but no one asks why our highly rated JUNIOR LB's repeatedly fill the wrong gap if they evn fill a gap at all.   Let me put it this way.  I dont care who the QB is if we let the other team score 51 points just how games should we expect to win.  What are we the Texas Tech now?

I am not sold on what I'm about to tell you, but if forced to make a defense out of their play right now, this is what I'll say. . . . 

Even though we've had spring training, fall camp to get prepared for last Saturday's debut, this defense is learning something entirely new compared to what they were doing this time last year or even in December of 2016. The two places where trouble could occur in such a situation would be S and MLB. There is a lot of their shoulders compared to the rest of the defense.

In this defense in particular, the MLB must be a cranial-friendly player, a thinking player. Wheeler may be having trouble adapting or just is slow at it.

Maryland was the Big 10's 4th best rushing team last year. Given who was ahead of them, thats not bad. In fact, thats pretty good. They gashed us with what I'd say is a step better of an offense than they had last year. Their HC is no joke and they are experiencing improvement in year 2.

51 points – at home – is very embarrassing. And I truly don't know if what I just said is the truth or not. Thats my guess and I'll hope it's right. The alternative is – those players just aren't very good.

 

[DMAC]

Malik & Co. – I thought Malik played a solid game. His partner did not. Wheeler found himself confused on multiple occasions and cost his team points. This made me curious why Orlando didn’t sub him for Hager. Even if Hager isn’t performing as well in practice, why not give him a shot. The way the defense was playing, it couldn’t have been any worse.   - Gabriel

http://texas.thefootballbrainiacs.com/2017/09/tfb-game-week-san-jose-state-texas/