Regarding this thread and interview with Darien Harris:
http://michiganstate.forums.rivals.com/threads/recent-interview-w-darien-harris.27069/#post-268584
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I'll be interested to see what Darien Harris looks like this year. He might not be quite the player you remember. I'm expecting him to be improved, possibly vastly improved.
He's lost some weight. He says he feels faster. He planned to lose a little more in time for August camp. (He played at a bigger weight last year because it was unclear whether he would be needed at MLB or star LB. More size is needed for MLB. Now that he is purely at 'star' LB, he has shed weight).
Going through the Green-White Game film, I saw a couple of plays in which Darien Harris did indeed look faster than last year:
* On a Monty Madaris 4-yard reception on a hitch vs cover-three zone, Harris charged at it from inside-out. Harris looked good, with improved speed, chasing toward the ball on that play. Harris got in on the tackle, but actually hit teammate CB Darian Hicks more than Madaris. That's a friendly-fire collision, which happens at times with guys flying correctly to the ball.
Additional notes on the first play to Madaris:
+ Good take-off, stop, and comeback by Madaris on that play.
- Vayante Copeland was corrected by Harlon Barnett for doing something incorrectly on that play. I’m not sure what it was, and didn’t have a chance to ask about it the following week because there were not follow-up interviews.
* Dantonio said he allowed coaches to call anything they wished, as long as they didn’t show any concepts they hadn’t shown in the past. But if you looked closely, there WERE some new concepts on defense. Nothing innovative. Just changes in tendency that I think could, and should, carry over to 2015. And we saw a sample on this particular play.
MSU played cover-three zone on this play. That’s not a big deal. I would estimate that MSU played cover-three about 25 percent of the time last year (like every single time MSU blitzed).
It became a little too predictable. If a QB saw a blitz, he could be fairly certain that MSU would be in cover-three, with a safety playing centerfield and two CBs bailing vertically down the sideline. That ends up being 3 deep, 5 rushing and usually three, or fewer, at the linebacker level. (If six are rushing, then MSU is left with two at the LB level).
I didn’t detect one play all year in which MSU played cover-three and DIDN’T blitz. But on this play to Madaris, MSU played true, basic cover-three WITHOUT blitzing. That left MSU with four at the LB level rather than three. It’s just a change-up. Nothing ground-shaking. But it was different, and I think you’ll see this woven into the coverages a little bit this year.
What are its positives and negatives? Well, first of all the negative is that this coverage doesn’t bolster the pass rush. There isn’t a blitzer. It’s a four-man rush. Thus the QB will have time to read a bailing zone coverage. It’s not something you want to play every single down.
The positive is if a QB ASSUMES he’s seeing a cover-three blitz, and hurries a hot read pass to an area he assumed would be left open due to MSU playing only five or six players beyond the line of scrimmage. When MSU actually has a seventh, there’s a chance for a foul-up or a big hit.
The weakness in cover-three is the seam, especially the vertical seam - if the QB has time to get it there. MSU gave up a deep TD on a vertical seam route as part of a cover-three blitz vs Oregon (when MSU tipped off the blitz prior to the snap and Tai Jones didn’t opt to check out of it, something I mentioned in a post a day or so ago in relation to Max Bullough). Oregon saw a blitz coming; the WR adjusted his route, sprinted to the area and the QB made a one-read chuck to the seam, and it was out the gate before MSU could move.
Oregon also scored on a deep route vs cover-three seam in the National Championship against Ohio State, a team that unabashedly adopted MSU’s defense for 2014.
The seam is a weakness. You need to get home with your pressure before they can throw to the seam. In the meantime, the defense needs to protect that seam by getting a re-route at the LB level from a linebacker on a WR as he releases off the line. MSU didn’t get that reroute on that play vs Oregon. With three and sometimes only two players at the LB level, it’s sometimes hard for a defender to get that chuck reroute on a WR as he is breaking into his route. It needs to be firm, but subtle. It’s easier to get that reroute when you have FOUR at the LB level instead of two or three. So that’s the advantage of mixing in a true 4-4-3 cover-three on a given snap rather than ALWAYS having fewer than four defenders underneath.
**
Secondly, Harris showed some of that speed in helping chase down Madre London during his 50-yard run. On the negative side, Harris kind of played that play a little stiff at the outset.
On that play, the offense went with three TEs and two backs. Brandon Clemons pulled on a power. Darian Hicks got pin-balled around and ended up with his back turned to the ball. Not a good rep for Hicks.
Demetrious Cooper was the play-side DE and he got combo blocked by Josiah Price and Shilique Calhoun (Calhoun was playing TE on this snap). Cooper got swept inside by Price while battling with Calhoun.
Mark Meyers came forward aggressively from his safety position but seemed to lose sight of the ball carrier in the herd. Meyers turned and helped chase it down from behind. Among the players chasing him, I’d say Meyers’ speed was the most impressive, but Harris demonstrated his improved speed on this play as well.
But none of them would have caught Jeremy Langford if this had been Langford. London hit the hole pretty hard at the outset of this play, which was a good mark for him because there were too many other plays in this game when he did NOT hit the hole hard and did too much dancing.
On this play, London kind of stumbled or ran out of gas or something at about the 30-yard mark and ended up getting walked by Meyers, Harris and Montae Nicholson.
Overall, there were more negatives than positives on this play for MSU. Cooper didn’t play the double-team well, Hicks lost sight of the ball, Harris played it kind of stiff and then London didn’t have the juice to take it to the house.
http://michiganstate.forums.rivals.com/threads/recent-interview-w-darien-harris.27069/#post-268584
***
I'll be interested to see what Darien Harris looks like this year. He might not be quite the player you remember. I'm expecting him to be improved, possibly vastly improved.
He's lost some weight. He says he feels faster. He planned to lose a little more in time for August camp. (He played at a bigger weight last year because it was unclear whether he would be needed at MLB or star LB. More size is needed for MLB. Now that he is purely at 'star' LB, he has shed weight).
Going through the Green-White Game film, I saw a couple of plays in which Darien Harris did indeed look faster than last year:
* On a Monty Madaris 4-yard reception on a hitch vs cover-three zone, Harris charged at it from inside-out. Harris looked good, with improved speed, chasing toward the ball on that play. Harris got in on the tackle, but actually hit teammate CB Darian Hicks more than Madaris. That's a friendly-fire collision, which happens at times with guys flying correctly to the ball.
Additional notes on the first play to Madaris:
+ Good take-off, stop, and comeback by Madaris on that play.
- Vayante Copeland was corrected by Harlon Barnett for doing something incorrectly on that play. I’m not sure what it was, and didn’t have a chance to ask about it the following week because there were not follow-up interviews.
* Dantonio said he allowed coaches to call anything they wished, as long as they didn’t show any concepts they hadn’t shown in the past. But if you looked closely, there WERE some new concepts on defense. Nothing innovative. Just changes in tendency that I think could, and should, carry over to 2015. And we saw a sample on this particular play.
MSU played cover-three zone on this play. That’s not a big deal. I would estimate that MSU played cover-three about 25 percent of the time last year (like every single time MSU blitzed).
It became a little too predictable. If a QB saw a blitz, he could be fairly certain that MSU would be in cover-three, with a safety playing centerfield and two CBs bailing vertically down the sideline. That ends up being 3 deep, 5 rushing and usually three, or fewer, at the linebacker level. (If six are rushing, then MSU is left with two at the LB level).
I didn’t detect one play all year in which MSU played cover-three and DIDN’T blitz. But on this play to Madaris, MSU played true, basic cover-three WITHOUT blitzing. That left MSU with four at the LB level rather than three. It’s just a change-up. Nothing ground-shaking. But it was different, and I think you’ll see this woven into the coverages a little bit this year.
What are its positives and negatives? Well, first of all the negative is that this coverage doesn’t bolster the pass rush. There isn’t a blitzer. It’s a four-man rush. Thus the QB will have time to read a bailing zone coverage. It’s not something you want to play every single down.
The positive is if a QB ASSUMES he’s seeing a cover-three blitz, and hurries a hot read pass to an area he assumed would be left open due to MSU playing only five or six players beyond the line of scrimmage. When MSU actually has a seventh, there’s a chance for a foul-up or a big hit.
The weakness in cover-three is the seam, especially the vertical seam - if the QB has time to get it there. MSU gave up a deep TD on a vertical seam route as part of a cover-three blitz vs Oregon (when MSU tipped off the blitz prior to the snap and Tai Jones didn’t opt to check out of it, something I mentioned in a post a day or so ago in relation to Max Bullough). Oregon saw a blitz coming; the WR adjusted his route, sprinted to the area and the QB made a one-read chuck to the seam, and it was out the gate before MSU could move.
Oregon also scored on a deep route vs cover-three seam in the National Championship against Ohio State, a team that unabashedly adopted MSU’s defense for 2014.
The seam is a weakness. You need to get home with your pressure before they can throw to the seam. In the meantime, the defense needs to protect that seam by getting a re-route at the LB level from a linebacker on a WR as he releases off the line. MSU didn’t get that reroute on that play vs Oregon. With three and sometimes only two players at the LB level, it’s sometimes hard for a defender to get that chuck reroute on a WR as he is breaking into his route. It needs to be firm, but subtle. It’s easier to get that reroute when you have FOUR at the LB level instead of two or three. So that’s the advantage of mixing in a true 4-4-3 cover-three on a given snap rather than ALWAYS having fewer than four defenders underneath.
**
Secondly, Harris showed some of that speed in helping chase down Madre London during his 50-yard run. On the negative side, Harris kind of played that play a little stiff at the outset.
On that play, the offense went with three TEs and two backs. Brandon Clemons pulled on a power. Darian Hicks got pin-balled around and ended up with his back turned to the ball. Not a good rep for Hicks.
Demetrious Cooper was the play-side DE and he got combo blocked by Josiah Price and Shilique Calhoun (Calhoun was playing TE on this snap). Cooper got swept inside by Price while battling with Calhoun.
Mark Meyers came forward aggressively from his safety position but seemed to lose sight of the ball carrier in the herd. Meyers turned and helped chase it down from behind. Among the players chasing him, I’d say Meyers’ speed was the most impressive, but Harris demonstrated his improved speed on this play as well.
But none of them would have caught Jeremy Langford if this had been Langford. London hit the hole pretty hard at the outset of this play, which was a good mark for him because there were too many other plays in this game when he did NOT hit the hole hard and did too much dancing.
On this play, London kind of stumbled or ran out of gas or something at about the 30-yard mark and ended up getting walked by Meyers, Harris and Montae Nicholson.
Overall, there were more negatives than positives on this play for MSU. Cooper didn’t play the double-team well, Hicks lost sight of the ball, Harris played it kind of stiff and then London didn’t have the juice to take it to the house.
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