"Good player, everybody knows I’m athletic," Johnson said. "I haven’t been showing it the last three games. I’ll even say it. I’m not playing bad, but it’s just, ‘Where’s DJ?’
"I told Gun, ‘Let me just go.’ "
over 3 years ago
Joel Thorman
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Have they been holding him back?
Istill do not understand why a conservative offense, but to hold a guy back defensively, just trying to avoid the big play?
You can't think and play at the same time
Gunther was on the LBs case hard in preseason. Then early losses were blamed on poor gap control. As if our LBs were icons in an electronic game of Madden. “Your responsibility is between this blade of grass and this blade of grass!” I can hear Gun screaming in the classroom.
There comes a time when players — our LBs in particular — have to just trust their instincts and make plays. Perhaps we flew over than hump yesterday. D Williams looked excellent. And except for a fluke hand injury from the preseason, probably would have had an interception. Williams and Johnson can play, I think. Make Donnie Edwards the LB coach for the rest of the season and let Gun go back to being an agressive defensive coordinator. And let DJ do his thing! He’s pretty good at it.
The problem is
Guys like DJ were so talented in college and so far superior athletically to the guys around them they didn’t really have to learn the technique and scheme to the level a less talented guy does. That has really hurt him in the NFL where he isn’t head and shoulders bigger, stronger, faster than everyone around him.
They don’t need to cut them loose, they need to get the scheme and technique inculcated so deeply in his head that it become second nature to him. That’s what they’re doing. Just like everything else, they are trading off short term stuff for improving the players long term.
What we saw yesterday was DJ minding his responsibilities AND playing without thinking. That is the ultimate goal.
Good point
Regarding the maverick mentality coming out of college. Don’t know if that was true with DJ, but I’m picking up what you’re laying down. So do you think this was a start-from-scratch year for DJ, as well as the other linebackers from the start of OTAs? I agree with your point that both discipline to the scheme and playing without thinking. Is it possible that Gun knows more about the NFL LB position than me? ha!
So do you get the feeling that there was still too much freelancing going on all last year? Seems like Gun would have gotten that straightened out a long time ago. Even as “just” DC. Williams is new this year at LB and Thomas, I guess, but that group has more D experience than anyone.
I don't think its a maverick mentality
The thing about college is you have future NFL Hall of Famers playing next to and against guys that are going to be accountants and lawyers.
DJ is a guy that has talent and athleticism oozing from his pores. Its not that he didn’t WANT to learn the technique and stuff. Its that he was so far superior to his opposition in college that he just didnt need to learn it. I see Barry Richardson being similar. He is so enormous and strong that he never really had to bother to learn the technique of it.
But the opposition in the NFL is much different. Everybody in the NFL was their teams best player in college. Its a hard habit for those guys that have just relied on sheer instinct and athleticism to get used to having to learn the technique they MUST have to play in the NFL. Thats why we used to see DJ overpursue every play. He was playing by instinct instead of discipline.
I don’t think DJ is starting over from scratch. He’s been learning and improving every year. It just takes time. When you’re in a game its easy for your instincts to take control. That’s why you see safeties biting hard on play action, even when they know its coming. Its hard to break instinct and it takes time to do.
Its all part of the learning process. We just need to keep working with these guys so that their instinct is to do what they are coached to do without thinking about it. Thats when you start seeing really big plays and fewer really bad ones.
I absolutely loved
what I saw from the defense yesterday. It was pretty amazing how well they played and caused turnovers. I loved seeing everyone going after the ball on almost every play. They were in total turnover mode yesterday, and we need alot more of that from our players.
They gave up alot of yards still, but when you’re taking away the ball, you can do that. :)
have you seen my baseball?
If you give up 600 yards
but they are all between the twenties, you still have a chance to win the game…our D buckled down when it mattered and held the Donkey’s to 4 FG’s…remember before the game? Herm said – They’re getting about 10 possessions a game, and scoring on 5 of them. They’re averaging about 3 TD’s and 2 FG’s a game. They scored on 5 possessions, just like their average, but we made them kick FG’s.
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