All The Injury Talk

A lot of chatter and excuses about injuries on defense. Poor tackling from the second and third string guys.

I contend that the reason we are injured in the first place is poor tackling. Our starters lead with their shoulders most times. If they tackled with proper technique, they probably avoid most, if not all, of these injuries.

So, please, spare us all the woe is us Texas is injured BS. They do it to themselves.

Why aren't other teams who tout how physical they are so injured?

 

Not trying to start a war, but name another team with as many defensive starters out, I’ve never seen so many injuries in a season.
KU listed 1 LB as questionable before the game.
Not making excuses, nor am I trying to argue- simply stating that one can’t overlook the injury bug that has hit UT this year.
Anyone disagree that a healthy Sterns, Cook, Johnson, McCullough, Brandon Jones, Thompson would make a difference?
Do other teams have injuries? Yes, but not as many key contributors as Texas has. This the chatter.

 

You aren't refuting my point that the reason Texas has so many injuries is the poor technique used on tackling that causes the injuries.

 

Ok, so they did it to themselves, but doesn't change the fact they're injured and not playing. Now other guys who aren't as talented are playing because we're not deep enough in talent which will make it easier to replace injured players in the future. Good point on tackling technique but have to realize regardless of reason, still injured, still not playing, replacements not injured but less talented equals missed tackles out of position etc. If recruiting continues at this pace, we won't have this point to complain about (as much anyway).

 

Let me try again.

If the starters are so good, why is their technique so poor as to make them prone to injury? Are they that good? So, they are good for a game or two until their poor technique leads to inevitable injury?

Is it coaching? Most agree, buy college, tackling fundamentals should be ingrained and you practice to to reinforce the fundamentals, not teach them at the college level.

Do college students in general have to be taught fundamentals in their classes?

 

Seems like every year we're "one more great recruiting class" away from winning the National Championship. It's such an Aggie excuse. Coach the current players up! There is not one player on Kansas that would receive a scholarship offer from UT. Coaching matters. We have good players, we need great coaches.

 

Maybe its the fact that our DBs are having to tackle SOOOOO MUCH, because our front seven sucks !!!!! Poor technique is a problem, but that coupled with having to deliver a blow over and over will take its toll on the joints etc....Do you see our DL doing anything but occuping an OL EVER ? I don't. Big jug butts taking up space who can't even tackle in a phone booth. Either these guys are bad, scheme is bad, or coaching is bad.....Herman nees to fix the recruiting for the DL position, fix the scheme, or fix the coaching. Its been three years of recruiting and a good DL can make waves as a Freshman if he is worth a ****. Its pretty simple...Line up, get off the ball low, rip , swim, spin, keep gap integrity and stay in pass rush lane ( should know that from HS ), get to the football angry. We do NONE of that 95% of the time.

 

And if you have this many injuries play more cover 2 and quit leaving your inexperienced corners on an island with all out blitzes every 3rd and long that never get there anyway. How about being smart with what you have. There's a thought.

 

Do we really have good players ? ...at least are they really better than our opponents? Do they have that mean streak that makes players really good ? Some of our secondary guys...maybe, but our OL and DL are doughboys compared to Bama, OU, tOSU, and many many more teams' players...At least that is how they play.

 

Sterns, Thompson and Tillman really do need to stop tackling with their lower legs. It is poor technique.

But look, lots of teams play through key injuries. The all out blitzes last night were laughable at the end. We never got to Stanley once and we showed him our coverage pre-snap. How about some confusion? How about some schemes that take account for the fact that you are playing short handed?

 

Then why are they receiving offers from UT? I cannot believe that good/great high school players magically forget how to play football once that arrive in Austin. The coaches dictate the atmosphere of the program, and intensity of the practices. Maybe UT is a "country club", but it's not the players' fault.

 

I will admit that, like most of us, I’m not an expect on the subject and I base my comments on personal observation (of 60 years), what the coaches themselves have said about the players, and what I have read.

Assuming that we on HF generally agree that the injuries on defense have been pretty much isolated to the back end, let’s assess the talent:

Corners:

TH made it clear before the first game that because there hadn’t been much separation, many players were expected to see the field. In fact, early, he wouldn’t even name the starters until very late in the week. So let’s look at the players.

Green was getting torched early but I will concede that when he was injured, he was becoming a tackling force. But I’m not talking about his coverage skills. So was his loss devastating? I’m not sure. I’m fact, I tend to believe that our best two corners may be Cook and Jamison, the two current starters.

Safeties/Nickel - The best player back there has been Jones. Old reliable. And until late yesterday, Jones has played almost every snap.

Second best? I’d go with Foster who, while dinged, has been playing. He can be a force but his tackling has regressed.

Sterns is a great talent but the drop off from the first half of last season to this was substantial to these eyes. I’m not sure what happened, but something was different.

Chris Brown was playing well prior to his injury and his unavailability has been a factor. But we are not devoid of talent behind him. For example, Overshown seemed to step up yesterday and he will only get better. He’s long and fast.

My point is that while there have been plenty of injuries, given what the head coach himself said about the players prior to the season, i.e. not much separation, it’s hard for me to use those injuries as the basis to explain our terrible D performance. Now, admittedly, we are very thin. But the players we have been putting in the field are not without considerable talent.

So what’s the issue? To me it’s obvious.

 

I’ll throw in my two pesos (about what it’s worth, depending on the exchange rate) to add to your take on the DBs:

I think BJ Foster is still injured in his shoulder/upper body and this is significantly affecting his tackling. His last two games were bad. As much as I like him, I’d prefer he sit until fully healed up. Also, with BJF, it’s fun to watch his vicious hits, but it’s no fun if he misses the tackle just to try to lay down the wood.

Jamison—he’s developing into a pretty good CB. He’s still young though. I’m very glad he switched to D in the off season.

Boyce—he played pretty poorly last year as a Freshman (to be expected) and slightly better early this year. He is developing and getting better. He has the raw physical talents to be very good. The last few games his play has risen up almost to the average level. He’s still a sophomore, and will continue to get better. Boyce was not a recruiting error. I’m glad he’s on the team.

Overshown is the emerging stud.

Overall, our DBs are not up to par yet. This is amplified by an anemic pass rush.

Side note—I think our starting 3 front DLs would be more effective if they were each 15 lbs lighter. (25 lbs for Coburn).

 

Our defensive problems:

roughly:

25% talent
75% scheme and in-game coaching issues.

 

this may be true. i get your point.

but that doesn't take away from the impact of having half of your defense being backups. those are two different arguments. neither validates the other whatsoever.

 

I think the fact that our starters may have such poor technique that increases the chance of injury points to a recruiting, coaching, you name it problem.

 

let's say 5 guys get into a fight and injure each other. obviously someone is to blame. so to that, i say, that if you're right, you can blame the coaches for the injuries and, therefore, the performance on the field.

but i would still be able to say that...we couldn't play to our best with half of the starters out and so many backups playing. that's true no matter who is to blame for it.

 

What I am saying is that it is a huge problem that the best guys, who are out due to injury, are not able to tackle properly when they get to college.

That is a recruiting problem, isn't it? Why are they recruited? I think I saw elsewhere it is because of their speed. Speed doesn't tackle, technique tackles.

 

if our guys get injured twice as much as other teams every year, i'd bet it would affect recruiting.

 

Pooka Williams would start on any Big XII team and probably just about any team in country. I get the overall point but the hyperbole is unnecessary.

 

To my point on defensive recruiting being an issue, since he is really good, @KBBAKER isn't wrong that Pooka would not get a scholarship offer from Texas.

 

HiC, speed is a quality that cannot be taught. Two equal guys - you take the faster one.

I am in the something is wrong in the S & C area camp. Muscle mass out of whack with the skeletal ecosystem. Sprinters who hit the weights to build upper body strength believing that lung and respiratory improvements will also develop slow down; not speed-up. Also, bulking up thighs and calves will also slow one down.

The backs, receivers and DB's need to spend time with the Track Team's sprinting staff and less time with the Football S&C staff.

 

@ViperHorn I'm not knocking speed by any means. I am knocking guys, fast or slow, who cannot tackle worth a damn.

It's been pointed in previous weeks that guys seem to just be trying to make a "big hit" to get on Sportscenter. If they make the tackle, great, but they don't seem to make that priority #1.

 

Our DLs and LBs are SLOW....We take terrible angles...Our tackling form is horrible....We do not play good containment technique and edge integrity. All that combined makes for a bad defense. Injuries to the back end is not helping things.

 

My theory is injuries are killing us - two fold: the obvious being starters out or playing hurt, and second the mentality of with so many hurt might I be next. There are numerous whiffed tackles that mimic BJ’s now timid ply. No way he’s not still hurt. His style now is completely out of character. The killing instinct is missing. This, the lack of aggression, is the cause of most of the big runs. At least that is what I see.
Now the receivers running free? That’s an entirely different problem I just cannot figure but I will say no pressure on the QB is a prime cause and effect.

 

There DE (#5 if memory serves) would start on this team in a second. He was way better than Roach or Graham.

 

Our biggest problem is we don't have a bunch of junkyard dogs. Back in 2005 we had a bunch of gangsta style guys. Even VY said it when preparing for USC. Something like ," They don't know how gangsta we are." Great football is played by mean men, not nice school boys. ( Babino, Crowder, Killebrew,Miller, Okam, Orakpo, Wright...just to name a few. That could be one of our biggest problems. We have too many 'good' kids on the team... I don't advocate recruting thugs, but if you don't have enough mean junkyard dogs on a team, you aren't winning football games to the point of championships.

 

Understand what your saying Maj but often some of the meanest ‘hogs’ are the nicest guys off the field, or so I’ve heard. Not so sure about dbacks, I think they have to be quite cocky in their roles.
We are in a definite needy situation right now.

 

I think it’s pretty common for even the top programs to spend some time in Spring training and Fall camp on the fundamentals, including tackling. Also, the position coaches and grad assts work with individuals on fundamentals and technique.

Sometimes you recruit the unpolished, poorly coached great raw athlete and develop his fundamentals and technique. I can almost guarantee you that J Shepard didn’t show up on campus with good fundamentals learned in HS. TFK’s workouts probably helped him quite a bit, but he’s a rather raw project, taken due to his freakish big-man athletic potential. I’m glad he’s onboard. Of course such ‘projects’ must redshirt.

 

USC has a number of defensive starters down but they still toasted ASU.