Bernstine or Sleeper

Hawkcrush

Well-Known Member
I watched the competition between both of these guys and I thought Bernstine won it out right. This guy was blowing up plays in the backfield and running through rbs on a few blitzes. I kinda thought a guy who had been through so many injuries would be more tenative, but maybe thats why he is always injured, kinda like the hitman was. Also looked great on KR. Sleeper will probably be good but I think Jordan gets the start from now on.
 


I watched the competition between both of these guys and I thought Bernstine won it out right. This guy was blowing up plays in the backfield and running through rbs on a few blitzes. I kinda thought a guy who had been through so many injuries would be more tenative, but maybe thats why he is always injured, kinda like the hitman was. Also looked great on KR. Sleeper will probably be good but I think Jordan gets the start from now on.

The thing we don't know is how Jordan is in coverage. There was a reason Greenwood, Considine and Pagel all got opportunities and held on to the starting position over "perceived," more athletic players. I loved Bernstine's pursuit and tackling ability but until we see him in coverage I will hold judgement and trust the coaches. Although, Coach Ferentz has raved about him constantly and that is a great sign.
 


I watched the competition between both of these guys and I thought Bernstine won it out right. This guy was blowing up plays in the backfield and running through rbs on a few blitzes. I kinda thought a guy who had been through so many injuries would be more tenative, but maybe thats why he is always injured, kinda like the hitman was. Also looked great on KR. Sleeper will probably be good but I think Jordan gets the start from now on.

What ever happen to Swanson? Never here anything about him.
 




I still wonder how good Bernstein good have been had he not had that horrible ankle injury.
 




The thing we don't know is how Jordan is in coverage. There was a reason Greenwood, Considine and Pagel all got opportunities and held on to the starting position over "perceived," more athletic players. I loved Bernstine's pursuit and tackling ability but until we see him in coverage I will hold judgement and trust the coaches. Although, Coach Ferentz has raved about him constantly and that is a great sign.

I might have this wrong, but Micah is the FS and Sleeper is the SS....It is the FS responsibility to have everyone lined up correctly, the captain of secondary. Regardless, they are playing two deep zones with help over the top it is more about an area than a man.


JB has bounced back and forth from CB and safety his whole career.....he was the starter at CB in '08 before he got hurt. He is perfectly suited to be a SS. I think your assessment is a little unfair.
 


I will go with Jordan right now. Castillo also played really well.

Back 4 are pretty salty.

Agreed. I'm excited to see what Castillo does against some stiffer competition. He looked very good yesterday. People only seem to want to remember how he played against UNI in 2009 (as a FRESHMAN). Willie Lowe had a similar story (didn't play well against ASU in 2009), but by the end of 2009, I felt comfortable having Lowe on the field.

Castillo seems to really have grown, and his teammates have been pretty high on him, too. I believe it was Davis that said Castillo's hip swivel is so good that he can just glue himself to his man. If that's the kind of play he can deliver against guys like Junior Hemingway, then I think we are going to have a lock-down secondary, maybe even as good as 2008/2009.
 


Agreed. I'm excited to see what Castillo does against some stiffer competition. He looked very good yesterday. People only seem to want to remember how he played against UNI in 2009 (as a FRESHMAN). Willie Lowe had a similar story (didn't play well against ASU in 2009), but by the end of 2009, I felt comfortable having Lowe on the field.

Castillo seems to really have grown, and his teammates have been pretty high on him, too. I believe it was Davis that said Castillo's hip swivel is so good that he can just glue himself to his man. If that's the kind of play he can deliver against guys like Junior Hemingway, then I think we are going to have a lock-down secondary, maybe even as good as 2008/2009.

I agree, I think the Shada comparisons are a little unfair.
 


I might have this wrong, but Micah is the FS and Sleeper is the SS....It is the FS responsibility to have everyone lined up correctly, the captain of secondary. Regardless, they are playing two deep zones with help over the top it is more about an area than a man.


JB has bounced back and forth from CB and safety his whole career.....he was the starter at CB in '08 before he got hurt. He is perfectly suited to be a SS. I think your assessment is a little unfair.

Yes, you are correct but my concern was if Bernstine was susceptible to play-action. I have no idea whether there is any validity to that at all however I just wonder why Sleeper would be ahead of him on the depth chart. I just used past safeties (regardless if FS or SS) as an example that higher recruited players can be passed by walk-ons.
 


Yes, you are correct but my concern was if Bernstine was susceptible to play-action. I have no idea whether there is any validity to that at all however I just wonder why Sleeper would be ahead of him on the depth chart. I just used past safeties (regardless if FS or SS) as an example that higher recruited players can be passed by walk-ons.

Questioning where he is at on the depth chart is fair especially given his time in the program.
 


I think Bernstine is our starting SS by the beginning of conference play if not sooner. It would have been nice if he could have stayed back at safety his entire career and not gotten hurt. Could have been a special player. I think a lot of the Castillo hating also has to do with the love for Lowery, which I am a part of too, because coaches have been high on him and his abilities as well as the fact that he saw some time last year as a TR FR and looked promising. I like a DB field of Bernstine, Hyde, Prater and Castillo with Lowery at NB if he doesn't beat out Castillo by the end of the year.
 






I don't know about everyone else, but #4 reminded me a little of Bob Sanders yesterday. The speed and wreckless abandon that he came to the ball with was pretty impressive and seriously made me think of Sanders.

He has to show he can read the play action, but it's great to have a guy that is willing to hit like that. Turnovers will follow.

That being said, I understand why the coaches like Sleeper too. That dude can run.
 


The thing we don't know is how Jordan is in coverage. There was a reason Greenwood, Considine and Pagel all got opportunities and held on to the starting position over "perceived," more athletic players. I loved Bernstine's pursuit and tackling ability but until we see him in coverage I will hold judgement and trust the coaches. Although, Coach Ferentz has raved about him constantly and that is a great sign.

You know who else wasn't great in coverage and would occasionally bite big time one play action. #33
 


Both guys were good. Depth at safety is a nice thing to have.

If Bernstine keeps on playing like he does ... then he just might end up winning the starting spot.
 


The problem w/ the Shada comparisons to Castillo is that they weren't necessarily inaccurate. When Castillo got minutes as a RS frosh, he looked comparable Shada. What wasn't fair is waiting to see if he'd improved the past 2 seasons to no longer warrant those comparisons. I think he looked better Sat. than he ever has (which he should), but sometimes it's tough to gauge how good players are when playing in tough conditions and not overly skilled opponents. I think the Pitt game may be the first chance to really get a good idea of Castillo's skill set, as they'll likely be the best passing team IA faces the first 4-5 weeks. All that said, sometimes the best CB's are the ones you never notice - teams are leery of throwing their way b/c they're great in coverage, and you don't notice them getting beat. And this team isn't lacking talented players in the defensive backfield. Considerable experience? Yes. Talent? No. And a lot of that talent should be back next year.
 


The problem w/ the Shada comparisons to Castillo is that they weren't necessarily inaccurate. When Castillo got minutes as a RS frosh, he looked comparable Shada. What wasn't fair is waiting to see if he'd improved the past 2 seasons to no longer warrant those comparisons. I think he looked better Sat. than he ever has (which he should), but sometimes it's tough to gauge how good players are when playing in tough conditions and not overly skilled opponents. I think the Pitt game may be the first chance to really get a good idea of Castillo's skill set, as they'll likely be the best passing team IA faces the first 4-5 weeks. All that said, sometimes the best CB's are the ones you never notice - teams are leery of throwing their way b/c they're great in coverage, and you don't notice them getting beat. And this team isn't lacking talented players in the defensive backfield. Considerable experience? Yes. Talent? No. And a lot of that talent should be back next year.

Agreed on all counts. I think Castillo is going to surprise people. He'll get picked on, but that'll have a lot to do with the fact that not many people are going to go after Prater too often.
 


Sleeper blew his coverage in a major way at least twice on Saturday. On one play it should have been a TD for sure. Any decent QB would have hit the wide open receiver and scored, we were lucky. The coaches won't put up with that. That is just as bad as a fumble.
Bernstine deserves a shot.
 




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