I understand he's a true freshman and probably doesn't have a full grasp of his responsibilities on every situation but that dude wreaks havoc when he's in there. I like our d line but I'd like to see AJE play more on 1st and 2nd down, he seems like he's physically gifted enough to hold off blockers and play the run. On passing downs I think he is already our best rusher even when he's not getting a sack he seems to be disrupting things...
AJ Epenesa
- Thread starter AZHawk1
- Start date
MursenarySkum
Well-Known Member
I just keep fantasizing about what he will do his junior year after he's been with Doyle for a few years. It's got me all hot and bothered already...
Joshbrown
Well-Known Member
Rob said he got more snaps in game 2 than game 1. That trajectory needs to stay on course. I don't want to hear the bullshit about needing to be a mensa member who memorizes the playbook.
He's an NFL talent as a freshman. You send the kid on the field and tell him to destroy the QB. He doesn't have to be a starter or get all the snaps . . . but he's an assassin and has a license to kill. LET HIM USE IT!!!
mopkins
King Kong
I think they're being smart by easing him in. Right now they're just putting him in during likely passing situations and sending him after the QB. There's not a lot to think about there, just use your natural athleticism to go get the QB. Plus every time he comes in he's fresh and ready to get after the QB. His opponent is not fresh and AJ is abusing him.
HawkeyeDenis
Well-Known Member
What can we say? We are lucky to get AJ. And we can only imagine what havoc he is going to cause for opposing offenses over the next 4 years. By November he may be in a majority of plays. As a freakin Freshman!
Joshbrown
Well-Known Member
You're the type of simpleton who would squander a team full of talent . . .
I was thinking about the potential future DL depth the other day. What do you think about this?
- DE: Epenesa (2nd year starting, 3rd year getting major reps), A. Nelson (3rd year starting, 4th getting major reps), C. Gholston (RS junior), B. Simon (RS junior), Waggoner? (RS Fr or true Soph?), probably others currently on roster that will emerge
- DT: Lattimore (3rd year starting), Reiff (RS senior), Daviyon Nixon, Noah Shannon, Trevor Lindebaum, others that will emerge
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
theboat
Well-Known Member
That was my exact thought (get out of my head) when I read the OP. I think they are doing him a favor by treating it this way. That said, he seems like an intelligent football player and will probably be out there as much as anyone by later in the season.
tksirius
HN's Love Doctor
Well, he better since he really isn't that good as a pass rusher. I hope he's ok with spelling AJ the 2nd half of this season and next season.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
If that ends up being the deal - I'm fine by it. What a luxury. AJ has all the makings of one of the best to play here but he's obviously NOT better all around yet, or he'd be playing more. Don't give me the union card, Ferentz is playing youth and talent over age and experience all over the field.
^^^Quit making so much sense and noticing things that for some reason other people aren't. There are more freshman/2nd year players playing meaningful roles on this years team than I can remember for Iowa.
We'll see more and more of Epenesa as the season goes on. If I remember right, Matt Roth was kind of brought along slowly as a situational pass rusher before becoming an every down player. And don't discount Hesse's right to be on the field or things that he is capable. Is he a high end pass rusher? No, but that big interception isn't something that was a pure coincidence. He's shown a knack for being disruptive in the passing game when it comes to getting his hands on passes. He made a similar great play against Nebraska in 2015 when he tipped a ball to himself for a score.
Bordone
Well-Known Member
Dude is a middle linebacker playing DE. It's not really about hatin on the kid it's about the reality of the situation.
tksirius
HN's Love Doctor
It's really just a matter of Phil and/or Kirk valuing run stoppage more than pass rush, but we've known that since Kirk's been at Iowa.
SpiderRico
Well-Known Member
I remember Ott, as much of a stud as he was, even early on (one of the few DL recruits that actually played his true freshmen year under KF), being totally schooled by teams during Big Ten play because he would charge inside like a bull in a china shop and teams would just run around him because he didn't understand the concept of gap assignment football and setting the edge. In our scheme, our defense is DEAD if the DE can't set an edge.
AJ is a stud, but he's still a year removed from taking the yellow bus to school (using a Norm-ism). He'll get his reps and once he shows the ability to grasp team/assignment football on the defensive side, those reps'll go up.
AJ is a stud, but he's still a year removed from taking the yellow bus to school (using a Norm-ism). He'll get his reps and once he shows the ability to grasp team/assignment football on the defensive side, those reps'll go up.
SpiderRico
Well-Known Member
I don't think that's entirely fair. Anthony Nelson supplanted Matt Nelson early on before he showed the ability to completely handle run assignments. Matt Roth played way early before he knew entirely what he was doing. There are a decent amount of other examples too. We do value the ability to stop the run, obviously....I mean, we do play in the B1G West....but if a guy can show the ability to be disruptive, he'll play...but not always at the expense of making the rest of the D look foolish because he can't consistently keep his assignments in the run game...
