Bench Mabin for Jackson

Most popular player on every team is the backup cornerback.

Mabin will be fine. I think we'll see that Bahl and Garnder wind up being the top 1 or 2 combo's we face all season. They were both on fire and their timing was perfect. That's tough to defend and Bahl's arm is stronger than CJ's.
 
Well executed back shoulder throws against man coverage are almost impossible to cover. Ask any NFL corner. I was surprised we played so much man. On one TD pass, they gave the QB way too much time and you can only chase a receiver around the endzone so long. The other TD pass was a blown coverage. It was a typical 'smash route' and either Mabin should have been 'sinking' a lot deeper in the flat or Snyder was late getting over the top. Couldn't tell what coverage they were in from the limited view on TV, but I don't think they were in man. Some of you love to exaggerate and place blame, sure he needs to get his head around faster, but sometimes plays are just well executed. No need to panick or get carried away. And I have no idea why Bowers needs to sit?

This. The communication between Mabin and Snyder was way off.
 
The two sideline catches Mabin gave up he was on the guy, but it looked like the WR got away with a little push before he turned back. The first touchdown, the WR came from the middle and it looked like 48 should have had him because he was wide open. The second TD the QB had all day but Mabin was there, the WR just jumped through Mabin to make a play.

So I'd say it had more to do with the WR being physical and making plays rather than Mabin playing poorly.
 
Most popular player on every team is the backup cornerback.

Mabin will be fine. I think we'll see that Bahl and Garnder wind up being the top 1 or 2 combo's we face all season. They were both on fire and their timing was perfect. That's tough to defend and Bahl's arm is stronger than CJ's.

No chance. Gardner had 3 catches all of last year. Bahl also really struggled last season as well. Both could have drastically improved and it's only one game but I do think it is kind of concerning. Nothing I will lose sleep over though and I'm confident the staff can make corrections or hide any weaknesses
 
Name a 'big' game last year that Mabin gave up a 'big' play in? Stanford? No that would have been Lomax on the first play and King on the 'fake' fumble play. Michigan St.? Nope. Wisconsin? Nada! Nebraska?

Mabin gave up some plays in 2014 when he converted to CB in the summer before the year and had a lot to learn, but like I've said, IOWA DIDN'T GIVE UP A LOT OF BIG PLAYS 'PERIOD' LAST YEAR WHICH IS A BIG REASON THEY WENT 12-2, but besides the Illinois game where he gave up a lot of completions (but go look, the LONG TD pass in that game was against King) Mabin had a solid year in 2015. He is better in zone coverage than he is man (like Sherman in the NFL) but I think they put him in man a lot against Miami to work on his man coverage.

Iowa hardly showed much of their zone coverage at all, because I think they changed it a little and don't want to show it to ISU. Teams figured out something against their 1/4,1/4,1/2 half coverage last year (one of their 'fav' coverages) starting with Minny, but why give ISU game film of their 'change' and 'expose' it before they have to?


I don't really want to get in between this argument, but you asked the question about naming a big play that Mabin gave up last year. So I will bite.

For me it was one of the biggest plays of last year. There will certainly be fans that will disagree with me, and certainly that last drive by Michigan State wore us down and we made a bunch of mistakes defensively that lead to the loss, not just this play. But that 3rd and 8 was devastating. With about 5 and half minutes left in the game it was a BIG play and perhaps we can't blame Mabin entirely. It was a good pass, but if Mabin just turns his head for one second I bet he might have been able to deflect it.

I think this is part of why fans get on him. He tends to not turn his head in situations where he needs to see the ball. I do think Mabin plays great most of the time, but there are times he seems to be out of position as well.

But overall he is a very good talent and I am sure he will be starting the rest of the season.
 
After watching the game. I think Mabin played a good game. He wasn't perfect, there is plenty for the whole defense to work on. The first TD Miami made in the second half looked like a miscommunication. The defensive line wasn't getting consistent penetration. Better run defense and penetration would have been a big help to the defensive backfield. Miami's offensive line is good, as were Gardner and Blagh. The Miami QB had time to make back shoulder throws. Having Snyder on his side didn't help Mabin either. I don't think Mabin will ever be a Desmond King, but he is a good corner.
 
I don't really want to get in between this argument, but you asked the question about naming a big play that Mabin gave up last year. So I will bite.

For me it was one of the biggest plays of last year. There will certainly be fans that will disagree with me, and certainly that last drive by Michigan State wore us down and we made a bunch of mistakes defensively that lead to the loss, not just this play. But that 3rd and 8 was devastating. With about 5 and half minutes left in the game it was a BIG play and perhaps we can't blame Mabin entirely. It was a good pass, but if Mabin just turns his head for one second I bet he might have been able to deflect it.

I think this is part of why fans get on him. He tends to not turn his head in situations where he needs to see the ball. I do think Mabin plays great most of the time, but there are times he seems to be out of position as well.

But overall he is a very good talent and I am sure he will be starting the rest of the season.
I think we all agree (and probably even him) that he needs to keep getting better at getting his head around. Hell, even King said when talking about coming back, that he needed to get better at getting his head around and that it cost him plays last year. Don't get me wrong, he is certainly better at it than Mabin.
 
I don't think Mabin played his best game, but at the same time teams are his direction. King is undoubtedly the guy we want being thrown at and unfortunately that's not going to happen. Mabin will be the one targeted and picked on repeatedly and IMO will give up the most big plays this year simply because of the amount of times he's called upon to make plays. The overall strength of our secondary depends on who is playing opposite King as they (regardless of who it is) are the ones that will get the bulk of throws there way in man coverage.
 
I don't think Mabin played his best game, but at the same time teams are his direction. King is undoubtedly the guy we want being thrown at and unfortunately that's not going to happen. Mabin will be the one targeted and picked on repeatedly and IMO will give up the most big plays this year simply because of the amount of times he's called upon to make plays. The overall strength of our secondary depends on who is playing opposite King as they (regardless of who it is) are the ones that will get the bulk of throws there way in man coverage.
Their QB was 3-3 throwing to King's man. He threw well.
 
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