Would a 5 man defensive line do better against Denard Robinson?

austinhawk

austinhawk

Well-Known Member
Just wondering. Would a 5 man defensive line do better against Denard Robinson? I know we have only shown a 4 man D line, and it's doing awesome. But will they have trouble containing DR? I think it would be AMAZING to see Daniels starting along with Klug, Binns, Clayborn, and and Ballard. This would be a good time to try it??
 
I like the idea of it, always keep him in front of you. If he makes it past the first five, the other six keep him in front of them and stop the big play.
 
I do not particularly like the idea. I first would want to see if our front 4 can keep the Michigan OL off of our linebackers, allowing them to pursue and make the tackles. Also, I like the idea of Daniels rotating in. A rotation of 5 guys for the 4 spots will help in the 4th quarter.
 
Problem with that is you would be down a linebacker which would leave the short passes open all day. Denard has shown the ability to pass so he could eat us alive like that...unless we constantly dropped a lineman into coverage like when Binns got his pick 6 against arizona. But then you have a bad matchup and would be better off having that said linebacker covering. So ultimately the better option would be to just blitz more often or take a linebacker and have him spy Robinson most of the time.
 
The short answer is no. When he gets to the second level with a 4 man line there is a good chance he's gone. When he does so with a 5 man line and only 6 in the secondary, its almost a certainty.
 
FCAS said:
I do not particularly like the idea. I first would want to see if our front 4 can keep the Michigan OL off of our linebackers, allowing them to pursue and make the tackles. Also, I like the idea of Daniels rotating in. A rotation of 5 guys for the 4 spots will help in the 4th quarter.
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DuffMan said:
The short answer is no. When he gets to the second level with a 4 man line there is a good chance he's gone. When he does so with a 5 man line and only 6 in the secondary, its almost a certainty.
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This. I definitely want our DL to have fresh legs, and keeping the rotation as is, is the best way to do that. And I also want that extra man in the back seven, just in case.
 
Elwood said:
I like the idea of it, always keep him in front of you. If he makes it past the first five, the other six keep him in front of them and stop the big play.
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I would think a layered defense would be the best to stop him, with the layers being as even in numbers as possible. Also, substituting in a DL for, I assume, a LB would reduce our overall speed. Not sure I like the idea, but it would be neat to see the 5 of them on the field in certain packages down the road.
 
Not a great idea. We are getting decent pressure with 4. Unless you're going to hope for a sack or QB pressure or something with 5, you're risking him breaking into that 6 man secondary.

I'd rather try and get the push with 4 guys and keep the rest back to help corral DRob.
 
Here's the deal, this is never going to happen. No disrespect but Norm is like vegas. The odds are most college teams are just never going to execute well enough and often enough to beat his defense. Yeah, there is the occassion win at blackjack but if you are reading this board odds are you aren't making your living gambling.

Here is the other reason this is never going to happen. Norm has a decisive character trait that if I or all of us could harness we would be better at our profession and our lives. He is patient. I negotiate for a living and I am successful. But I could be even more successful if I would develop a better sense of patients.

Didn't say Norm's defense doesn't frustrate me at times but you can't argue with the results.
 
DuffMan said:
The short answer is no. When he gets to the second level with a 4 man line there is a good chance he's gone. When he does so with a 5 man line and only 6 in the secondary, its almost a certainty.
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This is correct. The key to stopping DR is our DE's keeping contain on the outside, and funneling him back in towards the middle of the field, then letting our linebackers clean up the mess. Four or five series of that will wear him out. As long as we stay disiciplined in our assignments, I just don't see him gaining consistant large chunks of yardage. If he is to beat us, he'll have to do it with him arm.
 
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I'd say force the issues with Robinson. If get gets to our safeties it's over. Sash and Greenwood will not be able to hang with Robinson in open field.

We need to keep him in congestion or moving laterally.
 
I'd like to see this. Play a soft cover 3 on one side of the field and allow the 5-7 yard stop route on that side. But disguise it. Then tighter coverage on the opposite side with Greenwood help over the top for that 2/3 other side of the field.

Then we bring a LB almost every play from different directions and that LB has Robinson. He hits Robinson and doesn't play the RB at all on the read draws, etc. Then Sash fills up for that blitzing linebacker so we still essentially have a version of the 4-3.
 
If Iowa was healthier at linebacker I would rather see them play a 3-4 defense with Ballard, Clayborn and Daniels on the line. I think the extra linebacker would help set the edge and somewhat take away the backside read.

Norm has played the 3-4 on occassion. Also switching between the 3-4 and standard 4-3 could upset Michigan reads for blocking and DRs bread and butter "Wildcat" running play.
 
This is a stupid thread. Why not play a two-man line? Against Robinson, Iowa will need more speed. A five-man line makes Iowa slower. Get more speed into the lineup. Two lineman & five linebackers to run him down. Have Clayborn & Ballard line-up between the guards and tackles with the responsibility to disrupt the offensive line. They don't have to make any tackles, just cause as much mayhem as possible. Then let the five linebackers mop-up the play.

Whatever! The Iowa coaches will study the MSU tapes extensively. They will develop a sound strategy based on the review of those films. Iowa will do somethings because they worked for MSU and won't do other things because they didn't work.

Hopefully, MSU will give Iowa a blueprint to contain Robinson.

If they come out in a two-man line I will have to change my shorts.
 
Thats an interesting question. My first reaction (having never studied MICHs film) would be "no".
I dont think the MICH O-line is getting to the second level as much as its just DRob getting into open space and making things happen with his speed and athleticism.
If I were game-planning for DRob, I would line my DEs out wide (1 step) and 2 LBs in the gaps betwenn the DTs and DEs (in standard LB depth). Let my DEs get up field, forcing DRob to stay between the tackles, if he decides to run.
I think our D-line is quick enough to close the gaps between the tackles and the LBs are fast enough to clean it up. Let DRob take some hits for his decisions.
Thats how I would do it.
Of course, I'm sitting here on a message board, so, what do I know?
 
No, absolutely to a 5-man line and it itsn't going to happen. The guy throws pretty good, too.

Have a good push on the D-line. Play assignments. Hit him hard. Hit him hard in the legs. Repeat again and again and again.
 
In some instances, it would be awesome. In others it may be terrible. That gives you one less guy at the second level and one less in coverage.
 
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