Nothing you said had anything to do with my point. We have had top draft picks in CB's the last two years and both years, PP7 and Mo got burned some games for being out of position.
Actually to be honest, I never remember Morris Claiborne getting burned unless he slipped down. Someone else brought up the fact that the couple of times that Claiborne has been burned it has been near the sidelines in Tiger Stadium (one was the Florida game last season) where he slipped down. That was where I asked if LSU covers the field with the tarp before rains all the way to the sidelines. If you have noticed the last couple of years, players from both teams have great footing everywhere except within a yard of each sideline. I'm about to figuratively penalize the ground crew because that is too much of a coincidence. I know the field has a crown of course so water is going to be drained towards the sidelines but I wonder if the tarp isn't going far enough past the playing field. That is the only field in the nation where I notice a huge difference in footing between the barely inbounds sideline area and the rest of the field. Patrick Peterson has gotten burned a few times and multiple people have given the same reason...the guy gambles...that is why Penn State scored against LSU on a pass to the sideline...he gambled. In the Miss State game I believe it was, he got fooled on a halfback pass and the guy got about 15 yards behind him.
There is a huge natural ability difference between Mo & PP7 as compaired to TM7. The fact that us and the media even discuss this is a testament to TM7's abilities....
I agree! When you take into account TM's lack of height for example, you can tell he is a fighter. The takeaway from Debose in the endzone against Florida last year is testament to that. Once again, the guy LOVES the action IMO more than Peterson and Claiborne. In fact, the knock on Claiborne before the NFL draft (said by the analysts like Kiper and others) is that he doesn't tackle particularly well and provide great run support. I agree with that 100%. There is NO WAY that Richardson should have scored so easily on the meaningless TD near the end of the NC game. They replayed that to show an example. Claiborne was completely unblocked on the play and never moved from the center of the field. Mathieu on that same play would have moved to the outside and either made the tackle or died trying. That indeed is what Mathieu brings to the table...extraordinary run support for a CB and great instincts to strip the ball, etc. IMO, he brings no more than C+ pass coverage skills.
Why Mathieu is not overrated? Factual breakdown of his talents. http://rotoworld.com/articles/cfb/40968/321/a-violent-collision-seeker
Hate on him all you want, but the fact remains that he is our big play guy on defense AND special teams. I know this is cliche', but he absolutely just has a nose for the football. What he lacks as a cover corner, he makes up with in a sack, forced fumble, or some other game changing play. I'd rather he be on our team then having to play against him.
I don't write for the Baton Rouge Advocate but of course many of us know what he is talking about. First, there is more to getting DB honors than being a cover guy. If you are good in run support which I have said he is and you are a great ball hawk like I said he is, then you get points for doing those things even if you are not the best cover guy. He gets a lot of credit for doing things when the play being executed is NOT even a pass play. And BTW, he SHOULD get credit for those things such as when he strips a ball carrier on a running play. That does NOT contradict the fact that he is not the best cover guy. Once again, it wasn't just the Alabama NC game he could have been nicknamed "toast". His Tennessee game was WORSE than his Alabama NC game...2 long pass plays against him + a 15 yard pass interference penalty. I don't bring up the West Virginia game because quite frankly the entire secondary was playing incredibly soft in that game which is why WVA got over 500 yards total offense, the vast majority in the air. Surely, you don't equate passing defense to one guy right? Montgomery was NOT hurt in 2011 as he was most of 2010. That made a huge difference in the pass rush. Also, Simon and Claiborne played better in 2011 than they did in 2010. Reid did also. Taylor probably played about the same. But Brockers came into his own obviously. The defense is made up of 11 players, not 1 player. To act like that a defensive pass ranking is due to 1 player is simply not reasonable. P.S. Oh, and BTW, I definitely should have included a much, much improved Mingo as far as the pass rush goes. So, the answer is a simple one for the better pass defense...at almost every position on defense, the person playing that position played better than he or his predecessor did in 2010.
