The Curious Case of Isaac Gifford and the 3-3-5 defense

[st3f0]

Isaac Gifford playing the Dover Safety position is constanlty out of position, takes terrible angles and struggles to make open field tackles.

Am I crazy to think the defense would be better if Tony White shifted from the 3-3-5 to the 3-4 and brought Gifford closer to the LOS to be the 4th LB?

 

[dinglefritz]

Isaac Gifford playing the Dover Safety position is constanlty out of position, takes terrible angles and struggles to make open field tackles.

Am I crazy to think the defense would be better if Tony White shifted from the 3-3-5 to the 3-4 and brought Gifford closer to the LOS to be the 4th LB?

Or run a more traditional 4-3 with a true WDE and put one of our back 8 on the bench.

 

[headcard]

His safety position is supposed to be a hybrid LB/Safety. The 3-3-5 should be pretty adaptable, if you have the guys, because you have a hybrid DE/OLB and a Hybrid LB/Safety.

But, I agree he has not played well this year and would probably have benefited from a move to LB, like Bullock.

 

[tro80]

In hindsight, whatever we spent on NIL to bring back some of these guys for their Covid year was not money well spent.

 

[Truewooper]

If he can't play the hybrid position well then move someone else there who will do better.

 

[HuskerDrew]

If he is playing so much that means the guys behind him are worse. That’s on the coaches and if so they need to be shit canned.
The D overal is ok, but if we ran 4-3, we
Could have Butler, Nash, Ty, and Lenhardt/Williams up front, with the 3 linebackers coming from the group of Princewill/Gbayor/Sherman/Shavers/Magahee/Bullock

That would be so much better than watching Gifford take a shit angle or miss a tackle or get erased… or all of the above

 

[phoenix4nu]

If he is playing so much that means the guys behind him are worse. That’s on the coaches and if so they need to be shit canned.
The D overal is ok, but if we ran 4-3, we
Could have Butler, Nash, Ty, and Lenhardt/Williams up front, with the 3 linebackers coming from the group of Princewill/Gbayor/Sherman/Shavers/Magahee/Bullock

That would be so much better than watching Gifford take a shit angle or miss a tackle or get erased… or all of the above

If it’s a scheme problem, that’s on White and Rhule.

 

[huskerfan66]

In hindsight, whatever we spent on NIL to bring back some of these guys for their Covid year was not money well spent.

That's the problem I envision coming with the 105 limit. Do you retain a 5th year guy and recruit the young kid? With our results I'd say take youth versus the same old same old and struggling to be bowl eligible

 

[Laner2]

If he is playing so much that means the guys behind him are worse. That’s on the coaches and if so they need to be shit canned.
The D overal is ok, but if we ran 4-3, we
Could have Butler, Nash, Ty, and Lenhardt/Williams up front, with the 3 linebackers coming from the group of Princewill/Gbayor/Sherman/Shavers/Magahee/Bullock

That would be so much better than watching Gifford take a shit angle or miss a tackle or get erased… or all of the above

Speaking of Princewell and Lenhardt, are they on a milk carton somewhere?

 

[HuskerDrew]

Speaking of Princewell and Lenhardt, are they on a milk carton somewhere?

This is an issue IMO. These dudes were making plays early in their careers… now we don’t see them? How could they have gotten worse?
We clearly have a coaching issue.

 

[BrighteRed24]

If it’s a scheme problem, that’s on White and Rhule.

It’s also a Rhule and White problem if they are not recruiting / developing guys that are better than our current players.

At this point, I don’t want to hear our coaches say that guys aren’t making plays. Many of these current players haven’t made plays their entire career, so that’s not a surprise. What are Rhule and White doing to recruit and develop guys to replace the underperformers?

 

[dinglefritz]

Speaking of Princewell and Lenhardt, are they on a milk carton somewhere?

Lenhardt played okay I think when he was in there. Princewill has lost some snaps to other guys.

 

[oldjar07]

Isaac Gifford playing the Dover Safety position is constanlty out of position, takes terrible angles and struggles to make open field tackles.

Am I crazy to think the defense would be better if Tony White shifted from the 3-3-5 to the 3-4 and brought Gifford closer to the LOS to be the 4th LB?

I know Gifford is the favorite whipping boy right now, and he has not played well this year. But the problems you list certainly aren't unique only to Gifford. I think Cooper may have been a bigger loss than we thought. The front 7 hasn't always impressed me at times either. I don't know if Tony White is quite the savior we all thought he was last year.

 

[dinglefritz]

This is an issue IMO. These dudes were making plays early in their careers… now we don’t see them? How could they have gotten worse?
We clearly have a coaching issue.

Princewill is listed as a linebacker this year. Last year it appeared he was playing the role of a pass rushing specialist. Williams fills that role this year. Princewill I think is competing for snaps with Sherman and MacGhee. Some people want to see more MacGahee. Sherman has been pretty solid from my limited view.

 

[dinglefritz]

I know Gifford is the favorite whipping boy right now, and he has not played well this year. But the problems you list certainly aren't unique only to Gifford. I think Cooper may have been a bigger loss than we thought. The front 7 hasn't always impressed me at times either. I don't know if Tony White is quite the savior we all thought he was last year.

We lost probably our best all around corner to graduation. People underestimate the effect that has had on our back end.

 

[InMotion]

I think a few of the defensive guys came back another year to never lose EVER. I think I heard that somewhere.
Oh and BTW, since they stopped making "Chasing 3" videos, what is that group of people doing for the program now? Probably nothing just like everyone else.

 

[huskerfan1414]

Isaac Gifford playing the Dover Safety position is constanlty out of position, takes terrible angles and struggles to make open field tackles.

Am I crazy to think the defense would be better if Tony White shifted from the 3-3-5 to the 3-4 and brought Gifford closer to the LOS to be the 4th LB?

A glaring example of regression under this “developmental” staff.