I reviewed every defensive play from the Duke game in slow motion and stop action. For each LB, I determined whether they were effectively blocked or ineffectively blocked. Generally speaking, if an LB gets off the block quickly, I consider him to be ineffectively blocked. If no one attempts to block the LB, I make no notation. I do not keep statistics for games against non division one opponents.
This analysis is limited to just this one aspect of LB performance and is not an attempt to grade a LB which would take many more aspects of LB performance into account.
I express my results in ratios. For example, a 3.0:1 ratio means that a LB was blocked effectively 3 times for every one time he was ineffectively blocked. Obviously, the lower the ratio, the better the performance.
In an attempt to give greater coherence to the data I have created three categories: clearly good, mediocre, and clearly bad. The delineation of these categories is based solely on past Miami LB performances and have been readjusted from time to time.
Less than 1.8:1=clearly good
1.8:0 - 2.2:0=mediocre
Greater than 2.2:0=clearly bad
I also keep track of tackles for loss, stuffs (tackles made between the line of scrimmage and two yards down field), sacks, QB pressures, and passes broken up. I keep performance statistics, not game statistics. Therefore, I do not fractionalize. For example, if more than one defender makes a sack, I give all who are involved complete credit rather than partial credit . My statistics, therefore, will usually be greater than the official statistics. For QB pressures, I include plays where a defender forces the QB to scramble even though he never put the QB under duress when he passes the ball.
I include statistics from plays subsequently nullified by penalty.
I do not do an analysis for coverage performance by individual DBs or LBs, but I do covered/open analysis for the secondary as a whole. If a defender makes contact with a receiver after he touches the ball (or it appears that he could have made contact with the receiver when he fails to touch the ball) before the receiver takes one step up field, I consider that receiver to be covered. As a general rule, if the receiver is able to take one step up field before contact he has achieved good separation. So, any success rate below 50% is not good.
Duke
Clearly Good (<1.8:1)
1. McCord was ineffectively blocked on both attempts.
3. Grace 1.3:1
3. Harris 1.3.1
Mediocre (1.8:1 - 2.2:1)
4. Young 2.0:1
Clearly Bad (>2.2:1)
none
Season
Clearly Good (<1.8:1)
1. Gayot 1.3
2. Grace 1.4
3. McCord 1.6
4. Harris 1.7
Mediocre (1.8:1-2.2:1)
none
Clearly Bad (>2.2:1)
5. Young 2.5:1
6. Kirby 2.9:1
7. Owens has been effectively blocked on both attempts.
Tackles For Loss
Duke
1. Grace 1
1. Young 1
1. Elder 1
1. Jenkins, R. 1
1. Bush 1
Season
1. Grace 5
2. Kirby 4
4. Young 3
4. Bush 3
5. Elder 2
8. McCord 1
8. Gayout 1
8. Harris 1
8. Jenkins, R. 1
8. Redwine 1
Stuffs
Duke
1. Grace 5
2. Young 3
3. Jenkins, R. 2
6. Elder 1
6. Howard 1
6. Bush 1
Season
1. Grace 15
2. Young 10
3. Kirby 9
5. Elder 4
5. Jenkins, J. 4
9. Burns 3
9. Bush 3
9. Crawford 3
9. Howard 3
12. Gayot 2
12. Harris 2
12. Carter 2
15. McCord 1
15. Smith 1
15. Johnson. J. 1
QB Sacks
none
Season
1. Grace 1
1. Harris 1
1. Young 1
1. Bush 1
Passes Broken Up
Duke
1. Burns 5
3. Elder 4
3. Bush 4
4. Jenkins, R. 2
6. Young 1
6. Howard 1
Season
1. Elder 13
2. Bush 10
3. Howard 9
4. Burns 7
5. Jenkins 5
6. Grace 3
8. Young 2
8. Carter 2
10. McCord 1
10. Kirby 1
QB Pressures
Duke
1. Burns 1
1. Elder 1
1. Bush 1
Season
1. Grace 4
1. Elder 4
4. Kirby 3
4. Gayot 3
7. McCord 2
7. Burns 2
7. Jenkins, R. 2
9. Young 1
9. Bush 1
Open/Covered (%)
Duke
Open: 25 (42%)
Covered: 34 (58%)
Season
Open: 133 (49%)
Covered: 135 (51%)
General Observations:
1. The LBs may be the worst unit on the team this year. They make very few plays. The Duke game is a prime example. Two TFLs, 8 stuffs, 1 QB pressure are paltry numbers. Those who thought we would be fine without Perryman and Armbrister were badly mistaken.
After 8 FBS games last year:
Perryman- 5 TFL, 27 stuffs, 3 sacks, 3 caused fumbles, 0 recovered fumble, 5 passes broken up, 5 QB pressures.
Armbrister- 3 TFL, 12 stuffs, 4 sacks, 1 caused fumble, 1 recovered fumble, 3 passes broken up, 14 QB pressures.
After 8 games this season:
Grace-5 TFL, 15 stuffs, 1 sack, 1 caused fumble, 0 recovered fumble, 3 passes broken up, 4 QB pressures.
2. The hybrid (DE/LB) strategy was not very effective last year; it has been a complete disaster this year. Harris and McCord have done almost nothing. Maybe this defensive approach works elsewhere, but it hasn't worked here.
3. Grace, who has been relatively silent for most of the year, has had two, consecutive, strong games.
4. We haven't been very effective blitzing during the Golden/D'Nofrio regime, but the performance against Duke was laughingly bad. We blitzed 25 times and got 0 sacks and 0 QB pressures from our LBs and 0 sacks and 3 QB pressures from our DBs. We have blitzed our opponent 102 times this season and gotten 4 sacks. Really!
5. Despite the passing yardage piled up by Duke, the coverage in the secondary was very good. There were very few Duke receivers wide open. We had 17 passes broken up which is a very big number.
6. There was very little substitution at LB. Most of the time we played with only 2 LBs.
7. Perry and Mayes got in for a few plays.
This analysis is limited to just this one aspect of LB performance and is not an attempt to grade a LB which would take many more aspects of LB performance into account.
I express my results in ratios. For example, a 3.0:1 ratio means that a LB was blocked effectively 3 times for every one time he was ineffectively blocked. Obviously, the lower the ratio, the better the performance.
In an attempt to give greater coherence to the data I have created three categories: clearly good, mediocre, and clearly bad. The delineation of these categories is based solely on past Miami LB performances and have been readjusted from time to time.
Less than 1.8:1=clearly good
1.8:0 - 2.2:0=mediocre
Greater than 2.2:0=clearly bad
I also keep track of tackles for loss, stuffs (tackles made between the line of scrimmage and two yards down field), sacks, QB pressures, and passes broken up. I keep performance statistics, not game statistics. Therefore, I do not fractionalize. For example, if more than one defender makes a sack, I give all who are involved complete credit rather than partial credit . My statistics, therefore, will usually be greater than the official statistics. For QB pressures, I include plays where a defender forces the QB to scramble even though he never put the QB under duress when he passes the ball.
I include statistics from plays subsequently nullified by penalty.
I do not do an analysis for coverage performance by individual DBs or LBs, but I do covered/open analysis for the secondary as a whole. If a defender makes contact with a receiver after he touches the ball (or it appears that he could have made contact with the receiver when he fails to touch the ball) before the receiver takes one step up field, I consider that receiver to be covered. As a general rule, if the receiver is able to take one step up field before contact he has achieved good separation. So, any success rate below 50% is not good.
Duke
Clearly Good (<1.8:1)
1. McCord was ineffectively blocked on both attempts.
3. Grace 1.3:1
3. Harris 1.3.1
Mediocre (1.8:1 - 2.2:1)
4. Young 2.0:1
Clearly Bad (>2.2:1)
none
Season
Clearly Good (<1.8:1)
1. Gayot 1.3
2. Grace 1.4
3. McCord 1.6
4. Harris 1.7
Mediocre (1.8:1-2.2:1)
none
Clearly Bad (>2.2:1)
5. Young 2.5:1
6. Kirby 2.9:1
7. Owens has been effectively blocked on both attempts.
Tackles For Loss
Duke
1. Grace 1
1. Young 1
1. Elder 1
1. Jenkins, R. 1
1. Bush 1
Season
1. Grace 5
2. Kirby 4
4. Young 3
4. Bush 3
5. Elder 2
8. McCord 1
8. Gayout 1
8. Harris 1
8. Jenkins, R. 1
8. Redwine 1
Stuffs
Duke
1. Grace 5
2. Young 3
3. Jenkins, R. 2
6. Elder 1
6. Howard 1
6. Bush 1
Season
1. Grace 15
2. Young 10
3. Kirby 9
5. Elder 4
5. Jenkins, J. 4
9. Burns 3
9. Bush 3
9. Crawford 3
9. Howard 3
12. Gayot 2
12. Harris 2
12. Carter 2
15. McCord 1
15. Smith 1
15. Johnson. J. 1
QB Sacks
none
Season
1. Grace 1
1. Harris 1
1. Young 1
1. Bush 1
Passes Broken Up
Duke
1. Burns 5
3. Elder 4
3. Bush 4
4. Jenkins, R. 2
6. Young 1
6. Howard 1
Season
1. Elder 13
2. Bush 10
3. Howard 9
4. Burns 7
5. Jenkins 5
6. Grace 3
8. Young 2
8. Carter 2
10. McCord 1
10. Kirby 1
QB Pressures
Duke
1. Burns 1
1. Elder 1
1. Bush 1
Season
1. Grace 4
1. Elder 4
4. Kirby 3
4. Gayot 3
7. McCord 2
7. Burns 2
7. Jenkins, R. 2
9. Young 1
9. Bush 1
Open/Covered (%)
Duke
Open: 25 (42%)
Covered: 34 (58%)
Season
Open: 133 (49%)
Covered: 135 (51%)
General Observations:
1. The LBs may be the worst unit on the team this year. They make very few plays. The Duke game is a prime example. Two TFLs, 8 stuffs, 1 QB pressure are paltry numbers. Those who thought we would be fine without Perryman and Armbrister were badly mistaken.
After 8 FBS games last year:
Perryman- 5 TFL, 27 stuffs, 3 sacks, 3 caused fumbles, 0 recovered fumble, 5 passes broken up, 5 QB pressures.
Armbrister- 3 TFL, 12 stuffs, 4 sacks, 1 caused fumble, 1 recovered fumble, 3 passes broken up, 14 QB pressures.
After 8 games this season:
Grace-5 TFL, 15 stuffs, 1 sack, 1 caused fumble, 0 recovered fumble, 3 passes broken up, 4 QB pressures.
2. The hybrid (DE/LB) strategy was not very effective last year; it has been a complete disaster this year. Harris and McCord have done almost nothing. Maybe this defensive approach works elsewhere, but it hasn't worked here.
3. Grace, who has been relatively silent for most of the year, has had two, consecutive, strong games.
4. We haven't been very effective blitzing during the Golden/D'Nofrio regime, but the performance against Duke was laughingly bad. We blitzed 25 times and got 0 sacks and 0 QB pressures from our LBs and 0 sacks and 3 QB pressures from our DBs. We have blitzed our opponent 102 times this season and gotten 4 sacks. Really!
5. Despite the passing yardage piled up by Duke, the coverage in the secondary was very good. There were very few Duke receivers wide open. We had 17 passes broken up which is a very big number.
6. There was very little substitution at LB. Most of the time we played with only 2 LBs.
7. Perry and Mayes got in for a few plays.
