LB Cooper, Beal, Rallis Where do u Put Tinsley?

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Gopher-Nation

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So my biggest Question is Where should they put Gary Tinsley? With Beal now able to play I do believe that he will be the starting MLB. And with Rallis and Coop with the OLB. My Problem is that Tinsley now being a senior this year and leading the team in tackles last year, is he just going to be playing special teams or will there be rotations at LB? I personally thought GT was about a C+ MLB. If you watch any games from last year once the ball carrier ran past or got around him, his pursuit sucked. It's like he gave up and would sprint. Personally I dint like that. So please gophers talk to me what are your thought about the LB Group?
 

Don't worry. I have it from reliable source, stuck_in_scony_go4_fan, that Cooper is going to deflect :rolleyes: :) . So there will be plenty of playing time

Honestly, I have no idea (better football minds will answer this question). The staff has said that they like to rotate players to keep them fresh at the end of games/season, so I think there should be plenty of snaps for everyone.

It's a nice problem to have - too many quality LB's! Its been awhile since we've said that.
 

Claeys loves to run mass substitutions in and out during the course of a game. He even calls them "hockey changes" since he subs so many players at once. So Hacksaw and Beal will see plenty of PT at MLB. It's a good problem to have though as LB is actually a position of strength for this team.
 

Heavy rotation will take advantage of each of our linebackers' skill sets.
Cooper and Tinsley are very effective blitzers, Rallis seems to have a knack for coverage and is solid against the run, Beal has the size and hopefully the instincts to play Mike backer in the big ten.
I'd bet Tinsley plays alot but doesn't rack up the tackles like he did last year, probably has more sacks and TFL though. Cooper could very well flourish in this system, he attacks the LOS so well and has the speed and acceleration to pressure the backfield quickly off the snap.

I'm more concerned with our DL situation, razor thin at DT after the 2 starters and long on potential short on proven production from our DE's. Our secondary is not strong enough to count on blitzing a ton so we are going to need to provide pressure from the front 4 to be successful.
 

pharmacygopher said:
Don't worry. I have it from reliable source, stuck_in_scony_go4_fan, that Cooper is going to deflect :rolleyes: :) . So there will be plenty of playing time

Honestly, I have no idea (better football minds will answer this question). The staff has said that they like to rotate players to keep them fresh at the end of games/season, so I think there should be plenty of snaps for everyone.

It's a nice problem to have - too many quality LB's! Its been awhile since we've said that.
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Cooper is going to deflect, what do you mean?
 



Gopher-Nation said:
Cooper is going to deflect, what do you mean?
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Sorry....I was being a smart-ass. I shouldn't have even mentioned it. There's another thread going where stuck_in_scony_go4_fan wants to make random f'ing guesses on who is going to leave the program. He threw Coop in there cuz his 'gut' says he's going to 'deflect' (aka defect). Again, my bad, should have left it alone.

Anyways...like others said. We have at least 4 LB's with unique skill sets. Kill and Co. will find ways to use them and get them all on the field.
 

Where would I put Tinsley? Probably 2nd team All Big 10.
 

I had an exchange with Doogie about a month ago regarding Beal, specifically. He had mentioned in a Tweet that Beal was possibly the outsider in this list (after Spring practice - so nothing official obviously, probably having more to do with not playing in games for over a year). However, he also mentioned that Claeys was working on ways to get all 4 on the field at the same time given their talent and athletic abilities.

Having 4 (hopefully) quality LB's is not an issue and they will all see adequate time.
 



MJGopher said:
I had an exchange with Doogie about a month ago regarding Beal, specifically. He had mentioned in a Tweet that Beal was possibly the outsider in this list (after Spring practice - so nothing official obviously, probably having more to do with not playing in games for over a year). However, he also mentioned that Claeys was working on ways to get all 4 on the field at the same time given their talent and athletic abilities.

Having 4 (hopefully) quality LB's is not an issue and they will all see adequate time.
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So now that we all know that we are really hurting as far as DT goes, would you switch the defense to a 3-4 instead of a 4-3? Because i believe that the LB are hands down the strength of the defense. Why not get all of them on at once. do you think coach K would approve?
 

There is something to be said for tailoring your schemes to meet your strengths, but there is also something to be said for coaching what you know. Kill has said all along (especially right after he was hired) that his goal is to be multiple on both sides of the ball. You can mitigate some differences in talent, speed, strength, etc. if you keep the other team's offense and defense guessing as to what's coming next. Our base will be a 4-3, but there will also be 3-4, 3-3-5, 4-2-5, dime, and probably even some exotic hybrids thrown out there from time to time. Regardless of position, there will certainly be more than enough snaps available on defense for anyone able to contribute.

Though it slightly digresses from the main point of the thread, I also respectfully disagree about the DT depth. Sure, I'd agree that the top isn't as good as some of our past DT combos (Montgomery and Losli, for example), but the starters are good, solid dependable seniors (Kirksey and Jacobs) and there are a lot of guys with potential who can rotate in behind them, like Hageman, Delaney, Hahn, KGM, Botticelli, Jacques, and Legania. I'll concede that they are mostly unknown, but they all have potential, and surely we can find at least 2 or 3 out of the 7 who can be serviceable-at-minimum.
 

There will definitely be opportunities for all four of these guys to get a ton of playing time (assuming they all stay healthy...knock on wood).

I don't know who will techinically be the starter, but Tinsley is one of our best defensive players. When he was ready to go in the Spring, he looked like probably our best (in contention with Coop and Stoud).

He will see a lot of PT in the middle and on the outside.


As far as moving pieces around, I don't think it will be a typical 3-4. However, I could definitely see a scenario where our DLine is Wilhite, Kirksey, Jacobs, and one of our LBs (in a stand up and blitz mode).

Claeys is known to play a lot of players (it actually annoyed some Northern Illinois fans last season), so expect to see a lot of different players play and a lot of different packages used.

To further complicate things, Ryan Grant looked pretty solid in the spring and I expect to see him get a bit of PT, especially in passing situations.


As for our DTs....it is an issue. Our entire DLine is a bit of an issue. None of our DEs have shown much of anything. Our DTs should be OK. Jacobs has been one of the most consistant players on our team and Kirksey has shown flashes of being a real player. Hageman is a wild card, but when he showed flashes of being an NFL caliber DT at times during the spring game. When he fired off low, he was unblockable. If he can do this consistantly, he is automatically our best DL. That's a huge "if" now and I hope Hageman keeps working hard, because when he is playing consistantly and the right way, he is dominant.

Botticelli is another guy that I expect to be somewhat impressive next season at DT. Hahn and Delaney look like they could be serviceable, but in general, DT is a bit of a question mark (especially if Hageman can't put it together).
 




Based on production, why would you move your best LB to the bench?

Based on what we have all heard, asside from the QB I think it's a big assumption to write anyones name down as a starter.
 

go4fan said:
Move Cooper to S, insert Tinsley at LB. Done.
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If they felt he would be a better S than LB, then they would make the change. Obviously right now they don't believe that.

All four will get plenty of playing time if they warrant it.
 

Gopher-Nation said:
So my biggest Question is Where should they put Gary Tinsley? With Beal now able to play I do believe that he will be the starting MLB. And with Rallis and Coop with the OLB. My Problem is that Tinsley now being a senior this year and leading the team in tackles last year, is he just going to be playing special teams or will there be rotations at LB? I personally thought GT was about a C+ MLB. If you watch any games from last year once the ball carrier ran past or got around him, his pursuit sucked. It's like he gave up and would sprint. Personally I dint like that. So please gophers talk to me what are your thought about the LB Group?
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Tinsley is the one guy that will be starting for sure. I'm guessing Beal comes in off the bench.
 

According to Doogie's tweets a few weeks back, we will still run a base 4-3 but a lot of 3-4 to get all 4 LB's on the field at the same time.
 

Curseislifted33 said:
According to Doogie's tweets a few weeks back, we will still run a base 4-3 but a lot of 3-4 to get all 4 LB's on the field at the same time.
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Some 3-4, I would think this will be the case based on the players, Tinsley is the best play maker on the defense, he should and I imagine will see more playing time than the other three.
 

Have you guys watched any of last years film? if you haven't you should and watch 51 GT you will see what i mean. GT literally give's up after the play is past him. Now this is a whole new Coaching crew that we all know doesn't put up with that stuff. Even though GT had the most tackles last year, those are just stats. These coaches don't care about stats. They want someone that is going to play every single second of the game. Call me crazy but i really hope I'm not the only one that see's this. And as far as Cooper i think he's has his spot locked, not on paper but it's just what i think.
 

First time since 99 that the gophers have anything close to linebacker depth. Let's leave everyone at linebacker.
 

Gopher-Nation said:
Have you guys watched any of last years film? if you haven't you should and watch 51 GT you will see what i mean. GT literally give's up after the play is past him. Now this is a whole new Coaching crew that we all know doesn't put up with that stuff. Even though GT had the most tackles last year, those are just stats. These coaches don't care about stats. They want someone that is going to play every single second of the game. Call me crazy but i really hope I'm not the only one that see's this. And as far as Cooper i think he's has his spot locked, not on paper but it's just what i think.
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I actually didn't really notice this. I am not saying that it didn't happen, I could have definitely missed it. However, from my point of view, Tinsley was our best defensive player last season (you could make a case for Edwards and Stoud was impressive at the very end).
 

Linebackers take such a beating that having at least 4 or 5 guys that are servicable is huge, esp come October when the bumps and bruises start taking its toll. I'd say if you can make the 2 deep your gonna get some quality PT throughout the year.
 

Rosemountian said:
First time since 99 that the gophers have anything close to linebacker depth. Let's leave everyone at linebacker.
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I respectfully disagree. 2 years ago linebacker was easily the strength of the entire team. One of the big reasons that Brewster had one bowl team. Nate Triplett, Simoni Lawrence, and Lee Campbell with Keenon Cooper and Gary Tinsley off the bench. KC and GT both played and played solid when called upon.
 

While linebacker was the strength of that team,
I also am of the opinion that many gopher fans have triplett and Campbell way overrated.
 

They work on playing to the whistle EVERY day, I was there six days this spring and different kids got corrected on the issue every day! If they don't get it they get kicked off the field. Tinsley will get it. He is the best player on D, and he could be a lot better. This staff gets after anyone not doing things right from McKnight to Gray to E. Olson. Nobody gets a pass on good fundamentals.
 

I think what your talking about here may be more of an instance where the coaching staff wasn't pushing fundamentals and playing until the whistle. Meaning it was a problem not exclusive to Tinsley. I have a feeling this staff will correct that.
 

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