Comments

OK, let me try this, Where’s the Beef” one more time.  Nakita Whitlock would make a great NCAA division one, middle linebacker.  It will be a crying shame if he is not allowed to compete at that spot.  However, to think that someone hs size can compete day in; day out with most D-1 programs “in the trenches” is pure folly.  Sorry, but a man his size cannot anchor a defensive front four in todays D-1 game.  Over the course of a game teamns did and will continue to figure out ways to exploit his small stature.  Now, if Wake wants to once again win NCAA D-I football games, they simply MUST control (or at the very least neutralize) the line of scrimage at THE POINT OF ATTACK!!!  It all starts and ends in the defensive line trenches.  Last year the Deacs were unable to come close to even neutralizing the defensive line of scrimage OVER THE SOURSE OF A 60 MINUTIE GAME.  That is why they averaged giving up over 39 (?) points per game!!  Failure to compete in the down, defensive line position is an offensive co-ordinators dream and sheer delight This opens up a plethora of offensive options if his guys can consisitenly,over the course of a 4 quarter game,overpower our guys.  Switching to a 3-4 defense is likely to be a great move for Wake next year.  However, let’s face the facts!  a 3/4 DEFENSE is another way of admitting that we do not have the 4 “DOWN LINEMEN/horses NEEDED TO SUCCESFULLY IMPLEMENT A 4-DOWN DEFENSIVE FRONT.  Unfortunately, it signals to our opponents coaching staff that WF ADMITS THAT IT cannot control the line of scrimage against 90% of the teams we play and that we are going to attempt to compensate for this fact with 5 linebackers on the field.  Our defensive goal next year will be to attempt to “contain” the football once it moves forward, pass the original line of scrimage.  A 3/4 defense bascially means that you do not have enough “Large,Athletic ‘Mean” bodies” with enough quickness/foot speed to consisitenly A.  pressure the quarteback in passing situations.  Secondarily, it also indicates our teams starting defensive linemen are not fully developed in upper body strength and, as such, are unable to consisitently “hold their ground” against an opponents running game long enough to allow their linebackers to make tackles AT or near the line of scrimage. In recruting, our staff simply MUST PLACE a renewed emphaiss on large (265 poounds and up); tall (6’5’ and up)quick and mean HIGH SCHOOL D-Linemen.  If we could attract a nucleus of these types of athletes, you would quickly see many of the defensive players who compete with these guys start to look better and better.  Without them, get ready for another season of our defense being on the field a minimum of 20% more (in terms of minutes) than our opposition; with the greatest imbalance of possession coming in the second half when the Deacs legs begin to (rightlfuly so)tire.  Everyone blames the Offensive Unit when it cannot put together either points on the board or llong, sustained drives that give the defense a chance to rest.  There is, of course truth to this but in the final analysis, it is up to the DEFENSIVE UNIT to get itself OFF the FIELD….. and it all startes in the trenches.  So yeah, the qwuestion of ,“where’s the beef” in this years WF recruting class is a legitamate one that must be addressed to move WAKE BEYOND IT’S CURRENT STATUS QUO.

Bluedeacon1 on 02/09/2011 (3:01 pm)

I am very proud of Nikita Whitlock. He is an inspiration of our football team. In a defense of 4-3 as a nose guard or a defense of 3-4 as a nose tackle, he represents our football team as a great talent. When no person on our team was all conference or anything it seems like for a very bad season, he managed to have received 2nd team all freshman recognition. We are not a football power, but he is the mouse that roared this season at his position, especially at the end of this season. I predict greater things in the future for this young man.

Paul Crumpler on 02/07/2011 (11:31 pm)

Until WF understands that size,speed and athleticism is an absolute TOP PRIORITY in NCAA division 1 football, expect our defense to “remain on the field” for long periods of time and for the 30 plus points given up a game to continue.  Fred Brown STILL plays in the NFL after 10 years! John Russell does not.

Bluedeacon1 on 02/05/2011 (12:26 pm)

We certainly need a beefier D line.  But I think everybody agrees with me that Nikita Whitlock is a fantastic football player.  He embodies the old adage about the size of the fight in the dog.  He played NT last year because he was the best we had at that position and I really enjoyed watching him frequently beat the big goons he confronted every week.  He never looked lethargic, never got morose despite the physical abuse he had to endure.  I believe that he could make a great LB or DE, but if again he turns out to be superior to everybody else we have at NT I bet he will do even better this year than last year.

DannyB on 02/04/2011 (8:00 pm)