I fear that Cignetti…

[sparkeyreturns]

I have to respectfully disagree.

Any other Middle Linebacker, on any other team in the country, would never get off the bench on game day if they consistently allowed the other teams RB's to average 6+ yards per carry on the ground when they're out on the field...

What I saw in the Spring Game was our LB's looking above average in pass coverage and consistently poor against the run and our penciled in starter at MLB looking pathetic...(against the run).

If we don't find someone who can consistently hit guys in, or at least near, the hole and stop the RB's for a 2+ yards per carry average, or less, versus 6+ then, in my opinion, we're in for a really long season against the Big Ten portion of the schedule...

Here is a link to only the highlights of the game. I challenge anyone to point out any play, via a time stamp, where he looked good outside of being halfway close to a receiver in coverage.



Check out this play. Just lost in the play

 

[OpenWheels]

Cig said don't read too much into a glorified scrimmage.

I hope many are wrong. I also feel running around and reasonable capably getting to the plays in a 'bend don't break' type of fashion, isn't going to work in the B1G, and isn't really 'leading the defense'.

Hope I'm wrong and the coaches are way right. He's our guy, want him to kick ass. He made a lot of tackles on a defense that was pretty good, and the coaches like him. So I expect I'm way wrong.

 

[Tokyo Steve]

I watch Fisher in several JMU games last year after Cignetti was hired and the kid transferred here.
Does he have elite speed and freak athleticism? No.
However, what I noticed is he is a leader on defense. He appears to have good technique and fundamentals. He rarely was missing tackles. He stopped guys and wasn’t out of position. And, he plays hard on every play. And, he was the guy calling out alignments.
Now, it remains to be seen against Big Ten level competition but he did play against guys that transferred from P5 schools into the Sun Belt and held his own. He played pretty well against Virginia in their win there and Virginia had transfers from places like Clemson and Iowa State, etc. My hope is that while he isn’t a guy with elite athleticism, he makes up for it being cerebral and fundamentally sound.
I was more impressed with JMU’s DL than IU’s last year. Much more disruptive and guys like Kamara and Carpenter looked better than anybody we had in 2023.

Turner, looked to be just a step too slow in the spring. He doesn’t seem to be at Fisher’s level.

Had to go back and find this thread.
Current situation seems to suggest that Mark Milton and Big Red Crimson Buffalo, among others, had MUCH better post-spring game analytical reads on the quality of IU's backers and other Sun Belt transfers than a few fretting folks in this thread.