Marcelino Ball

[Kelly_32]

What can we expect out of Marcelino this season coming off his ACL injury?

Is it unfair to have all Big 10 expectations of him? Has he matured enough to avoid the silly personal foul penalties?

Just how much better will our defense be with him back on the field?

 

[rcaulfie]

I expect him to be an absolute beast.

 

[TMFT]

I REALLY hope he's over the silly penalties like he had in 2019.

I think the biggest thing that's going to make or break his season is going to be the play calling. IMO, he would've had a MONSTER year last season with the exotic blitz heavy scheme that Wommack was running. If Warren runs anything like that, I think you're going to see Ball trading blitzes with Micah (it seems like Micah blitzed about every down) and being really successful at getting to the QB & stopping the run. It's no secret that his coverage skills are his weakest point, but if he can get into an attack mode and basically be an OLB getting after the ball, I think he could have a lot of fun out there.

 

[vesuvius13]

I expect Ball to have a monster year. I am sure coach Warren will have Ball doing what he does best.

 

[YOTHN]

I compared Ball's game in his freshman season to that of Bob Sanders. He has the physicality and aggressiveness to be an enforcer in the run game as well as pass rush.

The downside in his game was he had situations where he was a little too opportunistic with his aggressiveness in the passing game. He got burnt a couple of times looking in the backfield and that seemed to lower his aggressiveness his last two years he actually played. I think he just needs to fine tune those instincts and gain confidence in his earlier recognition of the plays as they're unfolding. If he can do that and allow himself to be aggressive while not giving up the big plays, the ceiling for the kid is limitless.

On a side note, I was going to open this post with, "I likened Ball's game" and realized "I likened Ball's" is a little too close for comfort.