Got in a conversation with an LSU cousin of mine about Chavis. Very sour grapes and all, but did want to get some feedback on his characterization of Chavis as a "bend don't break" kind of guy.
I think we all agreed that the last few years at LSU, given the lack of consistent productivity from their offense, Chavis did employ a defense that forced teams to earn their way down the field. Leverage your talent at DB to create turnovers. Use some non-exotic blitzing to let you front 7 talent create some low-risk pressure. But overall, keep the game in front of you, tackle well, and attack the ball.
Discussion on the board of late seems to be leaning to the "blitz when you get off the bus" side of things (probably overstating that a bit), and I am just wondering if that is a reasonable expectation. What have Chavis's defenses looked like with a more potent offense? Is it reasonable to expect that he will be more aggressive with a more explosive offense or will he stick to what has worked before? How much does the offense inform his defensive approach?
A hidden message from last year's season was that if our defense is creating turnovers, even if we are giving up yards and points, we are really tough to beat (see at Auburn 2014). But if we are sitting back and watching the game happen in front of us, TOP tends to wear us out as the game goes along.
I think we all agreed that the last few years at LSU, given the lack of consistent productivity from their offense, Chavis did employ a defense that forced teams to earn their way down the field. Leverage your talent at DB to create turnovers. Use some non-exotic blitzing to let you front 7 talent create some low-risk pressure. But overall, keep the game in front of you, tackle well, and attack the ball.
Discussion on the board of late seems to be leaning to the "blitz when you get off the bus" side of things (probably overstating that a bit), and I am just wondering if that is a reasonable expectation. What have Chavis's defenses looked like with a more potent offense? Is it reasonable to expect that he will be more aggressive with a more explosive offense or will he stick to what has worked before? How much does the offense inform his defensive approach?
A hidden message from last year's season was that if our defense is creating turnovers, even if we are giving up yards and points, we are really tough to beat (see at Auburn 2014). But if we are sitting back and watching the game happen in front of us, TOP tends to wear us out as the game goes along.
