AJ Gray

Ibeeballin

Ibeeballin

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A little positivity.

If AJ is not starting the rest of the way over Demond (along with forcing Marquise Williams throw himself to a victory like thought we were going to make Thomas Sirk) me and Roof will have an issue. Dude is a baller! His raw football talent jumps every time 15 comes across my screen. What I like most, he is willing tackler in the hole.
 
GTonTop88

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Huge pickup for us. Especially making a 5th year Senior, 3 year starter look mediocre. Not bashing Demond saying he's a bad player but AJ stands out when he's on the field.
 
AE 87

AE 87

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Ibeeballin said:
A little positivity.

If AJ is not starting the rest of the way over Demond (along with forcing Marquise Williams throw himself to a victory like thought we were going to make Thomas Sirk) me and Roof will have an issue. Dude is a baller! His raw football talent jumps every time 15 comes across my screen. What I like most, he is willing tackler in the hole.
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Two things:
1) cpj has said they're trying to move him along as fast as possible in knowing the D
2) I think Roof really likes Smith, I really like his team first attitude, but I admit frustration over the number of missed tackles and coverages with #12. I hope my observations have been wrong.
 
Boomergump

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I am really encouraged by AJ. It would have been really nice if he could have kept his feet after the pick Saturday. Either way, it was still a good play. If I were the coach, I would want to make darned sure he was assignment sound before making him a starter. Those guys are the last line of defense. Points get rung up in a hurry when coverages are blown and it doesn't matter how good an athlete you are when that happens. At this point 'ballin, I agree with you, in that we know who is destined to be the man back there.
 
DvilleJacket

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Wasn't a Gatorade player of the year for nothing! Looks like Morgan Burnett and will more than likely be playing on Sunday if he progresses like I think he will. The game looks easy to him.
 
Boomergump

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Look, I think Demond is a good player. We certainly need him. However, it is pretty clear when just sizing up either, as an "athlete", what we are dealing with here. The rookie was a pretty good find.
 
ibeattetris

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Boomergump said:
Look, I think Demond is a good player. We certainly need him. However, it is pretty clear when just sizing up either, as an "athlete", what we are dealing with here. The rookie was a pretty good find.
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I still find it funny that a Gatorade Player of the Year is considered a "good find". I definitely liked what I saw from him and hope the coaches are able to get him ready to be an every down player soon!
 
dressedcheeseside

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Boomergump said:
I am really encouraged by AJ. It would have been really nice if he could have kept his feet after the pick Saturday. Either way, it was still a good play. If I were the coach, I would want to make darned sure he was assignment sound before making him a starter. Those guys are the last line of defense. Points get rung up in a hurry when coverages are blown and it doesn't matter how good an athlete you are when that happens. At this point 'ballin, I agree with you, in that we know who is destined to be the man back there.
Click to expand...
Like the 91 yard run at ND? Not saying it was AJ, but somebody wasn't where they needed to be.
 
kg01

kg01

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alagold said:
Not to start a new thread but Golden has NOT been showing up big so far on DEF either. We have a total Sr backfield we should get more.
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I won't bash you ('cause I've been thinking the same about him and another that gets time in the nickel pkg), but this is the pro-AJ thread so let's keep it positive. That sounded way preachier than I intended.

Anyway, another nice play I saw from 15 was in stopping Sirk on one of those 3rd down QB draws that usually go for 6 against us. 15 squared up and made a solid tackle stopping the man short of the 1st. I was almost as excited about that as I was his shoulda-been pic-6
 
Techster

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You can definitely see the improvement from game 1 to now with AJ. A lot more sure with where to go, and he did it against a better opponent in Duke. He flashes a lot on D...just always around the ball. The last guy to flash like that at the safety position? Morgan Burnett. Know what other similarities they both had? Both were also their HS's starting QB.

Excited about his potential for our defense.
 
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