Antonio Simmons to play more...

SidewalkJacket

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http://www.ajc.com/sports/college/a...le-against-pittsburgh/LfJ5kbmmIcSyQWG1RVr1LI/

This young man has been my favorite to watch play this season. He brings an aggressiveness, athleticism, and a little, dare I say... swagger to our DEF. Every time he's on the field, I try and keep my eye on him. Certainly, pass rush is more of a strength than run D for him, but I think we can make up for this even if he's on the field on run downs. He simply creates more havoc than anyone currently on our DL (KCH in second, IMO).
 

Yaller Jacket

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This is something I've been wanting to hear. I hope there will be follow through. Coach said Monday night Simmons isn't as good against the run, as we suspected. But what I see every week is we stop the run pretty well, then let the other team convert first downs with the pass. It's pass defense which is killing us, and lack of a rush is the biggest part of that. Let's have Simmons on the field most of the game and see what happens.
 

Techster

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Only guy on the team that consistently makes plays behind the LOS.

Blows my mind he isn't getting more snaps, even if it's just obvious passing downs. Our biggest detriment on defense is consistent pressure on the QB to help out our secondary...yet you're not putting the one guy who's best at it on the field? What?!
 

buzzed

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He has impressed me since day 1. I remember he made a few mental errors as a younger player. Maybe that's what kept him off the field until recently.
 

sidewalkGTfan

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There is absolutely no reason this kid should only be getting 10-15 snaps a game. More questionable decisions by Roof and staff. He is our best pass rusher by far and no worse against the run than others.
He's been our best DE this year and on a team that struggles to get a pass rush, yet he doesn't start and only plays on certain downs??? Makes. No. Sense.
 

kg01

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This is probably one of those instances of over-coaching IMHO.

I bet if you sit in film sessions, Simmons has probably been out of position a time or two and coaches were like, "See if you had done X, you'd be playing more .." or w/e. Meanwhile, despite his technical errors, he's pretty much been the only semi-consistent backfield presence our D has had in years.

So do we punish the kid for a couple of errors or do we put the man on the field and let him do what he does best .. and, oh by the way, actually help the team?

Either that or he wasn't a good "practice player" or some other such nonsense. Drives me crazy. Another thing that should've been corrected weeks ago. Play the guys that make plays! Why is that an alien concept? I don't care if his "run fits" aren't perfect or w/e has been keeping him off the field.

That said, maybe his conditioning wasn't there. I don't know. I'm just pissed in general right about now.
 

dressedcheeseside

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This is probably one of those instances of over-coaching IMHO.

I bet if you sit in film sessions, Simmons has probably been out of position a time or two and coaches were like, "See if you had done X, you'd be playing more .." or w/e. Meanwhile, despite his technical errors, he's pretty much been the only semi-consistent backfield presence our D has had in years.

So do we punish the kid for a couple of errors or do we put the man on the field and let him do what he does best .. and, oh by the way, actually help the team?

Either that or he wasn't a good "practice player" or some other such nonsense. Drives me crazy. Another thing that should've been corrected weeks ago. Play the guys that make plays! Why is that an alien concept? I don't care if his "run fits" aren't perfect or w/e has been keeping him off the field.

That said, maybe his conditioning wasn't there. I don't know. I'm just pissed in general right about now.
How in the world do you have any clue as to the rationale behind his allotted pt?
 

Dustman

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This is probably one of those instances of over-coaching IMHO.

I bet if you sit in film sessions, Simmons has probably been out of position a time or two and coaches were like, "See if you had done X, you'd be playing more .." or w/e. Meanwhile, despite his technical errors, he's pretty much been the only semi-consistent backfield presence our D has had in years.

So do we punish the kid for a couple of errors or do we put the man on the field and let him do what he does best .. and, oh by the way, actually help the team?

Either that or he wasn't a good "practice player" or some other such nonsense. Drives me crazy. Another thing that should've been corrected weeks ago. Play the guys that make plays! Why is that an alien concept? I don't care if his "run fits" aren't perfect or w/e has been keeping him off the field.

That said, maybe his conditioning wasn't there. I don't know. I'm just pissed in general right about now.
I'm pretty sure it's more than once or twice he's out of position. He seems to lose contain a lot IMO. As fans we always notice the guys when they make a big play but we don't always know why we give up big plays until we dissect the replays. Simmons is playing a good bit, so I wouldn't say he's being punished. Coach has said before that some guys are better in games than they are in practice so I think he's had plenty of chances to show them how he plays. I get your frustration though. A win this weekend would help in a big way.
 

kg01

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I'm pretty sure it's more than once or twice he's out of position. He seems to lose contain a lot IMO. As fans we always notice the guys when they make a big play but we don't always know why we give up big plays until we dissect the replays. Simmons is playing a good bit, so I wouldn't say he's being punished. Coach has said before that some guys are better in games than they are in practice so I think he's had plenty of chances to show them how he plays. I get your frustration though. A win this weekend would help in a big way.

Wait, lemme step back a bit. I'm not a complete idiot. I'm not some random guy who sees a big play and totally forgets the meat of the game.

As I said, I was just allowing myself to irrationally vent a bit in that post.
 

AE 87

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Wait, lemme step back a bit. I'm not a complete idiot. I'm not some random guy who sees a big play and totally forgets the meat of the game.

As I said, I was just allowing myself to irrationally vent a bit in that post.

Wait, lemme step back a bit.

You're not a complete idiot?
 

Techster

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Play to someone's strengths.

Remember Michael Johnson? Probably the most physically imposing player we've had on the DL...ever. The guy was sub standard against the run, but come 2nd/3rd and long, he was the DE the coaches put in to chase the QB because that was his strength. I mean, the guy was the most physically gifted athlete on the team but didn't start until his senior season.

Play to Antonio's strengths! For a defense that has issues getting pressure on the QB and making plays behind the LOS, to leave our best player at doing exactly that on the sidelines is a coaching crime.
 
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