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April 16, 2007
Goose's look at safeties
Hall of Fame scribe Rick "Goose" Gosselin focused on safeties in today's edition of his draft preview.
LSU's LaRon Landry will be long gone by No. 22, so that leaves three candidates if the Cowboys want to pick a safety in the first round: Florida's Reggie Nelson, Texas' Michael Griffin and Miami's Brandon Meriweather.
Let me go on the record as saying I don't think Griffin is first-round material. He really struggled without Michael Huff by his side last season and was a major reason the Longhorns ranked 99th in the nation -- and next to last in the Big 12 -- in pass defense.
Griffin is great in run support and will make some plays in the passing game, but he blew way too many coverages to give up big plays without Huff directing traffic for UT. He'd be an awful fit next to Roy Williams.
Follow the jump to read a mid-season story by our UT beat writer Chip Brown that details Griffin's struggles.
AUSTIN - Texas senior safety Michael Griffin, who became a national star with a critical interception against USC in the Rose Bowl, came into the season as perhaps the top awards candidate on his team.
On Monday, he found himself defending his role in a secondary that has given up big play after big play with a road trip to pass-happy Texas Tech up next. He answered questions about whether he truly loves the game and responded to his critics.
"I can't change the past," he said. "I can only go from here and believe in myself and believe in my teammates and have my teammates believe in me."
Griffin missed tackles on two Nebraska touchdowns Saturday and got fooled on a trick play that led to another score. Those three plays accounted for 137 of Nebraska's 340 yards and all 20 of its points.
It's been a season of turmoil for the secondary.
Griffin was assigned to Ohio State receiver Anthony Gonzalez on half of the eight receptions Gonzalez had for 142 yards in the Buckeyes' victory over Texas. He was also supposed to be the stabilizing force in a secondary that lost 2005 Thorpe Award winner Michael Huff, a first-round draft pick, and cornerback Cedric Griffin, a second-round pick.
He admitted to being overwhelmed in the Ohio State game because cornerback Tarell Brown was suspended and because his twin brother, Marcus, the team's other safety, missed significant time with an ankle injury. They have combined to miss five games this season. Last year, no one in the secondary missed any time.
"He lost some buddies back there who were really good players, guys who are now playing on Sunday," coach Mack Brown said, referring to Huff and Cedric Griffin.
"Michael's been the old man back there having to put out fires," Brown said. "And it does affect you. But I'm proud of the way he's hung in there and taken the heat. I don't think we're giving him enough credit. He hasn't had much help because everyone's been hurt."
Griffin's been a wizard on special teams. He's largely responsible for Texas' ranking No. 2 nationally in punt return defense (allowing 1.8 yards per return) and shares the school record for blocked kicks (seven).
But the bottom line is that Griffin was expected to take up where Huff left off. Coaches say Huff had a gift for reading the offense and lining up the secondary - a role Griffin has struggled with.
Griffin said Monday he and Huff are totally different players and no longer should be compared.
"Huff is more of a cover guy," Griffin said. "He always wanted to play corner. I'm a strong safety. If it was a hard run formation, Huff wanted me in the box and him in the middle of the field. If it was a pass formation, he went out and covered, and I played free safety. It's hard with the new guys we've had in there this season for them to understand how we did it last year."
Griffin said the defense's focus on stopping the run is going to lead to some big plays in the passing game.
"We're No. 2 in rushing defense, and if you look, the corners and safeties are very involved," Griffin said.
Co-defensive coordinator Gene Chizik disagreed with that reasoning. "I think you can play sound everywhere," Chizik said.
Chizik said Griffin needs to "play more consistently."
"He's done a lot of really good things," Chizik said. "He's very physical against the run, and our safeties are very involved in our success on run defense.
"I think he's settled down a lot since he stopped worrying about what everyone else is trying to do. We've tried to get some continuity back there. But sometimes there's different guys back there."
Griffin has repeatedly said he spends his free time breeding pit bulls, not studying film or thinking about football. But he said Monday he is passionate about the game.
"I love playing the game," he said. "I'm blessed to have this ability to play. A lot of people would love to be in my position."
For those who have been quick to criticize Griffin - especially on Internet message boards (because he's been reading) - he shot back with this: "Can you do better?"
Griffin said the defense is working hard to correct its problems.
"Things are going to be said, but as long as we're winning and we win a Big 12 championship or we make it to the Big 12 game or whatever happens in the future, I'm pretty sure these opinions are going to flip-flop all over the place."
Posted by Tim MacMahon http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/standing/icons/email.gif at 11:54 AM (E-mail this entry)
Goose's look at safeties
Hall of Fame scribe Rick "Goose" Gosselin focused on safeties in today's edition of his draft preview.
LSU's LaRon Landry will be long gone by No. 22, so that leaves three candidates if the Cowboys want to pick a safety in the first round: Florida's Reggie Nelson, Texas' Michael Griffin and Miami's Brandon Meriweather.
Let me go on the record as saying I don't think Griffin is first-round material. He really struggled without Michael Huff by his side last season and was a major reason the Longhorns ranked 99th in the nation -- and next to last in the Big 12 -- in pass defense.
Griffin is great in run support and will make some plays in the passing game, but he blew way too many coverages to give up big plays without Huff directing traffic for UT. He'd be an awful fit next to Roy Williams.
Follow the jump to read a mid-season story by our UT beat writer Chip Brown that details Griffin's struggles.
AUSTIN - Texas senior safety Michael Griffin, who became a national star with a critical interception against USC in the Rose Bowl, came into the season as perhaps the top awards candidate on his team.
On Monday, he found himself defending his role in a secondary that has given up big play after big play with a road trip to pass-happy Texas Tech up next. He answered questions about whether he truly loves the game and responded to his critics.
"I can't change the past," he said. "I can only go from here and believe in myself and believe in my teammates and have my teammates believe in me."
Griffin missed tackles on two Nebraska touchdowns Saturday and got fooled on a trick play that led to another score. Those three plays accounted for 137 of Nebraska's 340 yards and all 20 of its points.
It's been a season of turmoil for the secondary.
Griffin was assigned to Ohio State receiver Anthony Gonzalez on half of the eight receptions Gonzalez had for 142 yards in the Buckeyes' victory over Texas. He was also supposed to be the stabilizing force in a secondary that lost 2005 Thorpe Award winner Michael Huff, a first-round draft pick, and cornerback Cedric Griffin, a second-round pick.
He admitted to being overwhelmed in the Ohio State game because cornerback Tarell Brown was suspended and because his twin brother, Marcus, the team's other safety, missed significant time with an ankle injury. They have combined to miss five games this season. Last year, no one in the secondary missed any time.
"He lost some buddies back there who were really good players, guys who are now playing on Sunday," coach Mack Brown said, referring to Huff and Cedric Griffin.
"Michael's been the old man back there having to put out fires," Brown said. "And it does affect you. But I'm proud of the way he's hung in there and taken the heat. I don't think we're giving him enough credit. He hasn't had much help because everyone's been hurt."
Griffin's been a wizard on special teams. He's largely responsible for Texas' ranking No. 2 nationally in punt return defense (allowing 1.8 yards per return) and shares the school record for blocked kicks (seven).
But the bottom line is that Griffin was expected to take up where Huff left off. Coaches say Huff had a gift for reading the offense and lining up the secondary - a role Griffin has struggled with.
Griffin said Monday he and Huff are totally different players and no longer should be compared.
"Huff is more of a cover guy," Griffin said. "He always wanted to play corner. I'm a strong safety. If it was a hard run formation, Huff wanted me in the box and him in the middle of the field. If it was a pass formation, he went out and covered, and I played free safety. It's hard with the new guys we've had in there this season for them to understand how we did it last year."
Griffin said the defense's focus on stopping the run is going to lead to some big plays in the passing game.
"We're No. 2 in rushing defense, and if you look, the corners and safeties are very involved," Griffin said.
Co-defensive coordinator Gene Chizik disagreed with that reasoning. "I think you can play sound everywhere," Chizik said.
Chizik said Griffin needs to "play more consistently."
"He's done a lot of really good things," Chizik said. "He's very physical against the run, and our safeties are very involved in our success on run defense.
"I think he's settled down a lot since he stopped worrying about what everyone else is trying to do. We've tried to get some continuity back there. But sometimes there's different guys back there."
Griffin has repeatedly said he spends his free time breeding pit bulls, not studying film or thinking about football. But he said Monday he is passionate about the game.
"I love playing the game," he said. "I'm blessed to have this ability to play. A lot of people would love to be in my position."
For those who have been quick to criticize Griffin - especially on Internet message boards (because he's been reading) - he shot back with this: "Can you do better?"
Griffin said the defense is working hard to correct its problems.
"Things are going to be said, but as long as we're winning and we win a Big 12 championship or we make it to the Big 12 game or whatever happens in the future, I'm pretty sure these opinions are going to flip-flop all over the place."
Posted by Tim MacMahon http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/standing/icons/email.gif at 11:54 AM (E-mail this entry)
