Greg Davis: Opposite day
One thing that’s always killed me about Greg Davis is that he has no idea how to use the tools he’s given. For instance, that little shovel pass we run is designed to be run against a blitz, just like a screen. Davis stole the play, but instead prefers to run it against zone defenses, because it’s “safer.” It’s totally backwards. He likes to run the play against the defense best suited to sniff it out.
Last night I managed to score a couple of free, last second tickets, so I got to watch the abortion from above. Now, we did win 49-9 and did double A&M’s yardage output, but let me tell you that we were 60 points better than that football team.
We needed to come out smoking, and set the tone right away. Last night was about putting on a show. Instead, we came out with the sense of urgency of a sloth that had just eaten an entire turkey. Until Malcolm Williams’ 3rd and 9 conversion early in the second quarter, Texas had sent exactly one receiver more than 12 yards downfield (and it was on Colt’s 2nd sack, when he slipped). Up to that point we had run Davis’ two favorite plays: the zone that everyone knows how to beat, and the pass play where 4 WRs run to the nearest defender, then stop and turn around. We came out dinking and dunking against a team we can physically dominate.
It was still a beatdown — the biggest margin of victory since 1898. But it was also the 10th straight time we’ve come out flat against A&M and won by much less than we should have. It’s not usually a big deal, but we are in the ridiculous beauty pageant and last night, of all nights, we needed a big win.
49-9 is pretty good. It should’ve been 60-3. When Davis leaves we are instantly going to be 20% better. If this team had a coherent running game the score last night wouldn’t have mattered. We’d be 12-0 and coming off a 60 point win over A&M.
Hopefully no one actually watched the game but the fans, because the box score is going to look pretty good. The truth is that we did make a statement, and that statement was “OU deserved to go the championship game.”
PS - Earl Thomas is the truth.
November 28, 2008 at 7:08 am
Putting the CA curse on a new DB, now that Deon has succumbed to your evil powers, Chris?
November 28, 2008 at 7:12 am
The last two games we have played, we beat teams by a larger margin of victory than OU beat them, and people are more impressed with OU’s victory. How is that possible?
Hopefully Tech loses and no one has to argue (unlikely), but I will also take a Sooner fubar and us backdooring it into the MNC.
hook’em
November 28, 2008 at 7:13 am
It pains me to agree with you about our performance. If things were to end today, I think OU is more impressive than Texas - regardless of the box score.
November 28, 2008 at 7:17 am
and Deon Beasley is the False…if that can be said.
I’m channelling Charles Barkley when I say “as, he’s just TURRABLE!”
Im channelling Stephon Marbury when I say I wouldn’t “trust [Deon Beasley] to walk my dog!”
I don’t know why we keep playing this guy.
Quiet frustration comes over me when we are on offense, forever knowing the nosebleed of a coach we have calling plays in the box will ALWAYS disapoint us in the end…
November 28, 2008 at 7:17 am
Earl Thomas ran down A&M’s two fastest players. Yeah, he had the angle, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Last year that would have been two touchdowns for the Aggies.
November 28, 2008 at 7:24 am
I’ve pretty much always disliked GD. And I whole heartedly agree about what the score SHOULD have been. Sure Mack called off the dogs in the 4th quarter, but the simple fact is we should have put up 49 in the first half with this squad! If all of us “ignorant” fans can see how much the lack of a somewhat coherent run game is costing this program, why the hell can’t Mack & Co. figure it out?
November 28, 2008 at 7:25 am
The last two games we have played, we beat teams by a larger margin of victory than OU beat them, and people are more impressed with OU’s victory. How is that possible?
Would it be more impressive if I actually let Sam play in the fourth quarters?
November 28, 2008 at 7:28 am
Oh, I forgot to add how excited I am about Garrett Gilbert…but he better call Colt and get his workout regimen “How to bulk up so you can scramble your ass off and carry the offense because your OC has no brain”.
November 28, 2008 at 7:41 am
“Putting the CA curse on a new DB, now that Deon has succumbed to your evil powers, Chris?”
I spent about half the game watching him specifically. He’s still the best cover guy on the team, with Chykie out. The reason he never makes plays is because no one throws to him. He usually has his guy blanketed.
He just finds a way to get roasted in spectacular fashion once or twice a game. When he gets beat he really gets beat.
Also, he can’t tackle.
November 28, 2008 at 7:41 am
Here’s hoping that Major Applewhite is able to learn what “not to do” from Davis.
November 28, 2008 at 7:41 am
“With Chykie slowed by injury,” rather.
November 28, 2008 at 7:46 am
“Deon Beasley is the False.” this is true. but remember, it’s not that he is terrible, it’s just that whenever he gets beaten, it is in the most spectacular ways. how many opponents’ biggest plays from scrimmage have been over deon? i bet it is more than 1/11th.
November 28, 2008 at 7:54 am
Beasley’s nickname should be ’slumpbuster.’
November 28, 2008 at 8:01 am
That would be Ryan Palmer.
November 28, 2008 at 8:05 am
I’ll say it again: Davis has never met a first down marker he didn’t like.
November 28, 2008 at 8:25 am
I was thinking the exact same thing. Every coach in the Big 12 has seen the only running play in our book: you know, where the rb runs parallel to the line of scrimmage and then cuts upfield right behind the tackle so he can dive into the pile. It’s good for 2 yards every time. Davis is an idiot. Last night was simply Exhibit ZZ. Our watch group concluded that the only person who can keep Colt from winning the Heisman is Davis.
Oh and if Ulatoski and Beasley are even on the team next year I will yank my hair out by the roots. It’s 11:00am and Ulatoski still hasn’t blocked anyone, or even managed to get in their way. My 7 year old could get open against Beasley.
November 28, 2008 at 8:31 am
Our watch group concluded that the only person who can keep Colt from winning the Heisman is Davis.
I’ll go out on a limb and say that Davis deserves at least some credit for McCoy’s development.
November 28, 2008 at 8:34 am
GD’s tip-toeing, pussy-footing ballerina-esque running game is embarrassing, to say the least.
I cannot even imagine why MB continues to allow this; it’s the Horns’ achilles heel, and has been for years.
November 28, 2008 at 8:34 am
When are we going to see Scipio’s take?
November 28, 2008 at 8:36 am
Never, I punched his keyboard and broke it.
November 28, 2008 at 8:47 am
Better than a door, I guess. Davis bashing never gets old does it? He go no credit for VY being a Heisman finalist and he’ll get no credit for a 3 star recruit going to NYC either?
November 28, 2008 at 8:50 am
Our watch group concluded that the only person who can keep Colt from winning the Heisman is Davis.
May I join your watch group?
November 28, 2008 at 8:52 am
Davis gets no credit for Vince, no. He actively held him back for half his career. He should get credit for Colt, but not 100%.
If you want Scipio’s take, just add a bunch of 15th century literary references and pop culture similes to mine. That’s what usually happens.
November 28, 2008 at 8:57 am
VY didn’t bloom until, when asked by MB what he needed, he said to “leave him alone and let him play”. Absent GD’s “coaching”, VY soared and the rest is history.
November 28, 2008 at 9:00 am
The last two games we have played, we beat teams by a larger margin of victory than OU beat them, and people are more impressed with OU’s victory. How is that possible?
I think it’s because people are more accustomed (traditionally) to seeing teams held to single-digits than they are seeing teams put up 60+ points. We hold Kansas and A&M to single digits and people think, “Hey, good defense.” OU puts 65 on the board against Tech and it’s “Holy shit, WOW what an offense!”
Stupidity, in other words.
November 28, 2008 at 9:04 am
How many Davis bashers on here that were calling for Brown’s head during the OU victory drought? Oh, right. Some of you were in diapers. Davis absolutely deserved criticism for the 1st half of the Tech game but credit for the comeback. I haven’t heard one former UT QB bitch about Davis after they left.
November 28, 2008 at 9:17 am
We’ve had a great season. Greg Davis is a good coach. However, there’s no denying that our running game should be better. If you think otherwise, you’re not watching a lot of college football.
Our running scheme is like the corpse flower - it takes forever to develop and when it does it emits a putrid odor.
For laughs, I often imagine Stephen Hawking as one of our “running backs.” I see him in his wheelchair slowly moving up and down the line looking for a hole to develop. He flops his lilting head from side to side. You can hear the whirring of the wheelchair motor from the upper deck at DKR as the he feverishly searches for a crease. Eventually, the “Hawk” as his fantasy football fans call him, loses patience and opens a rip in the space time continuum off tackle and slowly rolls into another dimension.
As the fabric of the universe bends back on itself I hear Howard Cosell, “Look at that little monkey go.”
November 28, 2008 at 9:19 am
In my druken stupor at the game last night, I thought I could make out the Aggies walking up a safety consistently early in the game. For some reason we responded to this by a heretofore unseen commitment to running the ball over and over again. We never ran that much against 7 man fronts earlier, but we decided to do it last night against 8? The results were predictable.
Is it possible that Mack feels bad about how completely his tenure at Texas has destroyed the A&M program and was holding the margin down from the opening snap? The phrase completely retarded comes to mind when describing the offensive strategy Texas came out with early last night.
November 28, 2008 at 9:52 am
“The last two games we have played, we beat teams by a larger margin of victory than OU beat them, and people are more impressed with OU’s victory. How is that possible?”
Maybe it’s because OU is ringing up 28 points on teams in the first quarter and then puts it on cruise control from there?
November 28, 2008 at 9:55 am
I’m happy with the victory, 49-9, with Colt sitting almost all of the 4th quarter.
Shipley and Collins reaching with one arm extended to try to score the TD was a repeat of the same stupid technique that we have seen over and over through the years. Colt leaping through 2 defenders at the goal line was also pretty stupid. UT has been a very reliable scorer at the goal line this year, why take unnecessary chances of fumbling or injury?
Even though A&M was always in nickel and dime packages with a small D line, UT virtually never tried just power running right up the gut. There is no point running laterally when the D is loaded up with their speed guys.
Glad to see Cody do so well.
When you have so much depth at WR, why not nearly always send somebody deep on every play just to wear out the opposition secondary? Maybe GD is afraid Colt would be tempted to throw deep when the deep receiver is well covered (like one deep throw to Malcolm when he was double covered).
GD is a good QB coach and taught Vince a lot. GD’s problem with Vince was that he did not have a good feel for what Vince could and could not do. GD was trying to turn Vince into a pro QB and Vince was just not ready for that.
When Mack decreed that the new approach was to let Vince be Vince, that is when Vince blossomed. Mack is a head coach who loves running QBs so Mack and Vince were a good match.
Beasley covers well (usually), he just does not tackle well and definitely does not like hitting. The long pass he got beat on was kind of stupid schematically in that Beasley was right on top of the receiver at the LOS with no safety support. There had to be a missed communication somewhere between Beasley and the safety on that side. It is also much better to have Beasley defend guys who are not a head taller than Beasley. The guy who beat him for the TD was 6′4″.
Thomas was great. He does not make those plays without 4.4 speed. That is why you need safeties that can run a 4.4.
The most likely reason Colt does not win the Heisman is that there are so many great QBs in the Big 12 this year. This will divide the vote in this part of the country. If the Heisman is an MVP award, then Colt deserves it.
November 28, 2008 at 10:14 am
ChrisApplewhite’s hatred for GD is weird, unhealthy, and mostly wrongheaded. Grow up.
November 28, 2008 at 10:14 am
Nice to have a win, but I couldn’t agree more. “The truth is that we did make a statement, and that statement was “OU deserved to go the championship game.” Reason: Overachieving team, underachieving Davis.
November 28, 2008 at 10:23 am
Scipio knows that 15th century = 1400s, not a good century for literature in English.
Lydgate notwithstanding.
November 28, 2008 at 10:23 am
Difference between Greg Davis and the author is the latter must buy a ticket and the other is paid very well and produces top 10 offenses year after year.
Watching so many bigtime programs struggle on offense, I’m inclined to be thankful for what we have. Call me stupid, but we could be ND or Michigan or Auburn or Tennessee…and we are not.
November 28, 2008 at 10:23 am
Texoz:
Truly great post.
November 28, 2008 at 10:28 am
As regards to GD, I have a very close personal friend who happens to be a former RB at Texas, who was drafted and had a career in the NFL as a RB. In other words, not just a blogger, but someone who has a working knowledge of offensive football at the highest levels.
On a personal level, he knows and likes GD, when it comes to what he sees on the field, he is one of the most outspoken critics of GD’s offense that I have heard.(He would eat echeese’s lunch)
My friend believes that GD lacks imagination, that virtually everything that we see has been copied from other systems, that he has little to no ability to adjust in a game. Believes GD to be an excellent QB coach but as an offensive coordinator is the epitome of the “Peter Principle”.
Again, this is someone who knows whereof he speaks.
November 28, 2008 at 10:59 am
The killer for me this year, outside of all of the usual problems with Davis, is the 2nd down decisionmaking. We have to be the least efficient 2nd down team in the country. It’s laughably bad.
I credit Applewhite with a lot of the good stuff we’ve seen on offense this year. Davis does the same shit for 10 years, Applewhite shows up in year 11 and suddenly we’ve figured out how to hit guys on the run with a pass, how to block screens, and how to have several plays build off of one another. It’s magic, I say. Magic!!
Davis as a coordinator is and has always been a complete and utter sports tragedy, given the talent always on hand. Davis as a developer of QB talent has done a better job. He deserves virtually no credit for Vince Young, however. He basically attempted to ruin him, albeit unwittingly.
Davis continues to be one of the best examples of failing upward that you can find in any industry. He needs to wake up each day thanking God for Mack Brown. His great grandchildren should be doing that 100 years from now, frankly.
November 28, 2008 at 11:01 am
Someone - probably a Barker - once said a Greg Davis offense was all about ‘paint by numbers’. Or words to that effect. I thought that summed it up pretty well.
November 28, 2008 at 11:05 am
“It pains me to agree with you about our performance. If things were to end today, I think OU is more impressive than Texas - regardless of the box score.”
That is retarded, and I doubt you bleed orange.
November 28, 2008 at 11:08 am
That’s because 2nd down = running down.
November 28, 2008 at 11:14 am
I’ve forever anguished over why we’ve never gone for the homerun ball on 2nd and short. That’s one play that is truly inconceivable for Davis’s Houston directory.
November 28, 2008 at 11:17 am
I’ve forever anguished over why we’ve never gone for the homerun ball on 2nd and short.
Or after a turnover.
November 28, 2008 at 12:20 pm
“Scipio knows that 15th century = 1400s, not a good century for literature in English.”
That’s because the 15th century was pretty much spent recovering from the plague.
Great period for art, tho, with the birth of Danse Macabre.
November 28, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Machiavelli really pumped my nads.
November 28, 2008 at 1:10 pm
“Or after a turnover.”
We used to, all the time. We’d throw deep out of the endzone, too.
November 28, 2008 at 1:33 pm
“The reason he never makes plays is because no one throws to him. He usually has his guy blanketed.”
Really Chris? That little midget with a noodle arm that Kansas likes to call their QB was clearly picking on Beasley the entire game.
November 28, 2008 at 1:47 pm
First, Reesing is legit, and second, it’s hard to say a QB was picking on anyone when they scored 7 points. Outside of that crazy helmet catch, all they got all day was short slants and stuff that are just tough to cover for anyone.
You can give up plays without getting beat. Getting beat is what Fuller did to Beasley yesterday.
When he starts giving up 6-7 of those a game we can have this conversation.
November 28, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Struggling on offense and still putting up 49 points, while also holding the other team to 9 points, their low for the year, = OU deserved to go the championship game?
Good original premise, but that is just bad.
November 28, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Chris-
My7 problem with Beasley is in the area of tackling, and making a play on the ball in the air, something that all our DBs not name Chykie have.
I am tired of seeing him blatantly avoid actually hitting someone who is stationary. As far as getting burnt goes…….. Curtis gets burnt far more than him!!
November 28, 2008 at 2:29 pm
So, we are 11-1, #2 in BCS, beat OU and Aggy in same year, a QB breaing all kinds of records, and you are still unhappy? WOW.
November 28, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Davis is like a freshman on the field, good for at least one loss during the season
November 28, 2008 at 2:54 pm
“We needed to come out smoking, and set the tone right away…Instead, we came out with the sense of urgency of a sloth that had just eaten an entire turkey.”
Not to dispute that the running game is lacking, but our slow start might have been due in large part to the condition of the field. No one was able to make cuts at the start of the game.
“So, we are 11-1, #2 in BCS, beat OU and Aggy in same year, a QB breaing all kinds of records, and you are still unhappy? WOW.”
Wait till Colt wins the Heisman, then CA will really be pissed.
November 28, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I read in the AA-S that the field was fucked up from a filming of Friday Night Lights. Thanks, DeLo$$.
As for Davis, he STILL sucks, and when OU passes us in the BCS, we can thank him for handing yet another championship game opportunity to those pricks.
November 28, 2008 at 4:06 pm
We’ll take it.
November 28, 2008 at 4:55 pm
“Or after a turnover.”
Thank You! I was pissed we didn’t go for that touchdown after the fumble recovery last night. Luckily the next play we ran it in.
“We used to, all the time. We’d throw deep out of the endzone, too.”
I remember those days. Is Colt not good throwing deep or does he just not look to throw deep?
November 28, 2008 at 5:05 pm
I think McCoy threw one deep ball yesterday, and it hit the A&M DB in the chest.
November 28, 2008 at 6:28 pm
cru -
I am unhappy that for the 3rd out of 10 years, Greg Davis might cost us a shot at the title.
I am thrilled with this team otherwise. I was the most optimistic of anyone on this stie coming into the year, and I think the Muschamp move pretty much sets us up as the dominant force in the South moving forward.
Obviously I have stated this many times, as I am paid very handsomely by this site to state things. I’m going to leave you with a bit of advice about coming to conclusions on the internet. I call it the Fox News rule:
If what you’re reading or hearing is so outlandish and crazy that you’re first reaction is “WOW I cannot believe a rational person could think the way you do” then that person probably doesn’t think the way you think they do.
November 28, 2008 at 6:29 pm
p - no argument from me there. Deon makes Ryan Palmer look like a LB.
November 28, 2008 at 8:10 pm
I think you are missing Greg Davis’ visionary genius. Every OC in football attacks the end zones. Davis is the only one who sees the potential in attacking the undefended sidelines.
November 28, 2008 at 8:23 pm
“I think McCoy threw one deep ball yesterday, and it hit the A&M DB in the chest.”
If I remember correctly (only have the perspective of watching from the south end zone here) and we’re thinking about the same play, that was McCoy’s second read or he was looking the defender off. We had one receiver on a post going up the field that was covered fairly well so Colt threw it to a wheel route or something like that expecting it to become open but never did and it was a poor throw for sure.
Chris,
As my dad put it so well last night, this team may not go to the national championship, but it sure is a special team that we can be thankful to be fans of.
As far as the deep ball comment, You have a chance to rip the heart out of an A&M team right after that turn over on like the 20 or 30 yard line. Put the ball where only your guy can catch it or it goes out of bounds. Probably easier said than done, but it’s worth a shot. The A&M defense hadn’t exactly showed the ability to stop us up to that point so that still would have left you 2nd and 3rd down to dink and dunk (or run the ball down their throats) to get ten yards.
November 29, 2008 at 12:05 am
“When he starts giving up 6-7 of those a game we can have this conversation.”
If he gave up 6-7 long bombs a game, he would be the worst DB in the history of football.
I think you give Beasley too much credit and Davis too little. You’re only slightly too hard on Davis, though, because our running game really is a giant clusterfuck.
November 29, 2008 at 12:24 am
“I think you give Beasley too much credit and Davis too little. You’re only slightly too hard on Davis, though, because our running game really is a giant clusterfuck.”-longhornmatt
You are right! Our running game is an abortion. It is partly the scheme, but more important the players we recruit to execute the scheme. We would be better served with O-linemen the size of Okung at OSU. He is perfect for what we ask our guys to do.
As far as the Beasley thing goes. I don’t know when he got so gun shy. Maybe there was a hit he took last year, or something that changed his attitude about contact. I noticed Gideon wasn’t as aggressive to the ball after last week(I’ll give him a couple more games). To me Curtis seems to be the guy getting smoked the most. If you watch him he gets turned all kinds of ass-backwards on the simplest routes. It reminds me of watching Palmer trying to defend Anthony Gonzales of tOSU in 06. Curtis is athletic as hell though. I hope these guys come around, although I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of 4, 8, 12, and 23 down the line!!
November 29, 2008 at 5:34 am
Yeah, but that Cody Johnson sure is a great RB! If we could just start him we could pound folks all day with our running game.
He is THE ANSWER!
November 29, 2008 at 7:04 am
If we started Cody Johnson and pounded him, he’d be out of gas halfway through the second quarter.
November 29, 2008 at 7:39 am
Beasley is good. There is no arguing it. He failed to make the leap to great like I thought I would. HE has lousy ball skills and manages to get crossed up once a game.
November 29, 2008 at 9:21 am
Chris-
I agree!!
Beasley= good technique, horrible with the ball in the air, and scared to tackle.
Curtis Brown= crazy athletic ability. gets turned around at least 5 times a game. Can at least knock the ball away while it’s in the air, but good luck catching it.
Gideon= field general. How many times a game do you see him directing traffic? Late to makes plays in the passing game. I usually know who the safety on that side was, when a long pass was completed.
Chykie Brown= best overall corner we have. He has the size, and cover skills to be very good. He also is the only one I have seen that consistently plays the ball. He isn’t all that shy about tackling either.
Earl Thomas= The eraser. This guy, although he has made plenty of mistakes, looks to have the freakish athletic ability to be a mini Huff. You make a mistake, he has the ability to make up for it. He single-handily saved 2 TDs vs A&M.
November 29, 2008 at 10:01 am
Hearing CA defend Beasley like this makes me wanna vomit…
I don know how many times this season Deon has missed a tackle, been flagged for PI - he NEVER turns to look for the flippin ball, Kip! - and gets outstep by Maclin and Bryant and Manny Johnson and Kerry “Converted QB” Meier so many times I’m beginning to think he is Akina’s innocent prom date…
Think aboutbyour own eval… He’s bad with the ball in the air and cannot tackle in open space. What else is he good for then?! Reesing DID pick on him. As did Zac Robinson, Daniel, Bradford and harrell and Griffin…
We need stats, but I guarantee Deon and his pretty pink prom dress has been thrown at more than any other (ineffective) Texas DB.
Vomit I tell you.
November 29, 2008 at 10:28 am
scagnetti-
We are in agreement for the most part. Beasley can run with guys. Curtis seems to get turned backwards more than any DB. If you want my opinion I think AW, and Chykie will be the guys we rely on going forward. The other guys…… you could put a name in a hat and it doesn’t much matter.
November 29, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Baylor has 148 yards rushing on Tech in the first half and leads 21-14 at half. We had 80 in the game. Makes me a bit ill.
November 29, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Don’t look now but Baylor is up by 14 in the 3rd…feels too good to be true…
November 29, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Further proof that Davis is an incompetent idiot is Baylor has 229 yards rushing against Tech. Davis couldn’t figure out how to rush against their horrible defense.
November 29, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Well, OU just hung 61 on Okie Lite and Herbie will be “shocked” if OU doesn’t get the title shot.
Thanks, Greg. We can always count you to fuck up a shot at the conference championship. Stoops should give you a percentage of his check every year.
November 30, 2008 at 5:27 am
Davis has no idea how to use the tools he has?
Funny but when we have had cats that could go in the backfield we run the piss out of the ball. Williams, Benson, Charles.
We had over 500 yards of offense against aggy and still people are bitching.
There are times when I wish we were still back in the days of McWilliams and Mackovic so we could truely revisit real misery. If during the last years of Mackovic I had told you what the next ten years would bring us offensively most of you would have pulled every muscle in your back from jumping out of your recliner in disbelief and happiness.
Some people just can’t stand success.
November 30, 2008 at 6:20 am
If by “run the piss out of the ball,” you mean handing the ball to Jamaal Charles 17 times in each of Texas’ three losses last year, then you would be correct.
November 30, 2008 at 12:56 pm
It’s official - Greg Davis costs the Horns yet another conference title, handing Stoopsie another appearance in the championship game.
December 1, 2008 at 8:38 am
F me!
December 1, 2008 at 3:27 pm
“One thing that has always killed me about Greg Davis is that he has no idea how to use the tools he is given.”
One thing that has always killed me about the internet is that it allows stupid people to publish.
December 3, 2008 at 10:13 am
Greg Davis cost us the Tech game, and thus a chance at both the Big 12 and National Championships. He’s a solid OC, but not one that gets nearly what he could out of his teams. He’s too slow to react and not nearly aggressive enough up front. He makes defending us too easy.