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Downs is a safety, so I would never expect him to do anything other than helping over the top, or covering RB's and TE's. Denzel Burke was burned by Steward, but luckily Burke has graduated and Jermaine Matthews Jr & Davison Igbinosun are the top to cornerbacks.

I'm not saying that they're wrong, and nobody is talking about Taafe because of his lack of athleticism. Downs is good at playing free and around the ball, but Taafe is an eraser. I don't know how many times a reciever beat a corner and the only person back there to erase that mistake was Taafe. If Downs was that kind of eraser, why didn't they put Downs over Evan Stewart in the first game against Oregon is all I'm saying. It was obvious Ohio State couldn't cover him.

Going with a fellow East Texas on this one. Nathan Vasher.

Yeah, those are excuses too. Michigan has won four years in a row because they were tougher and more physical than Ohio State. Just because it's coming from Ohio State fans doesn't make it any less than a BS excuse.

Somehow, a guy that spends hours trolling opposing fanbases doesn’t seem like the type to avoid excuses. this is coming from a fanbase that wants to excuse away 4 years of being dominated by your rival due to the Connor Stallions saga

Simmons was a non-factor. That doesn't mean he will be on 8/30, and that's what really matters. The Cotton Bowl was in the past.

Running backs without a good OL are nothing. Everything starts up front. Like I said, Will Howard had plenty of time in the pocket, and the backs had clear gaps to run through. Those were the entire games against Indiana, Tennessee, Oregon, and Notre Dame. Will Howard had plenty of time to throw against Texas as well.

Says the main troll saying Simmons was a non-factor. He’s an extra non-factor when the refs are missing egregious holds on 3rd and long, short bus.

This is a vision zone coverage concept. It was Cover 6 (Saban's weak rotated cover 3), with Gbenda being a curl-flat player. In particular, this is what is known in the Saban system as flood. They have Sorrell playing the flat, Gbenda in the curl, Ant Hill in the strong hook, and Makuba playing the weak hook and being a 3 up is 3 player. This is not triple coverage. Maalik Muhammad has a "MOD" call on Jeremiah Smith. As you can see above, MM is playing man coverage on Smith, but everyone else is playing with vision on the QB.

Caleb Downs is the same way. High IQ, a coach in the field, but he's also athletic enough to be a top 10 NFL draft pick. Taafe is good, but 99.9% of non Texas CFB fans are taking Caleb Downs for a reason. 100% of NFL GM's are taking Caleb Downs for a reason.

If you’re like most fans, you don’t focus on the Oline but merely choose to do so on select plays. Domination likely occurs when you’re not looking. Your Tackle was your best guy then the other Tackle was generally more consistent than some of the others. You do realize it is rare to have such highly drafted RBs in the same backfield, right? Maybe helps the Oline. Notre Dame was down maybe their two best DTs. The others weren’t overly talented. Indiana? Come on. There’s a reason Texas was a more difficult game. And again Goosby sat in there with 100,000 Aggies on a line with multiple high draft picks and a former Big 10 badass pass rusher and did fine. But you won’t count that.

We doubted Taafe and have been trying to replace him his whole career, but if you throw at him it's a mistake. When you talk about IQ and always in position to make a play Taafe is one of the best safeties in the game.

Taafe in the last two years have 5 picks and 11 passes defended. That's during the same time frame. Like I said as a high safety give me Taafe as a chess peice or box safety I'll take Downs. That's not disrespecting Downs, check the coverage grade and I bet Taafe grades higher.

Yes, his athleticism is a huge difference between him and Taafe.

Nice to hear from you Nostradamus! Stick around, it's a good group 👍

More than anything, Downs' strength is his football IQ and how quickly he reacts. He is also one of the surest tacklers I have every seen come through Columbus. He just doesn't miss tackles.

No doubt thats because he's going to test well and Taafe will not.

All I know is, the moment you bring up excuses, you have already lost.

Downs has 4 career interceptions and 6 PBUs. His strength is in his all around game. But those numbers are limited and I believe the puck versus us was garbage time.

This was 3rd and 8, 4th quarter, tie game, Texas' best edge rusher. Officials should have had eyes on it. On top of that, Howard had an abnormally long time to throw, which should have raised red flags. This was terrible officiating at best.

That hold saved a sack fumble with the game tied. Brutal.

Taffe's an All-American, of course he's good. Caleb Downs is a top 10 NFL draft pick playing in college football.

I'm going off of tape though. Go watch the Aggie game, the touchdown he saved against Arizona State, the play he made against Miss State playing from his safety position. He really is a difference maker. As a safety does Downs numbers come close? https://youtube.com/shorts/PFTO6VM3V5k?feature=shared

And several blue chips don't pan out each class. For all schools. It all sorts out in the wash on these types of comparisons. Just take it for what it is. We have talent.

I agree with you, no doubt it was.....find me a game, any game where every holding infraction is flagged. Every fan base across the country always cherry picks a clip that show their guy being held and whines about it.....suck it up, don't whine, happens to everybody only the losers whine. BFD go play.... BTW, Simmons is a monster and I expect him to have a major impact on Saturday. He'll have plenty of eyeballs on him, he's a game wrecker