Utah State’s Head Coach Talks Mo Alexander

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RamBill

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Utah St. Head Coach Matt Wells joined Kevin Wheeler to talk about Maurice Alexander’s altercation, how it made him a better football player, a lesson we can all learn from, moving from LB to Safety, and why he will be a big asset for the Rams.

Listen to Matt Wells Talk Mo Alexander
 

V3

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That didn't make me feel that great about the pick. You could tell his coach wasn't that impressed with his coverage skills. He kept going on about his tackling, blitzing, etc but when it came time to talk about his coverage, he skirted the question, IMO. He glanced over it with coach speak by saying, "good, not great" and quickly jumped back to his other attributes. Coaches don't say bad things about their players so that pretty much translates to coverage is his worst attribute, IMO. I sure hope this kid can figure out how to cover because that's where we sucked last year.
 

den-the-coach

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That didn't make me feel that great about the pick. You could tell his coach wasn't that impressed with his coverage skills. He kept going on about his tackling, blitzing, etc but when it came time to talk about his coverage, he skirted the question, IMO. He glanced over it with coach speak by saying, "good, not great" and quickly jumped back to his other attributes. Coaches don't say bad things about their players so that pretty much translates to coverage is his worst attribute, IMO. I sure hope this kid can figure out how to cover because that's where we sucked last year.

T. J. McDonald is the one who will be in coverage if they pair the two last year before and a tad after he got hurt McDonald was always in coverage. Not sure what the plan for Alexander is, but I can assure he was not drafted for his ability to cover, he was drafted for his ability to hit!
 

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T. J. McDonald is the one who will be in coverage if they pair the two last year before and a tad after he got hurt McDonald was always in coverage. Not sure what the plan for Alexander is, but I can assure he was not drafted for his ability to cover, he was drafted for his ability to hit!

While I like McD, he isn't a player I want playing FS. His coverage is okay but it's not good enough to play FS, IMO. I want a FS, not a SS playing FS.
 

den-the-coach

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While I like McD, he isn't a player I want playing FS. His coverage is okay but it's not good enough to play FS, IMO. I want a FS, not a SS playing FS.

Rams defense does not have a FS and SS they just have Safeties. Most likely it will be McDonald & McCleod with McCleod in coverage, however, when they pair McDonald & Alexander, it will be McDonald in coverage IMO until Alexander improves in that area.
 

den-the-coach

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ahhh, Cody Davis runs 4.4 and can cover and tackle. He should be getting more attention
train

Maybe this year he will, however, all the girls look better than McCleod, but in the end that's who you bring to the dance.
 

jjab360

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Rams defense does not have a FS and SS they just have Safeties. Most likely it will be McDonald & McCleod with McCleod in coverage, however, when they pair McDonald & Alexander, it will be McDonald in coverage IMO until Alexander improves in that area.
I don't get it, both safeties will likely be in coverage at the same time unless one of them is blitzing.
ahhh, Cody Davis runs 4.4 and can cover and tackle. He should be getting more attention
train
Honestly, he seems like a JAG to me...
 

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Rams defense does not have a FS and SS they just have Safeties. Most likely it will be McDonald & McCleod with McCleod in coverage, however, when they pair McDonald & Alexander, it will be McDonald in coverage IMO until Alexander improves in that area.

I'm not a fan of that philosophy. It's harder to find two S's that can excel in both pass and run D. It's much easier to find a S that excel at run D and one that excel at pass D and to put them in the best position to succeed. Unless McD has a drastic improvement on his coverage ability, our pass D on the back end will not be good enough, IMO.
 

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Honestly, he seems like a JAG to me...
CahhEKq.jpg
 

ZigZagRam

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Honestly, he seems like a JAG to me...

Same here. Davis wasn't a great deep presence at Tech and he's not physical at all. Saw him put on his backside multiple times by smaller players in his final season.

He's not going to make Gregg Williams' defense over Bryant, McLeod, or even Matt Daniels.

Just another in a long line of UDFAs overhyped by Rams fans.
 

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Rams defense does not have a FS and SS they just have Safeties. Most likely it will be McDonald & McCleod with McCleod in coverage, however, when they pair McDonald & Alexander, it will be McDonald in coverage IMO until Alexander improves in that area.

The other quality about the Rams defense, the guy that is generally the "in the box" safety, is the one who will draw the assignment of covering the TE. This is where the Rams have been very poor. Even Mikell, as effective as he was in blitz packages, and run support near the LOS, lacked the size and cover skills to stay with the hybrid TEs they face. McDonald was brought in, IMO, to address this issue directly. With McLeod thrust into the nickel role much of last year, they were forced to play either Stewart or Giordano as the single high safety, and it was noticeable. The biggest problem area with the safeties hasn't been their cover skill, its been the poor tackling.

People seem to want to insist on needing a "FS" ball hawking safety. But in this scheme, that just isn't all that important. The biggest thing that needs to, and IMO, will improve is the tackling on the back end. That is where Alexander may leapfrog the likes of McLeod and others being counted on. Even Cody Davis is a much better tackler than some of the other options. I fully expect the guy who shows they can get guys on the ground consistently, will be the one who plays come Week One.
 

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While I like McD, he isn't a player I want playing FS. His coverage is okay but it's not good enough to play FS, IMO. I want a FS, not a SS playing FS.
Much like college basketball where the pure shooters have disappeared...so have cover safeties it seems.
 

CoachO

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Same here. Davis wasn't a great deep presence at Tech and he's not physical at all. Saw him put on his backside multiple times by smaller players in his final season.

He's not going to make Gregg Williams' defense over Bryant, McLeod, or even Matt Daniels.

Just another in a long line of UDFAs overhyped by Rams fans.

He may not be all that physical, but he is bigger, faster, and whether you believe it or not, a better tackler than McLeod or Daniels. He was in the top 5 in the country in tackles his Sr. year. If he would have come out this year, with the draft crop at the safety position, he most likely would have been a 3-4 round pick. And until Daniels can get thru a training camp or even a more than a partial season without being injured, he really shouldn't factor into this.

With all the missed tackles I've seen from this group of safeties the past 4 years, all looking for the kill shot, I would much rather have a non-flashy consistent tackler who just finds a way to get the guy on the ground. You say he was "put on his backside multiple times by smaller players", but I bet they were falling over him as they went to the ground.
 

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The other quality about the Rams defense, the guy that is generally the "in the box" safety, is the one who will draw the assignment of covering the TE. This is where the Rams have been very poor. Even Mikell, as effective as he was in blitz packages, and run support near the LOS, lacked the size and cover skills to stay with the hybrid TEs they face. McDonald was brought in, IMO, to address this issue directly. With McLeod thrust into the nickel role much of last year, they were forced to play either Stewart or Giordano as the single high safety, and it was noticeable. The biggest problem area with the safeties hasn't been their cover skill, its been the poor tackling.

People seem to want to insist on needing a "FS" ball hawking safety. But in this scheme, that just isn't all that important. The biggest thing that needs to, and IMO, will improve is the tackling on the back end. That is where Alexander may leapfrog the likes of McLeod and others being counted on. Even Cody Davis is a much better tackler than some of the other options. I fully expect the guy who shows they can get guys on the ground consistently, will be the one who plays come Week One.
Just to add to your post, that is exactly why McDonald was brought in. to cover TE's. Williams has already said that he will play his safeties very deep, and we know he likes to blitz from everywhere, and this is where Mo may have a chance to excel, blitzing and tackling.
 

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I don't see Mo in the starting lineup unless injuries force him onto the field. McDonald and McLeod are simply better safeties as far as I can tell because they are more well rounded players. Mo is just a later round project to try and develop into a Kam Chancellor one day since we saw his overwhelming physicality and tackling ability. He is nothing more than potential right now because I guarantee Williams is not going to have a questionable rookie out there if he is unsure of his capability to cover the back end.
 

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I don't see Mo in the starting lineup unless injuries force him onto the field. McDonald and McLeod are simply better safeties as far as I can tell because they are more well rounded players. Mo is just a later round project to try and develop into a Kam Chancellor one day since we saw his overwhelming physicality and tackling ability. He is nothing more than potential right now because I guarantee Williams is not going to have a questionable rookie out there if he is unsure of his capability to cover the back end.

I can agree with this,, but I will also say, that McLeod needs to improve his tackling dramatically. I go back to my earlier post, I can see and hope to see, Cody Davis given an opportunity to compete for the job. Bigger, faster, and more consistent tackler. Good instincts, and like McLeod very smart player.
 

Ramrasta

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I can agree with this,, but I will also say, that McLeod needs to improve his tackling dramatically. I go back to my earlier post, I can see and hope to see, Cody Davis given an opportunity to compete for the job. Bigger, faster, and more consistent tackler. Good instincts, and like McLeod very smart player.

Yes, McLeod definitely has room for improvement in that aspect. I am really hoping that Davis can create competition for that starting role but I haven't seen him play enough to make much of a statement about what he brings to the table. Maybe Joyner could play safety on 1st and 2nd down, then switch to nickel for 3rd downs? Could be interesting
 

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He may not be all that physical, but he is bigger, faster, and whether you believe it or not, a better tackler than McLeod or Daniels. He was in the top 5 in the country in tackles his Sr. year. If he would have come out this year, with the draft crop at the safety position, he most likely would have been a 3-4 round pick. And until Daniels can get thru a training camp or even a more than a partial season without being injured, he really shouldn't factor into this.

With all the missed tackles I've seen from this group of safeties the past 4 years, all looking for the kill shot, I would much rather have a non-flashy consistent tackler who just finds a way to get the guy on the ground. You say he was "put on his backside multiple times by smaller players", but I bet they were falling over him as they went to the ground.

Daniels has been a non-factor ever since he has been signed. With the improved depth at the safety position I expect Daniels to be cut because of his injury history. Even if he has a good camp he has to be a top candidate to go. McDonald, Alexander, McLeod, Davis, possibly Gaines if he moves to Safety, and Bryant should all win favor over Daniels if they are healthy.