Spotlight #1: Virginia Tech CB Jayron Hosley
Spotlight #2: Miami OLB Sean Spence
1st quarter
14:55: Jayron Hosley blankets a short curl route.
14:09: Miami quarterback looks Hosley’s way, nothing open, keeps it for a small gain.
13:23: Hosley outmuscled on a run play by a blocking receiver.
12:46: Hosley finishes off a receiver with a tackle after a big catch. The receiver was not Hosley’s responsibility.
6:05: Virginia Tech senior receiver Jarrett Boykin with his 3rd catch of the game. He’s Virginia Tech’s all time leading receiver and having a nice game so far.
5:48: Spence fills a gap well, great vision and speed, combines for tackle for loss of 5, not a strong tackle though, needed help.
2:17: Hosley in a zone, reads quarterback’s eyes, jumps the route, almost picks it off, but drops it. It went right through his hands. Excellent job to make a play on the ball, but he needs to come up with that.
2:06: Hosley with a nice 18 yard punt return, shifty in the open field.
1:02: On a pass play, Spence drops into coverage, comes back to ball after quarterback decides to run with it and puts a big hit on a bigger quarterback. Logan Thomas, Virginia Tech’s quarterback, is a 6-6 245 former tight end, whereas Spencer is undersized at 6-0 225, but you have to like the instincts, hustle and fearlessness on this play.
0:36: Spence in on another tackle.
2nd quarter
7:42: Spence with great closing speed, angle, and vision on a tackle either for a loss or no gain, it was close.
6:31: Hosley in on a tackle near the line of a bigger back, not a strong tackle, but a solid effort.
4:03: Hosley’s side targeted, very inaccurate, closer to him than any receiver, but still far out of his reach. Nice effort to try for the pick anyway.
2:10: Spence looks very smooth dropping into coverage, he has all night.
1:51: Spence with nice hustle, as soon as the ball is in the air, he hustles over to the area of the receiver, even though it’s not his responsibility. Still a completion, but a nice effort, excellent motor.
1:43: Spence on a sideline tackle.
1:14: Spence around the ball all night, fights off blocks, big hit, very impressive player. He didn’t look 6-0 225 on that play.
3rd quarter
13:27: Spence drops into coverage and there’s a fumble recovered by an offensive lineman. Spence does an excellent job to come back to the ball and make the tackle on an offensive lineman who probably has about 80-90 pounds on him. Fearless, great instincts once again.
12:47: Spence does a great job in coverage tackling a ball carrier on a screen for a loss.
11:10: Kyle Fuller with a tackle on a run. Fuller is Virginia Tech’s “other” cornerback and he’s had several impressive plays tonight, especially against the run. Fuller is only a sophomore and could be a high pick in 2013 or 2014.
9:01: Spence in on another tackle, great angle to ball.
7:01: Spence muscled off a run play with good run blocking.
5:42: Spence blocked inside early, disengages, bounces to the outside and chases down the ball carrier from behind.
2:42: Hosley is timid on a run play.
0:34: Hosley has a pass completed in his area and is content to let the other 2 guys tackle, not willing to stick his nose in there to make sure he’s down.
4th quarter
14:23: Hosley again won’t stick his nose in on a running play, jumps over a guy trying to bring a ball carrier down. He needs to be in there to support his teammate. Terrible effort and hustle.
13:35: Hosley against a 6-5 receiver, can’t defend the fade in the end zone. Nothing he can do there at 5-10 175.
13:05: Jarrett Boykin with a 60 yard touchdown. He’s having a huge game, abusing Miami’s young secondary.
11:50: Hosley with an absolutely dreadful effort on a tackle of a ball carrier on a long run, could have stopped it 10-15 yards earlier.
9:14: Hosley in on a tackle on a long run again, weak tackle, but Miami’s Lamar Miller, the ball carrier, is tough to bring down. Miller, a redshirt sophomore, is on fire now after getting just 6 carries in the first half.
8:08: Spence pancaked. His lack of size was noticeable there.
6:14: Spence locks down underneath man, forces quarterback to flush the pocket past the line of scrimmage and then just a boneheaded decision by Logan Thomas with an illegal forward pass.
5:55: Hosley disengages from wide receiver, gets a tackle on Lamar Miller, not the strongest tackle, but better than his other ones. Again Lamar Miller is tough to bring down.
5:23: Kyle Fuller with a huge big play saving tackle on the running back. He’s just a sophomore, but he’s been Hosley’s antithesis tonight. He’ll be worth a look in a year or two.
2:54: Hosley poor angle on a long run for touchdown. He could have stopped the touchdown had he filled the gap instead of whatever he decided to do. 34-31 Miami now late. If Virginia Tech loses, this play is why. Lazy. Poor motor.
1:43: Spence pancaked again, unfortunately.
1:37: Spence in on a tackle on a quarterback keeper near the line.
0:30: Hosley allows short catch and then a nice force out of bounds, smart prevent play to avoid big play up 3 under 30 seconds left.
0:00: Jayron Hosley definitely showed his ball hawking abilities on a near pick, though I would have preferred him to come down with the ball. He also was rarely thrown on and when he was, he played well, with the exception of the fade in the end zone. There wasn’t much he could have done there against someone with 7 inches on him, but that’s to be expected of a 5-10 cornerback.
What was particularly bad was his piss poor effort in run stuffing. I know he’s small at 5-10 175, but not only is he a poor tackler, he gives poor effort. I’m not expecting him to tackle like a 6-2 225 pound safety, but give some effort. He’s very timid and lazy against the run and I think it’s a sign of immaturity. I know they won, but if they don’t get that last touchdown, they lose and the reason why is because Hosley gave no effort to fill a gap on a long run. It’s like he doesn’t understand the importance. I know Virginia Tech’s defensive line needed to play better and I know Lamar Miller is a tough man to bring down, but Hosley is largely at fault for Miller’s huge day on the ground.
All in all, I compare Hosley to DeAngelo Hall. I hate comparing players to other players who came from the same school, but Frank Beamer likes a particularly kind of defensive back and Hosley and Hall fit that to a tee. Hosley is going to give up a few big plays, but he’s also going to make a few big plays in coverage, particularly interceptions. He’s great at jumping routes, but he often goes for the big play instead of making the sure, safe play. He’s also terrible and lazy in run defense, like Hall. Also like Hall, he’s a bit undersized, 5-10 175, Hall was around 5-10 185 coming out of Virginia Tech.
As for Miller, this was my 2nd game watching him (Ohio State), but I haven’t spotlighted him yet. He’s a redshirt sophomore, but I may have to spotlight him just in case. I think he’s the 3rd best runner in college football after Marcus Lattimore and Trent Richardson, 2nd among draft eligible running backs. He could go somewhere around where Ryan Williams went last year as a redshirt sophomore after Mark Ingram went in the first (Williams went early 2nd).
Despite getting only 6 carries in the first half, Miller rushed for 166 yards and a score on 18 carries. Miami’s comeback coincided with Miami giving Miller the ball more as he scored twice in the 2nd half, once through the air, once on the ground, and he picked up big chunks of yardage on almost every play totaling 189 yards on 21 total touches. On the season, he has 677 yards and 5 scores on 94 carries in 5 games, along with 9 receptions for another 35 and another score.
Sean Spence was the opposite of Jayron Hosley tonight. He was fearless, relentless, high motor, high effort, all around the ball, someone I’d want to have on my team. He didn’t look like a 6-0 225 pound linebacker, with a few exceptions. He officially had 12 tackles in the game, but it seemed like he had a tackle on every other play. Official scorers often are wrong with tackle totals, on the side of crediting the defender with too few.
He also looked awesome in coverage, a bust for a 6-0 225 pound linebacker who might end up at safety at the next level. I’d keep him at linebacker because he does so well there now, at least at first, but his motor, instincts, and fearlessness are going to be an asset at whatever position he plays, even if it’s special teams. He got pancaked on a few plays, but he didn’t have a tackle broken all game. What he lacks in strength, he makes up for in technique in tackling and of course, his heart.
I would have no problem drafting this kid as a 4-3 linebacker (inside/outside, he lined up at both) in the 2nd round of the 2012 NFL Draft, provided I needed a linebacker. I said similar things about Casey Matthews out of Oregon last year (6-1 230). I gave him a 2nd round grade and when the Eagles took him in the 4th, it was considered a reach. However, he’s already a starter for them and doing a very good job as a rookie. Spence can be a similar player. I compare him more to Sean Weatherspoon (Spoon is a little bigger), but he has some of Matthews in him too.
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