'17 NC LB Justin Foster

#152
#152
Top-100 LB Justin Foster said Tennessee and Clemson are the two schools that he knows are in his top group right now. He is really familiar with both of them and has visited both schools several times, and he said they're pretty much even right now. But he admitted his family would like him to go to Clemson, where his sister currently is a student and is scheduled to graduate this spring.

Foster said he's hoping to go back to Tennessee earlier this summer. While he's not sure when he might make a decision, he said could decide a few months from now if he decides to be an early enrollee. If he decides not to be an early enrollee, he probably won't announce his choice until the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
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- 247 (Callahan)
 
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#156
#156
One of the other writers for 247 says we lead, and he had taken the ACT with hopes of getting the 26 to be considered for Stanford admission. They had Vols, Clemson, Stanford in that order. Clemson is recruiting him as a DE, wants to,play LB. Is over 250 I lbs...
 
#157
#157
With his size, I could see him playing with his hand in the dirt part time at least.

His best fit might actually be as a 3-4 outside backer
 
#158
#158
This kid is good. I mean it's awesome to see how disciplined he is. Only thing I worry about is how big he is playing LB in the SEC
 
#159
#159
BleedOrange91 said:
This kid is good. I mean it's awesome to see how disciplined he is. Only thing I worry about is how big he is playing LB in the SEC
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We're still planning to use Austin Smith at OLB in the 4-3 and he's over 250 now. Plus we played Maggitt there for a few years even though he was over 250.

He can play strong side linebacker in our scheme. And from what I've seen he's athletic enough to play the other linebacker positions.
 
#160
#160
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
We're still planning to use Austin Smith at OLB in the 4-3 and he's over 250 now. Plus we played Maggitt there for a few years even though he was over 250.

He can play strong side linebacker in our scheme. And from what I've seen he's athletic enough to play the other linebacker positions.
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I think your main point of him not being too big is correct, but when you said "our scheme" there is a problem with that since Shoop is now DC it will not be same scheme that you are basing it off of.
 
#161
#161
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
We're still planning to use Austin Smith at OLB in the 4-3 and he's over 250 now. Plus we played Maggitt there for a few years even though he was over 250.

He can play strong side linebacker in our scheme. And from what I've seen he's athletic enough to play the other linebacker positions.
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volnpowell said:
I think your main point of him not being too big is correct, but when you said "our scheme" there is a problem with that since Shoop is now DC it will not be same scheme that you are basing it off of.
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It will be interesting to see what direction Shoop goes. In his past stops, he hasn't really utilized a hybrid DE/OLB type of player. But we don't know if that's because he prefers not to or because he never had the right type athlete for that role.

Plus he ran really basic stuff in the orange and white game. We didn't see much besides our nickel package. No way to know what exactly what type of look he's going for in our base 4-3. And if he plans on using similar game plans to those he used at PSU, we'll be in significantly more 4-3 looks than Jancek had us in, even against spread teams.

So the big question, IMO is just how much Shoop adapts from Jancek's scheme. His track record doesn't really show use of a player like Maggit/Smith/Foster the way Jancek used Maggit. But Shoop seems like the type of football mind that is willing to adapt to the athletes he has, so we could very well see him take a few pages out of Jancek's book and go in that direction moving forward.


History might indicate that he won't utilize a hybrid DE/OLB the way Jancek liked to, but it's too early to tell one way or another. As it pertains to Foster, it will be a big thing to pay attention to. If Jancek were still our DC, I'd say Foster is a perfect fit for the Curt Maggit/Austin Smith role. Until we see how Shoop uses Smith, I'm not so sure where exactly he fits in. He's a take, of course. No question. But if Shoop runs our defense exactly like he ran PSU's, he might project as a DE for us.
 
#162
#162
volnpowell said:
I think your main point of him not being too big is correct, but when you said "our scheme" there is a problem with that since Shoop is now DC it will not be same scheme that you are basing it off of.
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One of the coaches (I believe Steve Stripling) said in an interview during spring practice that Austin is still an OLB in the 4-3. He only goes down to DE like Maggitt did when we go to nickel.
 
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#163
#163
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
One of the coaches (I believe Steve Stripling) said in an interview during spring practice that Austin is still an OLB in the 4-3. He only goes down to DE like Maggitt did when we go to nickel.
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To be fair though, you're inferring a lot of that. The exact quote was

He’ll have the ability to still play outside (linebacker), but he’ll have the ability to put his hand down, too. Right now we’re focusing on putting his hand down. We’re just getting him used to that, ‘cause that’s the hardest part.”
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We haven't seen much, if any of Shoop's base 4-3 yet. Until we do, we can't be exactly sure what the plan is for Smith and how much they plan for him to play at LB. He may very well turn out to play the same role that Maggit played for our defenses in the past, but we can't be sure until we see it. Shoop hasn't really done that with players in the past.
 
#164
#164
Darth_Shiveman said:
To be fair though, you're inferring a lot of that. The exact quote was



We haven't seen much, if any of Shoop's base 4-3 yet. Until we do, we can't be exactly sure what the plan is for Smith and how much they plan for him to play at LB. He may very well turn out to play the same role that Maggit played for our defenses in the past, but we can't be sure until we see it. Shoop hasn't really done that with players in the past.
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No. There's another quote where he explicitly said they're gonna play Austin Smith in the Curt Maggitt role. OLB in the 4-3, DE in the nickel.

Don't have time to look it up. It was posted in one of the practice report threads on the main board a few weeks back and there was a lengthy discussion about it.
 
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#165
#165
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
No. There's another quote where he explicitly said they're gonna play Austin Smith in the Curt Maggitt role. OLB in the 4-3, DE in the nickel.

Don't have time to look it up. It was posted in one of the practice report threads on the main board a few weeks back and there was a lengthy discussion about it.
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That was the quote, you just took it and ran with it. You can look for one that says what you're saying, but you won't find it. It all came from Stripling's interview (which you can see here from around 2:25 and here from around 3:10).

In the practice reports, some reporters like Rucker went used the quotation to say things like
Stripling said the staff is still sticking to the original plan last season — to develop Smith into a hybrid player like former All-SEC standout Curt Maggitt — but that the Atlanta-area native would primarily play end the next few weeks.
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But the coaches have never explicitly stated that he will be the SLB in our 4-3. Only things like "he'll have the ability to play outside as well." You took those quotes to mean that he is our 4-3 SLB, but we can't be sure that's the case yet because we haven't seen it or been told by the coaches that that is the case. I'm not saying he won't be or that you're wrong to suggest he will be, just that we can't be certain yet. We've heard misleading things about how the coaches planned to use players in the past after all.
 
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#166
#166
The practice report in question was from 3.24. Dustin Dopirak was quoted saying:
Stripling said they do view Austin Smith as the Curt Maggitt hybrid type. Meaning he plays SLB in base formations.
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(which, FTR, Stripling implied more so than explicitly stating).

To which you replied:
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
Good to hear Austin Smith is still the #1 SLB in base sets. I didn't like any of the other options.

Sorry Cortez McDowell fanboys. Looks like he'll still be firmly planted on the bench.
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Edit: Again, I'm not saying you'll be wrong about Smith, just that it hasn't been made certain yet and based on Shoop's track record there is reason to wonder how exactly Smith will be used.
 
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#167
#167
Darth_Shiveman said:
That was the quote, you just took it and ran with it. You can look for one that says what you're saying, but you won't find it. It all came from Stripling's interview (which you can see here from around 2:25 and here from around 3:10).

In the practice reports, some reporters like Rucker went used the quotation to say things like


But the coaches have never explicitly stated that he will be the SLB in our 4-3. Only things like "he'll have the ability to play outside as well." You took those quotes to mean that he is our 4-3 SLB, but we can't be sure that's the case yet because we haven't seen it or been told by the coaches that that is the case. I'm not saying he won't be or that you're wrong to suggest he will be, just that we can't be certain yet. We've heard misleading things about how the coaches planned to use players in the past after all.
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Hey genuis, what role did Curt Maggitt play?

They said they're developing Austin to do the same. You can consider that a leap if you want.
 
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#168
#168
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
Hey genuis, what role did Curt Maggitt play?

They said they're developing Austin to do the same. You can consider that a leap if you want.
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Woah, calm down there, friend. No need to resort to petty name calling. I didn't mean to make you so upset. You did make a leap, though. You went from Strip saying they plan on Smith to being able to play at DE and as well as "outside" to "Smith is our starting SLB in the 4-3, will play DE in the nickel, McDowell is a bench warmer, and this all has been explicitly stated by coach Stripling."

I've been pretty explicit myself in saying that you may very well be right in your conclusion, but you are skipping a few steps to reach that conclusion. All I'm saying is that we don't know for sure yet exactly what we'll see.

The three things that can't be denied are that Shoop hasn't utilized a hybrid DE/OLB in the past (for what reason we can't say for sure though), that we haven't seen enough of Shoop's 4-3 base formation at Tennessee to tell how much he'll diverge from what he did at his past stops as a DC, and that the coaches haven't explicitly stated what role Austin Smith will be playing in 2016 (in fact, they've been somewhat vague and inconsistent in interviews about Smith's role in 2016).
 
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#169
#169
Darth_Shiveman said:
Woah, calm down there, friend. No need to resort to petty name calling. I didn't mean to make you so upset. You did make a leap, though. You went from Strip saying they plan on Smith to being able to play at DE and as well as "outside" to "Smith is our starting SLB in the 4-3, will play DE in the nickel, McDowell is a bench warmer, and this all has been explicitly stated by coach Stripling."

I've been pretty explicit myself in saying that you may very well be right in your conclusion, but you are skipping a few steps to reach that conclusion. All I'm saying is that we don't know for sure yet exactly what we'll see.

The three things that can't be denied are that Shoop hasn't utilized a hybrid DE/OLB in the past (for what reason we can't say for sure though), that we haven't seen enough of Shoop's 4-3 base formation at Tennessee to tell how much he'll diverge from what he did at his past stops as a DC, and that the coaches haven't explicitly stated what role Austin Smith will be playing in 2016 (in fact, they've been somewhat vague and inconsistent in interviews about Smith's role in 2016).
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I think you're over thinking this.

If Curt was still on the team, would you expect Shoop to not play him at strong side linebacker?

The coaches were clear. Austin Smith is being groomed for a Curt Maggitt type role. I made no leaps. You're the one going through the mental gymnastics of trying to distort a pretty clear statement.
 
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#170
#170
Darth_Shiveman said:
Woah, calm down there, friend. No need to resort to petty name calling. I didn't mean to make you so upset. You did make a leap, though. You went from Strip saying they plan on Smith to being able to play at DE and as well as "outside" to "Smith is our starting SLB in the 4-3, will play DE in the nickel, McDowell is a bench warmer, and this all has been explicitly stated by coach Stripling."

I've been pretty explicit myself in saying that you may very well be right in your conclusion, but you are skipping a few steps to reach that conclusion. All I'm saying is that we don't know for sure yet exactly what we'll see.

The three things that can't be denied are that Shoop hasn't utilized a hybrid DE/OLB in the past (for what reason we can't say for sure though), that we haven't seen enough of Shoop's 4-3 base formation at Tennessee to tell how much he'll diverge from what he did at his past stops as a DC, and that the coaches haven't explicitly stated what role Austin Smith will be playing in 2016 (in fact, they've been somewhat vague and inconsistent in interviews about Smith's role in 2016).
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Why do you engage this guy? Save yourself a migraine.
 
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#171
#171
My hope is he can get back down into the 240-245 range. That is his ideal playing weight and would allow him to stay at OLB and get some of his agility back. I think he could be a solid DE, but I don't think he has the ideal frame (reach/length) to play there. I love his game at OLB if he can shed the pounds.
 
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