A Few Position Switches of Note

by Owen on Oct 21, 2010 10:07 AM CDT in Kansas Jayhawk Football 2010

Last night Jon Kirby with Jayhawkslant reported a few notable position changes as the staff continues to evaluate positions and look for answers. I've seen this posted a few other places since and I thought it certainly warranted a posting due to the players making the switch. The three noted changes were:

Toben Opurum to Defensive End
Olaitan Oguntodu to Linebacker
Chris Harris to Safety

Now obviously we're not talking Josh Richardson to defensive end here. These are three guys that have seen major minutes, two of which are starters. Personally I think they're all solid moves. Toben played in a rush end/outside linebacker type role last week and I thought the potential looked good.

Oguntodu to linebacker has been on the tongues of fans for a couple years now and he provides speed against the spread. He's a tweener that didn't quite fit at safety but a great move in putting him at outside linebacker.

The last one is Chris Harris and this is his more natural position. Again, I think it's a great move. I'm not sure who takes the second corner spot at this stage but I did notice plenty of Anthony Davis a week ago so maybe they saw something and want to get the best 11 players on the field.

Is it the answer? I'm not sure if we'll find that this year, but it's good to see some moves and coaching decisions that make sense in a lot of ways.

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Too late

OO is a senior, so his impact won’t be too much. I guess if it means getting Dudley off the field I’m all for it.

I think Opurum would be better used at LB, just because we are so thin there and we’ve had a ton of DE recruits come in the past two classes.

Harris move makes sense, I always thought he looked best as a safety or playing that nickel position. Lining him up next to Smith gives us two great run stoppers at safety at least. Not sure why the staff didn’t make this move sooner

Shit happens when you win championships

by Andrew Clark on Oct 21, 2010 10:11 AM CDT reply actions

maybe too late...

but they are coaching decisions that I like at least. I think I’m with you in wishing they had happened sooner. As for Toben, I thought he looked like an interesting prospect playing that rush end slot last week. He still needs the experience but he changes directions quickly and once he sees the plays better I think it might be a good spot for him.

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by Owen on Oct 21, 2010 10:13 AM CDT up reply actions

I especially like this if we're going to a 4-2-5 look against the spread

Opurum as a rush end, Springer and OO at linebacker, Smith, Terry (when healthy), and Harris at safety, with Davis/Rubles and Barfield at CB. It’s not going to make us a great defense, but I like that look against spread defenses more than what we’re doing now. Nebraska is using two coverted safeties at linebacker and it’s working well for them ( though one of them being Lavonte David helps). I give this move a thumbs up.

by PenguinHawk on Oct 21, 2010 10:21 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions

what's also interesting about this...

is it goes almost completely against the go young theory.

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by Owen on Oct 21, 2010 10:24 AM CDT up reply actions

I noticed that too

I figured most of you would be up in arms over this.

build a damn football program, beat some ass, and get on tv more.

by Rivethead on Oct 21, 2010 10:30 AM CDT up reply actions

Maybe

But I think we generally had Harris and Oguntodu as guys who still deserved PT. It is still changing things up and not showing complacency with our defense’s status quo. I’ll applaud Gill and Torbush on this for trying something new and not continuing to hammer a square peg into a round hole. Now let’s see if it actually works.

by PenguinHawk on Oct 21, 2010 10:33 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions

I like the change...simply because what we had obviously wasn't working...but,

Harris…I do think his most natural fit is as a nickel, so I guess this works fine. Scary though that Barfield and Davis are our top corners.

Opurum…I agree that the fit “could” work, but it’s funny to me because Gill said, and I quote, “I was getting frustrated that I had a pro linebacker that wanted to play running back” about him when he finally got him to move to defense.

Oguntodu…makes all the sense in the world. I’ve been trying to figure out why they haven’t done this for a couple years.

by hiphopopotamus on Oct 21, 2010 11:56 AM CDT reply actions

With Opurum...

I’m curious how they are going to use him at end. He seemed like he was playing almost like that 3-4 style OLB that rushes out of our set last week. Shades of a 3-4 perhaps. It’s similar to what the Broncos attempted to do out here in the last Shanahan season. I guess the bad news is it didn’t work.

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by Owen on Oct 21, 2010 12:36 PM CDT up reply actions

A Tamba Hali of sorts

by I need more Esteban on Oct 22, 2010 10:02 AM CDT up reply actions

i'm for anything

that allows us to show improvement over the rest of the year

BOOM YOSTED!

by Home Run Tony Cogan on Oct 21, 2010 12:42 PM CDT reply actions

Agreed.

Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.

People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball...Rock Chalk Talk

by Warden11 on Oct 21, 2010 12:54 PM CDT up reply actions

+1

by dagger108 on Oct 23, 2010 3:25 AM CDT up reply actions

I feel bad for Opurum.

He came to Kansas over much better programs explicitly because we told him he could play runningback. He came to school and had not just a good, but a GREAT freshman season at the position, and now will never get a shot at showing what he can do with the ball in his hands.

I wonder if he’ll transfer. If he got into the right situation as a Senior, and had a monster year, he could probably get drafted (not saying that’s necessarily true, but that’s how he might think)…

by KennyGregoryRockThaCradle on Oct 22, 2010 2:01 AM CDT reply actions