perezferia said:
Hey, don't leave me hanging! Who won the matchup, Edwards or Poole?
here's the article, decide for yourself....
Edwards has thought of himself as the straw that stirs the Wolverine’s drink, and perhaps finally, after his ‘clutch’ performance against Ohio State…maybe he is right. Sure, a receiver is only going to be as good as the quarterback that feeds him the ball and the offensive line that protects said signal caller. It doesn’t hurt to have the Doak Walker award winner in the backfield. Michigan is as complete an offensive machine…as…as…well, as the team on the other sideline. However, Edwards’ abilities in the passing game takes this offense to another level. The reason that Edwards looks to be in an advantageous situation against the Trojans is his ability to beat zone and man coverage equally well. Against the Buckeyes’ cover two, Edwards sold the corner route to get Nate Salley to move just slightly, and then stepped back inside, running a skinny post inside Salley. Navarre put the ball where only Edwards could catch it, and Edwards essentially ‘blocked out’ Salley and caught a big touchdown in the first half. Thus, if the Trojans play cover two against Edwards, the two deep safeties – Darnell Bing and Jason Leach - have a huge dilemma facing them…if they jump the inside to get position on Edwards, he simply bends his route to the corner and will be wide open. If the safeties play to the outside, then the linebackers have to gain 15-20 yards of depth to force Navarre to get air on his throw to Edwards. At that point, Bing and/or Leach have time to break on the ball to intercept or break up the pass. Against man coverage, USC’s All-American Will Poole should draw the assignment against the 6’3†Edwards. Advantage Braylon. Poole’s stock has risen all year long as he has garnered seven interceptions on the season and is a fundamentally sound tackler, not just a ‘cover’ corner. But, he is only 6’. The only thing working in Poole’s favor is that he has faced 6’4†Mike Williams all year in practice, 6’3†Devard Darling from Washington State and 6’3†James Newson from Oregon State. Poole has great ball skills, but he is not infallible as his getting roasted in man coverage against Oregon State early in the game is a prime example. In covering Edwards, Poole is not going to gain a lot by trying to jam Edwards at the line of scrimmage, in fact, Edwards’ size and strength gives him a distinct advantage against most smaller corners that jam him at the LOS. Thus, Poole has to use his quickness and ability to read Edwards hips on his routes to ‘beat him to the spot’. Edwards is not Larry Fitzgerald when it comes to running routes, so if Poole is sound in reading Edwards mid-section, he may be able to beat Edwards out of his break to get in Edwards hip pocket to make it difficult to catch any ball from John Navarre. Keep an eye on this matchup…if the Trojans are successful stopping Chris Perry and the Michigan running game, the Trojans may be able to ‘bracket’ Edwards or play Poole in a ‘trail’ man coverage technique with safety help on top to play under intermediate slants and deep digs by Edwards. If the Trojans front seven is not stopping the run, safeties Bing and Leach will have to ‘cheat’ to run support and leave Poole out on an island. Hopefully, he won’t get ‘booted’ from that island.
