10-23-2013, 08:01 PM
Over the last two nights I re-watched every Stanford defensive snap against UCLA that Vaughters played. I should have counted them, but my guess is he was on the field for no more than 20 snaps. The OLBs were liberally substituted between Murphy, Vaughters, Anderson, and Lueders.
Tom Fitzgerald's assessment that Vaughters could be benched is completely unfounded.
Vaughters played just fine against UCLA. He missed getting a sack against Hundley, when Hundley made a quick move and Vaughters slipped, but otherwise he did his job. He set edges on a couple runs (so other guys could make tackles), forced Hundley to throw early, and to check downs, that led to punts, and made a tackle on a WR screen for almost no gain.Â
Vaughters is not an elite player, but he is a good player who plays his role in team defense well. Watching him play really allows you to see how important it is for each defensive player to do his job in the defense and trust his teammates to do their's. That's how the defense works best, when everyone just does their job and doesn't care about their personal stats.
Tom Fitzgerald's assessment that Vaughters could be benched is completely unfounded.
Vaughters played just fine against UCLA. He missed getting a sack against Hundley, when Hundley made a quick move and Vaughters slipped, but otherwise he did his job. He set edges on a couple runs (so other guys could make tackles), forced Hundley to throw early, and to check downs, that led to punts, and made a tackle on a WR screen for almost no gain.Â
Vaughters is not an elite player, but he is a good player who plays his role in team defense well. Watching him play really allows you to see how important it is for each defensive player to do his job in the defense and trust his teammates to do their's. That's how the defense works best, when everyone just does their job and doesn't care about their personal stats.