So, should Jaime Hill bench his best corner in the red zone?

The Brian Logan issue.

On Monday, I picked up a friend in my new used Ford Ranger supercab and we headed out to hit a few golf balls. About two minutes in the ride, Wayne, a big BYU fan, made the following comment.

“I really love Brian Logan, but he can’t cover that fade route, people are picking on him and it’s an automatic touchdown. They’ve got to do something about him. He can’t be in there when teams get in the red zone, they’re just going to throw over him. I love the way he tackles and covers and he’s the best open-field tackler on the team. I love the way the guy plays, but he’s too short to be out there on those fade routes. They ought to put in Robbie Buckner.”

I don’t know why, but this struck me as a little funny. I was sitting next to a guy who was acting as if BYU had lost its second-straight game. The sky was falling. Serious? He was dead serious, it was crisis time for the Cougars, a controversial downer to be digested.

So, I took on the opposite side, just for argument’s sake. And just for fun. Wayne, bless his heart, as he usually does, was so convinced that his observation was right and the only true and valid point, I just had to enter the fray. It’s something I usually do not do. I usually just let him rant.

BYU had just defeated CSU by 19 points, clearly covering the 17 point spread. The game was never in doubt. The three turnovers early, two of them directly the result of Logan’s play, gave BYU a 21-poin lead. That simple fact changed the way BYU coached the game, the way BYU players were motivated in the game, and play calls by the Cougars. BYU kept to a base defense to primarily keep the run from hurting them and keeping everything in the middle of the field in the secondary so Andrew Rich could key a kill zone.

BYU was in so much control of this game, the offense could afford to basically take five series off in the middle of the game and still maintain a big lead.

Yet, with Wayne, you’d thought BYU had almost lost this game and Logan was a huge disappointment and something had to be done about it.

Whatever.

So, Logan had a few fade routes thrown at him. He got a couple of P.I., and he failed with his technique and turned his back on the ball a few times. And some folks like Wayne went nuts. Yet, BYU ended a six-game win streak by a successful bowl winning program.

For the sake of argument, I told my friend the fade route is one of the less successful plays an offense can run in the red zone. It is popular, but it doesn’t always work. Why? Because the pass has to be thrown with perfect timing and if done right, it has to be high and over the receiver’s shoulder away from the defender. If it is done correctly, it doesn’t matter if the defender is 5-6 or 6-0, if it is a near perfect throw, it will work.

But with the boundary and end zone line limiting the amount of space a receiver can make the play, it becomes even tougher to pull off. BYU has run fade routes for decades, some with great success, some with failure, even with the great Austin Collie. BYU has run successful fade routes against outstanding corners, tall guys, with some success and failure.

My case was this: If you had your best cover guy, regardless of size, cover the fade route, a guy who is almost always in position to make a play, and he turned around at the right time (when the receiver looked for the ball or started putting his hands out), and you were 5-6 and used better technique and were able to turn and jump, using your own athleticism, would you take that in a defender.

Wayne agreed. Still, he wanted Robbie Buckner.

Well, Buckner might do just fine. He’s taller. But he’s not as good a cover guy and he doesn’t hit as hard, he isn’t as physical. Logan has proven to get his hands on balls and knock them away. He’s done it all summer, in fall camp and in games against Oklahoma, Tulane, some against FSU and CSU. He leads the team in interceptions and is a national leader in deflections.

But you want to take him off the field when it comes to defending a fade because he’s short? Will a taller guy close quicker, hit harder, or get his hands on more passes? Maybe. But may not. Remember, fade routes are caught on good corners all the time. They also simply harmlessly bounced out of the boundary.

I asked Wayne what he thought would happen if BYU had applied heat to the CSU QB on one of those fades. Assuming they were capable of doing so, supposed the QB didn’t have all that time to set his feet, read the angle, deliver the pass on time to the exact right place on the fade. What would happen?

What would happened if this was a two-point game and BYU changed it’s front on those fades and gave Logan a little more help with the rush? Would that help. Could it be, Logan might actually make a play, like a tip or an interception? Maybe.

What did it hurt BYU in that stage of the game to have an unpressured QB throw a fade route and either score or get a P.I.?

“Nothing,” Wayne said.

Right.

Nothing, but pride and points.

On Monday, Jan Jorgenson praised Logan for his coverage and his tackling. Not only that, but his ability to use his low center of gravity to deliver big hits. Those hits, over time, take a toll on receivers because they don’t like to get touched, let along hit.

Coleby Clawson agreed. Receivers are like putters, free throw shooters and other athletes who need mental confidence to make plays. When Logan nails a receiver early in the game, whether or not he makes a catch, a message is sent: You will be hit and hit hard. That takes a toll on a receiver; it gets in his head. Soon, he’s not looking so much for the ball, he’s anticipating getting hit. That’s what Logan brings to the field, said Clawson, who knows what a hit can do to change a game in the famous Sam Bradford take down.

“Brian can really hit and he’s a great open field tackler. It makes a difference in our defense to have a guy like him back there,” said Clawson.

“We never had that from that position last year,’ said Jorgenson.

So, for the sake of argument, Wayne wants Logan out of the game when a team gets near the end zone.

How about keeping a team from the red zone in the first place? Most good teams get there and it doesn’t matter if a fade is thrown over Wilt Chamberlain as a defender, they’re good enough to score in a myriad of ways.

For the sake of argument, I concede, he is small in stature, but I like the chances for him to make a play, especially if he had help up front from Jorgenson and Clawson in a game where, at the time, it really mattered.

What say ye?