Box or Wort

[Always_Sooner]

I honestly think once Wort learns the system that he is more consistent than Box, and more aggressive.

[THE-JROD]

Wort is a bas@$$....Think the kid will be twice the player as Box!! That aint sayin anything negative against Box either.....

[Always_Sooner]

Box is a good player, but he can never stay healthy for a full season. I thought that Wort should have been the starter until Box beat him out, or if he had it in him.

[Mike Stoops]

Box is a good player but Wort has the potential to be really special.

[SoonerNate]

Wort.

[DarrellZero]

I agree with everything said about Wort.

I think Box will continue to start, however, as Stoops seems to value consistency and assignment soundness over the occasional spectacular play at the Mike position.

That said, I think Wort will still see a substantial amount of PT next season.

[soonercastor]

Both

[Peach Fuzz]

The highest Missed tackles I counted from Wort in one game the previous season were 17. The highest I counted for Box was 5. Hopefully Wort fixes that arm tackling crap, cuz this ain't high school anymore... Until he does I'll take Box.. He may end up an all around badass on the field though.

[BigJerm7]

Healthy Box > Healthy Wort.

[ouwasp]

I lost some confidence in Wort after the Cincy game...but that was way early... maybe seasoning will indeed cause his talent to shine. Sure hope so....

[Sooner_Tuf]

Wort's a smart guy he will figure it out. As it stands now Box already has it figured out.

[AlbqSooner]

Wort has the potential to be a great one. I just wish he would learn what the whistle means.

[sooner n houston]

Wort got better all season, still doesn't measure up to Box. I would love to see tremendous improvement from Wort, as he is a badass!

[swardboy]

Box hugely impressed me the latter half of the season. I want a guy in the right place at the right time MAKING THE TACKLE. I'm tired of this "I'm gonna knock this dude into the next state" mentality, then the ball carrier just bounces off and gets another 10 yards. I don't care if the tackler just bear hugs him until help comes. I'm shocked that players go through spring training, August drills, and STILL DON'T WRAP UP THE BALL CARRIER. This is middle school mentality.

Mebbe the position coach should be made to run laps when a tackler doesn't wrap up.

[CBUS_SOONER]

Box (healthy)right now... And its not even close imo. wort not consistent at all

[Taxman71]

Wort has a greater upside due to his speed, but our defense didn't come together until Box locked down the middle in the later part of the year.

Just be glad we have both...remember the hole we had when Ryan Reynolds got hurt against texas.

[Chiliman]

Box. Tom will be good but had some of the poorest games a MLB has had under Stoops Venables. I just keep thinking how good Box would have been, if not for the injuries.

[MojoRisen]

I am glad we got both, but the D is that much better all around with Box in there. Wort blitzes awesome -

[sooner518]

all I know is our defense was MUCH better with Box last year in place of Wort.

[NateHeupel]

It is not a coincidence that our defense started to improve sharply later in the season when OU made two specific changes.

1) Moving to the 50 front.
We had maybe 2 decent DT's stay healthy all year, but we had at least 3 DE's (excluding Beal and Alexander) who could give us 25-30 snaps each and play at a good level. By forcing teams to give us more one on one matches on the line, we were able to get more pressure and control gaps more effectively.

2) Replacing Tom Wort with Austin Box.
Potential is another way of saying it's something you haven't done yet. Tom Wort has all the potential in the world. Sick closing speed, natural hitter, good football IQ. But his aggression gets the better of him more often than not, and he makes poor decisions that cause big plays. What's worse, you can tell after the play that he knows EXACTLY what he did wrong. He knew he shouldn't have done it, but he did it anyway. Austin Box gives us more size, more maturity, and much more reliable tackling. I think Wort could use another year to learn more patience and more discipline. Once Wort puts it together, he'll be a monster.

[tcrb]

Wort has a greater upside due to his speed, but our defense didn't come together until Box locked down the middle in the later part of the year.

Just be glad we have both...remember the hole we had when Ryan Reynolds got hurt against texas.

This.

[SoonerNutt]

Wort has a greater upside due to his speed, but our defense didn't come together until Box locked down the middle in the later part of the year.

Just be glad we have both...remember the hole we had when Ryan Reynolds got hurt against texas.

I agree with every word of this.

[gaylordfan1]

We all, including myself, over hyped Wort this time last year. But who wouldn't after watching his highlight.... Over and over. But Box's contribution and run stopping presence was undeniably crucial to our defense last season. So, I will go with Box until Wort matures more and settles a into his position. I do think Wort will figure it out and will be big time.

[TahoeSOONER]

Wheweeeeee (yes, I just said that) this is going to be a hell of a position battle. Box is better right now but Wort sure can fly to the ball and has some great instinct. Box does all the little stuff that coaches love and he can cover the middle twice as well as Wort can in my opinion.

I'd try to get both of them on the field.

[Partial Qualifier]

All I know is if you're not careful and mess with the wrong Box, you might end up with some itchy Worts. And that's never a good thing.

[bmjlr]

All I know is if you're not careful and mess with the wrong Box, you might end up with some itchy Worts. And that's never a good thing.

Source? :D

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Box hugely impressed me the latter half of the season. I want a guy in the right place at the right time MAKING THE TACKLE. I'm tired of this "I'm gonna knock this dude into the next state" mentality, then the ball carrier just bounces off and gets another 10 yards. I don't care if the tackler just bear hugs him until help comes. I'm shocked that players go through spring training, August drills, and STILL DON'T WRAP UP THE BALL CARRIER. This is middle school mentality.

Mebbe the position coach should be made to run laps when a tackler doesn't wrap up.I even see that crap in the pros, quite a lot, in fact. I agree with you, that it should never even enter a defender's mind to not use your arms when tackling. Blocking a guy down is just too inefficient. WAY too often the ball carrier maintains his balance, and keeps on going.

[PalmBeachSooner]

Wort got better all season, still doesn't measure up to Box. I would love to see tremendous improvement from Wort, as he is a badass!

What makes Wort such a badass? I haven't seen it....yet.

[cantwait48]

I don't think we win the big12 if box does not come back, hopefully wort gets better. we have had a lot of injuries at that position and it always has a huge effect on our D. Reynolds and box in ;08, also recall Mitchell in '03. we have to stay healthy there to make a legit run in 2011

[C&CDean]

What makes Wort such a badass? I haven't seen it....yet.

His mohawk man. Keep up.

[C&CDean]

I can't believe somebody hasn't said something about Ronnell starting over both of them.

[rekamrettuB]

The highest Missed tackles I counted from Wort in one game the previous season were 17. The highest I counted for Box was 5. Hopefully Wort fixes that arm tackling crap, cuz this ain't high school anymore... Until he does I'll take Box.. He may end up an all around badass on the field though.

That's because Box was getting blocked and couldn't get off of them.





:D j/k.

Wort did miss an assload of tackles early on and the defense did become more stable as the season progressed but it was a combination of Box and the team gaining more experience. The good news about being able to miss 17 tackles is that he was in position to make those tackles. He will get better and OU will have two really good linebackers in Wort and Box.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

I can't believe somebody hasn't said something about Ronnell starting over both of them.I like our performance when he's in there. We should find a way to keep him on the field, at DE if not LB.

[Seamus]

But who wouldn't after watching his highlight.... Over and over.

Heh, manlove. :D

[gaylordfan1]

You have tarnished my good name. :( :D :(

[Soonermagik]

Box knows where to be and Wort is still trying to figure it out. I think after next season Wort will have a better understanding regarding position. Box started over him for a reason!

They will rotate a lot of guys this year Box, Wort, C. Nelson etc.. They are loaded at LB. I've never seen an OU this deep.

[SoonerBBall]

I seem to remember a well respected poster breaking down some plays with screen shots that showed Travis Lewis being out of place thus making Wort look bad. Am I misremembering this? I know that when I found out Travis Lewis was coming back, I wasn't particularly excited.

[gaylordfan1]

I know that when I found out Travis Lewis was coming back, I wasn't particularly excited.

Really? I do believe you may be the only person on this earth that thinks this.

[Chiliman]

I seem to remember a well respected poster breaking down some plays with screen shots that showed Travis Lewis being out of place thus making Wort look bad. Am I misremembering this? I know that when I found out Travis Lewis was coming back, I wasn't particularly excited.

Funny, TLewis must have improved when Box got healthy.

[cleller]

It is not a coincidence that our defense started to improve sharply later in the season when OU made two specific changes.

1) Moving to the 50 front.
We had maybe 2 decent DT's stay healthy all year, but we had at least 3 DE's (excluding Beal and Alexander) who could give us 25-30 snaps each and play at a good level. By forcing teams to give us more one on one matches on the line, we were able to get more pressure and control gaps more effectively.

2) Replacing Tom Wort with Austin Box.
Potential is another way of saying it's something you haven't done yet. Tom Wort has all the potential in the world. Sick closing speed, natural hitter, good football IQ. But his aggression gets the better of him more often than not, and he makes poor decisions that cause big plays. What's worse, you can tell after the play that he knows EXACTLY what he did wrong. He knew he shouldn't have done it, but he did it anyway. Austin Box gives us more size, more maturity, and much more reliable tackling. I think Wort could use another year to learn more patience and more discipline. Once Wort puts it together, he'll be a monster.


The D was much more settled with Box out there, but our D line also got more into the picture. The most important thing I noticed was that when both were healthy the coaches went with Box.

[sperry]

Box has been very good his entire career when healthy. Maybe Wort will be good someday, but he was pretty bad last year.

[gaylordfan1]

I wouldn't say "pretty bad". I would say young and unpolished.

[starclassic tama]

yeah he definitely wasn't bad... people just penciled him and ronnell in as all-american linebackers before the season started, when that was just obviously unrealistic. wort will be a good one. hell even if box starts all this season, wort will still have 2 years of potential starting ahead of him.

[TXBOOMER]

Box made the D better.

[OUthunder]

Funny, TLewis must have improved when Box got healthy.

Bingo! Box meant more to OU winning last year than anything else. When he was healthy and in the game, I only remember one loss and that was to A&M, his 1st game back on a somewhat limited basis.

At times last year, Lewis looked like he was trying to make up for Wort's poor play and lack of tackling ability. Once Box returned as a full time starter. it appeared to me, that Lewis became the monster of old and just played without worrying about the other side.

Box is a better, smarter, more sound LB as it stands right now. Box also took pressure off the line as our OL saw more one on one blocking.

[SunnySooner]

I'd go with Box, but it's a good problem to have. ;)

[mightysooner]

Box is much better than Wort

He's much more disruptive, flows to the ball better, he's smarter, and gets twice the penetration that Wort does. Wort isn't scaring anybody yet but he's green.

[oubose]

as long as Wort stays healthy

[Sooners78]

Box has the intangibles to be one of the OU greats. He just seemed to always be in the right place. That 4th down stop against Nebraska was one of the great plays of 2010.

[adoniijahsooner]

Why is this even a debate when it's been settled on the field?

[soonerfan69]

The defense was alot better when Box was playing that said he can't seem to stay healthy for a long period

Wort seems to have alot of potential but over runs the play and arm tackles too much

So I say Box is better alot better

[OU_Sooners75]

Box right now...but I also wonder just how good Wort would really be right now had he grown up in the US and played this sport since he was a youth!

:eek:

[Curly Bill]

Box by a considerable margin.

Much more consistent player.