Kampman in pass coverage

[RashanGary]

Teams pass about 55% of the time.

Defenses are in nickle and dime about 40% of the time. Kampman is going to be a designated pass rusher, with his hand in the dirt, in all nickle and dime situations according to McCarthy.

We know right off the bat he won't be covering a zone 40% of the time (if McCarthy is to be believed).

Of the 60% remaining plays, about half will be runs and half will be passes. This knocks off another 30% of plays where he will not be asked to cover a zone (because it's a run)

We're left with 30% of plays where Kampman does not have his hand in the dirt as a DE and teams are passing. Of this remaining 30%, Kampman still could be a designated blitzer from the stand-up linebacker position (I'm estimating 1/3 of the time). The 30% remaining plays is now cut down by 33%, leaving just 20% of total snaps that Kampman will be asked to cover a zone during an actual pass play.



I estimate Kampman will play zone pass coverage 20% of the time. 80% of the time he'll either be playing the run or rushing the passer from either the LB position or the hand in the dirt, nickle/dime DE position. Is he going to get beat from time to time? Probably. Is he going to be a glaring weakness? Not at all. More often than not, good coaching is going to put this guy in position to succeed (either as a pass rusher or run stopper). The pass coverage is going to more of a surprise to teams than it is going to be something they can try to exploit. MOre often than not, they can plan on having Kampman coming full steam at their QB with additional containment run responsibilities.

[RashanGary]

And antoher thing you have to remember, Kampman will make his own job easier by being so great as a pass rusher.


Teams are almost never going to have protection schemes that call for a TE alone on Kampman. When they come to the line to pass, they're not going to say, "OK, if Kampman comes, Greg Olson, you have the job of stopping him". They're almost always going to have to have either a lineman or both a RB and TE assigned to Kampman (whether he comes or not).

The times he doesn't come, the offense is going to be planning on if he does come and the pressure from other areas is going to be that much more of a surprise, or at least that much less prepared for because they're preparing extra for him. They might be looking to exploit him from time to time, but it's going to be easier said than done, even in that 20% where the catch him in coverage, because he is going to challenge protection schemes with his greatness and open things up for other people.

On top of that, there is no guarantee he's going to be a liability. I wouldn't go betting your bottom dollar that Kampman is going to be a bad coverage backer. He's a good enough athlete and instinctive enough football player that he could be good at that too.

Just saying. The guy brings a lot to this defense and any coach worth his salt is going to use this guy as a dominate weapon (in both the pass and run game), not be disappointed that he has to use him. More than likely, Capers is licking his chops because he has a playmaker that changes the way offenses can play the game.

[rbaloha1]

Lets see what happens. Its also an adjustment to rush from a standing position as opposed to the 3-point stance.

Hopefully the pass coverage is minimal and basic.