The Evolution of the Defense

[3irty1]

This is an awesome thread. I think that what Dom is going to do with the Defense is the biggest question of the preseason. He's been really willing to bend, tweak, and torque the D to fit his personnel and the movement of the league. I think one thing we need to be careful of is assuming that the D is going to go a certain way based on the draft. If three of these guys turn into starters down the road that's a good draft right? So how much are these guys going to contribute this year? We'll see.

It's obvious we need more pressure, especially from ROLB an interior DL. So we drafted to fill that. I think big question is what happens to Woodson. Can he play outside anymore? I don't think so, not consistently. I think he comes on as a slot corner and may play safety in the "base". But, the main reason that we moved to playing so much nickel was to get Woodson closer to the ball. I feel like playing him at safety runs counter to that. I may be wrong, but I think we'll see a little less of Woodson this year. We'll see tons of 3 receiver sets so its not like he'll disappear.

They definitely prefer to play the OLBs in a two point stance. The design is to have any LB be able to cover or blitz. That's how we'll be most effective. If we start to play a hybrid with Perry it's only because he can't make the transition, especially in year one. From my deep study of ten minutes of Youtube, he plays a little gentle. But he's got speed, long arms, a feel for the strip and if he can just rush on obvious passing downs then our defense is better.

I can't figure out what happens on the DL I think they want to play a solid three man line. Do we have it? Not unless someone steps up.IGreen played well in run D, but we need someone more dynamic. I am concerned about our run defense, particularly short yardage. I do think that between Worthy, Daniels, Hargrove, and Neal one of those guys is going to be an effective 3rd down pass rusher next to Raji. My guy is Daniels. He's got evil dwarf strength. He's a malevolent midget that's gonna molliwop some suckas. At least I hope so.

I wish I knew what they are going to do in the LB corps. Hawk is a liability in pass coverage. And that means that he gets beaten, but also that we can't blitz Bishop as much and he's a way better blitzer. But if he becomes a situational player then we need to put the helmet on Bishop. I think the biggest obstacle is that he makes men love him. Playoff captain, big contract and you never hear anything but praise from up high. I don't know what it is maybe he smells really good.

Honestly if we see Bush playing on 1st and 2nd down then Shields has failed himself as a man. He think he Deion, but he ain't Deion. He is so much more talented than Bush especially in regards to speed and instinct which are the most important raw materials used to make a cornerback. If he could play with some fire and dedication he'll be as good as he already thinks he is. He needs to understand that above average starting cornerbacks get paid alot of money and go out and make some child support money this year. Maybe he'll even get to buy himself something nice.
If Shields doesn't play well out there we are screwed this year. Woodson is too slow, Hayward is too young and probably too slow, Bush is stiff and can't play the ball in the air, I don't know about House or Ross, but I don't have high hopes. Safety might be a shit show. But if Barnett can stop drifting he's a good player. All I know is when I'm hoping that an UDFA from Vanderbilt can save us it's not good.

Overall I think that we'll see a defense that is evolving throughout the year. We'll know a lot more when we get to see the preseason games, but I think with Perry learning on the job we'll see us playing a hybrid 4-3 that trys to morph into a 3-4 by the end of the year. We may see them play the other guys on early downs too. Neal and Hargrove will essentially be our hole cards to be played in case of injury. If one of those guys flashes they may cut someone to keep them. I think against teams with slower tight ends(not Vernon Davis or Jimmy Graham) we may see Woodson on the bench in order to give better run support. Having said that they may play him at safety in those situations because really he's better than Charlie Peprah. Overall I see us as not having that much of a different philosophy on 3rd down, but actually trying to play a more fundamental 3-4 on early downs this year.

I feel you on Daniels. That's a game that you'd think would translate perfectly to the NFL. He's my bet to lead the interior linemen in sacks. A 6 or 7 sack year wouldn't surprise me even in very limited PT. The thing about him is that he is masterful with his angles in the open field. Once he gets loose he looks impossible to juke, not only does he always get there, he does it with such efficiency that he'll get there squarely. An odd observation but that's not that easy to do when you're running full speed at a QB who already has their feet planted. Cullen Jenkins was awfully disruptive too but how many times would get get to the QB and somehow not get a sack? Daniels has that part down and its going to lead to sacks.

As far as the lineman I think we'll see some really diverse groups, including a 1-gap version of the "okie" where Raji can sit. I'm not worried about the run defense as long as Pickett is on the team.

With the linebackers, both Brad Jones and the rookie Manning have some value as ILB on 3rd down and it wouldn't shock me to see them steal some snaps there like Chillar did while he was around. Both can cover and both can blitz. Perry seems to make things predictable if he gets a job in the base D. I'm sure they'll make him look good in coverage with simple assignments when he has to do it but the Nick Perry that showed up to the combine sure didn't look like the 3-4 OLB that everyone was predicting he'd be during the NCAA season. 4.66 shuttle is what you'd expect from a DT. I'd sure feel better about him if he went off the roids for a while and got to a playing weight of 255. Maybe all the bulking up he did for the combine cost him all of his agility.

As for as base type defenses I think we'll get smaller and faster before we get bigger. I think some of those 3-4 downs will turn into 2-4 downs and 2-4 downs will turn into dime defenses. The Packers from last season made every QB look like a pro bowler, the recipe is going to be to pass, pass, pass. All of our upgrades were in pass coverage, and pass rushing.

[pbmax]

An odd observation but that's not that easy to do when you're running full speed at a QB who already has their feet planted. Cullen Jenkins was awfully disruptive too but how many times would get get to the QB and somehow not get a sack? Daniels has that part down and its going to lead to sacks.

That is a disadvantage of height. Jenkins played tall in his pass rush. Its a trait that serves better on the outside.