Ji Burton at Union

[sup_rbeast 296]

3 hours ago, BigWinners said:

I was impressed when Union made some changes, most notably having Guerrant move into more of a strong safety position as opposed to an OLB. Just moving him around allows him to get a cleaner look at the formation. Not often will a good team change their formation in a game, but the best teams always make changes based on personnel. A 4-4 with 8 in the box makes sense if you're facing a run heavy team, but against a team that is spreading the field with four and five receivers, a 4-4 is too slim on athleticism and speed to try and play man coverage. Run a Cover II and make them beat you down the seam or over the top, don't let a team just keep making easy yards underneath. If you're not gonna sub or move guys around to match a formation, then you gotta call plays that keep you from being exposed. 

In order to stay in that defense, the CBs have to lock on to the widest receivers, and the OLBs have to be able to cover any receivers split out inside of them. Basically, the safety has to be able to account for a TE releasing downfield. It’s essentially the same D that PV ran for 20 years or so. In order for teams to have success, they usually had to effectively use the TE and slot receivers. If that was the case, it usually came down to whether or not the rush could get to the QB before he could find a receiver. If it did, the offense was toast...if it didn’t, the game would usually turn into a shoot out. Personally, I like that defense...but the rush has to be overwhelming on passing downs or it becomes a boom or bust situation.

[BigWinners 1,643]

4 minutes ago, sup_rbeast said:

In order to stay in that defense, the CBs have to lock on to the widest receivers, and the OLBs have to be able to cover any receivers split out inside of them. Basically, the safety has to be able to account for a TE releasing downfield. It’s essentially the same D that PV ran for 20 years or so. In order for teams to have success, they usually had to effectively use the TE and slot receivers. If that was the case, it usually came down to whether or not the rush could get to the QB before he could find a receiver. If it did, the offense was toast...if it didn’t, the game would usually turn into a shoot out. Personally, I like that defense...but the rush has to be overwhelming on passing downs or it becomes a boom or bust situation.

 

I was never a huge fan for precisely those reasons you listed, most notably the fact about pressure. It's easy to get burnt if you can't get quick pressure and teams can game plan and scheme up ways to negate pressure and give the QB time to make an easy read for yardage. 

Teams now run 4-5 wide sets WAY more often, unless you've got really fast OLBs capable of playing in coverage for most of the game and having great instincts against the pass, you're gonna give up tons of completions and yards simply because slot receivers, on the average, are considerably more athletic and quicker than OLBs. The only alternatives are to play zone, pass receivers on across the middle and ALWAYS tackle surely. Zone coverage is not easy to learn if you've never played a zone, so its hard to try and implement zone looks in one week of game prep if you haven't been practicing a lot of zone looks in your camp.

I'm a HUGE believer in scheming to your talent and not forcing talent into a specific scheme, by that I mean if you have four very good down linemen, i.e. running a 3-4 regardless of talent isn't always a smart move. You should always be tinkering with formations and schemes based on your players instead of trying to cram ill-fitting pieces into a look. I understand trying to work basic concepts regardless of talent but there always has to be some wiggle room to adjust and play your opponent. What works against a run heavy I formation isn't gonna work against a HUNH, 5-wide offense so you have to be willing to pull a linebacker off the field and send in a DB. Union did show they recognized and were going to change up looks when Guerrant, 24, moved from a LB position to more of a ROVER/SS look. Being rigid and unwilling to make a move can get you beat and beat badly by a smart team with a smart coach who excels at exploiting an opposing team's weaknesses. 

I'm pretty sure Mance fits that bill lol. 

But the Union staff sure as sh it isn't stupid, there's a good chance they were saving looks and formations for this week. Union rarely if ever blitzed and never blitzed anyone but an inside linebacker Thursday, never once bringing edge pressure. That'll change next week as the coaches grow more comfortable with these kids and are more willing to open the playbook.

[TwhscoachT 162]

4 4 transforms into a 4 2 5 m2m or zone pass coverage when the Olbs are swapped for CBs or a wide tackle 6

[sup_rbeast 296]

I agree BigWinners...it may prove tough to slow down a team who likes to pass a lot. But, at the same time, the D is easy to adapt and adjust, so we will see how it all plays out. I don’t think Union showed much as far as wrinkles and looks on O or D the other night. Another thing...regardless of stats or the boxscore, etc, let’s not forget that Union held a 35-6 lead heading to the 4th, and quite a few of those passing yards came in the final quarter. It will be interesting to see on a week to week basis how the D is tweaked to best defend given opponents. Honestly, I don’t see that base D being abandoned at all. I think it will prove to be more than adequate once the players really find their individual grooves and become more solid in their roles.