Hybridizing the defense

[everlong]

can't overhaul both sides at the same time and expect to compete.

It was a philosophical overhaul more than a personnel.

 

[Ivan]

Very interesting topic, Fencer. Thanks for bringing it up. I think that the game has really changed over the past half dozen years. Back when BB was with Parcells it all started up front from them. Big, strong and tough were what they were looking for. As the game has become so much more athletically focused, that kind of thinking has become passe.

If BB has one great asset over all others its getting ahead of the curve, and be willing to make radical changes to implement it. Think about it, it was BB who made the slot reciever a major component of an offense It was BB who redefined the TE position and what they can mean to an offense. BB ran the 3-4 defense long before it became the predominate base that it has. He was among the first to dump the FB as a necessary position....and I could go on.

Now BB is signalling the end of 'big fatty", formally one of his favorite kind of players. Spread offenses, read options, very mobile athletic QB's all necessitate a more mobile athletic defensive lineman. BB evidently sees a time where sub 300lb DT's like Armstead will thrive, and guys like Cunningham at 260lbs can be of use on the inside in certain packages.

Now, personally I think the current "read option" craze will have the life span of the run and shoot, and will be nothing more than trick play within 5 years, but the fact is that it will be a reality for next few years and BB is getting ready for it.

I am really looking forward to seeing how radically this defense will change week to week this year. We finally have the depth at LB and in secondary to really open the play book this year and truly be the "week to week" defense that we say a few years ago.

Or at least that's one point of view.

I agree that Belichick is looking at the read option offenses and is going to configure his defenses to be able to deal with it but I am not so sure about it being a "craze," and i think the life expectancy of it is going to rest on how well these young QB's throw out of it. If players like RGIII, Russell Wilson, and Kaepernick continue to throw the way they did last season I see no reason coaches will go away from it.

 

[mgteich]

Yes, that is the hope.

I am really looking forward to seeing how radically this defense will change week to week this year. We finally have the depth at LB and in secondary to really open the play book this year and truly be the "week to week" defense that we say a few years ago.

Or at least that's one point of view.

 

[AzPatsFan]

I agree that Belichick is looking at the read option offenses and is going to configure his defenses to be able to deal with it but I am not so sure about it being a "craze," and i think the life expectancy of it is going to rest on how well these young QB's throw out of it. If players like RGIII, Russell Wilson, and Kaepernick continue to throw the way they did last season I see no reason coaches will go away from it.

To paraphrase an old proverb: "There are old QBs, and there are running QBs. But there are no old running QBs."

 

[dannydyn]

Another article about the change coming to our front 7 in light of Deddrick and Love's departures...

Bill Belichick tinkers up front | Boston Herald

 

[jmt57]

Semi-related to the original topic; this article looks at the transformation of the defensive roster from 2011 to today:

Patriots’ Recent Additions, Subtractions Show Team Could Be Stressing Pass Defense Over Stopping Run | New England Patriots | Doug Kyed | NESN.com

The team’s base defense that year had either Shaun Ellis or Brandon Deaderick at left defensive end, Kyle Love and Vince Wilfork at defensive tackle, Andre Carter at right defensive end, Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes and Rob Ninkovich at linebacker and a starting secondary of Devin McCourty, Kyle Arrington, James Ihedigbo and Patrick Chung.

You could argue that not one of those players was better against the pass than they were against the run. Mark Anderson came in on third down to boost the pass rush, but beyond him, the team was structured to stop the run. It didn’t help that players like Mike Wright, Albert Haynesworth, Myron Pryor and Ras-I Dowling didn’t work out, either because of injuries or personality.

The team took a step forward in their pass-defending ways in 2012 when they traded for Aqib Talib, got smaller at left defensive end by moving Ninkovich down, slid McCourty up to safety and drafted Chandler Jones. But there were still some holes in the pass defense. The team had obvious issues covering running backs and tight ends with its linebackers, injuries to Pryor and Jonathan Fanene meant the team had no prototypical interior rusher and they never replaced Anderson as a sub rusher.

It appears those holes have now been filled.​

Read more at: Patriots’ Recent Additions, Subtractions Show Team Could Be Stressing Pass Defense Over Stopping Run

 

[pats_premi]

I am not sure if they are changing the scheme. I am thinking that may be looking to upgrade the talent with free agent veterans after the first week of the season. They probably don't want to guarantee above minimum salaries for the veteran free agents.

 

[PatsFanStnfrd]

Sometimes early moves are signals. Signals of a changing defense. Signals to the team of work ethic and limits of BB's tolerance this early in the season.

For too long, BB who is considered a football innovator, has seemed set in the parameters he looks for in defensive players. Height, weight, arm length etc. Measurables dictated draft choices for specific positions. Crable passed muster as did Cunningham. Many others were not. Now for the past 2 years, BB seems to be emphasizing athletic players up front as well as players who can play in space. Here BB is not so much innovating as following the lead of others. Nothing wrong with that. He saw what he passed over in Carlos Dunlap a few years ago. He saw what the Giants got thru Jason Pierre-Paul. Voila -- he went up and got Chandler Jones. This year Jamie Collins. Both can play elephant roles. Collins can possibly play in space. He is loading up on DBs -- though his drafting there probably disappoints some. But the Pats defensive backfield is loaded with 1st, 2nd and 3rd round cchoices instead of street free agents just 3 years ago. Maybe this year Ras-I and Wilson and Harmon will show what BB saw in them.

If things work out, both the frontline and the backfield is full of versatile players who can play multiple role and move around. Perhaps this year they will jell.

Finally, there is the unmistakable signal of Deadrick and Love (doesn't that sound like a summer series on TNT or TBS). Shape up, compete and perform. Or you are a toast -- at least to the Pats.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Bill Belichick, Vince Wilfork, and the New England Patriots defense - Grantland

That may be the article referenced in the original post.

Looks to this observer that the Patriots are loading up on athletes in the front 7, without real regard to traditional notions of d-line play. The Giants have made that work with their NASCAR package. The Patriots drafting of Collins hints at trying to flood the front seven with athletes.

Jones, Collins, Armstead, Mayo, Hightower, et al...this is probably the most athletic, in terms of sheer natural talent, that the front seven has been in the Belichick era. Guys like Francis and Cunningham have shown some pass rush ability from the interior, and it certainly appears that the Pats are clamoring for more speed on the field.

Also, the releases of Love and Deaderick certainly won't slow down the momentum of those who feel Seymour may be on his way back. I remain skeptical, but wouldn't exactly kick him out of bed for eating crackers.

Exactly - as the article notes Belichick has been using a hybrid D for awhile - execution however, has been lacking at times and we now see him making personnel moves to give him the guys he think can better execute.

 

[Brady2Moss]

Buchanon was generally considered a borderline 1st Rounder 8 months ago, Bro.

Good another would have been a first rounder

 

[patfanken]

I agree that Belichick is looking at the read option offenses and is going to configure his defenses to be able to deal with it but I am not so sure about it being a "craze," and i think the life expectancy of it is going to rest on how well these young QB's throw out of it. If players like RGIII, Russell Wilson, and Kaepernick continue to throw the way they did last season I see no reason coaches will go away from it.

I think the issue for the "read option" will be less about how the QB's throw off that look, and more about how long they can stay on the field.

 

[Ivan]

I think the issue for the "read option" will be less about how the QB's throw off that look, and more about how long they can stay on the field.

I think that's a fair point it's just going to come down to how often they run and how smart they are about it. Steve Young was a "running QB' who had a HOF career because he was able to throw the ball as well as anyone but still had the mobility to be a threat to run when he needed to. I see most of these guys (Luck, Wilson, Kapearnick, and RGIII) as much more like Young than Randall Cunningham or Vick, and if they continue to develop their knowledge of the pro game and throw with the accuracy they showed last year i see no reason they won't have long successful careers.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Ironically he was cutting edge on the offense side of the ball but thought he could still make his old defense work and is just getting to the part 6 years later. If only they had retooled the defense at the same time....

I love these armchair fans who assume you can build a team in a single draft or even a few. The Superbowl teams of the first half of the decade grew old, and slow, and then all retired. With 7 draft picks per year, it would seemingly take 7-8 years to find 53 new NFL capable players.

Belichick seesm to be doing in in as few as four, and still won with only a few of the positions filled with young players. He patched and filled with aging vet FAs, t6o do a masterful job of continuing to win while rebuilding. But he didn't win "the Ultimate Game", with these obviously flawed teams, although he got there twice and he was competing for it all the time.

Jeez, cut a Great Coach a little slack, will you?