Jabaal Sheard breakdown

Hi guys and girls. I noticed that a lot of people may not really know who the free agents we bring in are. So I decided that I'm going to write some breakdowns of the players with gifs and stuff. This is the first one, focused on Jabaal Sheard. I hope you enjoy it!

In short I think that Sheard is a very good run stuffer at DE, which should really increase the playtime he can get because BB rarely seems to let end that can't stop the run play. I think he brings more power in his pass rush than Jones or Ninkovich. He's better at bull rushing. But he can also use some speed to get to the QB. I think he will be a very good addition to our front four as I think he can take a significan't number of snaps from both Jones and Ninkovich without a huge drop off, so they can get some rest at last. I think his biggest problem is that he sometimes get lazy with his hands which let tackles get controll of him. But I think that can be coached away.

Here's the article: https://marinlik.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/92/

Something about Sheard has this Vrabel/Ninkovich vibe to it. Diamond in the rough stuff. Let's hope he does 75% as well as those guys. Looks like we're going crazy ass pass rush this year....

Slagathor said:

Something about Sheard has this Vrabel/Ninkovich vibe to it. Diamond in the rough stuff. Let's hope he does 75% as well as those guys. Looks like we're going crazy ass pass rush this year....

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I think he can play a role similar to the one Michael Bennett plays for Seattle.

Marinlik said:

Hi guys and girls. I noticed that a lot of people may not really know who the free agents we bring in are. So I decided that I'm going to write some breakdowns of the players with gifs and stuff. This is the first one, focused on Jabaal Sheard. I hope you enjoy it!

In short I think that Sheard is a very good run stuffer at DE, which should really increase the playtime he can get because BB rarely seems to let end that can't stop the run play. I think he brings more power in his pass rush than Jones or Ninkovich. He's better at bull rushing. But he can also use some speed to get to the QB. I think he will be a very good addition to our front four as I think he can take a significan't number of snaps from both Jones and Ninkovich without a huge drop off, so they can get some rest at last. I think his biggest problem is that he sometimes get lazy with his hands which let tackles get controll of him. But I think that can be coached away.

Here's the article: https://marinlik.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/92/

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Last year when we played base D at the start of the season before injuries, we ran the 34, as follows:

We played 2 DT types (Wilfork, Siliga, Jones, Vellano, etc) as NT and SDE.
We used Jones on the right and Nink on the left and one was WDE the other SOLB depending on offensive formation. HT was the WOLB and Mayo and Collins played ILB.
This was a big departure for the '3 300lber' 3-4 that BB always used in the past and was the first time he ever used a 260-270lb 3-4 DE.
Can you discuss what you saw in Sheard in terms of this defense?
Do you think he would be more stout in the DE spot in that defense?
How would he fit the OLB spot?

Finally, for the last few years, BB has shown an interest in moving a 34 DE inside over the G in dime packages, or 3rd and long nickel.
What are your thoughts of Sheard doing that?

Great work @Marinlik

With Sheard's power, do you think he can rush from inside? Or is he purely an edge guy. How best can we get him Nink & Jones on the field at once on passing downs? Chandler inside?

I reread "The blueprint" during the playoff run this year, Sheard is such a BB pick up a college DE but has skill to play LB as well and seems like a football guy. He is the kind of player I would expect to seen in the pats 50 jersey if Nink wasn't still in it. A move that I really like a good replacement for Ayres as a pass rusher but offers a bit bore in the run support.

AndyJohnson said:

Last year when we played base D at the start of the season before injuries, we ran the 34, as follows:

We played 2 DT types (Wilfork, Siliga, Jones, Vellano, etc) as NT and SDE.
We used Jones on the right and Nink on the left and one was WDE the other SOLB depending on offensive formation. HT was the WOLB and Mayo and Collins played ILB.
This was a big departure for the '3 300lber' 3-4 that BB always used in the past and was the first time he ever used a 260-270lb 3-4 DE.
Can you discuss what you saw in Sheard in terms of this defense?
Do you think he would be more stout in the DE spot in that defense?
How would he fit the OLB spot?

Finally, for the last few years, BB has shown an interest in moving a 34 DE inside over the G in dime packages, or 3rd and long nickel.
What are your thoughts of Sheard doing that?

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My prediciton is that the majority of our defensive snaps will be in the 4-x kind of defense that we had last year, and in years before that. That seems to be the nickel personel that BB prefers, and nickel is the new base. In this packade I see him getting used at 3-tech DT and defensive end. He can play 3-4 OLB, he did that during the last two years in Cleveland, but I thought that he was better as a pure DE that can once in a while cover someone. Kind of like Chandler Jones in that regard. You might have him stand up and sometimes cover the RB or surprise cover the TE underneath. But you won't use him as a cover OLB to any great extent.

In the 3-4 that we used against Miami I see Sheard as in the Chandler Jones typ of defensive end/OLB role depending on strong side. That would give him either the C or B gap. I remember Chandler Jones struggling on the plays that he had to move inside of the tackle and have the B-gap when the Linebacker was on his side. I think that Sheard would be better when sliding inside and having the B gap because he looks stronger when he plays and can use a bull rush better. But once again, I'm not expecting to see too much of this formation as we really are a nickel/dime defense that mostly use some variant of 4-2 or 2-4.

I can definitely see us sliding Sheard inside over the guard on dime or 3rd and long nickel.

BradyManny said:

Great work @Marinlik

With Sheard's power, do you think he can rush from inside? Or is he purely an edge guy. How best can we get him Nink & Jones on the field at once on passing downs? Chandler inside?

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He can definitely rush from inside. There was a couple of games where the Browns used a lot of DE/DT loops where the DT went outside and DE went inside, and he got good pressure because he was very quick and kept his chest low. In a pure pass rush NASCAR package I think we would have Jones(DE), Easley(NT), Sheard(DT), Ninkovich(DE).

Marinlik said:

He can definitely rush from inside. There was a couple of games where the Browns used a lot of DE/DT loops where the DT went outside and DE went inside, and he got good pressure because he was very quick and kept his chest low. In a pure pass rush NASCAR package I think we would have Jones(DE), Easley(NT), Sheard(DT), Ninkovich(DE).

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Good stuff. If Easley develops, that's a nice group right there.

Marinlik said:

He can definitely rush from inside. There was a couple of games where the Browns used a lot of DE/DT loops where the DT went outside and DE went inside, and he got good pressure because he was very quick and kept his chest low. In a pure pass rush NASCAR package I think we would have Jones(DE), Easley(NT), Sheard(DT), Ninkovich(DE).

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God help us if the offense audibles into a run against that package. I would only want to see that on 3rd and Long (where it'll probably be used regardless).

KontradictioN said:

God help us if the offense audibles into a run against that package. I would only want to see that on 3rd and Long (where it'll probably be used regardless).

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Yeah. That just me throwing out an all pass rush NASCAR package that I think could be used on third and really long. Not really something you want to throw out on 2nd and 5 against the Seahawks.

What I tried to say was mainly that if we place a DE inside the tackles in certain pass rush situations I would guess that Sheard would be the one we moved in.

AndyJohnson said:

Last year when we played base D at the start of the season before injuries, we ran the 34, as follows:

We played 2 DT types (Wilfork, Siliga, Jones, Vellano, etc) as NT and SDE.
We used Jones on the right and Nink on the left and one was WDE the other SOLB depending on offensive formation. HT was the WOLB and Mayo and Collins played ILB.
This was a big departure for the '3 300lber' 3-4 that BB always used in the past and was the first time he ever used a 260-270lb 3-4 DE.
Can you discuss what you saw in Sheard in terms of this defense?
Do you think he would be more stout in the DE spot in that defense?
How would he fit the OLB spot?

Finally, for the last few years, BB has shown an interest in moving a 34 DE inside over the G in dime packages, or 3rd and long nickel.
What are your thoughts of Sheard doing that?

Click to expand...

Marinlik said:

My prediciton is that the majority of our defensive snaps will be in the 4-x kind of defense that we had last year, and in years before that. That seems to be the nickel personel that BB prefers, and nickel is the new base. In this packade I see him getting used at 3-tech DT and defensive end. He can play 3-4 OLB, he did that during the last two years in Cleveland, but I thought that he was better as a pure DE that can once in a while cover someone. Kind of like Chandler Jones in that regard. You might have him stand up and sometimes cover the RB or surprise cover the TE underneath. But you won't use him as a cover OLB to any great extent.

In the 3-4 that we used against Miami I see Sheard as in the Chandler Jones typ of defensive end/OLB role depending on strong side. That would give him either the C or B gap. I remember Chandler Jones struggling on the plays that he had to move inside of the tackle and have the B-gap when the Linebacker was on his side. I think that Sheard would be better when sliding inside and having the B gap because he looks stronger when he plays and can use a bull rush better. But once again, I'm not expecting to see too much of this formation as we really are a nickel/dime defense that mostly use some variant of 4-2 or 2-4.

I can definitely see us sliding Sheard inside over the guard on dime or 3rd and long nickel.

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If past trends hold, I agree that we will be in sub the vast majority of the time, so one goal should be optimizing personnel for sub defense, especially - as Andy has stated during the past season - being able to stop the run in sub. This seems to involve either a 4-2 or 2-4 front-6, depending on how you look at it - either a semi-ameboid 2-4 with 4 guys who can rush or drop into zone coverage, or a 4-2 with a lot of fire-zone blitzing. It's close to the same thing. I think that all EDGE players should be looked at in terms of how they fit this approach. Ayers fit it reasonably well, as does Sheard. Ayers was better dropping back into coverage, but Sheard is a better edge setter and has some versatility to move inside at times.

Base is obviously still important, and I think that it will be some kind of multi-front hybrid defense. Beyond that it's hard to say. The approach that Andy describes was extremely creative, but I'm not sure that it is the clear direction for the base for the future, and it wasn't always successful last year. Sheard seems to be somewhat comparable to Jones in terms of his power, edge setting, and more limited ability to play in space. I would think he would be a fit for what Andy describes, if that is still what BB wants to do.

mayoclinic said:

If past trends hold, I agree that we will be in sub the vast majority of the time, so one goal should be optimizing personnel for sub defense, especially - as Andy has stated during the past season - being able to stop the run in sub. This seems to involve either a 4-2 or 2-4 front-6, depending on how you look at it - either a semi-ameboid 2-4 with 4 guys who can rush or drop into zone coverage, or a 4-2 with a lot of fire-zone blitzing. It's close to the same thing. I think that all EDGE players should be looked at in terms of how they fit this approach. Ayers fit it reasonably well, as does Sheard. Ayers was better dropping back into coverage, but Sheard is a better edge setter and has some versatility to move inside at times.

Base is obviously still important, and I think that it will be some kind of multi-front hybrid defense. Beyond that it's hard to say. The approach that Andy describes was extremely creative, but I'm not sure that it is the clear direction for the base for the future, and it wasn't always successful last year. Sheard seems to be somewhat comparable to Jones in terms of his power, edge setting, and more limited ability to play in space. I would think he would be a fit for what Andy describes, if that is still what BB wants to do.

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Even though we play nickel 75% of the time, base still matters.
I'm not sure the defense BB used as the base (I guess its now could be called the sub) is a creative gimmick.
Basically what he was doing was playing his 43 personnel in a 34. Its clear he has moved to a 43 that has 2 260-270 lb DEs so I would expect he uses the same philosophy in the 34 to combat the pass happiness.
While everyone liked to make a big deal out of it, when we played 34 last year with Nink or Jones as a DE, they were not playing Richard Seymour 34 discipline, they were playing 43 DE discipline. All we really did was stem from 43 personnel by sliding the DTs over one man, standing up the SDE as a n "OLB" and shifting the 3 LBs accordingly.
We are no less likely to use a 265 lb 34 DE as we are to use 2 in the 43.
I get that historically the roles were different, but this isn't 2003.

AndyJohnson said:

Even though we play nickel 75% of the time, base still matters.
I'm not sure the defense BB used as the base (I guess its now could be called the sub) is a creative gimmick.
Basically what he was doing was playing his 43 personnel in a 34. Its clear he has moved to a 43 that has 2 260-270 lb DEs so I would expect he uses the same philosophy in the 34 to combat the pass happiness.
While everyone liked to make a big deal out of it, when we played 34 last year with Nink or Jones as a DE, they were not playing Richard Seymour 34 discipline, they were playing 43 DE discipline. All we really did was stem from 43 personnel by sliding the DTs over one man, standing up the SDE as a n "OLB" and shifting the 3 LBs accordingly.
We are no less likely to use a 265 lb 34 DE as we are to use 2 in the 43.
I get that historically the roles were different, but this isn't 2003.

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I agree with you on how we use the 3-4 now. It wasn't the old fat 3-4. It was much more similar to a 4-3 where you put a linebacker at the line, and had the opposite end standing.

Batman said:

I reread "The blueprint" during the playoff run this year, Sheard is such a BB pick up a college DE but has skill to play LB as well and seems like a football guy. He is the kind of player I would expect to seen in the pats 50 jersey if Nink wasn't still in it. A move that I really like a good replacement for Ayres as a pass rusher but offers a bit bore in the run support.

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I think that overall this is the way BBs defense is going. A bunch of players that can play several positions. Not just a 3-tech DT, a NT, 2 C-gap ends, and 2 quicker outside linebackers and a thumper in the middle. Instead we have linebackers that can all play at all linebacker positions, we also have ends that can play outside linebacker and drop back in pass coverage.

Just look at Easley. He's already played all over the line, and we just drafted him last year. I think Bill loves players that he can move around to different positions. That way he can keep the same players in, but completely change the look of the defense. @mayoclinic has talked about this approach with very versatile defenders in the draft forum if I remember correctly.

BB loves versatility what I love about what we are moving to now is the fact that we have 2 good cover LBs that can both get after a QB and DEs who can drop into coverage great chance to run some more radar. I'd still like us to have some more size on the interior DL. 43under would allow us to use smaller DTs in the 3 and 1 tech spots but makes coverage a bit tougher. I'd love to see us bring Wilfork back and have him as a 2 down DT.

I watched a little film on this guy. He plays like a Gattuso ( his DL coach at Piit) guy, relentless and disciplined. Really old school. No wonder he signed here.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-...ots?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

1. Here’s something I learned about first-year Patriots defensive end/outside linebacker Jabaal Sheard (two-year, $11 million contract) from speaking with folks around his former team, the Browns:
He played the second half of last season with a foot injury, and the severity of the injury had some thinking he was going to land on injured reserve.

But Sheard, despite his production declining, was determined to play through it. Sheard also was the Browns’ Walter Payton Man of the Year award nominee in 2013, so that combination of toughness and off-field presence should make him a good fit in New England.

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Sheard said. “I think my main strength is knocking guys back and creating penetration at the line of scrimmage. Hopefully stopping the run and being a big factor there, or getting after the quarterback or dropping or whatever else may come with it. Ultimately my initial strength is knocking guys back and creating penetration."

If true, Collins is gonna be one happy camper.

Fear the Sheard