Variation on the Dime Defense

Kaiser

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Random offtopic question for the students of the game here about ur Dime Defense next year.

With the emergence of LVE and Jaylon, this team has three LBs that part of the rare group that can play the run, the pass and also blitz. I don't remember any team with three.

We will likely (IMO) sign Earl Thomas, who is the best Centerfield Safety in the NFL.

We have four Corners that are starting caliber, two of whom that are good blitzing.

We have an elite DE who can rush and play the run, along with Randy Gregory who is an excellent Dime DE.

At DT in the dime we have guys like Maliek Collins, Taco and potentially David Irving who can rush the passer but also play the run inside.

So its a bit nuts, but instead of dime with 4 DL, 1 LB and 6 DBs - what about ET deep, the four corners, the three LBs LVE, Jaylon and Sean Lee with only three DL like DLaw, Gregory and Collins?

You have great cover skills deep, you have a strong pass rush for the 3 up front and then you have three LBs that cover ground but also blitz. Your corners can blitz also. You have to think Marinelli and Kris Richard could design some really innovative blitz packages with that group on the field for 3rd and 12 type of downs. You would get decent pressure just from the 3 DL and then blitz anywhere from zero to three others from anywhere.
 

Kaiser

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We won’t have the money to sign Thomas.

We will have something like 60 million next year and on top of that, there are plenty of ways to structure his contract in a more cap friendly way up front. Jerry almost always gets the guys he wants and he always does it in a way that is more cap friendly than expected - even when they overpay badly like the Brandon Carr deal.
 

mmohican29

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We won’t have the money to sign Thomas.

I agree.

People see ET in Dallas as a foregone conclusion, but the fact of the matter is we have more pressing financial decisions to make first.

Lawrence must be re-signed. Period.
Cooper must be re-signed. Period.
Zeke must be re-signed soon.
Jones must be re-signed soon.

We can have an elite defense and be in contention for the next 5 to 6 seasons, but we will have to be frugal in FA.

The upside is:

Woods and Heath are both playing pretty darn well these days. Not perfect, but neither are killing the team.

Ideally:

We draft best available TE Rd 2.
We draft best available OT Rd 3.
We draft best available QB Rd. 4

This team has a chance to be in the hunt for a good long while if it's smart, and can get Dak on a very team friendly deal.

We are set @ LB, WR, RB, and CB. Those are cornerstone positions. Dak won't likely ever wow, but he will win a bunch of games. Can he win us the biggest ones. I'm truthfully very doubtful.
 

cern

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Thomas broke his leg in 2016. Thomas broke his leg again in 2018. damaged goods. not interested at all.
 

Kaiser

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I agree.

People see ET in Dallas as a foregone conclusion, but the fact of the matter is we have more pressing financial decisions to make first.

Lawrence must be re-signed. Period.
Cooper must be re-signed. Period.
Zeke must be re-signed soon.
Jones must be re-signed soon.

Disagree. We will have 60 Million available next year.

DLaw makes 17MM already, make him the highest paid DE in the NFL and you take 7MM of that 60.
Cooper is already set to make 14MM next year, make him the highest paid WR in the NFL and you take another 4 MM of the 53 remaining.
Byron Jones is set to make 6MM next year, make him the highest paid CB in the NFL and you take another 9 MM of the 49 remaining
Zeke has a cap hit of 8MM next year, you aren't going to add much if you resign him.

Give Dak 20MM a year and you still have 20 Million remaining. And none of those guys will have a cap hit anywhere near what I listed.
 

ultron

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I just posted the 2019 salary cap space and our free agents - the front office will have $47.8 million to play with and the only two starters that are free agents are Demarcus Lawrence and Cole Beasley.

2020 is a whole different story, half of the starting offense and half of the starting defense are free agents.
 

Kaiser

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This thread sidetracked but I still want to hear what people think of the OP. The idea is that with our uniquely talented LB Corps, we can play a Dime defense that isn't a 4-1-6.

Instead its a 3-3-5 with DLaw, Gregory and a DT on the line, Jaylon, LVE and Lee at LB and then our four CBs plus a deep safety.

You have 8 guys on the field that can cover, but at the same time you have 3 pass rushers and 5 LBs/DBs who can blitz. A whole lot of creative packages for Richard and Marinelli to play with.
 

xwalker

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Random offtopic question for the students of the game here about ur Dime Defense next year.

With the emergence of LVE and Jaylon, this team has three LBs that part of the rare group that can play the run, the pass and also blitz. I don't remember any team with three.

We will likely (IMO) sign Earl Thomas, who is the best Centerfield Safety in the NFL.

We have four Corners that are starting caliber, two of whom that are good blitzing.

We have an elite DE who can rush and play the run, along with Randy Gregory who is an excellent Dime DE.

At DT in the dime we have guys like Maliek Collins, Taco and potentially David Irving who can rush the passer but also play the run inside.

So its a bit nuts, but instead of dime with 4 DL, 1 LB and 6 DBs - what about ET deep, the four corners, the three LBs LVE, Jaylon and Sean Lee with only three DL like DLaw, Gregory and Collins?

You have great cover skills deep, you have a strong pass rush for the 3 up front and then you have three LBs that cover ground but also blitz. Your corners can blitz also. You have to think Marinelli and Kris Richard could design some really innovative blitz packages with that group on the field for 3rd and 12 type of downs. You would get decent pressure just from the 3 DL and then blitz anywhere from zero to three others from anywhere.

They played 3 DL sets fairly often the past few years but very little this season.

Vander Esch is bigger than Randy Gregory and Jaylon is probably close to 250.
 

gmoney112

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It wouldn't be a terrible package to substitute for heavy nickel or base nickel packages against certain teams.

The thing is, Dime is predicated as a pass defense. It's usually used in 3rd and long, or 2nd and long. The reason you have so many DBs on the field is to matchup against offenses that will be using more speed to get the first down.

In this case, we do have LBs that are good in coverage but I don't think most would feel comfortable with them over NFL DBs against personnel and route schemes designed to take advantage of matchups. If the rush doesn't get home, having 3 LBs in coverage isnt optimal.

The 4 DL is also a symbiotic relationship with the coverage ability on the back end. Especially if you have a solid pass rush. They work in tandem. In these passing situations where you're in Dime, usually your best pass rushers are on the field, the 1 tech or heavier DTs are subbed out. Taking a pass rusher out will hurt this a bit, although we did have success with 3 DL against GB, etc.

So, I dont think itll replace Dime packages, but I'm all about using your personnel to your advantage. If you have 3 LBs playing at a pro bowl level, you can do certain things. I'd be interested in the effectiveness against certain teams where we need a bit more juice in the middle of the field (like screen heavy teams), but this would come at the expense of 4-3 packages and heavy nickel moreso than Dime, imo.
 

charron

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Could do this with or without ET. Disguise the blitz some by moving linebackers and changing who charges the QB.
 

charron

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I agree.

People see ET in Dallas as a foregone conclusion, but the fact of the matter is we have more pressing financial decisions to make first.

Lawrence must be re-signed. Period.
Cooper must be re-signed. Period.
Zeke must be re-signed soon.
Jones must be re-signed soon.

We can have an elite defense and be in contention for the next 5 to 6 seasons, but we will have to be frugal in FA.

The upside is:

Woods and Heath are both playing pretty darn well these days. Not perfect, but neither are killing the team.

Ideally:

We draft best available TE Rd 2.
We draft best available OT Rd 3.
We draft best available QB Rd. 4

This team has a chance to be in the hunt for a good long while if it's smart, and can get Dak on a very team friendly deal.

We are set @ LB, WR, RB, and CB. Those are cornerstone positions. Dak won't likely ever wow, but he will win a bunch of games. Can he win us the biggest ones. I'm truthfully very doubtful.


Zeke has plenty of time on his deal. We can decide to use his 5th year option next off-season. Target cook in the off-season and keep using brown as a hybrid tight end, full back, wr.
 

Kaiser

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Woods is improving and would like to see what he can do

I was picturing Maliek Collins as the NT in the three man front, a guy that occupy blockers but still get penetration. But Woods would hold two blockers. David Irving could do well at that spot if his head was on straight.

If it was Woods and he occupied two OL, teams might double team DL and the three man front would occupy all five OL. Then you would have 3 LBs and 2 DBs who could blitz. That is fun to think about, you could rush 3 - 8 guys or put 8 guys in coverage.
 

Kaiser

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In this case, we do have LBs that are good in coverage but I don't think most would feel comfortable with them over NFL DBs against personnel and route schemes designed to take advantage of matchups. If the rush doesn't get home, having 3 LBs in coverage isnt optimal.

But the idea is that LVE is better in coverage than the 6th DB most teams are playing in that spot. I would take LVE in coverage over most of the guys we have had as our worst Dime back.

In this idea/scheme/fantasy you are replacing the 6th DB with LVE and one of your DTs with Jaylon Smith. I just like the idea that you have a unique set of players and Kris Richard can put 8 guys in coverage or put up to 8 guys on the pass rush/blitz. I think you could do some fun stuff with it.
 

Kaiser

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Could do this with or without ET. Disguise the blitz some by moving linebackers and changing who charges the QB.

Totally agree, but to me ET is a guy that gives you more flexibility because he covers so much ground that you wouldn't be afraid of having the 3 LBs playing in this package off the line. Its really no different than having a SS in the game playing up, except you are playing LVE who can blitz and jam TEs better than any SS out there.
 

Fla Cowpoke

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Thomas broke his leg in 2016. Thomas broke his leg again in 2018. damaged goods. not interested at all.

Broken bones are generally one of the easiest things to recover from and unless in a joint rarely causes long term issues. I think you are fooling yourself if you think he won't draw significant interest around the league.
 
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