Seattle
1. 8 man box to stop the run with single high safety
2. corners plays a lot of bump and run
3. big run-stuff 1-tech
4. wide-9 DE
5. aggressive SLB passrushing (at least in atlanta version of seattle D)
A lot to like
Questions
1. awuzie is big enough to play this, but jordan and brown?
2. jones has a role/fit?
3. who else beyond injury-prone tapper has the speed to play wide-9?
4. are we going to get a large 1-tech?
5. do we have a SLB pass rusher? jaylon?
Brown is big enough. Brown's issue is that he doesn't trust his technique and he got worried about getting beat on corner routes and then got killed on slants. Coaches, particularly this coaching staff, HATE players that don't trust their technique. Jordan is pretty physical with his hands and it's more what he played at Michigan. I think they need to consider Brown at the slot considering how well he played the slot later in the season.
Jones is a good safety, just don't have him play in the box because it's a waste of his talents. This is what bothers me most about Rod...you move Heath to SS and he couldn't tackle a 1-legged man with an inner ear fluid disorder, so you move Byron in the box when he's not an in-the-box safety and he still tackles better than Heath did. Then you take away snaps from Byron to put in a more true in the box safety in Frazier and thus leave a big hole in coverage because neither Heath and certainly not Frazier can cover like Byron can. Something tells me that there's more to the story than meets the eye. Heath did make a few more plays in pass coverage, but some of them were the benefits of bad plays by the opponent. And when Heath made plays in coverage it was often in some sort of bracket coverage...but Rod insisted in playing Cover 2. Ugh.
D-Law can play wide-9 easily. The DE's for SEA aren't exactly fast. It's not really a speed thing. It's also not the be all end all in pass rushing technique. A guy like Brees who climbs the pocket well can have a field day against the Wide-9. And it really is more designed to benefit the DT's because the guards can't get the help from the tackles because the ends are split so wide. Bigger question would be can we get a pass rusher on 3rd down out of the 1-tech.
OUur 1-tech play stunk last year. That's why I wouldn't be against having a natural 3-tech...if he was an Aaron Donald type being drafted. You could switch Irving and the rookie between 1-tech and 3-tech and cause some real problems. But for now, our 1-tech is still Collins who I have yet to see him as a 'good player' as everybody raves about. Regardless of position...he hasn't played well for us.
My doubts are against us gong with a big 1-tech if Rod is stillhere. On this point I understand Rod's philosophy, but if you're a sieve against the run and insist on stopping the run...something has to give.
Jaylon is the MIKE. I wouldn't lose hope on him just yet. His coverage in the second half of the season was pretty good and at times, excellent. He started to get the run defense down as well. People should understand that this was acompletely different philosophy and position skill fit for him. So not only was he coming off an injury and had not played in over a year and was still favoring his injury...he had to learn a lot of new things.
YR
