RustyBourneHorse
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I like the new DC hire. I think he has a good track record. I like the coaching tree he's part of. I think, overall, we have gotten a much better DC. I will also say that he's quite the departure from the usual Jerry hire.
- Firstly, I like his track record. Here's his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Parker_(American_football). You'll see that his last three jobs before he came here were with the Packers, Broncos, and Eagles. Need I remind you that two of those three are teams we almost never beat? As "Defensive quality control coach" under the Packers in 2019, their defence ranked 9th (https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2019/opp.htm). According to https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2019-nfl-secondary-rankings, "Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine used zone schemes on 51% of their 613 coverage snaps, giving his pass defenders clear vision against opposing quarterbacks, and they responded with the league’s third-most interceptions (16) and the fifth-most forced incompletions (60). Second-year player Jaire Alexander (11th) and 10-year veteran Tramon Williams (6th) both ranked inside PFFs list of top 25 cornerbacks for 2019, and their presence helped the defense allow a completion percentage of just 64.7% and a passer rating of 87.3, both of which were the fourth-lowest among teams." That's in his first year working with professional secondaries. In year 2, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Green_Bay_Packers_season), they were 9th on defence and 7th in passing and were potentially a LaFleur blown decision away from a SB. Then let's look at the 2021 Denver Broncos, where he was the DBs coach. According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denve...oncos also made notable,in the 2021 NFL draft., the 2021 Broncos made "The Broncos also made notable improvements in the defensive secondary, signing former All-Pro cornerback Kyle Fuller and cornerback Ronald Darby, as well as drafting Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II with the ninth overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft". According to "https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/den/2021.htm", they had 13 picks and conceded 322 points vs. 446 points in 2020. That's a marvelous improvement under Fangio, who was HC at the time. 2022 was a cluster in Denver because Hackett was a total hack. Despite this, the Broncos defence was their best unit with their defence (https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/den/2022.htm) having 17 interceptions that season. Finally, you look at the Eagles, they won the SB last season and their secondary has been one of their best units. The point is, everywhere he's been, his secondaries have been great units.
- Secondly, the coaching tree where he originated is a better one than Eberflus (who was a LB coach at one point here under Garrett). While young, he was an assistant under DCs such as Mike Pettine, Fangio, and Vance Joseph. All 3 are known for being very good defencive coaches.
- Finally, not that this is saying much, he's easily a better option than what we've had with Eberflus. I'd even argue he's better than Zimmer in 24. I'm not going to compare Eberflus because that's simply irrelevant and unnecessary. I'll compare our defence to Philly's in 24. In 24, (https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2024/opp.htm), our defence was 31st overall compared to 2nd for Philly. If you look in the link, their numbers overall we're better, but look especially at passing.
