Here's what I've seen from the All-22 this season:
1. We blitz at an extraordinarily low rate. I'm not in favor of blitzing a lot as I would rather just send 4 rushmen up field. But, we were at too low of a rate.
2. When we blitz it is almost exclusively with a cornerback. And usually it was with Scrandrick was better than average for a CB at blitzing.
3. Often times (particularly come December), the DE's would get some decent pressure, but Crawford would either be double or triple teamed (RB coming in to help the guard and center). So the front of the pocket would be clear for the QB.
4. Melton was coming along nicely, but is weak against the run and didn't have the stamina to play many reps
5. Hayden must be well liked for his tremendous hustle because he basically just takes up space when he's not hustling. So on plays where the DE's got good pressure and moved the QB up in the pocket and Crawford was getting doubled (or tripled), Hayden couldn't get any pressure and Melton was playing too sparingly to make a difference and didn't play a lot on 1st down.
Spencer - would love to keep him at another 1-year deal. I wouldn't even mind seeing him get a little more money. He really came on in December when his knee was getting healthy.
Crawford - We should look at him as a star player on the defense and protect him from getting injured. He's fantastic. He needs to learn how to wrap up the QB better, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him have a Suh like season next year if we can get him some help.
Hayden - I personally hope he is gone although I can see why we would keep him as Melton is likely gone. However, we need to get him to be more of a backup to spell people.
Lawrence - We will see on him as he looked good in the playoffs. I will say this, our training staff tends to do a great job and re-creating player's bodies and make them perform better. They can't keep players healthy, but if they do...guys like Randle, Leary, etc. looked like totally different football players this year. Perhaps Lawrence could do the same thing.
Mincey - I would like to keep him around as he's a good leader and is a decent lil' Defensive End. He plays the run well and is pretty solid at getting to the QB. However, he needs to be more of a backup.
T. McClain - Way too inconsistent. He would look very good in 1 game and then look quite bad the next. The ability and athleticism is there. I didn't watch him in Houston, so I don't know if he was doing more of the same there. If he was, then I think that's just the type of player he is (athletic but inconsistent). If he just didn't play well at all in Houston, then I get the feeling that he was trying to re-adjust himself to Marinelli's system and it may take a year to 'get it.' He should be brought back and see if he's getting it in next year's camp.
I don't believe the scheme is designed for many safety blitzes, but we basically didn't blitz the safeties at all. Not sure why. Also, the league is using more 3 safety personnel to help stop 2 TE sets and those spread formations where the ball will be thrown quickly and you need guys to tackle and fight thru WR blocks well. I really think we could use another safety in the draft. I'm not nutty about Heath, but he does show some upside as a 3rd safety that plays special teams and can play in 3 safety personnel. Church looked the best he's looked to me, but he's very limited in coverage. Wilcox I like a lot....strong man-to-man cover skills and seems to know where everybody needs to be. His tackling in open space is often times...horrendous.
So while I think we need to acquire some talent at the DT and DE spots, we also need to look at the secondary in order to help with the pass rush.
YR
