Until we kickoff the season, what our defense looks like from a schematic/philosophy standpoint will be anyone's best guess.
Reading Brent and Paul's interpretation of what they have been able to see at practice it looks like we will not play as much true 4-3 as I originally thought. I never thought we would be a 4-3 team the majority of the time, or even 50/50, I just thought Shoop would employ it more than Jancek did.
Before spring practice, I had stated that I thought being able to defend some smaller personnel groupings out of the 4-3 would be a goal of Shoop's. I felt like our inability to play well with 3 LBs on the field was one of the most significant issues with Jancek's defense. I thought a guy like Bates, McDowell, or Smith (prior to him being a full time DE, of course) could be a guy who could defend in space as well as on the end of the LOS. This would allow our defense to play 4-3 more when we want to, rather when the offense makes us.
With spring practice almost over, it looks like Bynum is the leader in the clubhouse to play SAM. Bynum is really good as an end LOS SAM vs a TE (9-technique). He is not great off the ball or in space, as many of you know. This leads me to believe we will likely maintain our 4-2-5 almost exclusively, much like Jancek did. We will likely only play with 3 LBs on the field when offenses personnel grouping is too big for us not to put Bynum on the field in place of our nickel.
I would like to see Blakely and Bituli get some reps at SAM once they are on campus. They have the build to be good end of LOS players but perhaps a little more athleticism and range than Bynum, which would allow us to be a little more multiple with 3 LBs on the field. However, with depth issues at Mike as well, I would bet Bituli's first reps take place there.
I am curious to see if we employ some type of defense with 3 safeties on the field together. This would obviously not be anything we run a great deal, but with our depth at the position, it could be a nice bullet in the chamber. I would also like to see us do some bear stuff like Bud Foster runs with VT from time to time.
Reading Brent and Paul's interpretation of what they have been able to see at practice it looks like we will not play as much true 4-3 as I originally thought. I never thought we would be a 4-3 team the majority of the time, or even 50/50, I just thought Shoop would employ it more than Jancek did.
Before spring practice, I had stated that I thought being able to defend some smaller personnel groupings out of the 4-3 would be a goal of Shoop's. I felt like our inability to play well with 3 LBs on the field was one of the most significant issues with Jancek's defense. I thought a guy like Bates, McDowell, or Smith (prior to him being a full time DE, of course) could be a guy who could defend in space as well as on the end of the LOS. This would allow our defense to play 4-3 more when we want to, rather when the offense makes us.
With spring practice almost over, it looks like Bynum is the leader in the clubhouse to play SAM. Bynum is really good as an end LOS SAM vs a TE (9-technique). He is not great off the ball or in space, as many of you know. This leads me to believe we will likely maintain our 4-2-5 almost exclusively, much like Jancek did. We will likely only play with 3 LBs on the field when offenses personnel grouping is too big for us not to put Bynum on the field in place of our nickel.
I would like to see Blakely and Bituli get some reps at SAM once they are on campus. They have the build to be good end of LOS players but perhaps a little more athleticism and range than Bynum, which would allow us to be a little more multiple with 3 LBs on the field. However, with depth issues at Mike as well, I would bet Bituli's first reps take place there.
I am curious to see if we employ some type of defense with 3 safeties on the field together. This would obviously not be anything we run a great deal, but with our depth at the position, it could be a nice bullet in the chamber. I would also like to see us do some bear stuff like Bud Foster runs with VT from time to time.
