First, the snarky comments about the lack of talent new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams inherits are idiotic, not to mention getting old.
Shelton, Haden, Collins, Ogbah, and Kirksey are irrefutably talented. DeMario Davis has quietly not sucked, and Calhoun and Nassib were rookies, and I know they're all as sick of these sweeping kneejerk generalizaitions as I am.
I also believe Ed Reynolds was a diamond in the coal bin, and both of the other young safeties will be special in their second and third respective seasons, though I can't back that up yet.
The single most important thing here is that Gregg is the answer to the real problems with this defense: Accountability.
"Accountability" is one of the hottest words in the NFL nowadays. Every coach inserts it into every third or fourth sentence.
Williams MEANS it. Ask any of his former players. No matter where you were drafted, or what you did even last week, if you miss a tackle or two, blow a coverage, or miss an assignment, you will be benched.
He posts charts at the doors to the meeting rooms with statistical grading for every defensive player, updated weekly. According to two of his former players, if you wonder why you're not getting enough snaps, you just have to look at that chart.
The players all appreciated that. The chart clearly told them what they were doing right, and what they needed to fix. Just as importantly, it proved to them that Williams had no favorites, and that everybody had an equal chance.
As you know if you've read this blog before, the real problems, aside from inexperience, with this defense have been blown coverages and missed tackles. Williams won't put up with that, or knuckleheads lining up offsides $@!×?!!!
I'm not going to bash Ray Horton here, but I do know that he never benched anybody for repeated screw-ups, and that while the coverage got better with Reynolds and experience, the missed tackles remained a chronic issue.
The nature of the Gregg Williams system is almost irrelevant, because if these talented players had not kept screwing up all season long, Horton's system would have worked fine as well.
For that matter, it's actually unfair that Williams will be getting seasoned versions of all the raw rookies Horton had to deal with, and purse-lipped cretins who indict the talent here will remain oblivious to this when they...duh...screw up less.
What about the Gregg Williams system?
Well, Gregg cut his teeth under Buddy Ryan. He's hence called a Ryan "desciple", which is assenine, because he has evolved away from that over the years since. The reality is that he's as much Bud Carson as he is Buddy Ryan now.
Like Ray Horton, he does adapt his scheme to his players, but prefers four down linemen who attack on every down to Ray's semi 3-4 base.
Unlike Ray, Gregg's middle linebacker actually calls audibles based on how the offense lines up when the huddle breaks. Few defensive coordinators are willing to trust a mere player to make these adjustments under fire, and this is unusual.
In a previous post, I called his system extremely complex, but Gregg says "It looks complicated, but it isn't".
In fact, Williams says he wants his players to be aggressive and play fast. "Play fast" is code for not standing there trying to figure stuff out, and if you screw up, screw up in the opposing backfield.
Williams' primary passrushers are, ideally, the four down linemen, who more often than not line up in gaps. For these guys, it's not complicated at all.
Williams blitzes a ton, sending a fifth guy and sometimes a sixth and even seventh. The downside is that he puts his coverage guys in a lot of one-on-one situations, and if a running back does get past the first wave, he can do major damage.
Still, because of the dedicated four-man rush, Williams defenses tend to rank high in sacks and turnovers.
Not all of his blitzes are indended to reach the quarterback. They are meant to keep a dangerous outlet receiver in to block, or to pull a blocker off of one of the defensive linemen.
Gregg has said that any good passrusher should beat most offensive linemen mano e mano, and some of his blitzes are just to prevent double-teams...not that the blitzer doesn't get the hit or sack anyway sometimes.
I haven't studied this in depth yet, but in most 4-3's the four down linemen remain in place in nickel packages. Peterson likes to insert a specialized extra-fast linebacker as one of two in these situations, and sometimes uses safeties in this role.
Three current Browns defensive linemen are locks to start for Williams: Ogbah weak outside, Shelton inside, and Nassib strong outside. The nature of this system will give Xavier Cooper another chance to show off his explosive first step, this time between Shelton and Ogbah. Steven Paea has also been very effective in a similar system.
Understand that Shelton may actually do better in the Williams than in the Horton system, because he's tall and has reach. He's not a prototype gap-shooter, but no guard wants to take him on without help. He can still collapse pockets, blow things up, and pull blockers away from other guys. I guarantee you, Gregg Williams is very happy to inherit him.
Williams' coverage schemes vary. Cover two and cover four more than anything else. He tries to keep the lid on and force shallower routes, then make receivers sorry they caught or tried to catch the ball.
Given the prevalance of 3-wides, the typical 4-3 answer is a 4-2-5, although given the personnel Gregg finds here, he might do something different.
If he goes with his own 4-2, the hybrid linebacker could be Campbell, Kindred, or even Jamie Collins (Collins stays on the field either way).
What about the 3 base linebackers? Collins (I sure hope they sign him; getting Gregg Williams will help) and Kirksey are two for sure (btw Kirksey covers well too). DeMario Davis maybe. A big part of this will be the middle linebacker's ability to diagnose and make the right audibles. Joe Shobert is a good fit, weak outside or middle.
Jamie Collins has every chance of being middle linebacker himself. So much for his alleged tendancy to freelance: He calls the audible, and everybody is on the same page, right?
He has the range, blitzes well inside, and it's tough to get a hat on him standing behind Shelton and another defensive tackle.
How does this effect the draft?
Well, skip the linebacker/defensive end hybrids and "inside" linebackers. No run-stuffing defensive tackles.
The "nerds and geeks" in the front office might well get a linebacker/safety tweener in the third or fourth round.
Jonathan Allen could also gain parity with Garrett in Gregg's eyes. He'd be an exactly perfect fit between Shelton and Ogbah.
Oh stop it! Why do you want Ogbah on the bench so bad, and a "guy" next to Shelton?
Anyway, Williams might insist that his system isn't complicated, but we can expect a bumpy road for the first part of 2017. I expect Chicken Little to demand his termination by game two.
I personally can't wait. At least two of the top five draft picks should be defensive players, and some good young veteran free agents should shake loose.
Moving so quickly was smart. DePodesta and company can now narrow their searches by "type". This was a smart move.
Clearly, they read this blog!
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