So our CBs on paper don't look materially better than last year. But of course on the field they look far more competent. I'm guessing a good chunk of that is scheme.
Question is - is that right? I know Buttons ran a lot of man, which is a big ask for CBs chasing around receivers in all directions all the way around the field, through picks and traffic and whatever else. The other side is he never swiched shit up. So if there was an exploitable weakness, it would always be there.
That being said, does Spagnoulos scheme take some pressure of finding higher-level CB talent?
I am very very far away from being an expert on this as well, but my understanding is:
Spags is much more willing to blitz, which takes pressure off the secondary as they have to maintain coverage for much less time.
There is a lot more deception in the scheme. If the offense knows you're in man, and they call a good "man beater" play, then you need superstars in the secondary to be able to overcome that situation or great pressure from your front 4. By mixing things up, showing man then switching to zone etc, you make the QB have to adjust on the fly, make worse decisions etc and also be in positions where the play call is not a good one for the actual coverage, which makes the secondaries life much easier.
Safety play was a dumpster fire last year. Regardless of what scheme is being run, the corners would have looked better this year with a much better safety situation supporting them.
As to whether that means you don't need a super talented CB - well CBs are ridiculously expensive in free agency, so if you can draft a good one every couple of years then it gives you a lot more cap freedom, which the Chiefs are going to need. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chargem:
I am very very far away from being an expert on this as well, but my understanding is:
Spags is much more willing to blitz, which takes pressure off the secondary as they have to maintain coverage for much less time.
There is a lot more deception in the scheme. If the offense knows you're in man, and they call a good "man beater" play, then you need superstars in the secondary to be able to overcome that situation or great pressure from your front 4. By mixing things up, showing man then switching to zone etc, you make the QB have to adjust on the fly, make worse decisions etc and also be in positions where the play call is not a good one for the actual coverage, which makes the secondaries life much easier.
Safety play was a dumpster fire last year. Regardless of what scheme is being run, the corners would have looked better this year with a much better safety situation supporting them.
As to whether that means you don't need a super talented CB - well CBs are ridiculously expensive in free agency, so if you can draft a good one every couple of years then it gives you a lot more cap freedom, which the Chiefs are going to need.
Agreed. But we've put together an extremely competent back end with virtually no money in CB, which everyone was convinced was going to fuck us.
I'm obviously no genious here, but maybe the scheme opens up the door for us to draft some less than perfect guys that would have eaten shit in Sutton's scheme. One thing I'm pretty sure of though is they all have to be pretty smart to run the different kind of coverages. That probably knocks dudes out as much as zone concepts brings guys in.
I don't have a firm pulse just yet on Spagnuolo and corners but he seems cut from that cloth of guys that don't necessarily want the most athletically gifted corners. They want smart players. I remember in Brian Billick's book there being a quote from a long-time NFL coach, I think Johnson, that he didn't like fast corners because when they make mistakes they get way out of position. I've never known Spags to have extremely fast corners and he seems to much prefer intelligent players on defense with the willingness to play the run.
That said, you need guys that have quickness and agility to stick with routes, especially underneath. You can scheme for days with zone concepts to take away deep speed, but you can't scheme against quick-twitch athletes in short areas. Give me a decent-sized corner that's smart with a great 3-cone and give a fuck less about his 40.
I like Bryce Hall, but that's one of the reasons I'll be watching him close in offseason workouts is that I worry about his quickness a bit. Gladney has it, Pride has it, I think Reggie Robinson from Tulsa has it. [Reply]