reviewing Staley’s 2020 D

from Multiple and Aggressive: How Brandon Staley will fit the Los Angeles Chargers’ personnel into his scheme

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-brandon-staley-los-angeles-chargers-personnel-defensive-scheme

…Despite playing more snaps in two-high looks than any team in the NFL, the Rams ranked third among the league’s defenses in yards allowed per carry (3.8) and fourth in explosive run rate allowed (percentage of runs that gained 10 or more yards, 9.7%) in 2020. Bradley’s single-high-heavy defense ranked 16th (4.5) and 21st (14.0%) in those two metrics, respectively.

The conversation around Staley’s base 3-4 front becomes salient in the principles that inform the defense’s handling of its opponents’ run schemes. The odd front calls for the down linemen to take on linemen square and force the offense to move laterally. Unlike playing with four-down fronts, this isn’t conducive to generating negative plays in the run game, evidenced by the Rams’ 26th-place finish in tackles for loss or no gain (54).

Proficiently fitting the run out of split safeties requires defensive backs to get involved in making up for the light box. While single-high defenses can line up with the knowledge that all gaps are covered no matter what, two-high teams must be precise in getting the unblocked defender involved where the offense is trying to send the ball.

In nickel personnel, Staley gets run fits akin to what you’d expect out of base fronts by having his deep safety come off the roof and into the box. The front and the secondary structure in conjunction become a modern take on “bending without breaking.”

Against the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams gave a 3-3-5 presentation to the offense and fit this outside-zone run like a 3-4 defense, with safety Taylor Rapp adding in late. Not only does this run fit neutralize the run action, but the defense also keeps the three-over-two advantage away from the run, which dissuades RPOs and eliminates difficult single-coverage scenarios on crossing routes via play action.

This is not exclusive to 3-4 run fits, but it is instrumental to understanding how Staley wants his defense to fit the run out of four-down fronts, as well.

To open the game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Rams gave the offense a standard 4-2-5 nickel look pre-snap. Just as it played out against San Francisco, safety Jordan Fuller is the unblocked defender arriving late to the run fit. The base 4-3 run fit is achieved with the safety away from the initial run action to clean up the cutback.

Note right defensive end Michael Brockers’ alignment: inside shade of the tackle. Aligning in that 4i technique and fighting to keep inside leverage allows Brockers to execute what the Rams value most — the opposing team spilling the ball out to the unblocked defender.

When Staley anticipated the pass, he dug deeper into his bag of split-safety coverages and played “quarter-quarter-halves” at a league-leading 18.6% clip.

While every coverage has its holes, the Rams safeties did an excellent job of robbing over routes and deep crossers while the underneath defenders dropped in the windows for other intermediate throws. This drove them to finish first among defenses in yards allowed per pass attempt (6.2) and explosive pass play percentage allowed (10.0%)

In the example below, the Washington Football Team is running a variation of a ubiquitous concept: Y-Cross. The Rams are playing halves to the field and quarters to the boundary, and the distribution of the routes allows their zone-droppers to wall off in-breaking routes. After an underneath release from his immediate threat, Jordan Fuller looks for work coming back across the field and takes the throw that QB Alex Smith wants most. Jalen Ramsey, playing slot corner, zones off when his initial threat runs an over-route and settles underneath the dig route.

This takes away Smith’s secondary read, and he succumbs to the pass rush shortly after.

Not only does this coverage give the defense an easy answer for covering crossers, but it also simplifies coverage against bunches and stacks. In the clip below from the game against the San Francisco 49ers, not only is the skinny post covered, but the Rams also sorted out the switch releases coming out of the bunch and forced the check-down throw.