developments on defense?

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  • April 28, 2024 at 11:30 am #150591
    zn
    Moderator

    In the post-draft comments Saturday McVay said that with their new DC they will do some familar things but will also try some new and different things to “push the envelope.”

    Here’s what is kind of visible from that. They signed veteran DBs who knew match-zone and who were also versatile in terms of what they did and where they lined up, which just suggests a lot of disguised coverages. That’s certainly true of Kamren Curl who made a name for himself based on his versatility, and it applies to Lake too. (Darious Wms. played a lot of match-zone with the Rams when he was their CB under both Philips and Staley.)

    There’s more! If you look at the front 7 guys they drafted, and then include Turner, they are versatile about where they line up. (This doesn’t apply to Davis, the 6th rounder, who looks to be a straight-up NT). Verse for example can line up at LB/edge, 4/3 DE, and even 3-tech. Fiske can line up at DT or 3/4 DE. Turner we already know moved around, from NT to 3-tech.

    It just seems like the defense as a whole will scheme in a lot of movement and versatility. Like they used to do with Donald where they would have him line up all over the DL–except, in 2024 it will be with 3 to 4 guys moving around that way at the same time. This can also mean we’ll see a lot 3/4  and 4/3 fronts, and not just the 3/4 front they’ve mostly used. (They used a 3/4 “under” front with AD, where you have a traditional 3/4 DE and a 3/4 NT but Donald wasn’t the other end, he was usually a 3-tech lining up on the guard’s shoulder). Verse and Young allow them to have straight-up 4/3 fronts. All this combined with multiple and disguised coverages.

    It’s the 2024 defensive motto. Who do you replace Donald with? A committee. More than that, a committee that gets schemed into multiple fronts and coverages–much more so than they have before.
    April 28, 2024 at 11:33 am #150592
    wv
    Participant

    I assume a downside to this kind of change might be miscommunication?   Too much ‘thinking’ and not enough quick reacting?     Yes? No?

     

    w

    v

    April 28, 2024 at 11:38 am #150594
    zn
    Moderator
    wv wrote:

    I assume a downside to this kind of change might be miscommunication? Too much ‘thinking’ and not enough quick reacting? Yes? No? w v

    No. Or not necessarily. The scheme does the work for you. The point is to get the players to play aggresively. Anyway the communication and thinking come in the secondary, where notice they went for vets instead of rookies.

    In the front 7 you just have to know where to line up according to the call. So in “eagle red 1” (made up term) Verse knows he’s a 4/3 end. In “chickhawk blue 3” he’s at OLB/edge. And the guy on the field with the green dot making the calls is Jones, a vet.

    April 29, 2024 at 4:32 pm #150646
    zn
    Moderator

    ramsman34

    The D front will be very situation-multiple. The more Shula can mix up the fronts, personnel, stunt/blitz looks, the more issues it creates for opposing offensive game plans and protections.

    April 29, 2024 at 7:23 pm #150651
    zn
    Moderator

    Not that they will stay in their base formation, but what is their base formation?

    ROLB……ILB/nickel-DB……ILB…….LOLB
    ……RDE or 3-TECH……NT…….LDE

    Going from left (or ROLB) to right, starting with the LBs:

    Young
    ?Rozeboom?/Lake
    Jones
    Verse

    Then it gets tricky?

    Turner (if 3 -TECH), Fiske (if 3-TECH or DE)
    Brown
    Johnson? Fiske? Hoecht? Goodlow (UDFA)? Olajiga (UDFA)?

    Last year the RDE was Jonah Williams but he signed with the Vikes.

    I have a feeling it will be

    Turner (3-Tech)
    Brown (NT)
    Fiske (LDE)

    That btw does not look great. It’s too young. The defense might be generally effective in 2024 but I see them ranking between 18th and 12th.

    May 10, 2024 at 1:02 pm #150831
    zn
    Moderator
    Cody Alexander@The_Coach_A
    The Rams are bringing back Darious Williams, who is a coverage-diverse CB & excels in zone, which is a staple of LA’s defense. In addition to Williams, LA is adding Safety Kameron Curl from the Commanders. Another coverage-diverse DB who plays well in zone.
    May 10, 2024 at 1:40 pm #150833
    InvaderRam
    Moderator
    zn wrote:

    ramsman34 The D front will be very situation-multiple. The more Shula can mix up the fronts, personnel, stunt/blitz looks, the more issues it creates for opposing offensive game plans and protections.

     

    i’m curious to see how shula handles this defense. losing donald sucks for sure.

     

    but more than that. going with a young defense. a very young first time coordinator. that could hurt as well. i don’t know. morris entered the job with a lot more experience. he’s a leader. what is shula? is that a good mix? rookie coordinator with a young defense?

    May 10, 2024 at 1:43 pm #150834
    InvaderRam
    Moderator

    furthermore with a rookie coordinator and a young defense is it a good idea to make the defense so “multiple”? seems like “multiple” is another way of saying more complex or difficult. would it be better to simplify it? players having less experience executing that kind of defense and a coordinator with no experience calling those plays?

    May 10, 2024 at 1:53 pm #150835
    zn
    Moderator
    InvaderRam wrote:

    furthermore with a rookie coordinator and a young defense is it a good idea to make the defense so “multiple”? seems like “multiple” is another way of saying more complex or difficult. would it be better to simplify it? players having less experience executing that kind of defense and a coordinator with no experience calling those plays?

    This is all building off of what Morris was doing. However, you have a valid point, but I think they answered it by signing 3 vet FAs in the secondary. It’s the secondary that has to do most of the multiplicity/disguised coverage action. It’s the front 7 that’s young, not the secondary. While they were making the front 7 younger they were making the back 4 older.

    May 10, 2024 at 2:47 pm #150837
    InvaderRam
    Moderator
    zn wrote:

    It’s the secondary that has to do most of the multiplicity/disguised coverage action.

     

    well that’s good to know. i like curl. i don’t think he’s talked about enough. or maybe the other teams know something the rams don’t. i choose to believe the rams outsmarted everyone else unless the actual games show differently. i like white. it’s a gamble, but a smart one i think. and williams should be fine.

     

    i’d still feel better if the rams brought jj back. maybe with trading skow they can do something. but if not i think lake should be fine too.

     

    and i expect jones to step up. obviously he’s a front seven guy. but he does a lot of things well, and he’s a leader.

    May 10, 2024 at 3:44 pm #150838
    Zooey
    Participant
    InvaderRam wrote:

    well that’s good to know. i like curl. i don’t think he’s talked about enough. or maybe the other teams know something the rams don’t. i choose to believe the rams outsmarted everyone else unless the actual games show differently. i like white. it’s a gamble, but a smart one i think. and williams should be fine.   i’d still feel better if the rams brought jj back. maybe with trading skow they can do something. but if not i think lake should be fine too.

    The Rams evidently think White’s floor is high enough that, combined with Williams and the rest of the squad, they did not take a single CB in 10 picks. That surprised me, but this group knows what it’s doing.

    It is evident that defensive strategy has changed for the secondary. Gone are the days of 2 CBs, a slot, a FS and a SS. They are mixing up what they are doing, and the offense can’t tell pre-snap necessarily what those guys are going to do. I don’t know, but I think I’m going to tune in and see what happens this year. There is an awful lot to like, in spite of AD’s retirement.

    May 10, 2024 at 6:22 pm #150839
    Hram
    Participant

    You mean watch the Rams games this year?!

    hmmm, good plan 🙂

    May 10, 2024 at 7:38 pm #150840
    InvaderRam
    Moderator
    Zooey wrote:

    It is evident that defensive strategy has changed for the secondary. Gone are the days of 2 CBs, a slot, a FS and a SS. They are mixing up what they are doing, and the offense can’t tell pre-snap necessarily what those guys are going to do.

     

    you guys are convincing me. i feel a lot better than i did several hours ago.

     

    i definitely think after reading this that after the running game the secondary is what i’ll be watching the most.

    May 11, 2024 at 2:29 am #150843
    zn
    Moderator

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