APB wrote: ↑09 Jan 2024 07:04
Wasn’t it you making the observation that since MLF committed to being more involved in the defense, it has gotten more aggressive and pressure oriented? Am I mistaken?
Regardless, it’s a valid observation. Perhaps MLFs philosophy is evolving. Perhaps he’s witnessed first hand the shortcomings of allowing an offense to dictate their success rather than forcing the issue with his defense.
Whatever the case, something has changed with this defense. If that change is a preference for a more aggressive scheme, then that fits with what Wink has done and had a lot of success with.
It was not me but I heard it and felt warm fuzzies about it whoever said it.
Personally, I want a more aggressive defense. Not necessarily lots of blitzing or anything, but I want to see a team that aims to contest every throw. But what I want most of all is for the scheme to match the personnel. Before we traded Rasul, I was adamant that with such a strong CB group, we were wasting/mis-using the personnel by playing our CBs off so often. We were playing an instinctive/intelligent defense in the secondary with athletic and less intuitive players.
Now, we're Jaire and youth. And we're going to add to the group in the draft this offseason, almost definitely. So whatever scheme we pick, we have the opportunity to fill the room with guys who fit.
But that's what I want personally. I can
hope for that. But I like to mold my
expectations to what I think/know the team prefers. And so I'm trying to find defenses that do really well at limiting big plays AND who play more aggressively. I think MLF's idea of limiting possessions, being efficient and scoring frequently on offense, and not allowing the opposition to score quickly to keep the score down is a good overall model. I can get with it.
But if you want to do that, you also have to have methods beyond turnover luck and opposition mistakes to stop them from going right down the field with short passes and YAC and long scoring drives. And Barry just plain doesn't contest the flats or any late leaking targets. Like not at all.
So do we switch up the scheme and keep drafting athletes first? Or do we start drafting instinctive click-and-close high-level tackles? Or a little of both.
I am rooting for a little of both; tweak the scheme. Tweak the drafting. Get me some instinctive tacklers in the secondary to mix in with the athletic prowess of Jaire, Valentine, and Stokes. Gimme different skillsets back there.