That’s true, but what’s to stop teams from reading hot and countering blitzes the way they’ve always done? If anything, it’s even more high-risk to blitz a team when an open receiver who adjusts hot in vacated space on a sluggo or go route is going to have free access to the field past the five-yard mark at the line of scrimmage.
So a few thoughts about our D two games into the season.
We actually seem to be blitzing less than other teams like Hamilton and perhaps Ottawa. Is Thorpe waiting to install new blitz packages? Or is it just that we're sending 6-7 guys, not 7-8, on the blitz? I honestly don't know and I guess I'd have to rewatch the games with a focus on D to find out.
One thing I did notice against Calgary: wider and weirder defensive fronts with fewer (sometimes only one!) lineman in a trad three-point stance. They seem to be trying to create their own points of entry through certain gaps, which could present particular problems for teams who employ man-blocking schemes on the O-line. Definitely an attempt to iso Bowman on one tackle to the wide side. It's almost Etcheverry-esque.
Nobody has picked up Geoff Tisdale, to my knowledge and to my surprise. I thought for sure that someone would scoop up a quality veteran like Tisdale.
As we noted in the game thread, both Jerald Brown and Chip Cox struggled with the new contact rules. It remains to be seen how and if they adjust. One way would be to blitz Cox more so as to expose him less to pass coverage. Another would be to try to keep him away from covering top receivers. McDaniel owned him in the Calgary game and it's on Thorpe to adjust if he sees us getting victimized on that matchup.
Yeah, but we don’t have Hamilton’s ability to generate pressure up the middle with their DTs. Our D-line, quite frankly, just isn’t as good. So we’ll have to time and disguise those blitzes effectively.
Je crois que, comme l’année dernière, la ligne défensive va s’améliorer avec le temps. Éventuellement, elle va gagner en efficacité et deviendra une des bonnes de la ligue. Je crois que Thorpe utilise surtout ses plaqueurs pour fermer la porte au jeu au sol et créer des opportunités pour les ailiers de se rendre au quart. Les schémas ne sont peut-être pas encore parfaitement au point, mais l’expérience des dernières années montre que notre défensive suit toujours une progression au cours de la saison et se solidifie généralement au milieu du mois d’août.
But our defensive backfield is better. I think your going to see offenses get ride of the ball more quickly. They know defenses will try to blitz to overcome the new rules, so the counter is to get the ball out quick. We saw it with Trevor Harris, Cato and Collaros so far while BLM and Willy tend to hang on to the ball longer and they are having a harder time. Its not much fun blitzing and getting there late all the time and you can only hit the QB late so many times before you get in trouble. That’s another concern right now wit blitzing defenses.
Only so much difference a good secondary can make if the pass rush doesn’t get there fast enough.
I think your going to see offenses get ride of the ball more quickly. They know defenses will try to blitz to overcome the new rules, so the counter is to get the ball out quick.
Willy posted up pretty good numbers in week one, though. We'll have to see whether our D is up to the challenge. What will help is that Winnipeg's offensive line is still a work in progress so there should be opportunities to get to Willy...
Bumping this thread up to note that despite a rocky start to the year, Jonathan Hefney has quietly settled down into an effective player at boundary corner. He registered our only major against BC with the pick-six, he seems to have toned down the trash talk, and almost every time I see him, he is step for step with his receiver, in the guy's hip pocket and well-positioned to make a play on the ball. So in the spirit of not judging a player based on his past, I'll say: well done, Hefney!
Gabriel Knapton never played in the NFL and never was with an NFL team during a training camp. He once had a private workout with San Francisco and that's it.