[Dylan]

Originally Posted by Delano

How'd a nitwit like DCS/RoR/lil Willy get so witty?
Posted via Mobile Device

Interesting read. How did they fare one year later?

Teams' defensive schemes shape their draft decisions

UPDATED: 04/21/2009

The NFL will have 10 new head coaches at the beginning of next season and more than twice as many new defensive coordinators, with nearly half of the league employing elements of the 3-4 defense. For some teams such as Baltimore, Arizona, Tennessee and San Diego, continuity was sought, and new coordinator hires came from within. In other cities, such as Dallas, Jacksonville and Chicago, the head coach has taken control of the defense to maximize its execution. But for most, fairly radical changes in approach can be expected.
Following is a team-by-team look at defensive philosophy shifts and how they can be expected to influence decisions on Draft Day. Teams making changes in schemes are marked with an asterisk.

Arizona Cardinals*
Under former defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast, the Cardinals employed a base 4-3 "under" front with 3-4 personnel, often operating out of "30" front packages, keeping SLB Chike Okeafor lined up outside the tight end but using DE Bertrand Berry or Travis LaBoy in the role of a "Predator" rusher on the other side, seldom dropping into coverage. With LB coach Billy Davis replacing Pendergast, the Cardinals can be expected to do much of the same but are expected to be even more aggressive zone-blitzing, with Davis having cut his teeth under Bill Cowher in Pittsburgh, Dom Capers in Carolina, Wade Phillips in Atlanta and Mike Nolan in San Francisco. More hybrid defensive end/rush linebackers are needed to leverage the edge, improve the Cardinals' power pass rush and make the defense work best.

Atlanta Falcons
Brian VanGorder may be the defensive coordinator, but make no mistake about it, head coach Mike Smith's fingerprints are all over the Falcons' 4-3 base defense, which relies heavily on ends to turn the corner, featuring big bodies inside to plug the middle and heavy zone coverage on the back end. The Falcons' ability to create more pressure inside with an in-the-middle, upfield penetrator would take significant pressure off the back end and lessen the need for corners to have to cover long, lessening the demand for an elite cornerback. Athletic big men who can rush the passer come at a premium, and the Falcons could use another to work in a rotation with underrated Jonathan Babineaux to maximize the effectiveness of the rotation.

Baltimore Ravens*
With Rex Ryan taking over the Jets' head-coaching reins, Ravens LB coach Greg Mattison is expected to keep the same, aggressive 3-4 defense that has worked so well for the last three coordinators - Marvin Lewis, Mike Nolan and Ryan - all of whom have graduated to the head-coaching position from the coordinator ranks. Ryan used a lot of zone-blitz principles that made his father, Buddy, popular, creatively disguising fronts while employing a lot of press-man coverage to dictate what offenses do. The ability to stack the line to free up linebackers to roam is central to the Ravens' scheme, and finding another instinctive 'backer who can flow fast to the ball alongside Ray Lewis (replacing Bart Scott) will be needed to keep the defense at the top of the league.

Buffalo Bills
Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell was groomed under Lovie Smith in St. Louis and Chicago before joining the Bills as coordinator. The key to the Bills' single-gap, 4-3 defense is being able to generate front-four pressure on its own, flying at the snap and screaming up the field. Safeties frequently interchange and roll up into the box, but heavy two-deep zone coverage is employed with a lot of man-off coverage on the flanks. The Bills did not generate enough of a pass rush with its front last year and could use another pass rusher capable of rushing from either the right or left side to maximize the scheme.

Carolina Panthers*
With Mike Trgovac moving on to coach the D-line in Green Bay, former Colts defensive coordinator Ron Meeks will be assigned the task of maximizing Julius Peppers' ability, provided the Panthers can pacify Peppers and do not deal him on Draft Day. John Fox will still be heavily involved with running the defense, with his philosophy being similar to Meeks', but the Panthers will not make a wholesale personnel philosophy shift toward undersized players. Versatility and speed are heavily valued at the LB position, where the Panthers like to be able to interchange their 'backers. They need to get bigger inside and perhaps find a potential replacement for the unhappy Peppers to keep the defense functioning at a high level.

Chicago Bears*
With Bob Babich essentially being demoted to coach linebackers and Lovie Smith taking over the defense, a renewed emphasis will be placed on the defensive line creating pressure up front, with Rod Marinelli's detailed eye expected to maximize front-four pressure. The Bears' base 4-3 defense was very vanilla last season with a front four that both struggled to create pressure on its own and too often did not keep blockers occupied, limiting the efficiency of aging MLB Brian Urlacher. There is a premium on secure tackling in the back seven because a bad play call can shift the front the wrong way and open gaping holes in the defense, forcing linebackers and safeties to make a lot of five-yard collisions, and in turn making it difficult for safeties such as Mike Brown to stay healthy. To be efficient, the Bears need to find a smart, secure-tackling safety who understands angles to replace Brown.

Cincinnati Bengals
Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer runs a traditional, fast-flowing 4-3 defense that he learned under Barry Switzer in Dallas, and he seeks to become more aggressive after spending his first year implementing the system last year. The interior tackles need to be disruptive and draw attention away from wide edge rushers crashing the corner. A high premium is placed on speed, and Antwan Odom struggled to provide enough in his first season in Cincinnati last year. Linebackers need to flow fast to the ball, and as long as Keith Rivers can stay healthy, the group is very solid. A lot of zone coverage is used on the back end, with Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall proving capable, but a safety with more range could be used to help over the top.

Cleveland Browns*
The Browns opened themselves up to criticism last season for too often allowing personnel packages to dictate their personnel. Even though they scout to play a "30" front, they too often wound up in "40" looks as they were forced to go to nickel packages, as opposing offenses wanted to get their linebackers off the field and exploit their average cornerbacks. New defensive coordinator Rob Ryan operated out of a "40" base front in Oakland, but this is Eric Mangini's defense. It will be a complex blend of pressure packages based out of the "30" front, often featuring eight men in the box and heavily involving safeties in blitz packages. Big, physical corners are needed to reroute receivers and man short zones, which the Browns are lacking, as well as an explosive edge rusher with Kamerion Wimbley struggling to develop his pass-rush repertoire and proving to be a one-trick pony last season.

Dallas Cowboys*
Wade Phillips was forced to take over the defense after relieving Brian Stewart late last season and enters the season as the de facto defensive coordinator. Philllips has shifted to the 4-3 "under" defense with 3-4 personnel that he used in San Diego, moving away from the more traditional, pure 3-4 defense that Bill Parcells had installed. In DeMarcus Ware, the Cowboys have the NFL's pre-eminent rush linebacker and a feared pass rush. Igor Olshansky and Keith Brooking were signed to replace the departed Chris Canty and Zach Thomas, keeping the front seven very strong, and should allow Phillips to be more aggressive blitzing. The secondary features a shutdown cornerback in Terence Newman but, despite signing Gerald Sensabaugh in free agency, could still use more range at the safety position.

Denver Broncos*
Mike Nolan is expected to flop in and out of even and odd fronts to maximize his personnel, with the Broncos not currently featuring the big bodies needed on the line to easily run a "30" front. They will need to make the front seven a major focus in this year's draft if Nolan is going to flexibly be able to shift between fronts. The secondary was completely revamped in free agency with the additions of Brian Dawkins, Renaldo Hill and Andre Goodman opposite Champ Bailey, which should allow Nolan to be very aggressive blitzing. However, D.J. Williams does not have enough length to rush the passer, and a rush linebacker is still desired along with a more stout nose tackle than free-agent addition Ronnie Fields.

Detroit Lions*
Gunther Cunningham, who helped groom Jim Schwartz in Tennessee, reunited in Detroit with his former understudy and has begun to install a traditional 4-3 front similar to the one formerly employed in Tennessee, where the defensive ends were never reduced down inside but aligned wide outside to crash the corner, with big-bodied pluggers clogging the middle. An emphasis is placed on speed at the LB position, with a need to fly fast to the ball, and corners needing to excel in zone coverage, with an aggressive array of zone blitzes. With the addition of OLB Julian Peterson, the Lions have plenty of talent at the LB position, but they need to become more stout inside (free-agent addition Grady Jackson should help) to improve the NFL's worst run defense, and need to upgrade the pass rush.

Green Bay Packers*
Dom Capers will switch Bob Sanders' former 4-3 "over" front to a base 3-4 look and is expected to heavily use zone-blitz packages. However, SLB Brady Poppinga may not have enough pass-rush ability to make the system work, which could leave Green Bay using more "40" fronts this season if they do not add another 3-4 rush linebacker through the draft. More size and overall depth is also needed up front, with Justin Harrell not having been able to stay healthy and currently being slated to start.

Houston Texans*
Frank Bush served as defensive assistant the last two years before replacing defensive coordinator Richard Smith and will keep the same 4-3 base defense intact. He is expected to be more aggressive bringing pressure, which the Texans struggled to do from the defensive interior. The back seven was a bigger problem, with injuries hitting hard. Dunta Robinson returns from injury, but the Texans need to improve at cornerback, where Jacques Reeves too often was torched, to become more aggressive.

Indianapolis Colts*
Colts head coach Jim Caldwell, an offensive-minded skipper, decided to go in a different direction with the defense after Tony Dungy announced his retirement, replacing Ron Meeks with Larry Coyer. Coyer was able to successfully stop the run in Denver with a fast-flowing, blitz-intensive variation of the Tampa-2 defense that he continued to tweak last season as DL coach in Tampa Bay, where Monte Kiffin used more eight-man fronts and safety pressure to stuff the run. The Colts will still maintain their philosophy of drafting fast, undersized football players who may not fit well in other schemes, but Coyer needs more help on the interior defensive line if the team wants to avoid getting gashed the way it was a year ago after an off-the-field incident forced Bill Polian to release DT Ed Johnson.

Jacksonville Jaguars*
Mel Tucker comes from Cleveland to replace Gregg Williams, but the Jaguars are not expected to stray from their traditional "40" front preferred by head coach Jack Del Rio, who remains heavily involved in coordinating the defense. Del Rio prefers big bodies inside to clog up the middle, freeing up his linebackers to scrape and flow, and wide speed rushers who can bring enough heat to take pressure off frequent man-coverage assignments given to the Jaguars' cornerbacks. A big key for the Jaguars this season will be reaping the big investment they made in Derrick Harvey, who was slowed by a prolonged contract holdout prior to last season and did not live up to his high draft expectations.

Kansas City Chiefs*
The Chiefs, who previously had run a 4-3 "under" front under the watch of Herman Edwards and Gunther Cunningham, quickly began collecting the linebackers needed to transition to GM Scott Pioli's preferred 3-4 front, securing Mike Vrabel via trade and signing Zach Thomas and Monty Beisel. A young secondary is well-suited to continue playing heavy two-deep zone coverage, but much more size up front is critical to the transition, with neither Turk McBride nor Glenn Dorsey possessing the natural length desired to stack the corner. Initially, defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast may have to operate out of the 4-3 "under" base he employed last year in Arizona, incorporating 3-4 packages to create pressure, until the Chiefs can acquire better personnel.

Miami Dolphins
Defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni, who has received high marks from evaluators as a head-coach-in-waiting, has done a fine job of running Bill Parcells' preferred 3-4 front that he learned in Dallas, featuring a big, strong, physical front seven that controls the line of scrimmage. The Dolphins are young on the line, having landed Phillip Merling and Kendall Langford in last year's draft, but they are getting long in the tooth at outside linebacker, where Joey Porter really fell off late last season, and need to find some power pass rushers to keep the heat on the quarterback. A nickel cornerback is also heavily needed to be aggressive blitzing after the Dolphins lost Andre Goodman to the Broncos in free agency.

http://m.profootballweekly.com/draft...E886AE993.wap2