Zones and playing off will not work vs Rivers

[chad72]

This Chargers game will be about Luck keeping Rivers on the sidelines while our D limits Rivers to give a tad more room for error for Luck. That is how I see it playing out. While our strategy to protect our banged up secondary worked against a 2nd year QB in Siemian who did not take chances vs our banged up secondary, it will not work vs Philip Rivers.

 

Rivers has always done well vs a 4 man rush (unless you have a Von Miller around). I remember even during their prime years Rivers having issues with teams that mixed up coverages and teams that brought more than 4 in the Ravens and Jets. You have to bring safety or DB blitzes from the edges and every once in a while, play 2 or 3 man fronts with LBs dropping into passing lanes with the DBs providing double coverage, ala Romeo Crennel. Even with Mathis and Freeney, Rivers would keep rolling out and not throw it away as easily, he would rather take the sack while keeping alive the chances of a big play or completion, he is a gamer. When Freeney was out in the 2007 playoff game, with a cushy pocket, he picked apart our Dungy/Meeks cushy zones. Heck, even Billy Volek did that (never mind :(). He loves throwing to the RBs, whoever they are, so tackling has never been more important. 

 

We have to make their wide outs make contested catches and not sit inside zones, best way to do that is play some man coverage and hope our 5 man rushes get there. If a blitz is coming, the LB should get in the passing lanes for the hot reads with the TEs and RBs or anticipate it to tackle right after catch. They love to get their WRs going on skinny posts or across the field with Rivers throwing them open and hitting them in stride, so we have to be ready for those big play attempts. In the red zone, from the Cardinals days, Ken Wisenhunt runs the spread out 3 WR formation screens with a speedy wide out the target (in this case most likely Travis Benjamin). They will have 3 WRs lined up next to each other on one side (typically to the right of Rivers) all playing off the LOS. The farthest WR will block the guy, not right across him but the CB lined up against the WR next to him and so on. Wisenhunt would run it with Boldin or Fitzgerald, both big wideouts that can break the jam while the other wide outs block with the 3rd farthest receiver coming inside, catching it, using his WR blocks and going in for the TD. Rivers did the same with Eddie Royal vs the Ravens, something he kept in the playbook while Wisenhunt was with the Titans. Now, Wisenhunt is back, that play is not going away. We have to be ready for those plays. Once in the red zone, I'd like to have Geathers on Gates, any LB will be out-rebounded by Gates. 

 

Of course, nothing would matter if we don't stop the run :). That is how we are going to limit their yards, by being prepared. Thoughts???

 

[BullsColtsFan1]

I agree with everything you said.  I think if the Colts get Anderson and Davis back the defense will be improved.  I don't think the Colts are going to shut down Rivers but I think they can contain him.  They have to stop Melvin Gordon, I think that is the key.  It's going to be really hard to keep Rivers off of the field if the Colts can't get a running game going.  That's a huge key on offense.  Obviously no turnovers as well.  I'll feel a lot more confident if Geathers, Green, Davis, Robinson and Anderson all play.  I am confident the Colts can score points, the question mark is the defense. I don't care what the score is as long as the Colts can come out on top.  I think one win can get them going. 

[krunk]

I'm always nervous about the Chargers game.  They've still got enough weapons to make a game out of it, or win the whole thing.  I'll feel a little bit better when I know how many people we get back this week.

[BCoop]

I think the key for this game will be keeping Gordon under control like you mentioned. Having all 3 of Geathers, Adams, and Green out there at once will help our struggling LB core immensely. I'm looking forward to seeing them all on the field at the same time.

[Coffeedrinker]

Rivers has always been one of the best QBs under pressure.  He seems to make better decisions when he is just about to be hit then he does when he is standing in a clean pocket.

 

So because of that I think the CBs need to play man like you stated but the LBers and safeties need to play zone that way he can't get any of those quick throws, try to make him hold the ball longer than 2.2 seconds because then he starts to get antsy and then tries to force some things.

 

I also think bringing 4, occasionally 5 is the way to go.  Again he makes great decisions and throws when under heavy pressure quickly.  If they cna bring the pressure, I think it should be delayed pressure, after he has not been able to find his 1st and 2nd reads open.

[tikyle]

I agree with most of the OP's post but I don't think we have the personnel to play man.  Sio Moore got destroyed by Virgil Green.  Even though SD will be missing it's two best pass catchers I don't trust our off the street FAs against the guys SD has starting.  If we HAVE to blitz to get pressure, then we have to play a zone behind it to have any shot at limiting huge chunk plays.  I'd rather bet on making Rivers dink and dunk down the field with unproven pass catchers than letting him have huge chunk play opportunities.

[lollygagger8]

I'll just put this here: 

 

[OLD FAN MAN]

2 hours ago, chad72 said:

This Chargers game will be about Luck keeping Rivers on the sidelines while our D limits Rivers to give a tad more room for error for Luck. That is how I see it playing out. While our strategy to protect our banged up secondary worked against a 2nd year QB in Siemian who did not take chances vs our banged up secondary, it will not work vs Philip Rivers.

 

Rivers has always done well vs a 4 man rush (unless you have a Von Miller around). I remember even during their prime years Rivers having issues with teams that mixed up coverages and teams that brought more than 4 in the Ravens and Jets. You have to bring safety or DB blitzes from the edges and every once in a while, play 2 or 3 man fronts with LBs dropping into passing lanes with the DBs providing double coverage, ala Romeo Crennel. Even with Mathis and Freeney, Rivers would keep rolling out and not throw it away as easily, he would rather take the sack while keeping alive the chances of a big play or completion, he is a gamer. When Freeney was out in the 2007 playoff game, with a cushy pocket, he picked apart our Dungy/Meeks cushy zones. Heck, even Billy Volek did that (never mind :(). He loves throwing to the RBs, whoever they are, so tackling has never been more important. 

 

We have to make their wide outs make contested catches and not sit inside zones, best way to do that is play some man coverage and hope our 5 man rushes get there. If a blitz is coming, the LB should get in the passing lanes for the hot reads with the TEs and RBs or anticipate it to tackle right after catch. They love to get their WRs going on skinny posts or across the field with Rivers throwing them open and hitting them in stride, so we have to be ready for those big play attempts. In the red zone, from the Cardinals days, Ken Wisenhunt runs the spread out 3 WR formation screens with a speedy wide out the target (in this case most likely Travis Benjamin). They will have 3 WRs lined up next to each other on one side (typically to the right of Rivers) all playing off the LOS. The farthest WR will block the guy, not right across him but the CB lined up against the WR next to him and so on. Wisenhunt would run it with Boldin or Fitzgerald, both big wideouts that can break the jam while the other wide outs block with the 3rd farthest receiver coming inside, catching it, using his WR blocks and going in for the TD. Rivers did the same with Eddie Royal vs the Ravens, something he kept in the playbook while Wisenhunt was with the Titans. Now, Wisenhunt is back, that play is not going away. We have to be ready for those plays. Once in the red zone, I'd like to have Geathers on Gates, any LB will be out-rebounded by Gates. 

 

Of course, nothing would matter if we don't stop the run :). That is how we are going to limit their yards, by being prepared. Thoughts???

 

I agree great post

[chad72]

Just found out that the Broncos game was the first game for their offense without a 3-and-out since the Broncos-Packers game on SNF last year.

 

We bent but did not break heavily against the Broncos O. History says Rivers makes us bend and break, so that is another reason we cannot play soft coverage against him.

[OffensivelyPC]

There's one problem with all that, we don't have people good enough to cover man to man right now, and even if we did, we don't have anyone that can really get to the quarterback to help out our coverage.

[chad72]

1 hour ago, OffensivelyPC said:

There's one problem with all that, we don't have people good enough to cover man to man right now, and even if we did, we don't have anyone that can really get to the quarterback to help out our coverage.

 

We have had that problem for a while, we should be able to scheme a 5 man pass rush to help out our coverage since we don't have that one singular guy.

[OffensivelyPC]

11 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

We have had that problem for a while, we should be able to scheme a 5 man pass rush to help out our coverage since we don't have that one singular guy.

I don't know that doing that has helped much either.  Simply put, we just don't have enough talent on defense to do anything except slow offenses down.  It's clear we're not stopping anyone, and I don't think it's going to matter what we do.

[Gavin]

Have to pressure and play man not letting WR's breathe. If we drop our ILB's back in zone Rivers will see it and pick them apart and not have make much of an effort to do so. Agreed on Delayed blitzing

[NorthernBlue]

Which is why we need Vontae back in order for the Defense to compete. Having him in there, along with Robinson gives us two reliable guys who can cover man on the outside, which would allow us to run those exotic blitz packages and plays. Problem is, those guys are hurt. We can't play that style with Melvin and Morris at CB. We need our CBs healthy to fully utilize this Defense.

 

Pags himself said that they haven't been able to run their ideal style of Defense these first two weeks because of all the secondary injuries. We need those guys to be able to feel comfortable sending 6 (or more) to the passer, otherwise Rivers would absolutely destroy us.

 

O needs to be in good shape Sunday as well or we might be staring at our first 0-3 start since 2011.

[chad72]

44 minutes ago, NorthernBlue said:

 

O needs to be in good shape Sunday as well or we might be staring at our first 0-3 start since 2011.

 

I had once asked if it would make sense to design our O to protect our D. 

 

Here it was: 

 

Maybe it is time to give that a thought with all these injuries

[Gavin]

We cant go Man to Man with Robinson in anyway. He is not a good Man to Man Corner. Particularly as a # 2 Corner. Melvin has been just fine.

 

According to PFFT he has given up 3 catches into his coverage on 7 passes thrown into his coverage and 30 yards in 2 games. He has struggled in the run game. He has a total 71.1 grade according to PFF because being horrible against the run

 

Darryl Morris 10 throws into his coverage 9 catches allowed 105 yards allowed in 2 games 44.7 coverage grade

 

Antonio Cromartie targeted 9 times for 7 catches 119 yards allowed through two games 52.1 coverage grade

 

Robinson 51.4 total grade 33.9 coverage grade

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/week-2-afc-targets-touches-191300310--nfl.html

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/week-1-afc-targets-touches-190200464--nfl.html

 

[NorthernBlue]

2 hours ago, chad72 said:

 

I had once asked if it would make sense to design our O to protect our D. 

 

Here it was: 

 

Maybe it is time to give that a thought with all these injuries

To be honest, I still say no. We can't intentionally slow down or offense to help the D, especially considering that the D was pretty rested towards the latter stages of the Detroit game, and still got pummeled. Chances are, teams are still going to put up 7 on us either way, so we gotta focus on getting those 7 points back. 

[IndyTrav]

I'm gonna operate under the assumption the Chargers know exactly how to attack Robinson and just put that in the loss column....

 

I see them pounding Gordon, and working over the middle in long downs, and gaining large yards thru PI or completion down the field to Williams or Benjamin. 

 

I see this game coming down to the offense keeping up or setting pace. 

[Gavin]

2 hours ago, chad72 said:

 

I had once asked if it would make sense to design our O to protect our D. 

 

Here it was: 

 

Maybe it is time to give that a thought with all these injuries

The best way to do that is with a run game. That wont happen this year or we have not been given a reason to believe it will. We can be efficient in the short to intermediate game vs teams that have poor offenses but against offenses that are clicking that have good defenses Luck will have to air it out because defenders will just come up and make the play short of the 1st down. Have a good mix of balanced passing or you get predictable and once you do that your done

[Superman]

It's all about the middle of the field, IMO. The Chargers don't really have any outside weapons, with Keenan Allen out (I say that now, but watch Dontrelle Inman go off on Sunday...) Their threats work the middle of the field, and of course they'll throw screens.  And that will be smart on their part, because a) the Colts suck at covering the middle of the field, and b) the Colts haven't tackled well through two games. 

 

Let's be optimistic and say Davis and Robinson are back, and we put Robinson in the slot mostly with Cromartie and Davis on the outside. What do we do about covering the middle? The same zone stuff we've been doing for four years, right? The Chargers abused that the last time they played in 2013, over and over again. Doesn't even matter if Mathis and Langford are 100%, if Anderson comes back and plays well, whatever. They can't fix the middle coverage.

 

So, to me, the key is Geathers, and maybe Green. IF those two guys can patrol the short areas in the middle, allowing the ILBs to flare out a little bit to cover the flats, and IF the second level tackles even reasonably well, and IF there's even a little pass rush, and IF the outside coverage plays somewhat well... IF all that happens, then maybe you can avoid being carved up by the Chargers. Might even get a couple turnovers out of them. Having a safety come down periodically would also take them out of some run plays, which is typically a good thing for the defense (but I'm not sure for this defense).

 

I agree with chad72 that the Colts can't sit back in weak zones and give up 7 yard cushions all game. There will be times where that's appropriate, and again, tackling will be critical even then. But I don't think it matters what you do on the outside if you're soft up the middle. 

[GoColts8818]

I wonder how much of the zones and backed off coverage has been a result of whose healthy.  It's hard to do much else when you are playing guys who have been signed in the last couple of weeks for the most part.

 

it sounds like Davis, Robinson, and Cromartie will be a go Sunday.  That might very well change how they have had the corners play.

[SteelCityColt]

5 hours ago, Superman said:

It's all about the middle of the field, IMO. The Chargers don't really have any outside weapons, with Keenan Allen out (I say that now, but watch Dontrelle Inman go off on Sunday...) Their threats work the middle of the field, and of course they'll throw screens.  And that will be smart on their part, because a) the Colts suck at covering the middle of the field, and b) the Colts haven't tackled well through two games. 

 

 

Sadly a lot of IFs Superman and as you say it's the same problems we had going back to 2013. I do however thing they've taken steps to try and address things by drafting Geathers and Green, as you say IF they pan out it gives us a lot more flexibility on D. 

 

What are your thoughts on the talk from Pagano about have Geathers/Green/Adams on the field at the same time. I assume, and please correct my ignorance if I'm wrong, that we'd be looking at rolling out some 3-3-5 stacked sort of formation and sacrificing one of MLBs (which might not be a bad thing!). It could be quite effective if we were at full strength as I do think we've got better on the D-Line and can generate some pressure through the guys there. One thing I'm not clear on in such a setup is the responsibilities of the Mike. Does it help him in pass coverage by giving him extra safety help in the short middle?  

[Restored]

I see what the OP is saying but the answer isn't so simple. The Colts could indeed play more man but they don't have the players right now to do it due to injuries. So they have to mix in some zones and be selective with their blitzes to protect the back end. Once guys get healthy in the secondary, the Colts will be able to run more man.

[theanarchist]

20 hours ago, OffensivelyPC said:

There's one problem with all that, we don't have people good enough to cover man to man right now, and even if we did, we don't have anyone that can really get to the quarterback to help out our coverage.

Boom

[chad72]

7 hours ago, SteelCityColt said:

 

Sadly a lot of IFs Superman and as you say it's the same problems we had going back to 2013. I do however thing they've taken steps to try and address things by drafting Geathers and Green, as you say IF they pan out it gives us a lot more flexibility on D. 

 

What are your thoughts on the talk from Pagano about have Geathers/Green/Adams on the field at the same time. I assume, and please correct my ignorance if I'm wrong, that we'd be looking at rolling out some 3-3-5 stacked sort of formation and sacrificing one of MLBs (which might not be a bad thing!). It could be quite effective if we were at full strength as I do think we've got better on the D-Line and can generate some pressure through the guys there. One thing I'm not clear on in such a setup is the responsibilities of the Mike. Does it help him in pass coverage by giving him extra safety help in the short middle?  

 

I always liked the idea of having 3 safety looks. Helps with blitzing, coverage and run D. Plus, there are not many teams that run a power blocking scheme as much, so LBs can afford to get lighter, or in other words, play like safeties  that are athletic and shoot gaps. Kam Chancellor is a small LB but a big safety, and those truly are the kinds that will become more prevalent in the NFL, IMO.

 

To wear down a defense like the Broncos, you need a team with multiple big TEs that runs a lot of TE wham blocks to wear the defense down. The only one that can pull it off is the Patriots when both Gronk and Bennett are healthy, IMO. Otherwise, I do not see anyone else in the league having 2 high caliber TEs for that kind of consistent blocking.

 

People will not be afraid to take chances on projects like T.J.Green for that very reason, and now I see why Pagano and staff were right in pulling the trigger on him.

[krunk]

Monachino: Using 3 safeties gives us tremendous flexibility. Getting best 11 on the field. Mike Adams, TJ Green, Clayton Geathers.

— Mike Chappell (@mchappell51) Sep 22, 2016

[krunk]

Ted Monachino says the missed tackles were way down in Week Two. Still had some, which were costly. But the quantity was down from Week One.

— Kevin Bowen (@KBowenColts) Sep 22, 2016

[krunk]

Chud: On Von Miller's sack/strip vs. Joe Reitz. Reitz was supposed to have help, didn't get it.

— Mike Chappell (@mchappell51) Sep 22, 2016

 

 

 

[krunk]

Chud: Reitz was supposed to get help on Miller's strip sack late in game. It didn't work out. #Colts

— George Bremer (@gmbremer) Sep 22, 2016

[chad72]

2 minutes ago, krunk said:

Chud: On Von Miller's sack/strip vs. Joe Reitz. Reitz was supposed to have help, didn't get it.

— Mike Chappell (@mchappell51) Sep 22, 2016

 

 

 

 

This is interesting. Whose responsibility does it become then? The QB's, first and foremost, I would think, to move Allen from the left to the right right away. QBs adjust protection all the time. Next, the HC, but then he would have to use the last timeout we had.

[chad72]

Watching this, Dwayne Allen could have pulled a Gijon Robinson and Luck and Reitz, being the good teammates, did not even mention it. Allen is lined up to the right wider and not inline (suggesting pass pattern all the way) and instead of staying in to provide Reitz help, he goes out on a pass pattern??? I can only speculate because Luck is not even looking in Allen's direction for the pass.

 

Notice the RB, he is perfectly in line to pick up a blitzer if the man showing blitz does come through. So he can't be the one assigned to assist Luck. Luck could have stepped in or Reitz could have driven Miller wider, both of which would have given Luck enough time. Oh well!!!

 

http://www.denverpost.com/2016/09/18/watch-von-miller-strip-sacks-colts-andrew-luck-shane-ray-gets-touchdown/

 

[Gavin]

10 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

This is interesting. Whose responsibility does it become then? The QB's, first and foremost, I would think, to move Allen from the left to the right right away. QBs adjust protection all the time. Next, the HC, but then he would have to use the last timeout we had.

Nobody had to be moved on that last play. Allen was already in position to block. He did block. It wasn't perfect but was plenty good enough. The sack came off Reitz so statiscally it goes against him HOWEVER Harrison got beat off the LOS right away pressuring Luck up the middle. Instead of Luck running he held onto the ball a second to long which allowed Miller to get free and basically ended the game. The play never had a chance after Harrison got beat and Luck not taking off

[chad72]

4 minutes ago, Gavin said:

Nobody had to be moved on that last play. Allen was already in position to block. He did block. It wasn't perfect but was plenty good enough. The sack came off Reitz so statiscally it goes against him HOWEVER Harrison got beat off the LOS right away pressuring Luck up the middle. Instead of Luck running he held onto the ball a second to long which allowed Miller to get free and basically ended the game. The play never had a chance after Harrison got beat and Luck not taking off

 

 

Here it is, again: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-cant-miss-plays/0ap3000000705135/Can-t-Miss-Play-Von-Miller-shatters-Colts-comeback-hopes

 

Go to the 0:21 mark to see it in slow motion, #83 releasing off right across Von Miller. Allen may have hoped to get in his way but he did not chip or block, let alone block long enough. At first, I thought Allen was lined up by Castanzo, then I saw him lined up on the same side as Reitz.

 

 

[krunk]

2 minutes ago, chad72 said:

Watching this, Dwayne Allen could have pulled a Gijon Robinson and Luck and Reitz, being the good teammates, did not even mention it. Allen is lined up to the right wider and not inline (suggesting pass pattern all the way) and instead of staying in to provide Reitz help, he goes out on a pass pattern??? I can only speculate because Luck is not even looking in Allen's direction for the pass.

 

Notice the RB, he is perfectly in line to pick up a blitzer if the man showing blitz does come through. So he can't be the one assigned to assist Luck. Luck could have stepped in or Reitz could have driven Miller wider, both of which would have given Luck enough time. Oh well!!!

 

http://www.denverpost.com/2016/09/18/watch-von-miller-strip-sacks-colts-andrew-luck-shane-ray-gets-touchdown/

 

Probably was supposed to be Allen.   On the very next series when we got the ball back afterwards when Miller lined up wide they had Allen block Miller for a moment and then he passed him off to Reitz.  Don't believe they did a good job on that one either, but I believe that's what they intended.

[Gavin]

9 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

 

Here it is, again: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-cant-miss-plays/0ap3000000705135/Can-t-Miss-Play-Von-Miller-shatters-Colts-comeback-hopes

 

Go to the 0:21 mark to see it in slow motion, #83 releasing off right across Von Miller. Allen may have hoped to get in his way but he did not chip or block, let alone block long enough. At first, I thought Allen was lined up by Castanzo, then I saw him lined up on the same side as Reitz.

 

 

Yea you and I were talking about different blocks. Your talking about the Shane Ray TD blown block. I was talking about the final sack to end the game by Miller. But in the case of the block your talkin about Allen should have chipped Miller before going off into his route

[chad72]

2 minutes ago, Gavin said:

Yea you and I were talking about different blocks. Your talking about the Shane Ray TD blown block. I was talking about the final sack to end the game by Miller. But in the case of the block your talking about Allen should have chipped Miller before going off into his route.

 

Exactly. Not exonerating Reitz because he was bad throughout the game but when you design help like Chud inferred, the help has to come through.

[Dudley Smith]

If the secondary is still as beat up as it has been, I don't see how we play man-to-man. Our 5th and 6th stringers simply aren't going to be talented enough to keep up 1 on 1 with the Chargers' receiving targets. However, if it is true that Davis, Robinson, and Cromartie are all a GO for this Sunday, then this might be possible.

 

If that is true -- our secondary could go from being dreadful to pretty good. Granted, Vontae will need some time to shake off the rust.

[Superman]

8 hours ago, SteelCityColt said:

What are your thoughts on the talk from Pagano about have Geathers/Green/Adams on the field at the same time. I assume, and please correct my ignorance if I'm wrong, that we'd be looking at rolling out some 3-3-5 stacked sort of formation and sacrificing one of MLBs (which might not be a bad thing!). It could be quite effective if we were at full strength as I do think we've got better on the D-Line and can generate some pressure through the guys there. One thing I'm not clear on in such a setup is the responsibilities of the Mike. Does it help him in pass coverage by giving him extra safety help in the short middle?  

 

It would be 4 DL/edge, 1 ILB, 6 DBs, I think, that would be the best alignment for passing downs. That's three corners, three safeties, and your best pass rushing package up front. You can send anything from three to six rushers, and adjust your coverage accordingly (probably outside technique on the outsides, try to take away the stop/backside fade at the sticks). I'd be in this on third and long, and the key is to force a quick throw and then tackle.

 

There are other alignments also, where you can use a third safety, but mostly he's going to be a dime backer, I think. 

[SteelCityColt]

38 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

It would be 4 DL/edge, 1 ILB, 6 DBs, I think, that would be the best alignment for passing downs. That's three corners, three safeties, and your best pass rushing package up front. You can send anything from three to six rushers, and adjust your coverage accordingly (probably outside technique on the outsides, try to take away the stop/backside fade at the sticks). I'd be in this on third and long, and the key is to force a quick throw and then tackle.

 

There are other alignments also, where you can use a third safety, but mostly he's going to be a dime backer, I think. 

 

Thank you for the break down, the way you explain it makes it sound like we could run a number of very different plays out of the one look, depending on how versatile our guys are. But that's the underlying kicker for any formation really. Talent trumps all.  

 

I think I was more going along the lines of thinking of throwing out a 3-3-5 on 1st/2nd downs and pretty much swapping out MLB for the safety on the assumption that if the safety can be nearly as good against the run, the hopeful benefit is they can cover the middle better than what we've had the last few seasons. Depends on how Geathers/Green develop in the short term I guess.

 

Do you think this is the way things are going more and more now? The extinction of the traditional thumpers at middle backer to be replaced by big safety/small linebacker types of players. It's not exactly a new idea I know.

[Coffeedrinker]

32 minutes ago, SteelCityColt said:

 

Thank you for the break down, the way you explain it makes it sound like we could run a number of very different plays out of the one look, depending on how versatile our guys are. But that's the underlying kicker for any formation really. Talent trumps all.  

 

I think I was more going along the lines of thinking of throwing out a 3-3-5 on 1st/2nd downs and pretty much swapping out MLB for the safety on the assumption that if the safety can be nearly as good against the run, the hopeful benefit is they can cover the middle better than what we've had the last few seasons. Depends on how Geathers/Green develop in the short term I guess.

 

Do you think this is the way things are going more and more now? The extinction of the traditional thumpers at middle backer to be replaced by big safety/small linebacker types of players. It's not exactly a new idea I know.

Yes, especially as the league move more to a passing league and more specialist at some of the skill positions like RB and TE.  You need a guy that can cover and yet hit and those are rare to find ina  250lb LB but easier to find in a 220lb safety.

 

On my 6th grade team I'm running a 3-3-5 D.  It gives us a lot of flexbility because of the way I play my right and left safeties,   In my league we don't have to worry so much about exotic pass plays, so Supe's idea of 3 CBs and 3 Safeties would be good for a pass happy league, that way the 3rd safety can play that LB when need be.