2021 NEW YORK giants

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/04/19
Posted in: breakdown, Defense, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, Offense, Players, Preview, Roster, Special Teams, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

LAST year the giants finished 6 – 10 overall, and 4 – 2 in the division. They went out whining. Crying like entitled toddlers because the Eagles, in their final game (against Washington) tanked for better Draft position. This gave Washington the division, whereas an Eagles win would have given the division to New York. (And lowered the Eagles Draft position in every round.) Pointing the finger at Philadelphia, instead of their own 6 – 10 record, isn’t a sign of a team that holds itself accountable. Which sort of explains the 6 – 10 record.

In any case, this is where the giants roster currently stands in the week prior to the 2021 NFL Draft.

OFFENSE

QB: Daniel Jones has lost 9 games in each of his two pro seasons, for a career mark of 8 – 18. In 2020, his 10 interceptions were 2 fewer than in his rookie year. Unfortunately, his 11 TD’s were less than half his rookie year’s (24). While many things worked to trip him up last year,

he’s probably run out of benefit of the doubt, and has to produce 9 wins to remain the starter in 2022. Mike Glennon is the back-up. Over his 7 year career, he’s been on 5 teams, and when he plays, he’s been the human equivalent to waving a white flag. (-)

RB: Saquon Barkley is back from the torn ACL that ended a 2020 season that was already pretty bad for him. Prior to his injury, in two starts, he’d racked up 34 yards on 19 carries for a 1.8 yard per carry average. Everyone who filled in last year, is gone. The back-up this year is Devontae Booker. He’s a sneaky-smart addition who could be a problem for opponents as part of a 1 – 2 punch, or a credible first option, if Barkley has setbacks. Even with all the turnover at this position in 2020, Elijhaa Penny was trusted with just 6 carries.

Jordan Chunn is also on the roster. In any case, Barkley struggled even before being hurt, so this group gets a side-eye until they show better. (-)

WR: Darius Slayton is a solid number two, pushed into being a low-end one. Though he’s good for 745 yards per season, and 15 yards per catch, he adds more value than that. He has speed to threaten deep, and helps by opening things up behind him. Sterling Shepard is a possession receiver. He’s FAR better suited to the Slot than the outside, but until the giants can find someone for that other end, Shepard will keep being lined up out there. Which is likey why they added free agent, Kenny Golladay. He’s made some circus grabs over the years, but he’s going to find that landing on New Yorks cold ground is different than the controlled 70 degree dome in Detroit. He also doesn’t have Matt Stafford throwing to him anymore. Also added was John Ross, who is touted as having speed to burn. That said, he’s played in only 27 of a possible 64 career games, meaning he’s missed 37. That includes 13 missed games in 2020. All in all, the talent is credible here. (+)

TE: Remember when everyone was certain that Evan Engram would be the next Tony Gonzalez? Just in case you missed it, he posted a 57% catch rate last year. Newly added Kyle Rudolph’s blocking should help the run game. He also should add some value as a red zone threat. Due to volume of targets, Engram will produce numbers. However, there’s a real question now, of whether his targets would be better spent elsewhere. Put another way, folks are actively starting to wonder if he’s holding the offense back. (-)

OT: Nate Solder and Andrew Thomas comprise the bookends. Solder sat out 2020. Thomas was a 16 game starter as a rookie, playing 95% of the offensive snaps. Matt Peart is waiting in the wings, drafted as a project. However, this off-season’s re-signing of Solder to a 4 year deal, doesn’t indicate that Peart has captured the confidence of the coaching staff. After a bad 2020, this position has a lot to prove. (-)

G: As a rookie, Shane Lemieux started 9 games to finish the season. The question now is, with the release of Kevin Zeitler, does Lemieux stay at LG or slide to RG? Will Hernandez has seen his star dim recently, but a chance to play could brighten it up again. Zeitler’s departure all but guarantees Hernandez a role as a starter if he stays healthy. The question is, does he go back to LG, or is he a RG? Former Texan, Zach Fulton comes over to provide veteran depth, but given how often his last QB had to save himself from his protection, it’s shallow depth indeed. Especially since there no solid answer for who plays where. (-)

C: Nick Gates started 16 games at the pivot in 2020, and was the only lineman to play 100% of the 2020 season’s snaps. Also on the roster is recently signed, seasoned veteran Jonotthan Harrison. (+)

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IN A NUTSHELL: Not all the pieces to this puzzle were ever meant to go together. That’s why over the years it keeps not fitting. Drafting a TE who doesn’t block, was a mistake. Drafting a big back who doesn’t run big, without giving him a dominant blocker at TE or a FB, was a mistake. Drafting QB because of personal history, was a mistake. The giants front office has been stacking unforced errors for nearly half a decade now. Now there’s going to be a shuffle in the protection directly in front of the QB. So much of this unit is broken at the conceptual level. That’s why it keeps failing. And it’s also why no draft pick can save this mess. (-)

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DEFENSE

DE: Leonard Williams racked up career highs of 11.5 sacks and 30 QB hits last year while notching 57 tackles. Dexter Lawrence isn’t a pass rusher, but at 342 he’s a big’un, and he’s too quick for opponents to get cute with their blocking assignments. To bolster the pass rush, the giants signed Ifeadi Odenigbo. At 258 Odenigbo may not line up at this position since they bill themselves as “Multiple”, but favored a 3-4 alignment last year. B.J. Hill is a big (311), veteran rotational player. He’s not top-tier talent, but he plays assignment sound football. (+)

Dexter Lawrence

NT: With the loss of Dalvin Tomlinson to Minnesota, Austin Johnson becomes the new man in the middle with Danny Shelton backing him up. While New York may pick up teaspoon of interior pass rush, they just lost a cup of run support. (-)

OLB: Kyler Fackrell is a situational player who saw too much playing time last year. He started off very hot for about 6 weeks. After which he got exposed, and then got injured. Lorenzo Carter played 5 games last year and then tore his Achilles tendon. He wasn’t exactly a star before his injury. Oshane Ximines started 3 games, played 110 snaps, and recorded a total of 5 tackles. Even if Ifeadi Odenigbo moves out here, the giants still lack a single player who can play backwards, not just forward. That means RB’s and TE’s are going to tear this team up. (-)

ILB: I still can’t figure out how Blake Martinez was allowed to leave Green Bay. This guy is the genuine article. Starts every game, makes tackles (151), adds pass rush (3 sacks), and is equally adept in zone coverage (5 passes defensed). Tae Crowder had an up and down rookie season, but that’s what a rookie season is for. While Devante Downs started the season as the starter, Crowder finished with the role. During a (failed) playoff push. This tells you who the organization is pulling for. Newly signed Reggie Ragland adds size to the second level and will help push Crowder. In any case, young guys who know the system, competing at a position, that usually helps sharpen the hell out of it. (+)

Jabrill Peppers yet again struggling in coverage. Here he is giving up the game winning touchdown pass to Eagles RB Boston Scott.

S: Jabrill Peppers recorded the 4th interception of his four year career last year. He also forced a fumble. Because he’s, you know…a difference maker. Logan Ryan made the switch from Corner to Free last year, and he pulled it off without a hitch success. In many ways 2020 was one of his worst as a pro. But it’s keeping him paid! So there’s that. Xavier McKinney started the last 4 games of 2020, playing an increasing percentage of the defense’s downs in every single game. He’s the reason one of the aforementioned players will be riding pine in 2021. Julian Love is a tweener who managed 6 starts in 2020. Expect solid run support from this group. You can also expect them to get routinely cornholed on intermediate routes over the middle. (-)

CB: James Bradberry earned himself a Pro Bowl nod, after having a career year, during his first as a giant. Isaac Yiadom started 10 games last year, and allowed QB’s a 120 passer rating when throwing his way. That’s 40 points higher than the 80 passer rating allowed by Bradberry. And so the giants added Adoree Jackson to shore up the other side. Whether that works out depends on with version of him they get. Since 2019, Jackson has been on Injured Reserve or deactivated 17 times in his last 25 possible games. Buyer beware. Julian Love is the top back-up here. At spots 5 and 6 are maybe Sam Beal and Darnay Holmes, both drafted by the team. That said, their spots are far from safe. They have a good one, but it’s just one. (-)

IN A NUTSHELL: Expect this team to be tough to run on, but to also hemorrhage passing yardage. The OLB’s are pass rushers (won’t have to cover), and the Safeties have trouble with speed. With passing on this team being so easy, opponents may not even opt to run the ball much vs the giants. That will artificially drive up the ranking on their rushing yards allowed, but it will be hollow, since they won’t face as many attempts. The flaws on this unit are glaring, and aside from possibly drafting a savior at CB or FS, this unit will regress in 2021. (-)

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SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Graham Gano connected on 31/32 GF (96.8%) including 5/6 from 50 or longer. He did however, miss on two extra point conversions (21/23), and of his 73 kickoffs, only 30 were downed in the end zone. That means opponents attempted returns, nearly 60% of the time. (+)

P: Riley Dixon averaged a career-low 44.8 yard per punt, with a career-low 39.4 yards net. Though only 25 of his 65 punts were returned, the 232 return yards (9.2 avg) indicates that he’s giving return men time and room to pick their spots. (-)

IN A NUTSHELL: Gano is a liability to the Defense, but he was reliable as a point scorer. That’s no easy feat in Rutherford, New Jersey once the weather turns. Dixon is costing the giants the hidden yardage/field position battle. Neither his distance nor his hang-time are helping his coverage unit. As a result, whenever the ball is kicked to the opponent, the giants are doing worse than average. (-)

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BOTTOM LINE: Head Coach Joe Judge has focused on coaching work ethic in his players. From a mental standpoint, the giants are clearly better as a team than they were at the end of 2019. So their front office, got the right man.

The problem is that, that same front office, hasn’t changed the method of how they build a roster. They have players who’s style and talent runs counter to other players on the very same unit. In short, this team is not complementary. It’s awkward. It’s misshapen. Grotesque.

Between a QB who hasn’t mastered throwing, and Safeties who cover more like Linebackers, the whole damned thing is a head scratcher. Before they can beat other teams to win the division, they’ll have to stop beating themselves. Otherwise, they’ll have to keep hoping for rivals to send them to the playoffs.

RUN THE BALL!

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/03/15
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, NFL, Offense, Players, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

WE’RE heading into the 2021 season with a largely unproven QB in Jalen Hurts. Long established NFL wisdom is that a strong running game is QB’s best friend. This goes double for a young QB. Even if our run game isn’t particularly strong, Hurts needs it to be at least convincing.

The difference between strong and convincing? If an offense can typically rely on their run game in running situations to produce decent yardage, that is a strong run game. A convincing run game means that the offense calls enough run plays, to keep the defense from playing exclusively in pass rush mode.

The Eagles have to call enough runs to keep the defense from teeing off on our QB, and give him enough room, and time, to operate. Our Offense has to keep opposing defenses guessing. This also helps make play-action more credible. (See: THE 12 #4)

Last year Hurts looked at his shakiest while IN the pocket. Without a convincing run game, defenses will scheme to keep him there, all at once taking away what makes Hurts dangerous, and forcing the Eagles to rely on him strictly as a passer.

If the Eagles expect to see any measure of success from our QB, he needs a convincing run game to set the table for him. Especially since he’s going to run a lot of play-action bootleg, and RPO stuff. If it develops into a strong run game, great. Excellent! But even if it doesn’t, we need to stick with it for four quarters.

BE PHYSICAL

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/03/14
Posted in: Defense, Fans, NFC East, Players, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THIS one is directed at our Defense. We need to bring the pain on every tackle. Sometimes recklessly. Sometimes drawing flags, fines, and suspensions. Every time an opponent jogs off the field on Sunday, when they look at their schedule and see PHILADELPHIA next, their shoulders should sag a little.

“It’s about sending a message.”

Football has Rugby at the core of it’s DNA. That in itself makes it an inherently violent game. Despite what old, rich men who never played may think, you can’t legislate the violence out of football. Just like you can’t legislate blood from a bullet wound. It’s just part of the package.

The Eagles are in re-build mode. Go ‘head, say it. Don’t be afraid of the word. Re-build. That means veterans like DT Fletcher Cox, and DE Brandon Graham will be phased out, beginning either this year or next year. Soon either way. Especially given that we have a new coaching staff coming in.

As old faces step out, new ones will be stepping in. More importantly, young faces already on the roster will have to start stepping up, and showing the rest of the NFL who they are. Particularly here in the NFC East, where most years we don’t have a division winner, we have a division survivor.

This is a physically tough division, in part because Philadelphia, Washington, and New York are East Coast teams that get cold weather. Wind off of water. Snow and ice. Temperatures that turn a football into a rock, thrown at you by a friend. So rushing is key to winning this division. Which automatically means that tackling is key to stopping opponents.

Whether it’s a RB getting stoned at the line of scrimmage, a receiver being lit up in the middle of the field, or a QB being concussed during a sack. We need to make every opponent understand that PHILADELPHIA week, isn’t the week to skip their insurance payments.

Remember these guys?

Opponents used to HATE playing here! From coaches putting bounties on Kickers, to defenders trying to maul you. From the turf that ate knees and whole careers, to the fans who prepared for games by not taking their meds. EVERYTHING about playing against Philadelphia seemed like a bio-hazard, because when you played against Philadelphia, you played against PHILADELPHIA.

We need to recapture that edge. And we can start by making sure that we bring the pain on every tackle.

“It’s about sending a message.”

CAPITALIZE QUICKLY

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/03/12
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Players, Rants, The 12, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

EXPECT the Eagles to get off to a fast start. Head Coach Nick Sirianni has been an assistant for years, so he knows the NFL. In fact, right now, he knows the NFL better than it knows him. That will eventually change once teams get film of what he calls, when he calls it, who he leans on, how he uses time outs, how skilled he is in using the environment as a weapon, etc.

But for now…

Like any coach, Sirianni is going to try to develop certain strengths. Some things will develop on schedule. Some things possibly not at all. When things don’t pan out, he’ll have to adjust. However, when something happens that’s better than he was hoping for, or faster than he was hoping for, he needs to adjust to that too.

Use any advantage, like an advantage.

FOR EXAMPLE! Last year, WR Travis Fulgham came from out of nowhere. He had a few hot games, then he disappeared. He got targets, but the former coaching staff didn’t try very hard to scheme him open, or scheme to his strengths.

Nothing special was done during Fulgham’s emergence, so perhaps the feeling was that nothing needed to be specially adapted for him, once he’d made his presence known. This turned out to be a mistake.

That can’t happen again. If we stumble across another hot player, we need to scheme opportunities for them to capitalize on. Think of it as sleight of hand. While the opponent struggles to figure out how to stop our new shiny toy, Sirianni can focus on nailing down the principles that he wants to install as cornerstones.

This is me highlighting a possible path to Sirianni having long-term success, as an Eagles coach. Stay loose. Stay fluid. And capitalize quickly on opportunities, when players become them.

CRASH THE “A” GAPS

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/03/10
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Defense, NFL, The 12, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THIS is another one that I’ve mentioned in the past, and it’s hard not to. The Eagles are moving on from the Wide Nine, and we have no idea to what. That said, all early signs indicate that we’re sticking with the 4-3 alignment. If a team plays a 4-3 system, wrecking those “A” gaps (the spaces between the C and the G), is just smart football.

This is the first step in ruining an opponent’s passing game. Yes, making it harder for receivers to release into their routes, plays a huge part as well. (If you recall that from earlier articles, then you get a Gold Star! Wait. No star. Fuck stars. We hate stars. A gold…tooth?) Like I said, ruining the protection is the most important step.

Crashing the “A” gaps, inverts the pocket, and doesn’t let opposing QB’s step up into their throws. That costs velocity, and gives our Secondary more time to react to balls in the air. This means more tipped passes, and more chances at interceptions. Even if the coverage didn’t start out super tight.

The flip-side is, an inverted pocket might encourage a mobile QB to run. That however, would still mean that our Defense was forcing the offense off-schedule. While that would result in surrendering a big play here and there, most of the time the offense would be erratic and unsettled.

Today, at the moment, fingers crossed, (Howie don’t fuck us on this!), we still have DT Fletcher Cox. Cox has never put up huge sack numbers, but he’s about as disruptive as you will get at his position. Coming on late in 2020, was last year’s big free agent addition, DT Javon Hargrave. Regardless of scheme, these two will be a dominant interior.

So were set at starting DT’s. Momentarily we still have DT Malik Jackson, but rumor has it that he may be a cap casualty. There are a couple of solid role player types like T.Y. McGill, who have flashed, but you’d have to have an eye like mine, to have noticed them.

Regardless of who’s on the roster, we still need to crash the “A” gaps!

MASTER 2nd DOWN

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/03/09
Posted in: Coaching, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, Offense, Rants, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THIRD down is the biggest dividing line between a terrible offense and high powered one. However, before all the yardage, and the score rankings, an offense needs to be able to consistently sustain drives. This is why many will say that 3rd down is the most important down.

That’s wrong. The most important down is 2nd down. For instance, I’m sure we can all agree that 3rd and 10 is a far different situation than 3rd and 1. If the offense can’t convert on 3rd down, the distance to go, will play a huge role in whether the offense “goes for it”on 4th down.

On 3rd and 10 the defense generally knows that a pass is coming, and they plan accordingly. On 3rd and 1? Well on 3rd and 1 it could be anything. The play-book is wide open, and the offense is less predictable. That steals confidence from the defense.

This is why 2nd down is the most important. It’s true, 3rd down is generally the ‘make or break’ down. However, converting before a 3rd down, or setting up shorter 3rd downs, drives up an offense’s confidence, while breaking a defense’s.

The point of 1st down is for running to set up the pass, or taking a gamble on a big play. When that dust settles, however it settles, the 2nd down which follows needs to be a down where our Eagles are thinking “Convert NOW!”

Sound silly? Hey, have you ever seen the Eagles face a 3rd and 8, only to have a receiver “take what the defense gives”, run a 7 yard route, make the catch, and be immediately tackled? Oh you have? How did you react? Oh yeah? Well me too. But if that same thing happens on 2nd and 8, we’re clapping.

What we don’t get on 1st, we need to chase aggressively on 2nd, with the idea of not seeing a 3rd. This way when we do see a 3rd down, most of them should be easily converted, or helpful in setting up a 4th down conversion.

#7 DISRUPT TIMING ROUTES

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/03/08
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Defense, NFC East, NFL, The 12, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

EARLIER in the THE 12, I covered taking away a TE’s clean release. Here we’re going to get into disrupting a QB’s rhythm with his WR’s. The idea is to get one of two things to happen:

1) The QB either holds the ball a little longer, as he goes to his next read, giving the pass rush time to get to him.

or

2) The QB forces an ill-advised pass, in an attempt to “make something happen”.

Again, disrupting the TE was covered earlier. That said, trying to treat a WR like a TE can set an entire secondary on fire. So the approach has to be different. It has to be more cerebral. Generally a defender cannot rely on one approach all game long, but here are just a few that they can mix and match for 30 minutes or so.

Man Press gets a CB in the WR’s face, and makes the QB sort out whether the WR can win that down and get open. As long as the CB can keep the WR in front of him, this approach is golden. Problem is, when the WR gets past the CB, the defender is left in the trail position. Given the speed, and leaping ability of many WR’s, man press played wrong, could be a death sentence. (High risk/High reward)

Darrelle Revis demonstrates top-shelf, Man Press vs Calvin “Megatron” Johnson.

Hand-fighting is for WR’s who like to stem their routes to get the defender off balance. Hand-fighting at the line of scrimmage, gets the defenders hands into the chest/shoulder area of the WR. It doesn’t allow the receiver to lean quite the way he wants. This erases the time the receiver would use to stem, and forces him to go directly into the route.

Hand-fighting is not quite the same as press, because hand-fighting “feels” the route and bails sooner than press. All a defender is doing, is taking away what the early part of what the receiver wants to do. The idea isn’t to stop, it’s to delay, and maybe get the QB to look elsewhere. (Moderate risk/Low reward)

The next two are a one-two combo, that not only affects the receiver, but it can make offensive coordinators question how they utilize their players, and call the game.

The 100 Yard Defender. The sideline is a defensive player. Stepping on it end plays, and a receiver who steps on it prior to catching the ball, can’t catch a forward pass on that down. If the WR lines up close enough to the sideline, shoving him out of bounds (within the first 5 yards), is totally legal, and basically takes him out of the play. (Low risk/High reward)

Lowering The Boom comes with a great deal of risk, since refs are very aggressive about throwing flags for the same hits that used to comprise the entire opening sequence of a Madden game. Still, a CB taking away the sideline, basically “opens up” the middle of the field for the receiver. Which is where beasts like LB’s and S’s roam.

While a ref may throw a flag and award 15 yards as a result of that play, coaching staffs may think better of running that player into harm’s way again. Question: Is a potential 15 yard penalty during the first possession, worth limiting how the opposing team calls the rest of the game? Answer: You bet your ass! (Just don’t do this in the second half.)

Not to mention how rattled the QB would be for getting his buddy fucked up, to start the game.(Sky high risk/Sky high reward)

So there are tools. We just have to be willing to use them.

HIDE EAGLES HIDE?

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/03/04
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Rants, The 12, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

EAGLES QB Carson Wentz was traded to the Indianapolis Colts on February 18th, 2021. At that point, all talk of the drama could cease. The was nothing left to do for the Eagles organization and fans, but look towards the future.

With that in mind, I stepped back and observed. I watched. I listened. I waited to see what the new coach envisioned for the team. I waited to see what the fans would chatter excitedly over.

Two excruciating weeks have dripped by, and there’s been practically nothing about the team. Most peculiarly, from the organization itself. It’s 3:04a.m., March 4th as I write this, and these are stories on the Eagles website:

Now don’t get me wrong. I understand not tipping your hand, but to say nothing? Are they telling us that no one, has an encouraging word for presumed starting QB Jalen Hurts? Are they telling us that “Where Are They Now?” articles are more important than “This Year’s Break-out Player Will Be” articles?

Aside from my THE 12 series, there doesn’t seem to be much passion for football in this city, anymore. Sad. Maybe we traded it away on February 18th.

DEVELOP A DEEP THREAT

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/03/04
Posted in: Conversations, Offense, Players, Rants, Roster, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

CUTTING WR DeSean Jackson was a foregone conclusion. While it remains true that he’s still faster than gossip, he can’t string together 6 consecutive downs in a game, without having to be shut down. Usually for weeks. This leaves the Eagles once again without a deep threat.

After last year’s draft, rookies WR John Hightower and WR Quez Watkins had us Eagles fans excited. We had a couple of speedy, young pups to bring along behind Jackson, and free agent addition WR Marquis Goodwin. With Goodwin also being a speedster, we looked to be deep with deep speed.

Funny thing about Goodwin though, he also has tendency to get nicked up and miss weeks with injuries. So naturally, Covid-19 saw Goodwin opt out for the year, and fans worrying that he might miss a few games, suddenly were even less happy. And Jackson? He was of course, hurt just minutes into the 2020 season.

He spent most of 2020 hurt, but Jackson’s last Eagles touchdown… Classic DJax.

This left us leaning on Hightower by the end of Week 1. His speed was undeniable, but his inability to track balls, led to his 34.5% catch rate on the year. For those of you who don’t follow stats, that catch rate isn’t just bad, it’s horrendous. Watkins saw a little playing time later in the season, but he wasn’t exactly killing it out there.

In 2021, we have Hightower, Watkins, and Goodwin returning. At this point, I think these three may scare Eagles fans more than they scare opponents. Still, we need to turn one of those guys into a weapon that can stretch the field, and create room for the other receivers to work underneath.

Ward and Fulgham.

WR Greg Ward is a Slot/possession receiver. WR Jalen Reagor looks like a Slot guy right now, but he keeps being sold to us as being able to play outside. WR Travis Fulgham looked like a solid second option for a few weeks. Then opponents realized that we didn’t have a first option, and took Fulgham away. WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside is still on the roster, and was supposed to give us a physical, 50/50 ball winner.

FUN FACT! No Eagles WR has reached 600 yards since 2018.

Without a deep threat, our other receivers are going to have a much more difficult time finding separation. This means our QB will have to hold onto the ball and well…

My hope is that Hightower spends this off-season working on his hand-eye coordination. Exercises like, catching a jelly bean with both hands (Not just one). Or tracking raw eggs over his shoulder, while inside of his home. (All kinds of incentive to focus on the “ball”.) I’m not saying these are exercises that he will do. Just naming examples of some classics.

In any case, we gotta have a LEGIT deep threat in 2021.

NO CLEAN TE RELEASES

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/03/02
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, NFC East, The 12, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THIS is not a new gripe for me. Too often we’ve let TE’s into their routes with little or no challenge. The results are high completion percentages, and easy scores. In fact, until OLB Nate Gerry went on IR last year, he was being victimized on a weekly. Some of it was his slow feet, but most of it was the scheme that told him to allow clean releases.

Here’s hoping that a new Defensive Coordinator means asking new things from the OLB’s. Specifically, not letting TE’s routinely set up for quick passes, within 3 to 6 yards of the line of scrimmage. A ball coming out of an opposing QB’s hand that fast, means that our pass rush won’t have time to get home.

It also means that we aren’t seeing that the opponent is using a timing or rhythm based passing game. Or even worse, maybe we are seeing it, but refusing to adjust to it. If an opposing QB keeps executing ‘1, 2, throw’, ‘1, 2, throw’ then it behooves us to slow up that TE, and take away that quick pass.

This can be done with all receivers (later article!), but the TE has to be played a little differently. Their position lets defenders beat-up on them more, but being physical with them can backfire easily. So TE’s have to have their routes disrupted in few different ways.

Jamming can and should be used, but it needs to be used sporadically. Trying to jam a TE too often, will tell an opposing coach to run the ball, since the defender is putting himself in position to be blocked easily. We should jam primarily on long downs. The run risk decreases, and it allows the SS to not have to immediately crash down to pick up that TE.

Re-directing in Man Coverage. All a re-direct is, is aggressively pushing a receiver (within 5 yards!) to an area where you have help in coverage. While a defender likely won’t know the route, if the TE is escorted to a more populated area of the field, the odds of a completion go way down, and the chances for big hits, tipped passes, or quick fumbles, go way up.

“Holding”. Used to be if your hands were inside the shoulders, you were allowed that grasp. Today, at no point are you allowed to hold. That said, TE’s get held all the time near the line of scrimmage. Particularly if they line up tight to the formation.

In that situation the refs can’t know if a held TE was supposed to run a route, or was supposed to block, and did a good job. Holding a TE has to be a quick, grab-pull-release, right around the line of scrimmage, and look just enough like fighting off a block. Just long enough for the QB to decided to go elsewhere with the ball.

Chipping is thought of as something that only offensive players do, but that’s a myth. In Zone Coverage, an OLB delivering a hard bump to the TE, then settling into a shallow area as the SS patrols the intermediate, is generally enough to cause a QB to think “Nope”, before progressing to his next read.

If the idea is to rush the passer with just our front four, then taking away the opponent’s quick and easy options, will give our defense the best chance of forcing their plays to run off-schedule. Plenty of tools here. We just need to finally start using them better.