New Look Defense

Yeah, I'd personally prefer better talent at the nose...certainly wouldn't hurt. But I have a lot of faith in tomsula to find and build a guy who can help us right now.

I respectfully disagree. I think there is a huge NT concern if the defense stays at 3-4.

The narrative goes that the defense is only in base 3-4 fifteen to twenty snaps a game, or 15 to 20 percent of snaps; I have seen the amount referenced both ways in print and heard it both ways on espn980.

Without a true NT, we have sub standard personnel on the field for that percentage of snaps.

What other position could we use sub-standard personnel as a band aid for 15-2- snaps a game? What if we used a really fast safety or LB for 15-20 snaps a game as a nickle corner?

The argument wouldn't be that we are using him for a limited number of snaps so we should not fret about it. The safety or LB would be exploited.

The two scenarios aren't analogous but similar. The main difference would be the ability of the couch potato to see the personnel weakness. With the safety or LB in coverage, we would all see the glaring weakness. With an end trying to play nose, it would take a knowledgeable fan to see the guard, who should be tied up with a mountain of a NT, killing the ILB on a run.

The point is, why play a scheme we don't have the personnel for, for any number of snaps?

Would it be good coaching to go heavy personnel last season with DJax and Crowder playing two of the TE positions as long as it was just for a few snaps?

How many snaps per game is it ok to have sub-standard personnel on the field?

I Respectfully AGREE with your thoughts. Well said. The inside of our D was porous, at best last year and some of the reasons given were our guys manning that position were too "small". We didn't do much to improve the size issue during the off season.

But, for the record, I'm not "fretting", that's stuff that wussies do & I'm no wuss.

But I am interested in what will transpire.

What I find really interesting is Tomsula will either coach up a big body to play NT that nobody really expects or Tomsula will coach up a gap splitter, which hasn't been his forte.

So, I am interested in seeing how this will play out.


HTTR.

Terrance Knighton was very good at commanding double teams and clogging the middle in his one season here. Yet our defense still blew chunks and he never played in the NFL again after that. So tell me again how a traditional NT is so important in a 3-4 when nobody else in the NFL thought he was worth it?

The Cardinals and Texans are the two teams with the most successful 3-4 defenses over the last few years, I think we would all agree with that. The Texans have Vince Wilfork playing the NT role, a good traditional NT type, but aging. The Cardinals have Corey Peters in that role, a 6-3 305 pounder drafted in the third round by the Falcons.

Notice those defenses have something else in common, strong pass rushers from the end and OLB spots. JJ Watt, Clowney, the since departed Calais Campbell, and Chandler Jones. To say nothing of the secondary play.

I am with Matty, NT is overrated.

Terrance Knighton was very good at commanding double teams and clogging the middle in his one season here. Yet our defense still blew chunks and he never played in the NFL again after that. So tell me again how a traditional NT is so important in a 3-4 when nobody else in the NFL thought he was worth it?

The Cardinals and Texans are the two teams with the most successful 3-4 defenses over the last few years, I think we would all agree with that. The Texans have Vince Wilfork playing the NT role, a good traditional NT type, but aging. The Cardinals have Corey Peters in that role, a 6-3 305 pounder drafted in the third round by the Falcons.

Notice those defenses have something else in common, strong pass rushers from the end and OLB spots. JJ Watt, Clowney, the since departed Calais Campbell, and Chandler Jones. To say nothing of the secondary play.

I am with Matty, NT is overrated.

Good points, but nobody will convince me that any position on Defense is not important.

No doubt Knighton was Huge, but as we all saw, he was also over weight & out of shape. When he was on the field, he took too many plays off.

Corey Peters is the interesting outlier in this discussion.
He played 497 of 1,019 (48%) defensive snaps last year for the Cardinals.
So you've proven that the argument that Hood & Ioannidis were too small is not valid. (Rich Tandler should be ashamed!)

So, it sounds like it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

McGee missed 7 games last year & only played 220 of 987 snaps (22%).

Our Defense was pathetic last year (against the run, against the pass) - just pathetic.

It will be interesting to see if the same basic players line up at the same spots & play better.

Maybe scheme & coaching can make that happen...it's something I'll be watching.

Terrance Knighton was very good at commanding double teams and clogging the middle in his one season here. Yet our defense still blew chunks and he never played in the NFL again after that. So tell me again how a traditional NT is so important in a 3-4 when nobody else in the NFL thought he was worth it?

The Cardinals and Texans are the two teams with the most successful 3-4 defenses over the last few years, I think we would all agree with that. The Texans have Vince Wilfork playing the NT role, a good traditional NT type, but aging. The Cardinals have Corey Peters in that role, a 6-3 305 pounder drafted in the third round by the Falcons.

Notice those defenses have something else in common, strong pass rushers from the end and OLB spots. JJ Watt, Clowney, the since departed Calais Campbell, and Chandler Jones. To say nothing of the secondary play.

I am with Matty, NT is overrated.

No he wasn't. Terrence knighton was not good at commanding double teams per every Cooley Film breakdown. Try to watch the 2nd philly game of 2015. He was barely doubled at all. He was so bad, he was out of the league the very next year and despite being 30 years old is still unemployed.

Whenever he was legitimately doubled (again philly game) he was washed out of the play so far it affected others around him. He was lazy and could not hold his ground which is exactly the opposite of his assignment.

The only reason I remember that game is I went back with pen and paper and posted about it on here.

Do you have a specific game you are thinking of where he played well or just commenting in general?

No he wasn't. Terrence knighton was not good at commanding double teams per every Cooley Film breakdown. Try to watch the 2nd philly game of 2015. He was barely doubled at all. He was so bad, he was out of the league the very next year and despite being 30 years old is still unemployed.

Whenever he was legitimately doubled (again philly game) he was washed out of the play so far it affected others around him. He was lazy and could not hold his ground which is exactly the opposite of his assignment.

The only reason I remember that game is I went back with pen and paper and posted about it on here.

Do you have a specific game you are thinking of where he played well or just commenting in general?

One dimensional? Yes. Ineffective run stopper? Not even close. Congrats on wasting your time there, arm chair scout.

Pro Football Focus in March 2016:


While Knighton failed to standout as Washington’s nose tackle in 2015, he made a solid contribution. As a two-down run defender, he finished with a respectable 76.9 overall grade, recording 18 defensive stops. Considering Knighton played only 38 percent of snaps, his production was respectable. With the depth they now have at five-technique in Chris Baker, Jason Hatcher, Ricky Jean-Francois, and Stephen Paea, Washington can afford to limit Knighton to early downs. Although far from an exciting move, keeping Knighton on a short-term deal makes sense.

One dimensional? Yes. Ineffective run stopper? Not even close. Congrats on wasting your time there, arm chair scout.

Pro Football Focus in March 2016:

Who wrote that?

Link or it didn't happen.

I am betting the grades that went into the average were compile by a bunch of Englishmen who churn out grades on every NFL player by Monday morning. They truly take the time to break it down!

Link or it didn't happen.

He was garbage and 32 teams in the NFL ignored PFF. His respectable grade from PFF, and their determination of a "solid contribution" earned him not even a vet minimum contract.

Arm chair scout? He is out of the league at 30 and uninjured. Did you read your post before you copy and pasted? He should have been signed if PFF was remotely accurate.

I am not an arm chair scout, I do faithfully listen to Cooley's break downs and more times than not go back and watch the game again if I am interested in something.

It isn't a waste of time if you enjoy it.

Also, it isn't nice to call people sarcastic names.

Who wrote that?

Link or it didn't happen.

I am betting the grades that went into the average were compile by a bunch of Englishmen who churn out grades on every NFL player by Monday morning. They truly take the time to break it down!

Link or it didn't happen.

He was garbage and 32 teams in the NFL ignored PFF. His respectable grade from PFF, and their determination of a "solid contribution" earned him not even a vet minimum contract.

Arm chair scout? He is out of the league at 30 and uninjured. Did you read your post before you copy and pasted? He should have been signed if PFF was remotely accurate.

I am not an arm chair scout, I do faithfully listen to Cooley's break downs and more times than not go back and watch the game again if I am interested in something.

It isn't a waste of time if you enjoy it.

Also, it isn't nice to call people sarcastic names.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-kirk-cousins-tops-redskins-list-of-free-agent-priorities/

For fuck's sake. Could it possibly be that he was indeed good against the run, yet teams decided that skill wasn't worth much given how little he's on the field?

The simpler explanation is often the correct one. Stop overthinking, putz.

Disagreeing with you and a dude with a degree from the University of Bristol from the UK with a degree in philosophy and psychology on how bad Knighton was does not a putz make.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-breitenbach-975755113

Other teams pit, bal, houston, have dedicated NT that play limited snaps and they make rosters. Knighton was just bad according to (literally) every Cooley Film breakdown from 2015.

Using Knighton, a bust who can't make a roster in his prime years, is not a strong argument either way on the importance of the NT position.

Disagreeing with you and a dude with a degree from the University of Bristol from the UK with a degree in philosophy and psychology on how bad Knighton was does not a putz make.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-breitenbach-975755113

Other teams pit, bal, houston, have dedicated NT that play limited snaps and they make rosters. Knighton was just bad according to (literally) every Cooley Film breakdown from 2015.

Using Knighton, a bust who can't make a roster in his prime years, is not a strong argument either way on the importance of the NT position.

Then what of Corey Peters.