boring defensive post

So my philosophy on defense can be boiled down into 4 simple points:

1. Do not go where the blocker/receiver wants you to go
2. Contain
3. Rally to the Ball
4. Make a Play

To put this in football speak -> the goal is to disrupt the timing of the play, shrink the field, overwhelm the talent of the ball carrier with numbers, and then turn it into as favorable play as you can (for example, strip the ball, tackle for loss, etc). Over the last half dozen years, I've felt that we are consistently failing on point 1 which has caused us to fail on point 2 and 3 and inevitably on point 4.

So since all we have is the spring game, we'll use it to see how our fundamentals look.



4-2-5 man to man - curiously it looks like alignment determines who has what assignment instead of them being assigned to a position pre-snap. Not a fan of allowing the offense to get favorable matchups by alignment. Most important man on the screen is Ndulae at tackle (underlined).



Zone blocking and Ndulae starts to slide inside (ie going where the blockers want him to go). Linebackers look good in pass coverage although that top corner is absolute toast (taking inside leverage on a cover 2 and allowing the guy to get outside and above).


So this is subtle, Ndulae has only slid inside 2 yards and Grissom has slid outside by 1 yard but it looks like you have a HUGE hole forming. Grissom is trying hard not to go where the blocker wants him to, but he is also in an awkward spot with regard to his leverage. Because he is outside, he has to contain the running lane and trust the linebackers to fill it. Kudos to both linebackers on recognition as they both realize that the QB pulled the ball down and now are in pursuit mode.



And Grissom loses contain. You applaud the effort, but he has to have the discipline and trust to do his job and funnel guys to the 3 guys in the middle. Of course, I find it hard to blame him when I see that Corey Nelson still hasn't committed to going after the tackle. What he should be doing is flying at the hole and using the trash to contain the QB as he tackles him. Because he is waiting instead of rallying to the ball, he is allowing the QB to have more options than he should. In other words, what we see here is Grissom rallying to the ball and Nelson acting like he has contain. The last problem is Shannon. The ball is in front of him, but he is already taking a pursuit angle that is going to get him blocked.



QB makes the cut and everyone is walled off



Furthering our keystone cops routine, one guy blocks 3. He is holding one of the guys but anyway



And last, notice that the guys with the motors. Ndulae should be pretty good after some seasoning (if he can get some size).

more to come later

 

On an unrelated note, I still love how that old school OU helmet looks painted on center field

 

Very interesting and informative. Thanks.

 

So with a couple years and new personnel we are still having the same basic issues. Is it recruiting tactics? Teaching?

Do we at least have more motor guys on d that can make up for poor technique?

 

Excellent info JKM, thanks for posting this.

 

And yes, our defensive issues are very head scratching. It seems like we were winning first and second downs and then giving up long yardage (or at least first down yardage) on third down a lot last season.

 

As always, JKM, I learn something from almost all your posts. Quit your day job and become the football advisor on my kitchen cabinet.

 

Next play - This illustrates why just improving the DL isn't going to get as much success as some seem to think. This run is played perfectly by the DT/DE and it ends up a 4 yard gain. With stronger linebackers, this results in a minimal gain. The problem is that the DL normally have craptacular angles for instant stops (as you will see).



Same D but a little heavier offensive alignment.



So I guess this is technically a triple option that we will probably see this fall. Option 1 - WR, Option 2 QB Keeper, Option 3 RB. The fullback on the DE is important here as it will come up later. Depending on who we are facing this is a tough assignment for anyone not named Milard.

Nelson keys - The first key is the WR, if he takes the ball then Nelson has to pursue as it is his responsibility inside out. If not then he has to close down the inside gap for the QB and the running back.
Shannon keys - If the WR takes it then he has cutback and reverse. Otherwise he has outside to inside for both the QB and the RB as Nelson should be closing down the inside.



No WR handoff so we have to go with QB/RB keys. Nelson has cement shoes instead of closing down the inside gap, Shannon is moving to grab outside contain. Key part of this picture is all of the 1 on 1 battles. To be a good defense you have to win 1/2 of your 1 on 1 battles on the line.



Ndulae forces the running back off of the left side with good leverage. Grissom stonewalls the FB. This is expected and I'm at least a little concerned about it from an offensive perspective without Milard.



The running back is cut off from outside by Shannon and just tries to make due by going up the middle. This is the 2nd bad read by the RB (the first was in the previous pic, Ndulae would never have gotten him had he went right).

Note - this is the 2nd play in a row where one of our defensive players blocked his own man.



Nelson finally starts to move. The running back tries to split Ndulae and Grissom.



So we make contact but the problem here is that the running back got deep into Grissom and Ndulae so he is going to be tough to stop. A linebacker fill at this point stonewalls him, as it is the next frame shows how many yards he gets after contact.



The first line is the point of contact (1/2 yard in the backfield) the 2nd blue line is where he was tackled (4 yard gain). Nelson does get the forced fumble on this play, but the problem is that he isn't trying to put the guy on the ground, just strip the ball.

 

I'm not convinced the DTs played that very well. In the first image, the outside DT (can't read the #, but it could be Phillips) looks like he is slanting on the play, but none of the other d-linemen show that. So, he's already a step behind and has ZERO chance to get penetration.

I'm really hoping we saw very basic packages in the spring game. I'm not a huge fan of the 4-2-5, but it appears that's what we are going to be seeing next year. Hopefully, the summer helps get the defense tuned in.

 

He isn't slanting, he's reading the QB. The physics of the situation illustrate that the direction the QB faces for the handoff is where the running back has to go. By going across the OL onto that side, he forces the cutback and the running back loses all of his momentum.

I still can't believe that Nelson stood in the same spot for 3 seconds.

 

I'm happy with a 4-2-5 if the '2s' can shed a block now and then, and occasionally cover someone.

5-0

 

one more



Straight read option, nothing fancy. I do like the way Saunders is selling the pass though.



The first thing you see is the cut block which is unusual in the spring game but common throughout the season. What the DT needs to do is close down the gap and force the running back to cutback. Instead, he pushes up the field and out of position. The other DE is held by the QB but needs to be aware that he needs to close down.

I want you to notice how far back the linebackers are from the LOS. The running back is at full speed and 4 yards back. They are barely moving and 4-5 yards deep. This is a positive gain no matter what.



Running back gets the ball, at this point the DE needs to start thinking pursuit angle. The DT pushed up the field and basically lost contain, total stonewall on the left side. On HolaKyle's highlights, this is the 3rd straight running play against these guys. The linebackers have been effectively blocked on all 3. I'd be surprised if our OL does that 5 times all season (block both linebackers effectively out of the play).



The OL on Shannon slips and throws a wing out. That wing will hit Shannon around the knee and he flips to the ground. Its the spring game so I can see not wanting to get hurt, but he barely gets touched and is blocked.



Shows the chicken wing on Shannon's leg



Aftermath of the flip. 35 yard gain.

 

You're right, however, in the example you've shown, he's making his first move off of the snap (you can tell by the positioning of the other 3 DL). Also, look at the last series you posted (although he is playing a slightly different technique), he is facing off with the guard off of his first step (which, in my opinion, is the correct technique). I just don't think the first instance was a read by Phillips, I think it was either A)a missed call, or B)a bad decision, either way he has taken himself completely out of the play.

As for Nelson, that is a little concerning. As much as he has played, he should be more instinctive than that. Do you think it's taking him that long to read the play, because I've never seen a defensive call in which he should remain stationary (other than a QB spy, and even in that instance, he should be able to identify the play much quicker).

 

I've always viewed the 4-2-5 as a "situational" defense. I think it's asking a lot of this team to operate out of a nickle as a base defense. If we had 5 proven DBs, I wouldn't be so skeptical, but seeing that we only have 1, I'm a little nervous. However, I'm pretty sure that Mike Stoops doesn't give a rat's *** what I think.

 

The first series is a mistake by Ndulae. The encouraging thing is that he doesn't let it happen again on the next 2 plays. I'll run through some more and see if we see anything different later.

Your guess is as good as mine on Nelson. I just know that a) he is the projected starter and b) Kish said the linebackers played well during the spring game.

 

Personally, I'm more comfortable with a base 4-2-5 with a situational 4-3 than the other way around. The goal should be to get as much speed on the edges and as much beef in the middle as you can. With the exception of the few teams that run power offenses, that SLB ends up being a tweener on the field.

Your point about our returning DBs is noted however. The key to a 4-2-5 is having DBs that can put guys on the ground. We just don't have anyone around that has proven they can do that.

 

gah, there are a couple of good defensive plays on blitzes that the stupid field angle makes impossible to screenshot .

 

I have to remind myself that defenses need to match up with the offenses in the Big XII. Also, given that OU doesn't appear to have 3 guys that can play a consistent role at LB, the 4-2-5 probably makes as much sense as anything. Good point jkm.

 

So there are a couple of series where they blitz the linebackers to really good effect. This play illustrates what happens when you have an aggressive D that disrupts the plans of the Offense. What we've seen so far is that we just sit back and let the offense set up their schemes. On this one we force the issue with 2 player coming free as the offense ends up not being able to react.

 

Next play on that series. Once again, they get off of the ball quickly. Nelson and Shannon have gone 2 yards before Finch even gets the ball. Aggression typically pays big dividends against the run game. This play perfectly illustrates the four points I put above. Nelson hits a blocker at the point of attack but instead of getting blocked out of the hole, he forms a pile there. This and the contain from the DEs forces Finch into the middle of all of the shirts rallying to the ball.