Okay, great. Bowles has realized JTS isn’t a good pass rusher from the edge. That took awhile. He’s considered a chess piece only because he’s not very good at any one role. Also.., he is not the blitzer from the interior that Devin is. The one thing Devin had was explosive steps. He could get going from his standing MLB spot as fast as anyone. That is not JTS. A guy his size loses his momentum standing up without having the explosive first steps. Let him be a backup and occasional pass rusher.
JTS looked better as a situational player and seemed to be more productive so if he is going to be a joker, chess piece or moved around in NASCAR packages that is fine. Some players can't be an every down player. The Seahawks tried that with Darrell Taylor and he was not capable of holding his own on the early downs. New Seahawks HC Macdonald will probably use him as a joker as well like Bowles uses JTS. This is because Evero, Bowles, Mac, and Flores are all running similar concepts now using disguised shallow zones underneath and bringing rushers from anywhere with a cover two shell or cover three over the top. Which is why the team will probably continue to use a lot of zone concepts. JTS is athletic enough to drop into zone or blitz from the D gap.
@alldaway - ive noticed that as teams have played Bowles while he’s been here, they are spreading the offense out more. It’s harder to disguise a blitz when the offense has z, x, y, and a slot spread. It’s makes us show our blitzes. So offenses go to short grass routes that beat the soft zones while we’re sending 5 or 6. That’s my worry… that Bowles has been around and offenses are really learning how to consistently beat his defense. It’s not like our defense has looked very good the last 2 years.
I think we have played different versions of Bowles defense due to a persistent lack of personnel (due to injury or lack of performance), since the SB run.
Todd has adapted - 2023 may have been his second best coaching job on defense.
Hoping the addition of Whitehead to the great hall from last years defensive picks - means we’re about to see Bowles also add some new wrinkles…
like I said, Bowles won me over last year.
@alldaway - ive noticed that as teams have played Bowles while he’s been here, they are spreading the offense out more. It’s harder to disguise a blitz when the offense has z, x, y, and a slot spread. It’s makes us show our blitzes. So offenses go to short grass routes that beat the soft zones while we’re sending 5 or 6. That’s my worry… that Bowles has been around and offenses are really learning how to consistently beat his defense. It’s not like our defense has looked very good the last 2 years.
Which is why Bowles is copying what Evero, Flores and Mac are doing though. To counter that you do disguised zones with the OLBs and ILBs thwarting those short routes.
I think we have played different versions of Bowles defense due to a persistent lack of personnel (due to injury or lack of performance), since the SB run.
Todd has adapted - 2023 may have been his second best coaching job on defense.
Hoping the addition of Whitehead to the great hall from last years defensive picks - means we’re about to see Bowles also add some new wrinkles…
like I said, Bowles won me over last year.
Yeah 2023 defensive style Bowles used was nothing we had really seen in a while around here. Which is why C. Davis became expendable given the team will be playing more zone coverage it seems moving forward. Even with Whitehead back the team can play more man now but reality is that what a lot of NFL teams are doing to beat the McVay style of offense is flooding the middle of the field with shallow disguised zones with a cover two shell over the top.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc1lIzluhLI
Bowles has been using OLBs to drop into coverage a while but he is now disguising more shallow zones like Mac did this past season. There are more aggressive versions of this as well where Flores will change it up and go cover 0.
Problem is… the only way a defense successfully floods the shallow middle of the field with a cover 2 shell behind is with a good 3 or 4 man pass rush. Cant blitz and flood the middle with a cover 2. Only have 11 players. Who is going to provide that consistent rush from the edge for us? Don’t give me Yaya. He’s fine, but that’s not the prototypical edge.
Is Chess Piece the politically correct term for "bust" or "Not NFL starting caliber?"
all for relying on Yaya Diaby on one side and giving him a chance after a promising rookie season. JTR at best should be rotational back-up. Sure hope they have their sites set on drafting someone in the first or 2nd round here.
doesnt look like much if any veterans left to help out here.
Problem is… the only way a defense successfully floods the shallow middle of the field with a cover 2 shell behind is with a good 3 or 4 man pass rush. Cant blitz and flood the middle with a cover 2. Only have 11 players. Who is going to provide that consistent rush from the edge for us? Don’t give me Yaya. He’s fine, but that’s not the prototypical edge.
The way Mac does it is that he brings a delayed blitz so it isn't a traditional 4 man rush.
JTS needs to learn to play with more power, and embrace contact, needs to develop a rip/swim move and more power. I think with his 34 inch arms develop a bulls rush cause he can get his arms out faster, then counter it with a ghost rush. He loves playing with space to utilize speed but cant always be a speed guy, so all the tackle does is needs to be patient and shut him down when he makes his first move. Along with his affinity to playing with space, is that a tackle with a strong punch in the run game can neutralize him because he's surprised when the contact is there.
He needs to change the way he plays the game, he rushes like a 235lb passrusher with short arms.
To the ravens D, they have much better personnel, we had Ryan Neal who gave up a 158.3 passer rating(per pff).
I definitely think Yaya is a prototypical edge rusher for Bowles defenense. Long, thick, powerful. Stout in the run game but long enough and his pathway is more linear where they can shutoff run gaps. JTS isnt as successful in this D because for him to be a run defender he has to play linear but when he rushes the passer he plays parallel and needs space left/right of him. So he always has to choose am i rushing the passer or am i stopping the run which messes his setups and hes playing against himself on film.
The Ideal passrusher for Bowles is thick stout powerful long with a strong bull rush. Cam Jordan, Chandler jones, comes to mind
@mic - some great points. And I agree with most. I don’t see JTS getting much better at this point. He plays light. That is hard to fix.
As for Cameron Jordan and Chandler Jones… I think those two players fit in any defense. I’m still looking for that fast twitch rusher from at least one side. Shaq had it a few years back. JPP did for his size. We need that immediate first explosive step guy. That’s what we’re missing on the outside. I was the only person talking about Kancey last year before the draft because he has that explosive take-off. That makes great players.
We need that immediate first explosive step guy.
I think Chop could potentially be that guy.
Even explosive first step guys have their drawbacks and thats in run support. I specifically remember a play where kancey got washed out of his gap in the dvisonal playoff game for a td because instead of holding ground he went to penetrate a gap, I could be wrong and he got double teamed and washed out. Of course good pass rusher fit any defense the type of pass rushers. Cam jordan, Chandler Jones are contact linear players that fill gaps on their way to the qb. Don't get me wrong though I love a first step guy its just that a ngakoue, quinn, dont fit Bowles defense as much as they dont stop the run on their way to the passer, as efficiently, the guys I mentioned are ideal skillset guys. That comes with size, strength and playing through contact.
When I watch Chop hes a guy that can match well with Bowles D plays through contact with his go to rip move and has grown into a stout nfl body that can withhold in the run. I worry about college production but thats why hes the available at 26 in the first place
But if Powers-Johnson is there hes gonna be the pick, I remember he talked about the perfect center traits and mentioned Ryan jensen twice in that interview and was like "oh yea hes a Licht guy"
Braswell opposite of JTS linear player who bull rushes his way into the qb while also stalemating his run gaps on the way to the qb, thats the kind of rusher Bowles likes because they stop the run on their way to the passer. I liked him a lot for a second round pick, he doesn't flash that bend and first step but what he is, is efficient, and him and yaya are gonna suffocate the pocket
yeah JTR hasn't shown us much other than just another guy syndrome.
he is NOT a double digit sack guy. He is entering a contract year and sometimes it takes that for a player to wake up....but if i had to bet, he's closer to the Devin White contract year of getting benched mid year then he is to Shaq Barrett contract year in 2019 where we boast double digit sacks
the guy looks lost out there half the time and was pathetic at times. Who knows what we have in Braswell but he will certainly get snaps to prove himself and would actually be disappointed if he didn't wrestle the job away from JTR - because, we already know JTR is a waste but if Braswell can't overtake him by week 10; then looks like we swung and miss there too.
Interesting that everyone crowns Licht's drafts the day after but this is his fifth 1st round pick that won't be getting a 2nd contract, barring a contract year explosion.
