RI: Skins to use more press coverage this year

The Redskins have been playing a lot of press-man coverage with their corners early in camp, more than what seemed to be the norm. Playing man is nothing new around here, but there was no cushion being given at all. Fred Smoot and Shawn Springs, the starting corners, have loved it, 'cuz now they're even closer to the WRs to beat them up a bit and also to ensure all of their smack talk is audible.

Smoot said he expects the team to play a ton of it this season, and that CB Coach Jerry Gray is stressing press technique. I asked Jim Zorn if the prevalence of the coverage was just to give the offense that look in practice, and he said, no, that he figured the Redskins would be a pressing team. Not 100 percent of the time, of course, but given the size and skills of their corner, the enhanced pass rush with Jason Taylor and the presence of a ball-hawk, head-hunter like LaRon Landry behind the corners at safety, it makes a lot of sense.

The CBs have to get a solid jam on the WRs and derail them from their route - within the ever-shrinking legal limits of doing so - and it's definitely a high-gamble tactic (if the corner whiffs you've got a streaking WR going deep all alone), but it can be smothering if done properly. Makes for some fun battles during 11-on-11s as well, especially when the kid WRs are out there.

More... (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/2008/07/prepractice_ramblings.html#more)

I didn't particularly care for the 10 yard cushion our CBs gave WRs last season. Then again, we did pretty well last year when we employed the "bend, but don't break" defense.

This is great news. I hated when they played 6-7 yards off regardless of down and distance.

Makes sense. We actually have a pass rush in our front 4 now.

That's good news. I see our defense being in the top 5 this year, but that's my opinion only.

Opps! sorry ,wrong press!:)

I like this move as well. We should be getting good pressure up front with Taylor and Carter, and I wasn't that big a fan of the 10 yard cushion either. Some cushion is ok but I don't like seeing it all the time, like we saw with Rogers in '06. I really think our pass defense will be fine until Rogers gets back and it should improve once he's back.

This could be also in part because the NFL has come back a little on being so harsh towards the DB's. I heard they are allowing a little more contact this year and not penalizing everything. Good news for Smoot....

I can't argue with the results we got on defense last year, because we had a pretty good season. But when I think back to one of the best Redskin defenses of all time, the 2004 season, there was no cushion given. We played up on the WRs and stopped the run like nobody's business as our CBs were involved in a lot of run stops. We also didn't give up much over the top because we kept teams in so many 3rd and longs, and then brought the blitz. I like that aggressive style.

This year we can be aggressive with our CBs and still get the pressure on the QB without blitzing. That's what two stud DEs can do for you.

I can't argue with the results we got on defense last year, because we had a pretty good season. But when I think back to one of the best Redskin defenses of all time, the 2004 season, there was no cushion given. We played up on the WRs and stopped the run like nobody's business as our CBs were involved in a lot of run stops. We also didn't give up much over the top because we kept teams in so many 3rd and longs, and then brought the blitz. I like that aggressive style.

This year we can be aggressive with our CBs and still get the pressure on the QB without blitzing. That's what two stud DEs can do for you.

That was a great year. Our DLine was honestly the best that year since the Mann/MAnley days. Griffin was a beast and we got a lot of pressure up the middle which gave our CBs a better chance in press. When our DL started getting beat a little more then Grills had to back the dogs off. It took some time but he figured out how to make it work. I miss Grills. He was awesome. Too bad it didn't work out but I have faith in Blache.