Yet another Haynesworth thread: his style of play

There is a good article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022702765.html?sub=AR) in the WP about his freelancing style of play vs. the style of rigid play Blache tends to favor from this defensive lineman. His old d-line coach in Tennessee basically gave up on trying to reign him in. In this article Blache indicates that he's not going to try to restrict him:

Blache, whose team ranked 28th in sacks and had the third-fewest takeaways in the NFL last season, appears willing to oblige. "When you add a talent to this degree, you adjust things to fit him," he said. "We realize that we've got something that we haven't had before."

My concern is shouldn't we have done the same thing with Jason Taylor last year? How can we be sure that Blache has learned his lesson? The only way I can see Haynesworth not working out here is if we try to make him something he's not. We really have to just stick him in the lineup and let him do his thing.

totally agree we just have to let him loose its the only way we'll see production from him.

I agree. Gotta let him do what he does. Throw him in there and let him do what earned him $41M guaranteed. It's a little different than the Jason Taylor situation becuase he was moving from a 3-4 to a 4-3. IF we let Taylor play RDE as he did in Miami and we let AH do his thing, I think we can have one of the best D-lines in football.

Taylor and Haynesworth are (with little argument) our best players on defense (perhaps Landry as well) and we need to play to their strengths-assuming they're compatible with each other which I think they are.

But often times what happens with the best players on a defense, is that they are asked to do things that don't play to their strengths because the coaches want to use their natural talents to mask the weaknesses of other players.

Taylor and Haynesworth are (with little argument) our best players on defense (perhaps Landry as well) and we need to play to their strengths-assuming they're compatible with each other which I think they are.

But often times what happens with the best players on a defense, is that they are asked to do things that don't play to their strengths because the coaches want to use their natural talents to mask the weaknesses of other players.

Well to say Taylor is one of our best D players is an insult to alot of our guys. I guess your assuming that he was bothered by injuries all of last year which hurt his porduction. I would have to hold judgment on Taylor until I see what he can do in D & G rather then base it off of what he did with the Fins.

Well to say Taylor is one of our best D players is an insult to alot of our guys. I guess your assuming that he was bothered by injuries all of last year which hurt his porduction. I would have to hold judgment on Taylor until I see what he can do in D & G rather then base it off of what he did with the Fins.

D & G (dolce and gabbana?)

I'm basing it on Taylor being one of the best defensive players in the NFL over the past decade

I was watching the Patriots/Jets game yesterday where the Jets were using Kris Jenkins at Nose Tackle and if Haynesworth plays anything like Jenkins (in which case he should play better) then we're in luck. Of course on the first play I watched it seemed like Jenkins was just playing patty cake with the Center. I don't know if thats because he was taking a play off or if he was really careful about playing both 'A' gaps.

The next play however Jenkins just exploded off the line, blew back the center, and tackled the running back for a 3 yard loss. Next play he destroys the center again (and this is a Patriots O-line thats among the best in the league at pass blocking) and barely misses the sack as his teammate got it (though lets not forget that Jenkins blowing back the Center forced Cassel to stay put giving his teammate off the edge a perfect shot). 3rd down Cassel somehow finds a way to scramble despite Jenkins blowing up the play again so with that said I guess we're not totally immune to QB's stepping up with a dominant inside force but considering the score was 24-6 Jets at the time I wouldn't doubt the impact that a dominant big man can have on a game.

There is a good article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022702765.html?sub=AR) in the WP about his freelancing style of play vs. the style of rigid play Blache tends to favor from this defensive lineman. His old d-line coach in Tennessee basically gave up on trying to reign him in. In this article Blache indicates that he's not going to try to restrict him:

My concern is shouldn't we have done the same thing with Jason Taylor last year? How can we be sure that Blache has learned his lesson? The only way I can see Haynesworth not working out here is if we try to make him something he's not. We really have to just stick him in the lineup and let him do his thing.

Yeah, I'm concerned that we brought in AH just because he was the most talented free agent without a premeditation of how we are going to implement him in our system.

This freelancing style is concerning too because let's say that it doesn't work with our defense the first half of the season. What would be the fix?...Get AH to play outside of his natural talents?

Also if we switch our defensive scheme to conform to AH's style of play and then he goes down for a while that will bite us in the ass too.


It's almost as if the AH signing gave us more questions than answers to our problems.

My thoughts on this style of play debate boils down to this...this is an NFL player on an NFL team. This isn't college football. The coaches don't have the luxury to change a player's game to fit their system. These are professional athletes who have worked years at their craft and will naturally be rigid to change. This is also NOT the NBA. Players in the NFL (especially interior d-linemen) are not valuable enough that they can just dictate how their entire team should craft their scheme around them. Case in point, DeAngelo Hall was released after that blockbuster deal last offseason cuz he couldn't fit Oakland's man system. He was supposed to be an elite corner/game changer/etc. We've seen another freelancer with loads of talent get benched and eventually dropped by the skins (Hint: his initials were LA).

The bottom line is that both sides (AH and Blache) are going to have to be flexible and work with each other in order for this to work out.

Yeah, I'm concerned that we brought in AH just because he was the most talented free agent without a premeditation of how we are going to implement him in our system.

This freelancing style is concerning too because let's say that it doesn't work with our defense the first half of the season. What would be the fix?...Get AH to play outside of his natural talents?

Also if we switch our defensive scheme to conform to AH's style of play and then he goes down for a while that will bite us in the *** too.


It's almost as if the AH signing gave us more questions than answers to our problems.

Only because its the offseason, and everyone asks what ifs.
Do you think any signing the FO made would not be second guessed??
I think these questions will work themselves out in OTAs/Preseason. If we can't utilize the players we have than I think coaching, not talent will be questioned.