New Look Defense

Funny I'm the opposite, more biased towards Beasley because I like him more LOL.

...For Barry it's going to come down to can he get the defense to be middle of the pack? Can he get this defense to stop blowing a basic coverage? Can he get someone to cover a TE?Improving on the backend is gonna be a major factor in the quality of defense. I am not sure how much of a role coaching played in some of the breakdowns in coverage last year. They blew some basic coverages that highschool defenses call. So I think upgrading the personnel goes a long, long way to fixing the blown coverages from last year. Having enough depth that Amerson knows that he can't miss a meeting, blow a coverage and start/play the next week. Heck, Amerson is gonna have to compete for his job. Perry Fewel has a some talent to work with, I'm gonna watch how he handles and brings along Amerson and the rest of the secondary.

In regards to guarding TEs that's gonna fall alot on scheme imo. Many modern TEs are mismatches against LBs. One aspect of both Fewell and the Chargers (from an article I read that I didn't save) but it said that they like to use a lot of subpackage personnel and we know Fewel does from watching the Giants play 'big nickel' and sub out a LB to get another S on the field. In know passing down I think putting a S on a TE is a good move, and maybe based on the coaching staff's background we'll see it more then we under Haslett who stayed in base personnel vs 3 wides often which created some glaring mismatches WRs/TEs vs LBs.

When I first posted this breakdown it was in another forum and its interesting to see how much better it seems know then when I first posted based on the personnel additions Scott has made.

Imo the DL has been greatly upgraded with Knighton and Paea joining Jason Hatcher. Knighton is a force in the middle that still provides some inside pressure and Paea finally adds another pass rushing DL to finally create a pair of DL that can penetrate. We only saw that a few times in the past regime (and only once last year when Hatcher and Cofield were both healthy vs the Jags).

But you are right I think this defense has enough talent to move out of the cellar.

There are many metrics I look when it comes to defense (and I'll post them later) but 2 quick ones that imo give a good look into the quality of defense being played are DVOA (Football Outsiders) and QB rating against.

The defense was dead dog last in QB rating against at 108.3DVOA on defense was 30th

Just throwing this in here.Defensive line additions excite Keenan Robinson (http://247sports.com/Bolt/Defensive-line-additions-excite-Keenan-Robinson-36956367)

Heard an interview with Fowler and John Clayton. The kid is fairly well spoken. I personally liked what he had to say. A lot of PC stuff, but he talked much about kickin' it on practice days and study to make game day go well....etc

Just throwing this in here.Defensive line additions excite Keenan Robinson (http://247sports.com/Bolt/Defensive-line-additions-excite-Keenan-Robinson-36956367)

I actually believe part of the reason for inconsistent play at LB is all of the injuries at DL , Carriker , Cofield , Bowens , Jenkins , Hatcher and Neild . Not to mention at Safety and CB . Lets hope we have good luck with injuries this year .

Heard an interview with Fowler and John Clayton. The kid is fairly well spoken. I personally liked what he had to say. A lot of PC stuff, but he talked much about kickin' it on practice days and study to make game day go well....etc

I've read he has a motor like Kerrigan. I'd LOVE to see him in B&G. What a great pair of bookends at LB that would be!

I actually believe part of the reason for inconsistent play at LB is all of the injuries at DL , Carriker , Cofield , Bowens , Jenkins , Hatcher and Neild . Not to mention at Safety and CB . Lets hope we have good luck with injuries this year .
Agreed Bud. The D-Line makes a world of difference for LB's. With the D-Line creating havoc in the backfield as KR alludes to, we should see more gaps to the QB and hurried passes. I've seen too many plays where a safety blew his coverage and a LB ended up alone covering a TE 40-50 yards downfield because the QB had time to do a crossword puzzle before releasing the ball. I'm right there with you man.

I've read he has a motor like Kerrigan. I'd LOVE to see him in B&G. What a great pair of bookends at LB that would be!

I would as well. All these moves we are making are going to help Kerrigan a bunch. Will be fun to see some changes that should be improvement and will last for a while

Agreed Bud. The D-Line makes a world of difference for LB's. With the D-Line creating havoc in the backfield as KR alludes to, we should see more gaps to the QB and hurried passes. I've seen too many plays where a safety blew his coverage and a LB ended up alone covering a TE 40-50 yards downfield because the QB had time to do a crossword puzzle before releasing the ball. I'm right there with you man.
Hope that Pot Roast can turn up the heat in the middle , and our new ends control their gaps as well as get into the backfield . I want a Dominating defense , hoping to see it start to take shape this year .

Hope that Pot Roast can turn up the heat in the middle , and our new ends control their gaps as well as get into the backfield . I want a Dominating defense , hoping to see it start to take shape this year .Agreed.

Upgrading the DL is a great place to start building a dominating defense.

Knighton helps stop the run; and I'm one of those guys that believes playing good defense still starts with stopping the run. You stop the run and you create 'known passing situations' which gives your defense the opportunity to rush the passer (attack).

But for me the next steps to creating a dominating are pass rush and coverage. Knighton and Paea both add to the interior pass rush which makes the outside pass rush more effective.

So we've improved there too.

Adding Culliver, Goldson, Jeron Johnson and a healthy Ihenacho improves our coverage in the seconday a lot.

Culliver is instantly our best corner which bumps all our other corners down a spot which makes them better. We still need a slot/nickel CB to emerge in addition to improved played from any one of our other CBs. Everyone loves Breshard, myself included, but he's got some things to clean up to take the next step and Amerson has all the talent in the world but he's needs to play better.

I think Scott as already done a great job improving the defense with this off-season moves. If he can add another difference maker we're gonna be well on our way to creating an above average defense (talent-wise) then with coaching we can start talking about dominance.