Secondary a Primary Concern

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Instead they chose Cedric Griffin, with the expectation that he'll primarily line up opposite Josh Wilson with DeAngelo Hall in the nickel replacing Kevin Barnes.

On average, starting corners I believe get about 20-25% more snaps than the nickel. To be clear though, I suspect that Hall will largely be the starter but when a nickel situation is called for, Cedric won't come in to play nickel he'll come in to replace Hall and Hall slides to cover the slot receiver. We'll know for sure soon enough.

First ill state that its always been hard for me to decipher exactly what we are doing defensively. It became a lot harder since we switched to the 3-4 with Hasslett using seemingly much more complicated packages and having people all over the place disguising coverage. And of course TV cameras dont do a great job of showing coverage on the live play. Maybe the NFL showing all 22 angels will help me in time.

With that said I always thought what you stated would would be the best way to use Hall. The way he plays and his size / abilities seem best suited as a nickelback to me, yet considering our short comings at corner you want him on the field as much as possible (well, sometimes....) .

So is that the prevailing thought, that Hall is best suited as a nickel? Does anyone know about how often we shifted Hall into the nickel last year and how well it seemed to work? Any other teams that do this (the "number 1" corner shifts to nickel) as regular thing?

[skinsfan69]

Unless the pass rush can bail them out, it's going to be a real long year in the secondary.

[CrazyCanuck]

RG3 will make the secondary better. :thumb:

[Lotus]

Before we all get too doom and gloom here, perhaps we should remember that the Pats and Giants both suffered from some poor secondary play last year yet they played in the big dance. I know that this is not simple are there are many factors in play regarding this. But the point remains that a problematic secondary can be overcome.

[Mechanix544]

Originally Posted by CrazyCanuck

RG3 will make the secondary better. :thumb:

best quote of the year. I dunno, he likes the long ass bombs. Gotta get him to sustain some drives to keep our gaping wound from becoming an INFECTED gaping wound. The way I see it, the less the secondary is on the field, the better our prospects of winning games. There is no question that the secondary concerns me alot more than the OLine with a ridiculously mobile, young quarterback, as well as some decent rushers. Without a top notch safety and no additions of real "starting" value made this offseason, Josh Wilson is now our premier player in the secondary.

That is not a particularly endearing thought.

[redskins5044]

The secondary has been a weakness of this team for a while. Last year we improved to 13th overall defense, with pretty the same guys, only added verteran FA's that no one else wanted. If our pass rush can improve with Kerrigan having another year under his belt and having Jenkins playing this year. IMO Orakpo needs to have a big year this year, he needs to get to the QB, he has not been able to get to QB consistently. I think if we can be more active up front then it can hide some of the weaknesses in the secondary to an extent. Thats what the coaching staff is hoping for i think.

[30gut]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

You know what? I haven't thought so either but we almost kind of need him to

C. Griffin seems like just a guy to me.
Imo he's no better then Barnes, who is both younger and cleaner as far as injuries goes.
I'm rooting for Crawford and Bernstein though.
I'm all about youth.
Trick love the kids.

You heard anything about Bernstein is he playing S only or some CB?

[SmootSmack]

Primarily S from what I'd heard

[Chico23231]

Shanny talking about Barnes off the Kiem's report:

9. By the way, Barnes also broke up a pass along the sidelines intended for Anthony Armstrong (the play in which Armstrong hurt his shoulder). Coach Mike Shanahan likes Barnes playing outside (he struggled mightily in the slot last year).

“Kevin has got great speed. He’s got length and I really felt like his best position is being the outside where he can concentrate on just jamming people,” Shanahan said. “We had him inside last year playing the nickel position. It didn’t work out as well as I would have liked. I thought if he concentrated just on the outside receivers, his jams, and his off-coverage that he would improve. I like what I’ve seen so far.”

Looks Shanny likes Barnes playing the outside, i would agree

[firstdown]

This article pretty much talks about moving D Hall to the slot as SS was talking about. It also has a few quotes from DH about improving this year after last year.

After down year, Hall vows a return | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

[mooby]

I think our secondary play will depend on the pass rush. If our pass rush can dominate it will cover up our secondary's deficiences, because opposing qb's won't have time to throw. If opponents' o-lines can shut down our pass rush, we could see our secondary getting torched out there. A good pass rush can help hide a weak secondary. And our secondary definitely qualifies as weak.

[MTK]

I think our misfit bunch at safety just might work out ok.

NB is a concern, someone needs to step up and fill that role.

[mbedner3420]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

I think our misfit bunch at safety just might work out ok.

NB is a concern, someone needs to step up and fill that role.

I'm not super duper concerned about the majority of our secondary. It honestly can't be any worse than what we had last year which a out rotating safeties. We frankly retained both safeties that played the majority of last year (Doughty and Gomes) and I feel like Merriweather, Jackson, and Williams are all solid additions. I am worried about our boundary corner opposite Wilson, that could be an issue. However, I think eventually someone will step up to fill that need (or we find a surprise cut will be made that we can pounce on).

[SmootSmack]

From John Keim's weekly email

Q&A with Josh Wilson

Wilson is one of the more insightful Redskins, especially when it comes to talking about his position (cornerback). And with the Redskins’ cornerbacks playing a variety of coverages, I thought it would be interesting to talk to him about playing press coverage and off-man coverage and some of the keys involved in both.

Q: Kevin Barnes was talking about Raheem Morris working with you guys, teaching you some new drills. Has he done anything you haven’t seen before?

A: I’ve seen it all. It’s just different options. A lot of guys who haven’t been to other teams like Kevin have never seen a different option. You play with your head up or you play outside. Fortunately or unfortunately I’ve been on three teams with different mindsets. I’ve played for about six different coordinators. I know a lot of different ways of doing it. It’s not about a scheme or coaches. You have to find out what’s best for you. Everybody can teach inside man, but if you’re not a great inside man, you shouldn’t do it. It’s better suited for you to be a head-up outside guy.

Q: I want to talk about press coverage. Sometimes when you see guys up they jam, and sometimes they don’t. Why is that?

A: You got a lot of different things, and you have to be versatile. If you do the same thing every time the receiver doesn’t have to think about what’s going to happen. You got a quick jam sometimes. Quick jams are one hands. Jump jams are two hands. In mirror technique you back off. Sometimes you stay sturdy and get your hands on, but it’s not a quick fire. You have to mix it up like the receivers mix up their release.

Q: When do you know you’re in trouble?

A: When that receiver stacks you, if that receiver is able to cut you off and has you running right behind him. If I’m behind him (to the side) then I can still catch up, but if he goes (over the top) then you’re in trouble.

Q: What’s the key to playing press?

A: Patience. You have to be patient. Don’t open the gate. Don’t get out of there too fast. Let him show the route.

Q: Sounds simple but is it hard to do?

A: That’s why we’re here and a lot of others are home.

Q: When you’re playing off-man, what’s the key?

A: That’s more of a read. You have to read the quarterback to the receiver. That’s a visual, instinctual thing. Press is man-on-man. You’re in off, you have to do a lot of reading, and your reads can get thrown off. You have to get off the quarterback, and there are different keys when you have to get off the quarterback. It’s a lot more detail work. You can get yourself in trouble real quick if [your eyes] linger too long. You hear people say you got your eyes stuck in the backfield. That can get you in trouble.

Q: If you’re playing off-man, how deep can you let the receiver get into you before you open and run?

A: That’s a personal preference. You have to know what speed you have and what route you think he’ll run. You always know your speed. There’s not any one way to tell anyone to do it. You have to be a player and feel when do you need to get out of there. What kind of speed guy is he? Is he running full speed? Do I know this guy well enough to know he’s running full speed? So you have to study your opponents, too.

Q: How quickly can you narrow what route a receiver is going to run?

A: I can narrow down the routes off the first step. As soon as he does his first step, he only has two choices left. In off, you can narrow it down by what the quarterback does and by how many steps he takes. If he takes a three-step drop, it’s quick. If it’s five steps, it’s a little deeper, and if it’s seven, then it’s a real route. Then you get your eyes back on (the receiver) and see what stem he’s giving you.

Q: Sometimes on a jam I’ll see a cornerback use his outside hand to jam a receiver who is taking an outside release. Can that get you in trouble?

A: You can do that. It depends on what position you have him in. If you still have leverage and say he’s (even), then I can get him outside. But if I’m right here (too far inside), and he can get my outside shoulder. … If he gets his hands on that shoulder, he’s gonna have me beat. It’s all about leverage. … Really it’s all about leverage, and a lot of times you want to show him something. You want to show the quarterback something. So I might show you I’m outside and you think I got this inside route where as soon as you throw it I’m diving at that.

[MTK]

Good read. Wilson was pretty solid last year as the season went on.