[actionjack]

Watch Omar Speights, UDFA. There is a serious drop off in talent after E Jones. Wonder if there are any FAs they could add??

yeah we are just not going to put capital, we have to pray that Jones stays healthy. I hope Omar is better then what we have...

[ramsman34]

Indeed, Action.

[Elvis]

This is probably the most variability for the defense going into a season i can remember, at least in a long time. You used to be able to say, "how bad can a defense with Aaron Donald be?" There was a floor. Not saying we're gonna be bad, if anything i'm leaning the other way based on how smart McVay and Snead are but man, fist time coordinator, no AD, lot of ways this can go...

[Elvis]

[Elvis]

Some interesting stuff from:



How Mike Macdonald has NFL offenses guessing and defenses following his lead

Ted Nguyen
May 13, 2024

A defensive philosophical shift is happening in the NFL, and new Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is at the heart of it.

The league transitioned a few years ago from the Seattle Cover 3 era into the Vic Fangio shell defense era, focused on stopping explosive plays. Like those from Pete Carroll’s coaching tree, most who branched out from Fangio’s tree mostly struggled to replicate his system. However, Fangio’s overarching philosophy of keeping a lid on top of offenses succeeded in permeating the league, and its emphasis on cutting down explosive plays is a reason scoring has trended downward in the past couple of seasons.

However, not every coach wanted to sit back and just play coverage. Former Ravens defensive coordinator Wink Martindale went against the grain and continued to blitz as much as possible. That style saw success in Baltimore, but head coach John Harbaugh eventually wanted a more balanced, flexible attack, so he replaced Martindale with his former protege Mike Macdonald in 2022. His impact was felt immediately, and last season, the Ravens ranked first in nearly every major statistical category including DVOA.

The Seahawks’ hired him to be their head coach this offseason, while his defensive line coach Zach Orr was promoted to Ravens defensive coordinator, and three other assistants got coordinator jobs elsewhere (Anthony Weaver, Dolphins; Dennard Wilson, Titans; Jesse Minter, Chargers). That means five teams this season will be running the Macdonald system — so what is that system?

The Sean McVay of defense
Macdonald isn’t doing anything particularly unique schematically. He learned many of his blitzes and pressures from Martindale, whom he coached under from 2018-2021, except Martindale mostly used single-high safety defenses, and Macdonald calls a lot of two-deep defenses.

There are some similarities to the Fangio system on early downs. The Ravens showed a lot of two-deep safeties before rotating into their coverages to disguise. Macdonald is aggressive, but he actually doesn’t bring more than four rushers much. The Ravens have ranked 22nd in blitz percentage (13.7 percent) since 2022. Macdonald pressures offenses with the illusion of multiplicity and simulated pressures (four-man rushes with one or more rushers coming from the second or third level with one or two defensive linemen dropping into coverage).

When he does blitz, offenses usually have no idea where the pressure is coming from because his defenses can present so many different looks from week to week. The Ravens were so multiple because of the unique way Macdonald teaches and structures his pressure packages.

“What the Ravens have done so well is they pressure in so many ways that you can’t get a bead on them,” former NFL center A.Q. Shipley told The Athletic. “The other thing that’s great about them is you might watch them one week against Pittsburgh and it looks completely different against Cleveland, so it’s tough, too, because you’ve got to make so many in-game adjustments.”

One of the reasons the Ravens could present so many different looks for offenses to deal with is how Macdonald teaches his pressure packages.

Many defenses teach their fronts (where the defensive line and linebackers line up) with their blitzes. This approach makes sense because defenders have to know where to line up, what their assignments are and how to get to their assignments.

...

[actionjack]

Some interesting stuff from:



How Mike Macdonald has NFL offenses guessing and defenses following his lead

Ted Nguyen
May 13, 2024

A defensive philosophical shift is happening in the NFL, and new Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is at the heart of it.

The league transitioned a few years ago from the Seattle Cover 3 era into the Vic Fangio shell defense era, focused on stopping explosive plays. Like those from Pete Carroll’s coaching tree, most who branched out from Fangio’s tree mostly struggled to replicate his system. However, Fangio’s overarching philosophy of keeping a lid on top of offenses succeeded in permeating the league, and its emphasis on cutting down explosive plays is a reason scoring has trended downward in the past couple of seasons.

However, not every coach wanted to sit back and just play coverage. Former Ravens defensive coordinator Wink Martindale went against the grain and continued to blitz as much as possible. That style saw success in Baltimore, but head coach John Harbaugh eventually wanted a more balanced, flexible attack, so he replaced Martindale with his former protege Mike Macdonald in 2022. His impact was felt immediately, and last season, the Ravens ranked first in nearly every major statistical category including DVOA.

The Seahawks’ hired him to be their head coach this offseason, while his defensive line coach Zach Orr was promoted to Ravens defensive coordinator, and three other assistants got coordinator jobs elsewhere (Anthony Weaver, Dolphins; Dennard Wilson, Titans; Jesse Minter, Chargers). That means five teams this season will be running the Macdonald system — so what is that system?

The Sean McVay of defense
Macdonald isn’t doing anything particularly unique schematically. He learned many of his blitzes and pressures from Martindale, whom he coached under from 2018-2021, except Martindale mostly used single-high safety defenses, and Macdonald calls a lot of two-deep defenses.

There are some similarities to the Fangio system on early downs. The Ravens showed a lot of two-deep safeties before rotating into their coverages to disguise. Macdonald is aggressive, but he actually doesn’t bring more than four rushers much. The Ravens have ranked 22nd in blitz percentage (13.7 percent) since 2022. Macdonald pressures offenses with the illusion of multiplicity and simulated pressures (four-man rushes with one or more rushers coming from the second or third level with one or two defensive linemen dropping into coverage).

When he does blitz, offenses usually have no idea where the pressure is coming from because his defenses can present so many different looks from week to week. The Ravens were so multiple because of the unique way Macdonald teaches and structures his pressure packages.

“What the Ravens have done so well is they pressure in so many ways that you can’t get a bead on them,” former NFL center A.Q. Shipley told The Athletic. “The other thing that’s great about them is you might watch them one week against Pittsburgh and it looks completely different against Cleveland, so it’s tough, too, because you’ve got to make so many in-game adjustments.”

One of the reasons the Ravens could present so many different looks for offenses to deal with is how Macdonald teaches his pressure packages.

Many defenses teach their fronts (where the defensive line and linebackers line up) with their blitzes. This approach makes sense because defenders have to know where to line up, what their assignments are and how to get to their assignments.

...

Well I heard MacDonald got the job due to his success against the whiners. The Rams put up 35 on them, on the road, so not too worried about us Rams. Cardinals are going to be a tougher out unfortunately.

Niners arent going to stray far from the Saleh/Ryans defense, that is why Wilks got fired.

[actionjack]

BTW cant wait to watch Verse and Fiske together. I think they are both going to be a very physical presence and an overall problem for o-lines...

[69RamFan]

Well I heard MacDonald got the job due to his success against the whiners. The Rams put up 35 on them, on the road, so not too worried about us Rams. Cardinals are going to be a tougher out unfortunately.

Niners arent going to stray far from the Saleh/Ryans defense, that is why Wilks got fired.

I was thinking the same as you, we put up 31 points against their defense.
Second, we improved our OL for this upcoming season, and added another RB.
So that being said, not worried about his defense.

[ramsman34]

I was thinking the same as you, we put up 31 points against their defense.
Second, we improved our OL for this upcoming season, and added another RB.
So that being said, not worried about his defense.

And this OL should be pretty savvy figuring out blitz and fake blitz looks.

[Lancer]

Watch Omar Speights, UDFA. There is a serious drop off in talent after E Jones. Wonder if there are any FAs they could add??

Did the Rams pick up Omar Speights as a UDFA? If so great value and a player I watched in college.