[ramsman34]

I was hoping to see a good amount of cover_zero and blitz the house

I guarantee those calls are in the playbook. And they will use them when the risk v reward is palatable.

[/zn/]

I guarantee those calls are in the playbook. And they will use them when the risk v reward is palatable.

Honestly, I am expecting a team that wants to subtract big plays, plays with a shell, uses a lot of disguised coverages, while attacking aggressively up front. By "attacking...up front" I don't just mean turning front 7 guys loose, but also varying the DL/edge packages to take advantage of match ups.

It doesn't look like a team that uses zero coverage or firesale blitzing. That's if Shula is continuing (for the most part) what Morris did.

[/zn/]

Honestly, I am expecting a team that wants to subtract big plays, plays with a shell, uses a lot of disguised coverages, while attacking aggressively up front. By "attacking...up front" I don't just mean turning front 7 guys loose, but also varying the DL/edge packages to take advantage of match ups.

It doesn't look like a team that uses zero coverage or firesale blitzing. That's if Shula is continuing (for the most part) what Morris did.

Just some more on this kind of thing fwiw. Just some extracts from reading around about the Fangio defense Shula inherits from Staley/Morris. This is not a deep dive, it's more like notes in progress.

from https://theeagleswire.usatoday.com/list ... nebackers/

Cornerback Chris Harris, Jr, who played for Fangio in Denver in 2019, said this about his defensive philosophy: “It’s versatile. He has a wide variety of defenses. … You have to be smart to know how to play your spot, your zone, and your position. I think that’s why I’ve always liked it. It has so much. He has a lot of different looks he can bring.”....Fangio employs two high structures, a base 3-4 defensive front, light boxes, and modern defense….The “Fangio Defense” will always employ a two-high shells look before the snap. The two-high structure allows for flexibility in the secondary. The Fangio Defense uses the appearance of simplicity while encompassing a plethora of coverages, pressures, and assignments....
The safeties are the most critical piece on Vic Fangio’s chessboard…. defensive backs are asked to fill running lanes from a position of depth while being athletic enough to eliminate crossing routes.

from https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-news ... cos-bears/
his teams are known to be light on blitzing and with a structure based around two high safeties. These looks are predicated on stopping deep, explosive gains and living with shorter, underneath completions.

from https://www.readoptional.com/p/the-book-of-fangio
Though the Fangio Defense uses different matching rules and variations within coverage that combine man and zone coverages, a basic understanding of field zones is important as we start to dig into pass coverage. The general zone assignment can turn into a man assignment based on the formation or if certain players cross certain zones. Further, certain offensive looks can give a defender freedom to support another player’s responsibility.

from https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/331102 ... -analysis/
What makes Fangio’s defense the best response to modern offenses? Its two-high (two deep safeties) structure limits explosive plays and forces offenses to stay patient and throw short. The front mechanics allow the defense to slow down the run with light boxes and commit more resources to coverage. Pre-snap, the defense is committed to showing the same Cover 4 shell for as long as possible so quarterbacks have to make reads after the snap. Even after the snap, it’s hard to draw a bead on what the coverage is because of how the defensive backs disperse from the top down. … From its two-high alignment, the defense can rotate into a variety of zone and man coverages.
One of the key features of Fangio’s defense is how everything looks similar before the snap. Both safeties align deep, and usually one or both corners play off the line of scrimmage, so it looks like Cover 4 across the board or Cover 6, making it difficult for quarterbacks to identify the coverage. Figuring out the coverage before the snap informs quarterbacks where they should look first and how to progress from read to read. Making the coverage look the same puts more pressure on quarterbacks to compute more information after the snap.

[actionjack]

I beg to differ. When healthy White is one of the best man coverage CBs in the NFL. Williams also plays best in a man coverage scheme. Durant is also best in a man coverage scheme. This is why I think Shula will probably play zone match or man coverages quite a bit. It doesn't preclude the safeties from playing a shell. Also, I find it interesting they re-signed Johnson who played safety for Phillips and Staley.

The other thing people overlook is that coming out of college White was one of the best SCBs in his draft. So if Durant emerges in TC they could move White to SCB and Lake back to safety. The way the Rams gave Morris the "bum rush" out the door all but pleading with teams to hire him as a HC would tend to make me think they want a defensive change not more of the same. Why stay with schemes that had the defense playing in the bottom half of the NFL? Playing man and zone match coverages they were ranked consistently in the top half of the NFL.

Yeah it's great they will get a 3rd round pick for Morris, but if they really wanted him to stay they wouldn't have gone out of their way to get him hired away. IMO had no one hired Morris he would have been "promoted to Consultant".

Granted I'm just reading tea leaves but IMO they say a schematic defensive change is coming.

Well will see how it plays out. I do think the Rams defense will play to its players strength.

White first and foremost has to show he is injury free and/or not washed. It was low risk high reward move by the Rams. Durant also is a gamble, hasnt shown much to this point. He will be fighting for his job.

[/zn/]

The way the Rams gave Morris the "bum rush" out the door all but pleading with teams to hire him as a HC would tend to make me think they want a defensive change not more of the same. Why stay with schemes that had the defense playing in the bottom half of the NFL? Playing man and zone match coverages they were ranked consistently in the top half of the NFL.

I don't agree about them rushing to get rid of Morris. No more with him than with any of the other head coaches they have furnished to the league. The one difference being that Morris brought them comp picks. In terms of the defensive scheme, Shula looks to be mandated to carry over the Staley/Morris scheme because that's a McVay decision and desire. He could build variations into it but still. In terms of the secondary, they are well equipped with the veterans they added to run the kind of match zones and disguised coverages they want, still within the Fangio scheme with the safeties playing a 2 high shell.

They were playing a 20th ranked defense in 2023 because they went young. They had youth, Jones, and Donald. The guys they traded or let walk from 2022 include Robinson, Gaines, Wagner, Floyd, Ramsey, and Scott. 6 starters.

A team that was used to losing coaches knew they would lose Morris sooner or later, and for very obvious reasons (including selfish ones with the comp picks) they stood behind his efforts to find a HC job.

[rams74]

A team that was used to losing coaches knew they would lose Morris and for very obvious reasons (including selfish ones with the comp picks) they stood behind his efforts to find a HC job.

Well, maybe it's splitting hairs, but I don't think they KNEW they would lose Morris when they did. They knew it was a possibility, certainly. But it was far from a sure thing.

If not for the Falcons' getting cold feet with Belichick, Morris would still be here.

Other than that, I'm with you. It sure seems like Sean was perfectly happy with Raheem as DC.

[phoenixrising]

The way I read it, hiring Shula as DC is an indication that McVay has a much bigger say in the defense. I think he has his own ideas, can’t wait to see. As for stopping the run, I think they are looking at big-hitting safeties like Curl and Kinchens to fill the gaps. I have my fingers crossed with White, but I just don’t see how you can count on him to be ready and stay healthy.

[actionjack]

The way I read it, hiring Shula as DC is an indication that McVay has a much bigger say in the defense. I think he has his own ideas, can’t wait to see. As for stopping the run, I think they are looking at big-hitting safeties like Curl and Kinchens to fill the gaps. I have my fingers crossed with White, but I just don’t see how you can count on him to be ready and stay healthy.

Massive year for Brown and to a lesser extent Jones. They are both in contract years and will man the middle of the defense.

[/zn/]

The way I read it, hiring Shula as DC is an indication that McVay has a much bigger say in the defense. I think he has his own ideas, can’t wait to see.

He always had the biggest say. Nothing has changed when it comes to that. He hired Staley to bring in the Fangio defense. He was so adamant to do that he fired a still viable Phillips in a deliberate effort to establish the Rams in a Fangio system. When he hired Morris, he directly required him to keep the Fangio system. Shula worked in that system for 4 years, under both Staley and Morris.

McVay dictates what the defensive scheme is. In 2017 he did that indirectly by hiring Phillips, which in that case--hiring a long time veteran coordinator--you're saying I choose you and your system. In 2020, though Phillips was still viable (13th in yards in 2019), McVay wanted the Fangio system so fired Phillips and hired a young guy to bring that system in. Then as I said he required Morris to keep that system when he was hired in 2021 (there was nothing secret about that, it was a widely reported thing when Morris was hired).

Shula spent the last 4 years in that system and while he will likely tweak it, it will still be a Fangio style defense. Which is what McVay wants.

I don't think that McVay would strip down the defense to re-tool with young guys in 2023 and then change the system on them in 2024. That would make very little sense.

The defense would be less stable in 2024 if rookies had to learn a new defensive system (cause rookies of course do) while at the same time the entire cast of veteran defenders was doing the same. Better if all the in-house defensive vets, including 2nd year guys like Turner, already knew the system, allowing the rookies to learn from the vets.

All the indications point to Shula keeping the Morris tweaked Fangio defense and probably adding tweaks of his own...but there will not be a massive overhaul or system change.

....

[ramsman34]

Honestly, I am expecting a team that wants to subtract big plays, plays with a shell, uses a lot of disguised coverages, while attacking aggressively up front. By "attacking...up front" I don't just mean turning front 7 guys loose, but also varying the DL/edge packages to take advantage of match ups.

It doesn't look like a team that uses zero coverage or firesale blitzing. That's if Shula is continuing (for the most part) what Morris did.

I do t know of a single defense that doesn't have zero blitz calls. They may rarely or even never use them. But, they are in the playbook. Zero coverage is used in pretty specific situations. And it’s an excellent call if you “never” call it and it’s disguised really well. 3rd/4th and long on a short field with a non-mobile QB or young QB who can’t process fast enough to find the weak link matchup. You have to have excellent, physical and smart man coverage players. The Rams have a couple of those players but, if they call a fire/zero blitz it will probably only happen once or twice all year. It is also predicated on the offensive formation and who the eligibles are. So, I agree that we likely won’t see that type of call more than 1-2x if at all. And if the front 5 can get good pressure consistently, we won’t see much blitzing of any kind. Simply won’t need it and it’s smarter to play coverage with good zone coverage players and let your designated rushers get home.