DeMeco Ryans, Texans HC

Originally posted by lamontb:

Originally posted by libertyforever:
DeMeco Ryans: Everything we do is about taking the ball away

Base on this, Jimmy Ward would be benched. Maybe Ha Ha Clinton-Dix starts at FS.

I'm not the biggest Ward fan but come on bro.

Or he will be allowed to roam and be a robber. The Saleh D rarely took any chances IMO. I can't wait to see what Ryan's dials up. Expect opposing QB's to be very uncomfortable.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:
Is it just me, or are the Demeco interviews boring as heck? I mean, in a way it's good because no one gets any material. But, also bad, because.. no material lol.

His answers are pretty vanilla. Saleh would occasionally give some insight or say something noteworthy.

The less info the better, no point in helping opponents. When we see it we'll know what's what. Just an opinion.

Originally posted by libertyforever:
DeMeco Ryans: Everything we do is about taking the ball away

Base on this, Jimmy Ward would be benched. Maybe Ha Ha Clinton-Dix starts at FS.

Ward is not going to be benched in favor of Dix lmao

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:
Is it just me, or are the Demeco interviews boring as heck? I mean, in a way it's good because no one gets any material. But, also bad, because.. no material lol.

His answers are pretty vanilla. Saleh would occasionally give some insight or say something noteworthy.

The less info the better, no point in helping opponents. When we see it we'll know what's what. Just an opinion.

Ditto

DeMeco!!!

im so sorry boss. Was about to come on here and rip him for gaining 60 pounds during COVID when I realized that was our fat ST coach instead.

I think, other than being healthy, that Demeco will be one of the main reasons we roll back into the playoffs.

Nice article on the rise of two high safety coverages and the success it is finding. The NFL truly is cyclical. The early 2000s saw Tampa2 (two high safeties) and a bunch of disciples from that scheme spread around the league. Then in the 2010's it was the "Seattle Cover3" and the rise of single high safety schemes. With the rise of spread offenses, we see the return of two high safety coverages, but this time with more Quarters (compared to Cover2/Tampa2 in the early 2000s).

TLDR: The article discusses the rise of two high coverages but also the defensive fronts being used so that run defense isn't compromised from having 7 in the box (2 high safeties).
https://www.sharpfootballanalysis.com/analysis/two-high-shell-staley-fangio-nfl-defense-2021/#
As the wide-zone offense spreads throughout the league under multiple McVay and Kyle Shanahan assistant coaches, having a defense built to have assets to stop the pass and hold up structurally against the run is more than necessary.

The fronts used by Brandon Staley (LAC head coach) have the DL playing "a gap and a half", different than the typical one-gap or two-gap schemes. The 49ers will not be doing this as they seem committed to the hyper aggressive wide9 one-gap scheme. Staley had a lot of success in 2020 with his scheme and leveraged it into a HC gig after just one year as DC. If he brings the same kind of success to LAC, expect it to start spreading around the league. I love it when there are very different schemes around the league so we can kind of see what works better, provided the player talent is similar.

Ted Nguyen from The Athletic breaks down "gap and a half" defensive fronts in this article (need subscription). It's such a good article and I want to paste it all, but here's an excerpt:

https://theathletic.com/2761771/2021/08/24/playing-gap-and-a-half-in-vic-fangio-and-brandon-staleys-system/
Last season, led by then-defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, the Rams finished the season as the fourth-best team in defensive DVOA, Football Outsider's metric for efficiency. They did so by focusing their resources more on stopping the pass than the run, playing a ton of two-deep safety defenses with light boxes. Despite routinely not loading up the box with eight defenders, the Rams still finished third in defensive DVOA against the run. It certainly helped to have Aaron Donald and a cast of stout defensive linemen, but the Rams didn't have any star players on the second level or a traditional box safety.

A lot of the Rams' success against the run was a result of their execution of sound schemes and techniques. What Staley (now head coach of the Chargers) is doing isn't exactly new — a lot of it came from Broncos head coach Vic Fangio, and Fangio was influenced by many coaches before him. The way Fangio and Staley apply and adapt these principles to the modern game is what makes their defenses effective. One of the ways their defenses can effectively defend the run with light boxes is having their defensive lines play a gap and a half, rather than just single-gap.

"What we really believe in the run game is we don't want runs that hit us directly," Staley said on the Pro Football Focus college football podcast. "Because if they hit you directly then that means that your second- and third-level players are going to have to be there quickly and so what you really want is these runs to slow down so you buy more time for the calvary to get there. So up front, we ask our guys to be really aggressive on blocks, really physical on blocks. We try to play a gap and a half. We're still coming off the rock. We're definitely not a two-gap system at all. That would imply that we are reading and reacting."

A lot of teams, especially with the prevalence of the Seattle Cover 3 system, will have their players fly upfield and play one gap. This aggressive style is easier for players to learn and could lead to tackles in the backfield, but you have to have every gap accounted for, which is why you would need to put an eighth man in the box against certain formations. True two-gapping is out of vogue and could be an extremely difficult technique to properly execute.

Playing a gap and a half is like a happy medium between single-gapping and two-gapping. Defensive linemen can still be aggressive and play a primary gap, but they have to be under control so they can "fall back" to defend a secondary gap after their primary gap is no longer threatened.

I remember learning about this 1.5 gap stuff years back while researching Vic Fangio's defense. I tried explaining to people that Vic didn't play a true 2-gap, but people are dumb.

Originally posted by Heroism:
I remember learning about this 1.5 gap stuff years back while researching Vic Fangio's defense. I tried explaining to people that Vic didn't play a true 2-gap, but people are dumb.

Love that Fangio has a unique concept he can put his name on.
Imagine having the balls to not play Aaron Donald as a one-gapper and to play Jalen Ramsey primarily in zone coverage. Glad Staley went to the AFC. Hope he schools KC.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by Heroism:
I remember learning about this 1.5 gap stuff years back while researching Vic Fangio's defense. I tried explaining to people that Vic didn't play a true 2-gap, but people are dumb.

Love that Fangio has a unique concept he can put his name on.
Imagine having the balls to not play Aaron Donald as a one-gapper and to play Jalen Ramsey primarily in zone coverage. Glad Staley went to the AFC. Hope he schools KC.

One head scratcher for me is the rams lose there d coordinator and hire Raheem Morris who ran the vaunted falcons d in 2020. Not a peep from the media pundits about them taking a step back. Niners promotes from within. Knows the players coaches scheme etc. and they are supposed to take a step back? Morris has only one unimpressive year as a d coordinator and we are told that they are going to be as good as last year? I am not buying it especially since they lost Brockers he did all the dirty work to free up Donald.

He might only be here for another year or 2 before he gets HC looks. Enjoy fellas.

Originally posted by FL9er:
He might only be here for another year or 2 before he gets HC looks. Enjoy fellas.

That'd be a good problem to have. Knowing Kyle, he'll plan ahead and get someone on board that can be a possible internal replacement. James Bettcher and Cory Undlin both have DC experience with Bettcher having more success. Or get an up and comer in house and start learning (similar to DeMeco's path) .

1. Originally posted by Izyniner:
   

   Originally posted by thl408:
   

   Originally posted by Heroism:
   I remember learning about this 1.5 gap stuff years back while researching Vic Fangio's defense. I tried explaining to people that Vic didn't play a true 2-gap, but people are dumb.

   
   Love that Fangio has a unique concept he can put his name on.
   Imagine having the balls to not play Aaron Donald as a one-gapper and to play Jalen Ramsey primarily in zone coverage. Glad Staley went to the AFC. Hope he schools KC.

   
   One head scratcher for me is the rams lose there d coordinator and hire Raheem Morris who ran the vaunted falcons d in 2020. Not a peep from the media pundits about them taking a step back. Niners promotes from within. Knows the players coaches scheme etc. and they are supposed to take a step back? Morris has only one unimpressive year as a d coordinator and we are told that they are going to be as good as last year? I am not buying it especially since they lost Brockers he did all the dirty work to free up Donald.

I don't think either defense takes a step back. Raheem is a solid coach. DR will be fine

Excited to watch Demeco run this defense. Having James Betcher as his assistant/consultant is big IMO. Having a veteran DC like that by your side will help him early on especially. I really feel with DeMeco's background and great personality, he will be a HC within 3 years.