Hawkscanner's Post-Draft Breakdown: DEFENSE

[Hawks46]

In looking at what they did, I'd say it looks more like the NY Giants SB years.

You can draft all you want, but it won't improve the secondary immediately. CBs and Safeties take a year or so to really kick in for the most part.

It looks like PC and JS went with all out pass rush and rotation. Guys will stay more rested, and we're adding to interior rush. Now you're going to have great pass rush from literally every position. You can only double one guy.

Looking at those Giants years....their secondary was average and unremarkable, but they ran a Tampa 2 and the secondary kept everything in front of them, thus allowing the DL to wreak havoc.

I see a similar philosophy going on here.

 

[two dog]

Thank you Hawkscanner, good stuff.

Like i imagine most fans did, I looked up the measurables and found film
on most of our new Seahawks. After doing so it became a much more confident
in the players selected and signed as free agents.

Some teams (TCU) run the 4-2-5 a LOT.

 

[Hawkscanner]

Great stuff .... :2thumbs: .... keep grinding on your Offense piece.

P.S. IIRC .... the coaching staff spent a lot of time with TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson a year or so ago. I think of that off season as the genesis of the current defensive evolution. I'm so excited about the 2017 defense.

Great catch JVille ... and though I can't find any article out there to back that up, I believe you're right. Regardless, I would say that a lot of Patterson's philosophies and the way that he likes to play defense ... really matches up quite well with a lot of Pete Carroll's ideas about defense.

Coach Gary Patterson himself wrote an article for AFCA Weekly in which he discussed his philosophies and defensive approach. The article is a fantastic read and I highly recommend it. See if a lot of this doesn't sound familiar ...

At the University of New Mexico, we had five goals to playing great defense:

1. Out-hit the opponent.
2. Stop the run. [HS Add: In his article, Patterson says this is priority #1]
3. Create takeaways.
4. Eliminate big plays.
5. Don’t flinch [HS Add: By that I believe he means, Play Fast, but Play Smart]

To accomplish these five goals, we use five basic principles within the 4-2-5 to give our players a chance to succeed:

Create offensive confusion at the line of scrimmage.
1. Play with great leverage [HS Add: Patterson goes on to explain they stress to all 11 players to keep the ball inside and in front of them. Do not get beat deep.]
2. Establish the eight-man front. [HS Add: 4 Defensive Linemen, the 2 LB, and the SS. Kam Chancellor is a huge key]
3. Establish a pressure package.
4. The five-spoke secondary.

http://www.afcaweekly.com/2015/01/multiplicity-but-simplicity-why-the-4-2-5-defense/

In his article, Gary Patterson talks about the benefits of his 4-2-5 system, among them were ...

1] It allows them to play FASTER (Hmmmm ... where have we heard THAT before?)
2] It allows them to establish an 8 Man Front on a consistent basis to stop the run
3] Because they use 5 secondary members on a regular basis, it allows them to better disguise their coverages. He says they believe in creating confusion at the line of scrimmage. [Again, sounds familiar]
4] They can employ creative [yet simple] blitzes in situations (and create pressure that way) without compromising coverage.
5] It allows them to be very flexible and able to adapt to what offenses are trying to do to them, yet remain simple at the same time (In Patterson's words, "Multiplicity Yet Simplicity")

Patterson goes on to add ...

We believed that you recruit corners who might be safeties and better athletic safeties who grow into linebackers. By following this philosophy we ended up with an overall faster, athletic defensive unit.

http://www.afcaweekly.com/2015/01/multiplicity-but-simplicity-why-the-4-2-5-defense/

IN order to really make the system really work, you need ...

1] To create a relentless pass rush from your front 4 [Hmmm ... Michael Bennett ... Cliff Avril ... Frank Clark ... Malik McDowell. His pick starts to make a lot more sense.]

2] Agressive, physical, athletic CB's [I'd say the Hawks have their share of those]

3] Big, fast, athletic linebackers [Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright -- again, CHECK.]

4] A Free Safety who is a true Center Fielder who ideally has speed, recognition skills, etc. who can take away the deep ball and the middle 1/3 of the field [Earl Thomas ... and it really drives him why Tedric Thompson was such a huge pick up]

All of this ALSO makes sense for why Pete Carroll was so excited about the signing of Bradley McDougald. In this system, McDougald becomes what we've heard to commonly referred as the "Big Nickel" in this package. So again, Kam Chancellor (because he is SO huge and basically like a Linebacker anyway) assumes that 3rd LB spot ... which allows McDougald to take on that role of the "Big Nickel" (what would otherwise be Strong Safety) here. The Big Nickel is seen as a guy who's a hybrid linebacker/safety/cornerback (so he's generally a bigger DB who's got some coverage skills, but is a physical guy who helps in run support).

And all of this also makes sense for why the Hawks chose so many the DB's ... and chose the ones they did in the Draft. [See initial post for breakdown]

The Seahawks aren't the only ones to go with this kind of approach (by the way). Bucky Brooks wrote an excellent article 3 years ago in which he talks a lot about the Big Nickel position and details a lot of teams that are starting to employ it (including the Giants, the Saints, the Chiefs, and others). He discusses teams that are not only starting to employ 4-2-5 looks ... but also other extremely interesting packages of other teams such as Kansas City's 2-4-5 package ... Arizona's 2-3-6 front ... and others. It's a good read ...

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...kage-emerging-as-nfls-hottest-defensive-trend

Just thought I'd share.

 

[Jville]

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Always appreciated. I have a couple of random add on thoughts in return .... along with a request ...........

As a piece of history, I found the timing of Bucky Brooks August 8, 2014 article interesting. IIRC, after the conclusion of the 2014 season, it was revealed that there were only 2 teams left that fielded their base defense as their most frequently deployed personnel group in 2014. They were the 34 defense of the 49ers and the 43 defense of the Seahawks. It is my understanding that from 2015 on some variation of 5 or more defensive backs has been more frequently deployed thru out the league.

The ease of teaching/learning Gary Patterson's defensive approach fits hand in glove with Carroll's overall team philosophy.

This 2017 tight end class has been advertised as the best in 15 years. It's the hybrid tight ends/receivers that are forcing linebackers off the field.

The more the Seahawks employ a big nickle in practice, the sharper and quicker the quarterback's decision making becomes and the better prepared and practiced the offense as a whole becomes at competing with this defensive trend.

With regards to the TCU visit, I think that information was mentioned in passing within the body of a couple of articles. Carroll and others go out and visit college coaches every year ..... I think sometime after the rookie class gathering / camp and before training camp. Some of those coaching visits can be telling.

If you hear of Seahawk coaches visiting college coaches for presentations of a college program during the off season, please feel free to PM me directly. I would appreciate such notifications. :2thumbs:

 

[Hawkscanner]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Always appreciated. I have a couple of random add on thoughts in return .... along with a request ...........

As a piece of history, I found the timing of Bucky Brooks August 8, 2014 article interesting. IIRC, after the conclusion of the 2014 season, it was revealed that there were only 2 teams left that fielded their base defense as their most frequently deployed personnel group in 2014. They were the 34 defense of the 49ers and the 43 defense of the Seahawks. It is my understanding that from 2015 on some variation of 5 or more defensive backs has been more frequently deployed thru out the league.

The ease of teaching/learning Gary Patterson's defensive approach fits hand in glove with Carroll's overall team philosophy.

This 2017 tight end class has been advertised as the best in 15 years. It's the hybrid tight ends/receivers that are forcing linebackers off the field.

The more the Seahawks employ a big nickle in practice, the sharper and quicker the quarterback's decision making becomes and the better prepared and practiced the offense as a whole becomes at competing with this defensive trend.

With regards to the TCU visit, I think that information was mentioned in passing within the body of a couple of articles. Carroll and others go out and visit college coaches every year ..... I think sometime after the rookie class gathering / camp and before training camp. Some of those coaching visits can be telling.

If you hear of Seahawk coaches visiting college coaches for presentations of a college program during the off season, please feel free to PM me directly. I would appreciate such notifications. :2thumbs:

That's a great point that you brought up about this year's TE class. And actually it's not just THIS year's TE Class ... I'd say that it's the number of quality receivers that have come into the league as a whole over the course of the past couple of years especially that's forcing many teams (not just the Seahawks) to reconsider their overall approach to defense. Bucky Brooks' article that I linked above certainly highlights that.

You are exactly right that Patterson's approach certainly fits VERY well with Pete Carroll's overall philosophies of defense. What is the one of the biggest mantras that we've heard since he's gotten here? It's SPEED. We love to play FAST ... we like guys FLYING around to the ball, playing like their "hair is on fire", etc. This 4-2-5 system and the employment of the Big Nickel certainly allows them to play that way. I think you're going to start to see systems like this ... and corners and safeties (especially bigger tweener guys with size and speed) start to become increasingly more and more prominent throughout the NFL, as teams look to find ways effectively respond to today's passing attacks.

If I do end up hearing of any Seahawks coaching visits, I'll certainly PM you and let you know.