Defensive Breakdown

[Vol8188]

This is clearly one of the best defensive performances we've had in a long time. The question I'm trying to answer with this thread is, how did we do it?

We aligned in four basic fronts that I'll break down.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

More speed and athleticism. It's that simple.

 

[UTodd01]

Yeah, pretty simple recipe.

Speed, speed, and more speed.

I watched every SEC game this weekend. We along with UGA were by far (and I mean by a large margin) the fastest team I watched this weekend.

UT...UGA...

Everyone else.

 

[dduncan4163]

More speed and athleticism. It's that simple.

No Doubt

 

[Vol8188]

More speed and athleticism. It's that simple.

Maybe we should just play 11 DBS...

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Something else that doesn't need to get overlooked is just how sound we were at tackling tonight. From a fundamental perspective, it's the most sound I've seen us be on defense in a long time.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Maybe we should just play 11 DBS...

We had more speed and athleticism up front as well.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Yeah, pretty simple recipe.

Speed, speed, and more speed.

I watched every SEC game this weekend. We along with UGA were by far (and I mean by a large margin) the fastest team I watched this weekend.

UT...UGA...

Everyone else.

Well to be fair we didn't get to see Florida. I'm willing to bet they'd be right up there as well.

 

[Vol8188]

This is the basic defense you expect when a team says they are a 4-3 defense. Anytime the offense was in 11 personnel (1 rb, 1 te) this is how we aligned.

We were fairly basic out of this. We aligned and played a lot of base out of this front, and looked really solid doing it.

 

[UTodd01]

Well to be fair we didn't get to see Florida. I'm willing to bet they'd be right up there as well.

I'm sure they probably are.

However, I can honestly say we are a faster team than Alabama this year for the first time in 7 or 8 years.

That makes me smile.

 

[Vol8188]

This is the other front we all knew we would see. Under uses four man front personnel, but with players on the line of scrimmage. The strong side lb (Maggit) walks up and plays a 9 technique outside of the TE.

The great thing about playing defense based off personnel groupings is that it always adds up. Meaning we play under against 12 personnel. But it would work against any personnel grouping that adds up to three. The third example would be a 3 rb set (30 personnel)that teams like WV run, and our under front would still be sound against this heavy run set.

The second image is simply another variation of 12 personnel and one that both our team and Utah State ran tonight. Auburn and most other spread teams run this, set as well.

 

[Vol8188]

This next front is the entire reason I made this thread. Everything else is what we expected Jancek to run. This was something a bit more unique. It was a new take on an old school defense. A flex 3 technique is something I've seen very few teams run and it hasn't really been big in football since the 80's, perhaps even 70's.

I'm sure this isn't unique to Jancek's defense, as coaches we also steal things from someone else. But Jancek used Weatherd as a flex 3 technique defensive tackle a lot. A flex player is simply a defensive tackle who aligns 1-2 yards off the line of scrimmage. So he's not as close as a Dlineman, but if he was back compared to a linebacker. This loose alignment allows him to flow to the ball better and work over the top of down blocks. It is primary a running tactic, but we used it in the pass rush and it served us well for a number of reasons.

 

[OH-Vol]

More speed and athleticism. It's that simple.

What players specifically popped out as speed / athleticism upgrades from LY?

Maggit, JRM, Weatherd, Barnett, Jordan Williams at DT?

DBs are largely unchanged at this point, although i suspect that to change as the year goes on.

 

[Vol8188]

Anytime you looked out there and asked yourself "is Weatherd playing defensive tackle?", what you're looking at is our flex defense. This was our defensive package anytime they offense ran 10 personnel.

It was a 3 man line with a nose guard and bot Leos in (Lewis and Vereen). Between the two Leos and Weatherd we generated one hell of a pass rush. The was our defensive front when Weatherd made his first tackle of the game, a 5 yard loss early in the first quarter on a run play.

This is also what I credit a lot of our success on 3rd down to. A lot of times to keep Keaton in the pocket Weatherd would play a spy at the line of scrimmage. He would contact the offensive lineman, but he's really only looking to occupy a blocker so he can free someone else up. He simply stands there and moves laterally with the QB. This helped prevent a lot of scrambles from Keaton.

 

[Vol8188]

This was another set we ran against 10 personnel. We didn't run this one as much, but it was 100% designed to keep the QB in the pocket when we did. This time we had Johnson and Maggit in the flex position. They would contact the two guards and then stand there at the line of scrimmage and play up and down the line laterally looking for the qb to keep. This is also a great defense against the screen because you have two LBs staying on the line and playing laterally. With Maggit and Johnson occupying the guards, we sent Reeves-Maybin on a delay blitz from the MLB position and got very good pressure on 1 3rd down.

 

[Vol8188]

We did a great job of scheming up our 3rd down pressure. I think using a flex guy like Weatherd is a great way of taking reps off of the dline, and a very creative way of using such an explosive athlete.

So this one package helps us with our depth on the defensive line. It gets allows niche players like Weatherd and Lewis who aren't starters to get on the field. And tonight, it was extremely effective. I can't wait to see this package against Oklahoma.

 

[jimallvol]

More speed and athleticism. It's that simple.

Yeap! U hit it right on the head.

 

[jjay2518]

This next front is the entire reason I made this thread. Everything else is what we expected Jancek to run. This was something a bit more unique. It was a new take on an old school defense. A flex 3 technique is something I've seen very few teams run and it hasn't really been big in football since the 80's, perhaps even 70's.

I'm sure this isn't unique to Jancek's defense, as coaches we also steal things from someone else. But Jancek used Weatherd as a flex 3 technique defensive tackle a lot. A flex player is simply a defensive tackle who aligns 1-2 yards off the line of scrimmage. So he's not as close as a Dlineman, but if he was back compared to a linebacker. This loose alignment allows him to flow to the ball better and work over the top of down blocks. It is primary a running tactic, but we used it in the pass rush and it served us well for a number of reasons.

Love that you put this together. I definitely noticed this lineup a few times and wondered what it was. Sounds like these flex alignments might be pretty effective against teams with mobile QBs. I wonder if this was something we'll see regularly or just situationally depending on the opponent.

 

[UTProf]

We did a great job of scheming up our 3rd down pressure. I think using a flex guy like Weatherd is a great way of taking reps off of the dline, and a very creative way of using such an explosive athlete.

So this one package helps us with our depth on the defensive line. It gets allows niche players like Weatherd and Lewis who aren't starters to get on the field. And tonight, it was extremely effective. I can't wait to see this package against Oklahoma.

Thanks for explaining this. I remember reading one practice report a while back and the reporter said they'd seen something in practice involving Maggitt/Weathered they'd been asked not to reveal just yet. I bet this was it.

 

[volinga33]

This next front is the entire reason I made this thread. Everything else is what we expected Jancek to run. This was something a bit more unique. It was a new take on an old school defense. A flex 3 technique is something I've seen very few teams run and it hasn't really been big in football since the 80's, perhaps even 70's.

I'm sure this isn't unique to Jancek's defense, as coaches we also steal things from someone else. But Jancek used Weatherd as a flex 3 technique defensive tackle a lot. A flex player is simply a defensive tackle who aligns 1-2 yards off the line of scrimmage. So he's not as close as a Dlineman, but if he was back compared to a linebacker. This loose alignment allows him to flow to the ball better and work over the top of down blocks. It is primary a running tactic, but we used it in the pass rush and it served us well for a number of reasons.

Shh! Don't give Richt and Saban the keys to our defensive strategy! You know they come here for advice right?

 

[Vol8188]

Thanks for explaining this. I remember reading one practice report a while back and the reporter said they'd seen something in practice involving Maggitt/Weathered they'd been asked not to reveal just yet. I bet this was it.

Very well may have been. Shotgun offenses of today are a throwback to the single wing. So it's interesting to see a defensive technique just as old being used to stop them.

 

[SteensVol]

Great posts Vol8188!
Are you a coach?

I saw some of these nuances you dissected and it makes sense now! When it was happening it just seemed strange seeing LB's kind of playing tackle.

I must still be missing something on this read option though 😮
Again thanks for the analysis - it will help us all to understand the games better!

 

[BeecherVol]

This is clearly one of the best defensive performances we've had in a long time. The question I'm trying to answer with this thread is, how did we do it?

We aligned in four basic fronts that I'll break down.

Better players.

 

[majorvol]

LBs and DE nuff said.