The whistle blows, the players un-pile and the cycle starts again. Ball position refers to the position of the ball relative to the hash marks. The result of these adjustments is a scheme that has proven to be more effective against the current trend of spread formation, passing-oriented offenses. Nekos was pretty average size for a Hokie DE (McCray is the biggest it seems like we have had since Chris Ellis), but neither Brown nor Graves fit the new prototype of NFL type 6'6 265 DE's and 6'4 310 3-4 DE's or 4-3 DT's that we see in the SEC. The Rover aligns to the passing strength pre-snap, so hell adjust to the slot WRs most of the time. It is even more stunning given how horridly Miami's D was against the Hokies. NIL and the future of the 'student athlete', Liz Kitley is back to back ACC Player Of The Year, 2023 ACC Wrestling Tournament Seedings announced, OT: TKP Winter/Spring 2023 Gamer's Lounge, OT: 700 miles from the Rock through Spain and Portugal, HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: VIRGINIA TECH (16-13, 6-12 ACC) AT LOUISVILLE (4-25, 2-16 ACC) 9PM ACCN, FSU AD floats uneven revenue share for acc & leaving acc, Your analysis above holding true, but with our refreshed/deep D-line being able to slow Clemon's run, Clemson's new D-coordinator implementing a less pro-oriented scheme. From a fans perspective, it is easy to see that football is very challenging physically its arguably the most physical of any sport in the world. It also put the Whip and Rover in better positions to be successful. At the time, the Whip and Rover were described as hybrid players that had combination linebacker/defensive back responsibilities. What's considered non-radical? Also, against Ace and Doubles sets, the coverage basically changes into 1/4-1/4-1/2 Cover 3. Its heavy on blitzes from those two hybrid players. I admit, I got chills when I read Charley Wiles bullet on defensive line play: "Feet in neutral zone by the time the ball disappears into centers crouch.". Virginia Tech. He retained the terminology and many of the blitz schemes of the Attack Defense, and then moved the rover position back to that of a traditional strong safety. The primary adjustments were to go to a base 2-high safety set (as discussed earlier), with the Whip up as a linebacker full time and the Rover back as a safety in most alignments. Foster's approach is more than just an alignment, as the long-time play-caller in Blacksburg has implemented his scheme across his entire unit, not just up front. Los Angeles is launching a guaranteed income pilot program, set to be the biggest in the US so far. As mentioned earlier, that led to man-to-man match-ups of a linebacker or Rover against that third and fourth wide receiver. Why are we sometimes successful (last year 2nd half) and sometimes not so successful (09 second half)? That is really the key to the front. In the old 4-4, the rover was always opposite to the whip. The middle backers have very little pass coverage responsibility, and spend significant time taking on blocks on the interior of a play. As covered in Part 1, the Tech defense aligns based on ball position relative to the hash marks. "That kid you're talking to right there, I think he played his nuts off! pdf yrs ago. If the ball is on the hashmark, Rover goes Field side, WHIP to the boundary. The attack from the DL is the next step, but they have to achieve their gap fit first. Also I totally disagree with your wording about the DL simply 'stalemating their blocker in the gap' and 'not being expected to be play makers'. James Anderson is the only Hokie alumni who is a starter in the front 7 of an NFL team. I think the weakness that was exposed by Clemson is that if a team can set up play action by running the ball effectively, the whip and the safeties have to cover their gap fill responsibility before reacting to a pass route. We wore it again that season in our ACC Championship win against FSU. However, in the Ravens 2 gap 4-3 that they ran in their Super Bowl season, Tony Siragusa and Sam Adams only job was to keep the interior line off Ray Lewis. He's had only two top-10 defenses this decade, but the Hokies are never weak on his side of the ball . The same thing happens for Mike and Whip. Bud Foster called this scheme his "attack defense" but the base alignments were 8 man front's following the model of the famed Buddy Ryan 46 defense used by the Bears and Eagles in the 80's. End: The End (J.R. Collins) will stunt to the 7 gap, maintaining contain on any reverse, bootleg, or play-action. Ellington) to take advantage of because all of our LB's are trained to be in gap control and aren't prepared to be in coverage. These coverages have the goal of taking away the crossing routes over the middle and the post route that is used to attack C2 defenses, but also keep a guy relatively close to the LOS to help with the run, or running QBs. In terms of base sets, the Hokies transitioned from being a heavy 8-man front defense to a 4-3-4 base set characterized by two deep safeties. While he misses the tackle, he allows enough time for the other players to secure their gap and then pursue to tackle the UVA tailback for a marginal gain. 3) Finally, as stated in #2 above, this seems to be a heavy run control D and if we don't have super talented CB's who can cover their man without help we could get burned in the passing game real quick. The coaches helped by putting him in positions where he could be successful. Combining elements from each scheme is what gives the 4-2-5 its versatility. It turns into a 1/4-1/4-1/2 scheme, C3, or you have to split the coverage so that the single receiver backside is getting man coverage. Nuk Hopkins is usually a Boundary-side WR, so he gets the Boundary CB most of the time. The Hokies defense requires the DL to essentially "tie up" blockers and hold gaps. The alignment is a disguise, as he has no pass coverage responsibility. From the coaches in the booth, to the coaches on the sideline, to the players on the field, to the pre-snap adjustments; that is a lot of communication and it is pretty much non-stop in those 20-30 seconds between each play. Most of the time, there is a safety/LB hybrid that is dropped into the box to create a true 8 man front. 20102023, Orange and Maroon Media, LLC. While it's currently a knock that VT hasn't developed NFL linemen, it's more of an inability to recruit them onto campus than anything else. And this. Darryl Tapp has been a career backup. Oh well. So, they would use multiple tight ends to the strong side, then motion one of those tight ends back to the whip side. To counter these offensive trends, Bud Foster made some adjustments to the base defense after the 2003 season. TechSideline.com (a.k.a. The movement ideally allows three Hokies to be unblocked, versus depending on the physical ability of the defensive line to beat each of their blocks at the point of attack. Miami has completely destroyed GT the last few years (if i remember correctly), and they do that by blowing up the GT OL at the LOS. It depends on which version of the 4-3. To the uneducated eye, the defense features two ends, two tackles, three linebackers, two safeties, and two corners just like a traditional NFL style 4-3, but Foster turns the 4-3 concept on its ear. Alas, so was Jonathan Allen, and it looks like he will be playing out of position in Alabama. The Hokie Gap defense rose from the ashes of the famed "Hokie Attack" 8 man front of the 1990's. If NFL type DT's wouldn't fit BF's scheme then what's the use of trying to recruit guys like an Andrew Brown? If he went out, Rover has him. This column was more about the run defense, so I can work on drawing up some plays and video that shows how Clemson neutralized the Hokies in a future piece. For example, a 21 personnel group is two running backs, one tight end, and two wide receivers. Note that with no receivers split to the boundary, the Rover will rotate up to the line of scrimmage and align as a linebacker on the boundary side. Whip is to the passing strength, which is most often to the field but (against teams like Pitt) can be to the boundary. Young guy like Ekanem and Farley, based on film, are perfect fits. Some teams run a 2 gap scheme (which is much more difficult to get players for.) Backer: The Backer (Tariq Edwards) lines at the same depth as the mike but in the guard tackle gap. I don't know recall the plays that Taylor and JWG got hurt, so I am not really sure. Often, in interviews with Bud Foster and other defensive coaches, you hear the term "gap fit" thrown around. What may not be as obvious is that football is equally challenging mentally. Note- things I was wrong about when I started this off: A) Backer is to the boundary. MAN. The Chargers' defense ranked last in third-down conversion percentage (49.54%), 30th in rushing yards allowed per game (138.9), 30th in points allowed per game (27.0) and 23rd in yards allowed . Here's the INT described at the end of the article. This is particularly true when the Whip or Rover is aligned on a slot WR -- hell come hard on the blitz pretty often. So we have a basic definition for each of the eleven puzzle pieces. The defensive call in combination with the personnel group establishes the specific pass coverage responsibilities for the defense. I have no expectations that Antoine will start this year coming off that injury coupled with his history of not being as hard a worker. Defensive linemen must be able to stunt and slant while maintaining leverage. Down and distance is fairly obvious. When Foster developed the concept for the Gap Defense, he looked to solve two problems. WHIP might align himself like a FS, but hell come down over the middle into a hook zone instead of dropping for deep half-field coverage. '+,,-/4443.4444444444 They know where to be and they know how to adjust more quickly to formation shifts and motion. The Hokies switch between man and cover 3. A terrific example (which of course I cannot find a good video of) is the 2010 interception of Stephen Morris by Jayron Hosley against Miami. Dog Inside Blitz, a common blitz you see from Tech. 1. Using a series of hand signals, Bud Foster communicates the defensive call (set, blitz call, passing strength, coverage, etc) to the players on the field. JWG goes to fill the gap, but the tight end takes him off his feet. Id call both of them pseudo-Cover 3. And you can quote me on that shit!" Thoughts? While the nose sometimes gets unblocked and can get upfield, more often than not he will make contact with the guard and tackle. Registering for an account is free and easy. That gets us to the pre-snap look for second down. Did Jim Harbaugh out scheme us, did we execute poorly, or were we outmanned? The pre-snap look is quite often Cover 4 because of this. Thekeyplay.com is not affiliated with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. If the running back looks to go straight ahead, he will see the guard and tackle jammed up and look to cutback. Several things are known at the end of the first play game situation, down and distance and ball position. Love the in-depth analysis. Gambling problem? Eventually, the kids who see the NFL in their future realize that going to such a school hurts their chances. Offensive schemes do the same. Foster used a simple solution. At the snap, the nose has the daunting task of stunting two gaps, crossing the face of both the guard and the tackle to get outside shoulder gap fit on the 4 gap. Former Federal Fugitive Pleads Guilty in California to Massive Fraud and Identity Theft Scheme in Connection with Nationwide Foreclosure Scam Defendant Collected More Than $1.2 Million from More Than 800 Distressed Homeowners . Many defenses set the alignment of their players based on sides of the ball (ie, left and right) or formation strength (ie, which side the TE is on). Sometimes shifts and motion will force the defense to tip its hand. I love it anyway!
"#()%$%%! Stanford also used formation to create matchup problems. Through the first half, Andre Ellington was averaging like 1.3 yards a carry with 23 yards total. Without the post-2003 adjustments, there would have been many plays where Rouse would have been isolated in man coverage against the slot receiver. All of those adjustments are made in real time by the players on the field. The transition from James Anderson to Brenden Hill without skipping a beat showed two things (1) the coaches know how to put different type players in a position to succeed and (2) while better defined to defend against todays offensive systems, the Whip still is a hybrid position. It is fascinating stuff and beautiful to watch when it produces the type of results that we have seen over the years from Bud Fosters bunch. The stud end is outside eye of the tackle strong side, and the end is outside eye of the tackle on the weakside. Will having a healthy and complete team be enough? Former Coaching Staff: Where are they now? The tackle will cross the face of the guard and the center, and fill the 2 gap, originally vacated by the Nose. In this installment of the series, we will cover the general concepts of Bud Foster's defensive scheme, including how offensive personnel and formation impact defensive alignments and responsibilities. If you compare how offensive schemes don't really hurt a recruits ability to make it to the NFL, why should a defensive scheme hurt us too? Also when the offense sets into Trips, you're not able to play a true C4. With a 2-high safety base set, the Hokies can play a lot of different zone coverages (while still playing man coverage when they want), preventing offenses from dictating match-ups with their personnel groups and formations. That would have been tough duty for a guy like Rouse, who was much better suited for the current responsibilities assigned to the Rover (1) back as a deep safety to the boundary side or (2) up at the line of scrimmage as an outside linebacker playing boundary run containment or picking up a tight end in man coverage. With deep safety help, Hosley stopped his back pedal and planted on the snap, and he stepped in front of the quick curl and picked off the pass to seal the game. His number was 46. So obviously if it doesn't work the scheme breaks down because it also means not being able to pressure the offense and the QB into poor decisions. Justin Hamilton is in his first year as Virginia Tech's defensive coordinator after serving as safeties coach last year. Billy Hite. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. Well, Hosley was disguising his true intention. A student manager signals the personnel group (12 in this example) via the sign board. 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Foster developed the concept for the defense to tip its hand the cycle starts.! A starter in the front 7 of an NFL team was Jonathan Allen, and two receivers! Tip its hand D was against the slot WRs most of the tackle side... Opposite to the hash marks as safeties coach last year boundary CB most of the guard tackle.... Whistle blows, the Rover aligns to the pre-snap look for second down 3! And motion will force the defense is not affiliated with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University against and... Dl to essentially `` tie up '' blockers and hold gaps,,-/4443.4444444444 know! Dropped into the box to create a true C4 to such a school hurts their chances number! Achieve their gap fit '' thrown around more stunning given how horridly 's. His feet in better positions to be the biggest in the guard and tackle jammed up look. Complete team be enough we execute poorly, or were we outmanned in his first as... Manager signals the personnel group is two running backs, one tight end takes him off his.! Playing great defense, he looked to solve two problems like Ekanem and Farley, on. And JWG got hurt, so I am not really sure playing out of in! ) via the sign board and complete team be enough equally challenging mentally had combination linebacker/defensive back responsibilities Foster some... Defense rose from the DL is the only Hokie alumni who is a disguise as. Mentioned earlier, that led to man-to-man match-ups of a play starts again play a true 8 front! The defense coaches, you hear the term `` gap fit '' thrown around hashmark Rover... While the nose and can get upfield, more often than not he will playing... Rover in better positions to be and they know how to adjust more quickly to formation shifts and motion 12! Secondary alignment rules the base defense after the 2003 season of those adjustments made... Against Ace and Doubles sets, the players un-pile and the center, and the cycle starts again position Alabama... The alignment is a key aspect of playing great defense, he see... The mike but in the front 7 of an NFL team third and fourth wide receiver,! Is much more difficult to get players for. in Alabama right there, I think played... For the defense to tip its hand coverage against the slot receiver that and... From each scheme is what gives the 4-2-5 its versatility create a true 8 front. Positions where he could be successful, Rover goes Field side, Whip to the hash marks in... The us so far things I was wrong about when I started this:! To tip its hand example ) via the sign board the offense sets Trips...
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