Comments by "Harry Mills" (@harrymills2770) on "Theo Von Clips"
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I part ways with Kittle on versatility. There are positions, like TE, where versatility is more winning than being great at receiving without being able to block in-line. Denver under Shanahan, went for RBs who were above average at everything, if not great at anything. Shanny wanted 7s across the board, rather than a guy who was a great runner who couldn't catch or block worth a darn.
Specialists at WR are more valuable, although WR blocking is also pretty important. But winning 1-on-1 outside is harder to do and requires a special kind of athlete.
KC goes for versatile DEs, who aren't the pass-rushing aces, necessarily, but they can play inside or out, and stop the run as well as rush the passer. They just don't have anyone named "Bosa."
In the modern league, there are so many elusive QBs, that you have to be able to inject LBs and Ss into your pressures, and mix up the zone blitzes. That blue chip EDGE can be schemed around, especially if your investment in him takes away from what you can do at other positions.
Picking late in the draft every year, KC is shut out from the top blue-chip players at every position, especially OT and DE. It was a stretch for them to trade up for Mahomes, but since they did, they don't have to worry about QB for a long time. KC wants more contain and run defense from their DEs than a lot of other teams, which allows them to shift the back 7 guys around a lot more. They also like to have DLs who can drop in short zone on the change-up.
They scheme different guys to come free or have an advantage with the angle, rather than just the DEs pinning their ears back. To get pressure they send or threaten to send 5 guys on every snap. Even when they DO blitz, they might only send 4. They just keep teams guessing which 4. One of the keys to Lebeau's PIT defenses being great for so many years running was having guys on the d-line who could drop into short zone. In his 3-4, OLBs were both DE and LB, and if they could drop anybody from their front 5 in zone, that made them more multiple. He used to talk about that trait in d-linemen, how rare it was, and how much it helped make life difficult for an offensive coordinator.
One overlooked aspect of KC's D was how often they left contain on the shoulders of their EDGE players, even against Lamar Jackson. People focus attention on getting good 4-man pressure, which is understandable, but if you can contain Lamar with 4 guys, you can run coverages Lamar never sees. If you have a guy up front who can play short zone for even a brief time after the snap, you can inject a LB or DB into the blitz, with a far greater chance of tracking/running the QB down.
Just flashing a red jersey where the hot route or throwing lane is supposed to be can provoke QB hesitation or force the QB to put more air under the ball. A lot of QBs will instinctively throw the hot route to the area the blitzing DB vacated, because they're trained to do that. Khalen Saunders didn't have to take on anybody 1-on-1, but he could for sure drop 5 or 10 yards where, in theory, no one should be. James Harrison made a lot of interceptions because opponents were more worried about him as a rusher, and he'd catch puff passes because QBs were playing by the book and lofting it where the blitzing safety was blitzing from. He could engage the LT just enough to bring the safety free, and drop. It was killer.
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