(02-27-2013 10:47 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote: (02-27-2013 10:33 AM)Hambone10 Wrote: He won't be the 5th TE taken. I'm betting he's third. He is more "unique" than some of those guys and better suited to the modern offensive game than some of them. He may have less film "doing what they want him to do" than the other guys, but none of them can do what he does.
Think about how often Casey got open deep... and I mean deep in college. You don't see him do that with the Texans because pro safeties can stay with him, but typical pro linebackers can't. McDonald is the kind of guy who can line up on the end against the big stopper MLB and beat him deep drawing the safety... or he can shift from the end to the slot against the smaller ones taking them out of the middle. Even if they go zone, he can help create HUGE holes for others to exploit, even if he isn't catching 8 a game.
Huge point.
When we spread them out, if our TE cannot be covered by a LB, then that LB cannot stay on the field. Whether you cover our TE with the guy you bring on to replace the LB, or cover him with a safety and shuffle elsewhere, either way you've taken a better run defender off the field and replaced him with a worse run defender, and we still have the same people to block with. So the defense simply runs out of numbers. Either they stay with their basic personnel package and we exploit the pass, or they change personnel and we exploit the run.
Enter ruowls to explain that we can still exploit the pass even if they change personnel. And he's right. But basically, once the TE is that kind of deep threat, you can pretty much exploit anything.
OC 101
The TE/FB/H-back are are functionally the same in the running game. The true crossover between the running game and passing game is the "H-back position". The H-back lets you move the TE along the LOS to block. Otherwise, you can only pull the TE like a lineman which limits his reach to the other side. Likewise, a FB in the backfield has the limitation of getting downfield in the passing game. Putting the FB near the LOS, the H-back position, he can block as well as get in position to get into the entire passing game.
On the defense, the LB and safeties are the strength adjusters. They are the ones who adjust to the run strength of the offensive formation. They are also used in pass defense so they are the crossover players adjusting to the offensive crossover player.
On defense, the strength adjuster has to be able to physically stuff the run. In pass defense, all he has to do is shut down a passing lane. This is why size isn't necessarily a mismatch. It isn't size that gets you open. Size is very important in the running game. It lets you overpower the opponent to either stuff the run or be pancaked and run over.
It is important for the FB/TE/H-back to understand this fundamental difference between the run game and the passing game. Coverages affect passing lanes in certain ways. A good receiver needs to understand the inherent weakness to specific passing lanes that coverages have. The basic starting point is that a base defense will rush 4 and cover with 7. Not to deviate too much but some of the 7 have gap responsibilities in run support which gives them the duel roles. Anyway, using Cover 2 as the example like Hambone, 2 will be deep and 5 will be underneath. This was ok in the olden days with 2 backs in the backfield and the TE being detained at the LOS because an offense could only get 2 receivers vertical quickly. With the spread, you can get 4 vertical quickly so the defense adjusted, the Tampa 2 as an example allowed for more defenders to go vertical. Or as another example, the defense developed quarters, 4 deep. The problem with quarters for the defense is that it is basically Cover 2 but redistributing 2 underneath defenders to deep. So, you have 4 deep and 3 underneath. Since underneath coverage actually covers the passing lanes, the quarter deep defenders have a tendency to try to "jump" routes to compensate for losing the underneath coverage. And if you try to jump a route, the defender gets caught flat footed at the intermediate break point and you run right by them, especially safeties who are used to covering underneath passing lanes.
The trick to understanding passing lanes is recognizing which defender is assigned to the area your route is supposed to take you to and which defender is assigned to cover the passing lane you need to develop. They may not necessarily be the same defender. In this type of offensive reasoning, it doesn't matter if you label the coverage. You actually break it down to the elements that make the coverage. As an example, Cover 3 has 3 defenders deep and 4 defenders underneath. The flat coverage could be a corner, safety, or LB. it still would be Cover 3 regardless of who is in the flat but the dynamics of each variation of the coverage would be different. The passing lane for a deep out would be different depending own who was the deep third and who was in the flat. So, if you were taught to run a deep out a specific way against Cover 3, two-thirds of the time you'd most likely be unsuccessful as you aren't creating the most efficient passing lane for the variation of Cover 3 you are actually seeing. And, most likely, the defense will continue to call a variation that you don't adapt to. And the result is you don't score. And if you don't score, you don't win.