glimpse of NYG Defensive System

[BigPete]

There has been a lot of conjecture about what schemes the Giants and Fewell will be running this year.

 

While we won't know until training camp and the preseason, here is a little insight into the kind of things we can expect to see.

 

Personally I find this encouraging and along the lines of what I expected to hear about the new schemes. What do you think?

 

 

from an article by Mike Garafolo

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2010/06/giants_to_change_up_their_cove.html

 

Namely, that new coordinator Perry Fewell will employ various coverages, will exhibit flexibility in his game plans and calls and will design a scheme intended to put his defensive backs in a position to better view the offense and make a play on the ball.

 

“We were very aggressive. We didn’t want to give the quarterback a chance to throw the checkdowns to hopefully discourage him from making those completions,” Giunta said of last year's defense. “Well, now we may give up a few more completions, but we’re going to have more guys swarming to the ball and making hits and tackles on the receiver and ball carrier.”

 

Let me be clear: there are lots of advantages to playing aggressive, press coverage. Giunta listed them right there by pointing out how a man-coverage scheme takes away the “checkdown” and other short passes. If you’re the Giants and you think your pass rush is one of the best in the league, you definitely want to eliminate the quick throw to give your linemen and blitzers a chance to get to the quarterback.

 

But when the rush is off, when Webster isn’t quite himself, when Kenny Phillips isn’t on the field and when you’re protecting a lead of four or more points in the game’s waning seconds, adjustments need to be made and the end zone needs to be protected.

 

From the sound of things (and remember, it’s only June), Fewell seems willing to make those adjustments to vary his schemes.

 

“I would label Coach Fewell as a multiple-front, multiple-, multiple-coverage defensive coordinator,” Merritt said. “He is the furthest from a Tampa-2 guy.”

 

That’s the reputation Fewell had as a disciple of the Bears’ Lovie Smith. But those who played for Fewell in Buffalo said categorizing him as a Tampa-2 coach is far too simplistic of a description.

 

Still, Giunta expects his cornerbacks to play more zone-like techniques this season with the man-to-man matchups coming “later in the down than earlier” in press coverage.

 

“We used to match up on the snap of the ball,” Giunta said. “Now, in certain coverages, we’ll drop to our area and then pick up people as they come through our zone.”

 

Of course, this raises a flag when it comes to players such as Webster, who struggled in playing “off” coverage under Tim Lewis only to be rejuvenated when Steve Spagnuolo arrived with his more aggressive coverage schemes.

 

But Giunta said there will be plenty of opportunities for Webster and the equally-long Terrell Thomas to play closer to the receiver.

 

“They’ll be able to use their tools. They’ll be able to mix in the press, mix in the bail, mix in the off coverage with them,” Giunta said. “We’ll give them the tools and, based on the guys they have to play, they’ll be able to mix those as much as they can. We’ll obviously give them some guidance and direction, but hopefully they’re going to be able to say, ‘Hey, this is how we’re going to play it.’

 

“(Fewell) gives them a lot of leeway. We have to develop that trust factor with the players. Once that trust factor’s there, it’s going to be very, very exciting.”

 

As for the safeties, Merritt is asking them to be more vocal, more active and more aggressive than they were last year. It’s already visible during spring practices, with the safeties often rotating from deep middle to down low and vice versa just before the snap.

 

The veteran presence Antrel Rolle and Deon Grant provide – as opposed to the deer-in-the-headlights look C.C. Brown and Aaron Rouse flashed most of last season – is allowing Merritt to unleash his safeties’ creativity and vary the coverage at the back end of secondary.

 

“We’re rotating, we’re disguising, we’re moving around,” Merritt said. “I say, ‘Guys, I want you to push it. Stretch yourself as far as the disguise package. Give false calls, false dummy calls. Maybe it’s the correct call, but yell it out so loud that the offense may think it’s the incorrect call.’ That’s what these guys – Deon and Rolle – are bringing to the table.”

 

* * * *

 

Giunta is also hoping for more flexibility with his nickel cornerback this season. If Aaron Ross can stay healthy, it will give the Giants the option of playing Ross or Thomas inside against slot receivers instead of having only one player pegged for that position. Both Ross and Thomas have excelled in the slot with multiple interceptions inside.

 

"We may change it by game, depending on who the other team's slot receiver is," Giunta said. "If you have flexibility like that, it really helps. Terrell had a great year in there last year and Aaron, in 2007, that was his deal."

 

The following year, the Giants tried to keep things simple for Ross as a starter by leaving him outside and allowing Thomas to play inside in obvious passing situations. Now, with both having experience at multiple spots, the team believes they can move their corners all over the place.

 

"People won't be able to predict, 'Oh, he's the nickel so we can attack here,'" Giunta said.

 

 

from an artcle by insidefootball.com

from http://trainathought.insidefootball.com/2010/06/ota-9-practice-highlights-notes.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Train-aThought+%28Inside+Football%27s+%22Train-a+Thought%22%29

 

* Back during the rookie minicamp, defensive coordinator Perry Fewell mentioned that he was not a big fan of using a defensive line rotation. Well, that doesn’t mean that they won’t be using a rotation at all, as today, defensive line coach Robert Nunn, in his first year with the team, said that there will be some rotation involved, though the goal is to stick with the hot hand. Nunn also had no complaints about DE Osi Umenyiora, who rotated on the one’s with Mathias Kiwanuka today.

 

* Speaking of Nunn, he’s worked to tweak some minor technique things in order to get the defensive linemen to play the huge role expected of them this year as best as they can. One of the things he tweaked is the players’ stances. For example, rookie Linval Joseph said that a noticeable difference for him is that in college, he was coached to play lower to the ground where as in this defense, the defensive linemen are asked to play with a little more balance.

 

* I keep trying to uncover some more clues for you as to how this new defense is going to differ than last year’s fiasco. Well, I’ll share something that David Merritt, the Giants’ safeties coach, offered which was actually in response to something a player had told me. This year the defensive backs are going to do more of a zone-man approach

 

that, as I understand it, will see them wait for the quarterback to throw the ball.

 

Once they get an idea on where the ball is going, they’re going to break toward the intended target. Merritt pointed out that one of Coach Fewell’s philosophies is that you can’t make play for the ball if you don’t know where it’s going to be thrown, so that’s something that will be different this year.

 

 

 

Clarification: 5:45 PM -- Some people have asked me about my earlier attempt to define the differences you will see in the defensive secondary this year. I went back to my tape and here is what safeties coach David Merritt said.

 

“When you look at this defensive scheme and what we’re putting together, the nucleus of this team is the defensive line. That’s our strength. We feel like now we’re strong on the back end, which we haven’t been in the past. So now you take that and you say, ‘The quarterback has the football. You can’t go anywhere until he throws the ball.’ So why stare down a receiver and play him man-to-man and the quarterback is still holding the ball and he ends up throwing to the opposite end? Ok, let’s focus on the quarterback. Coach Fewell has brought that back to the Giants organization. If the quarterback is still holding the ball, you can’t go anywhere until he throws it. so focus on the quarterback and emphasis on the fact that he’s going to take us to where we want to go and we want that ball.”

 

In my attempt to make sure I was clear on what I was hearing, I asked Merritt if it was like starting out in a zone and then once they identified where the ball was being thrown, going to a man coverage . He said, “That’s exactly right. That’s exactly what it is. It’s not a big difference from what we’ve done in the past, but it is a little more emphasis on the quarterback, especially when we’re playing Cover 3 and Cover 2.”

 

Merritt also said that Fewell “is the furthest from (being) a Tampa-2 guy.” He added, “I would label Coach Fewell as a multiple-front, multiple-, multiple-coverage defensive coordinator.”

 

 

 

time to put to rest any talk of a Tampa 2

 

Also there is the comments a while back from Osi

from http://www.metro.us/us/article/2010/03/26/17/0343-82/index.xml

 

One of the star defensive end’s pet peeves was the way Sherman had his ends dropping into coverage. Umenyiora said he’s a bonafide pass rusher, so he’s already embracing new defensive coordinator Perry Fewell’s attack philosophy. Fewell, the former Buffalo Bills interim head coach/defensive coordinator, likens the “Tampa Two” defense, which puts an emphasis on the defensive line solely generating the pass rush.

 

“I watched how his [Fewell’s] defensive ends played in Buffalo,” said Umenyiora. “They lined up a lot wider and were allowed to come upfield. And that’s what I excel at.”

 

Umenyiora didn’t want any part of disparaging Sherman’s scheme but he did light up when asked his first impressions of Fewell.

 

“He’s a really cool guy and very energetic,” said Umenyiora. “His scheme best suits the players he has here…his ends at Buffalo rarely came off the field, so I like that. But we have a lot more talent on the line than they did, so I don’t know how he’ll handle that.”

[Lubeck]

I'm sorry to make a reply before finishing reading everything...and by everything I mean everything but the first sentence but this stood out.

 

 

“We were very aggressive. We didn’t want to give the quarterback a chance to throw the checkdowns to hopefully discourage him from making those completions,”

 

And guess what? By denying them their checkdown you left the primary target WIDE FUCKING OPEN!

[JMFP]

Whatever the system, as long as they let Blackburn freestyle, they'll be okay.

[JayD]

I read the whole thing, and I dont like this at all. This sounds like exactly the same crap Lewis tryed to pull here. And whats with this no rotating the D-line crap? We need to man up, and creatively blitz at will. I only pray Spags gets fired this year, and comes back home.

[BigPete]

I read the whole thing, and I dont like this at all. This sounds like exactly the same crap Lewis tryed to pull here. And whats with this no rotating the D-line crap? We need to man up, and creatively blitz at will. I only pray Spags gets fired this year, and comes back home.

 

How do you figure?.

 

Firstly our DEs will be rushing the passer, not dropping back in coverage. They will be playing a little wider and get upfield more - great for getting pressure on the QB. Secondly we have that big anchor inside which we haven't had since Hamilton. It looks like we will still have the 4 aces style packages with Kiwanuka and probably Tuck playing inside in situations.

 

Coverage wise we are going to mix it up a lot more, be more deceptive and make more plays for the ball. We will still have the physical element, but mix it in with different stuff.

 

Plus we have all the stuff from spags to build on, including the various Blitz packages. We may not require it quite as much to get an effective pass rush, but it is definately in the bad of tricks that Fewell will use. You must remember every time you bring extra guys, that leaves an extra hole. Also the blitz heavy strategy was tried last year and didn't work.

 

As far as the rotation goes, if a guy is getting the job done and consistently beating his guy, then leave him in there to do the job and just switch him when he needs a breather. I have no issue with that. By the same token if a starter isn't getting it done then the next guy gets his shot.

Bottom line, if you want to get on the field you have to perform. eg: You can't say I am a 3rd down pass rusher and expect to get on the field.

I don't have too much issue with that. After all rotation didn't work for us last year and the Oline seems to work well with the same group.

It also lets a player set his guy up and exploit him later.

 

It is way to early to make these kind of blanket statements, lets at least see how things shape up in camp.

 

Personally I think these are positive signs (although it is early) and am happy to wait and see how things unfold on the field. Heck the system worked ok for Fewell in Buffalo and we have alot more talent, particularly on the Dline and an effective offense.

[JayD]

Bro, if we have learned anything about this team in the past 5 years its this, A high powered rotating Dline wins championships. Another thing we learned is when Web is in a cover 2 system, he is less than average. When he is man to man, he's a pro bowler. Having better safties will help, but we still need to play tward our strength's. In just those 2 things alone, we are basicaly abandoning everything Spags brought to the table.

 

Now dont get me wrong, Im not saying the season is lost or the sky is falling. Fewell has a good track record. This kinda defense has worked with other teams. It just isnt what has made Giants defense great in the past. All Im saying is Im keeping a close skeptical eye. I think most of us are.

[Treehugger]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he basically described the same "read and react" defense that failed so miserably for us last year.

 

The 'rotation' issue I understand; they won't be switching guys out every couple snaps but will leave them in for longer to get more plays in a row. It's just a longer rotation is all, not no rotation at all.

[JMFP]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he basically described the same "read and react" defense that failed so miserably for us last year.

 

The 'rotation' issue I understand; they won't be switching guys out every couple snaps but will leave them in for longer to get more plays in a row. It's just a longer rotation is all, not no rotation at all.

 

My spidey sense was tingling on that as well.

 

To be effective, Fewell is really going to need to have a great feel for the game.

 

NEGATIVES: Similarities with Read & React; danger of being mesmerized by the ball; danger of allowing a guy like DeSean Jackson to blow right through the secondary.

 

POSITIVES: Switching from bump/man to zone could disrupt the timing of the offense; could fool the QB into throwing INTs; with playmakers at safety, watching the QB could result in some real headhunting on skinny bastards like DeSean Jackson.

[Nas]

I read the whole thing, and I dont like this at all. This sounds like exactly the same crap Lewis tryed to pull here. And whats with this no rotating the D-line crap? We need to man up, and creatively blitz at will. I only pray Spags gets fired this year, and comes back home.

 

We prayed for Fox to get fired...

[JMFP]

I'll try to stay objective about it.....and I'll try to remember that up until that Redskins game, the jury was out on Spags.

[Storm]

I read the whole thing, and I dont like this at all. This sounds like exactly the same crap Lewis tryed to pull here. And whats with this no rotating the D-line crap? We need to man up, and creatively blitz at will. I only pray Spags gets fired this year, and comes back home.

 

I'm actually glad to hear about the no rotating the D-line crap. Give them a series or two, THEN bring in your substitutes. We have an entire second team on the defensive line, why not give each enough plays to get into a groove instead of bringing in different personnel on the line on specific downs?

 

Edit: seems like people have already mentioned this, my bad, didn't read much further at the time of posting

[Gspotter]

that Spags comment isn't unwarranted at all...

 

The early edition on the Coach Fool is worrisome. I don't like what I've hears and I don't think that it's a great pressure scheme to play that way. I'll take Spags any day over an of our DC's but Billy.

[Sephiroth]

It's great that Fewell as "fire and engergy..." but I saw TWO huge red flags in there.

 

1. Aaron Ross, Corey Webster, and Terrell Thomas are all press corners... why wouldn't you play to their strengths? Webster in particular sucked as a zone corner.

 

2. If we're not having a Defensive Line rotation, why do we have 15 thousand D-linemen?

 

I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this...

[Sephiroth]

We prayed for Fox to get fired...

 

Who prayed for that? I was praying that the Panthers wouldn't offer him a job...

[RandolphScott]

Who prayed for that? I was praying that the Panthers wouldn't offer him a job...

 

I think he meant after the 2009 season dude....

[JayD]

It's great that Fewell as "fire and engergy..." but I saw TWO huge red flags in there.

 

1. Aaron Ross, Corey Webster, and Terrell Thomas are all press corners... why wouldn't you play to their strengths? Webster in particular sucked as a zone corner.

 

2. If we're not having a Defensive Line rotation, why do we have 15 thousand D-linemen?

 

I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this...

 

 

Exactly

[JayD]

Anyone doubting D-line rotation need only look back to our super bowl year. We had our best players healthy and rested enough to make a run to glory from the wild card spot.

 

 

[Treehugger]

He just means they're not gonna swap D Linemen after each snap, rather let them play a several downs consecutively, maybe even the whole possession. They'll still get all our guys snaps.

[JMFP]

Spags had a feel for the game....he could make adjustments.

Sheridan had virtually no feel for the game's flow....I didn't see him make one damn halftime adjustement that was worth shit....and he had no rapport with his players.

 

They’ll be able to use their tools. They’ll be able to mix in the press, mix in the bail, mix in the off coverage with them,” Giunta said. “We’ll give them the tools and, based on the guys they have to play, they’ll be able to mix those as much as they can. We’ll obviously give them some guidance and direction, but hopefully they’re going to be able to say, ‘Hey, this is how we’re going to play it.’

 

“(Fewell) gives them a lot of leeway. We have to develop that trust factor with the players. Once that trust factor’s there, it’s going to be very, very exciting.”

 

As for the safeties, Merritt is asking them to be more vocal, more active and more aggressive than they were last year. It’s already visible during spring practices, with the safeties often rotating from deep middle to down low and vice versa just before the snap.

 

The veteran presence Antrel Rolle and Deon Grant provide – as opposed to the deer-in-the-headlights look C.C. Brown and Aaron Rouse flashed most of last season – is allowing Merritt to unleash his safeties’ creativity and vary the coverage at the back end of secondary.

 

“We’re rotating, we’re disguising, we’re moving around,” Merritt said. “I say, ‘Guys, I want you to push it. Stretch yourself as far as the disguise package. Give false calls, false dummy calls. Maybe it’s the correct call, but yell it out so loud that the offense may think it’s the incorrect call.’ That’s what these guys – Deon and Rolle – are bringing to the table.”

 

Sounds like the entire secondary will be given more trust to play instinctively.....it could become a very exciting unit.

 

Fewell could turn out to be a very good defensive coach....alot will depend on how prepared his players are, and how well he can make ingame adjustments.

 

And just like with Spags, if the players are comfortable, they'll be aggressive...and they'll get burned from time to time, but they'll also make some big plays.

 

It might work to the Giants favor if opposing offenses aren't sure what sort of schemes we'll be playing from one down to the next. Last year, we couldn't stop shit, so virtually anything should be an improvement. The idea of the secondary being able to see what the QB is doing could lead to more picks, and more hitting on the WR.

 

Last season, our safeties didn't even belong in the NFL....we've fixed that (I think). And Tuck was in no condition to even play, and Osi was not 100%.

 

I'm keeping an open mind....I think he'll be okay.

[CrazedDogs]

It's great that Fewell as "fire and engergy..." but I saw TWO huge red flags in there.

 

1. Aaron Ross, Corey Webster, and Terrell Thomas are all press corners... why wouldn't you play to their strengths? Webster in particular sucked as a zone corner.

2. If we're not having a Defensive Line rotation, why do we have 15 thousand D-linemen?

 

I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this...

 

What I took from the comments from the staff about the DL is that they think they substituted too much last year and therefore never gave a guy a chance to get into a groove. But they've still got to substitute, I don't think they'll be stupid about it (knock on wood).

[Tempest]

I'll wait and see what they bring to the field.

[Nas]

Who prayed for that? I was praying that the Panthers wouldn't offer him a job...

 

After... Meaning.. We were praying for Fox to get fired from Carolina so we can get him back.

 

Nevertheless I think a lot of you are reading way too much into an article..