Ronin's 2016 Defensive Preview

As most of you know, I usually post my defensive preview about this time of year. Well, it’s back for the 2016 version of the Dolphins. This year’s will be a bit different. Not only because Miami will be running a different style of defense under Head Coach Adam Gase and Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph, but because this year I’m finally incorporating a preview of the secondary into this year’s edition. If you don’t like long threads, this won’t be for you.

To start, I think it’s important to note that I don’t believe Vance Joseph will simply be carrying over the Cincinnati Bengals defense, where he was an assistant secondary coach for the past two years, after stints with the 49ers and Texans. Ironically, after Joseph signed with Miami, our old pal Kevin Coyle took his old job back and is now back with the Bengals as secondary coach. Weird. Except, it’s not.

There were several posters, myself included, that thought Vance Joseph would want to bring the Wade Phillips 3-4 style of defense to Miami. After all, Joseph, as mentioned before, was the secondary coach for the Texans under Wade Phillips. In the 2015 offseason, the Denver Broncos tried to lure Vance Joseph to come run their 3-4 defense but the Bengals blocked Joseph from interviewing; Wade Phillips took that job, got Denver’s defense humming, and won a Super Bowl. So, the thought that Miami running a Wade Phillips 3-4 style of defense made sense on the face of the hire. Then Mike Tannenbaum went on radio saying Miami would run a 4-3 Under defense, which is similar in ways to a 3-4 front if you run it correctly, as Ian Wharton speculated on Twitter. Whether Tannenbaum meant “under” operatively or not, I don’t know. But what I do know is that Adam Gase came out and said in his Combine Press Conference that Miami would be running a “Cincinnati-style Wide-9”.

Well, having watched about as many Bengals games as Dolphins games over the years, I can say that Cincinnati doesn’t run a 4-3 wide-9 as its base defense, it’s primarily a nickel and sub-package look for the Bengals. So, what does it mean for Miami? Well, given what the wide-9 is, which I’ll dive into in a minute, coupled with the hires of Matt Burke and Jim Washburn, I think the wide-9 could very well be the primary look that Miami runs its base, nickel and other sub-packages.

So, what is the wide-9 defense exactly? Well, there was a great video on Reddit and KB21 posted it in Club, but it’s since been removed, so I’ll paraphrase here. The genesis of the Wide-9 defense started with the Tennessee Titans in the early 2000s. As a defensive assistant for the Titans Jim Schwartz and Jim Washburn, the D-line coach, had difficulty stopping the Indianapolis Colts outside stretch-zone runs that Edgerrin James ran so well. At the time the Titans were running a 4-3 Over style of defense, much like Miami did under Kevin Coyle, and had trouble finding the right guy to play that 5/6 technique DE spot, much like Miami did; Olivier Vernon was a good shout, but he was never good enough at setting the edge to make that system work and Cameron Wake simply got washed out of plays too often when they went to an Under front and hid him playing the role.

The Titans noticed that the Patriots – surprise, surprise – always eliminated the Colts’ outside zone plays. They did this as they were a 3-4 team and played their OLBs, Willie McGinest and Mike Vrabel, among others, out REALLY wide to set the edge and force the run back inside to their behemoths on the front line. Tedy Bruschi and Ted Johnson, their ILBs, cleaned everything up. Jim Washburn took notice of this and asked Schwartz to draw up how this type of front could be played in a 4-3 alignment, and the “Wide 9” as we know it, was born. Instead of running a 5-technique, 1-technique, 3-technique and a 5 or 7-technique (from left to right as if you’re looking at the defense as the quarterback) you’re going to see a different alignment in most looks. In an odd bit of football terminology, Tennessee, then later Detroit and Buffalo under Schwartz, and most likely now Philadelphia, ran what they call a “Wide-9” DE, 2i-technique NT, 3-technique DT, and a “Wide-5” DE, again from left to right looking at the defense.



That’s going to be the most distinctive feature of the defense, the wider alignments of both DEs and the NT, more often than not playing on the inside shoulder of the guard instead of the outside shoulder of the center. In addition to the Titans formulating this defense once upon a time to stop the Colts outside stretch zone runs with Edgerrin James, there are a few other highlights to this defense:

- The defensive ends are going to get upfield in a hurry just about every snap unless they’re running some sort of stunt or game with a DT or blitzing LB. The axiom “play the run on the way to the quarterback” will hold true.

- The defense is predicated on getting pressure with the four guys on the defensive line. You’ll see a lot of stunts and games and, if Miami are intent on running this defense similarly to the way Jim Schwartz called it, you’ll see few blitzes. For example, the Buffalo Bills in 2014 led the NFL in sacks, but were last in blitz percentage. That’s not to say there’s not blitzes; there are some, and they’re good – they’re just used infrequently.

- Usually the safety to the strong side of the defense will creep down into the box and is actually responsible for the C gap in run defense. It pays to have a safety that is good in run support. Obviously, Reshad Jones is pretty darn good at this, and the newly acquired Isa Abdul-Quddus has a good amount of experience playing in this role as he was in this defense with Detroit last year.

- It relies on a run-and-hit style of play by the LBs. The LBs will play off of what the D-line does; there’s not as strict gap discipline the way there is in a 3-4 or in the way Miami was running their defense under Kevin Coyle. The wide-9 front is about penetration and your interior guys attacking gaps and forcing run plays to bounce outside into the DEs crashing upfield. You can play various styles of coverage behind this, and I think Vance Joseph may very well do that.

- The wide-9 is susceptible to certain types of run plays. Power plays, when blocked well, can hurt this defense due to the natural wider alignments as they can allow creases for backs. Counter and counter trey (I don’t think anyone runs these any more) plays can hurt this defense, as can good one-cut zone running backs due to the fast-flow you’ll see out of the LBs. A good RB can make backer or safety overrun the play and cut back for big yardage.

- The main difference between the style of front I think Miami will be running versus what Philadelphia tried to run under Jim Johnson a while ago is that for Miami, only one of the DEs will actually be playing the 9-technique look on most downs. Only in obvious passing situations will you see BOTH DEs pin their ears back from wide-9 looks and get after the quarterback; this aspect was a staple of the Bengals nickel looks, something Vance Joseph will probably bring over – a very good thing, in my opinion.

So, back to the Dolphins. Why do I think they’ll be playing this front? Well, other than Adam Gase’s quote at the Combine, Miami has hired Jim Washburn as a Senior Defensive Assistant and Pass Rush Specialist to help with the D-line. Washburn is one of the co-creators of the 4-3 Wide-9 defense. Another key hire is LB Coach Matt Burke. Burke was actually a coaching intern with those Tennessee Titans teams and followed Jim Schwartz to Detroit when Schwartz was hired as head coach. Burke was with Cincinnati last year, also as LB Coach, where he did some really nice things and worked with Vance Joseph. Joseph cited Burke’s ability to “stop the run” in his introductory press conference specifically, and I think with that, you see what Detroit did in 2014 when they absolutely MASHED everyone they faced in the run game; Detroit allowed a league best 69 yards per game and a league best 3.2 YPA that year, while also notching the 3rd best defense in the league in terms of points allowed at just over 17. They were the only team that held DeMarco Murray and the Cowboys to under 100 yards rushing in a game that year, giving up just 73 total. In short, they played well. Really damn well. Also, you’ll remember that last year after Kevin Coyle was axed, Miami tried to hire Jim Schwartz as a defensive “consultant”. That’s runs at two of the godfathers – Schwartz and Washburn – within a few months of each other and Gase landed the latter.

Now, fast forward two years, and not only has Miami hired away Matt Burke and Jim Washburn, who were both part of that 2014 Lions defense, they’ve also signed two of the starters from Detroit’s D-line that year in Ndamukong Suh and Jason Jones. We heard after last season that Suh wanted to run the defense, or something close to that effect. Putting him back in this system should allow him to impact the game the way everyone expected him to after landing that $114M contract, and, if you’re being honest, Suh had a REALLY GOOD 2015 season even if the stats don’t back it up.

All these signs and signings, to me, point to Miami running a defense that’s going to look like a blend of what the 2014 Bills, 2014-15 Lions and 2015 Bengals (sub packages) looked like. With that in mind, let’s look at the various positions and their roles on the defense and which guys we’ll likely see at these spots. Then we’ll take a look at some features of the defense and how it plays.

Defensive Line: This is the heart of any defense and I think one thing that’s important to note is that when you play this style of defense and guys are attacking upfield, you’re going to see a heavier rotation than you normally might see. One thing I’ve posted a few times on the board is if you look at the 2014 Detroit Lions, they actually kept 11 D-linemen on their 53-man roster that year, 6 DE and 5 DTs, with another 2 DTs on their practice squad for good portions of the season. Of those 11 guys, Detroit often had 8 or 9 active. The 2014 Bills kept 8 D-linemen on their active roster and usually had all of them active unless there was an injury. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Miami keep 9 or 10 D-linemen this year. With that in mind, let’s take a look at those spots.

“Wide-9” DE – this position can be on the right or left side, it really doesn’t matter, it’s just based off whether you shift the front to be an over or under – examples later. To me, there’s 3 guys on the roster right now that can play this spot. This position is usually going to be outside of the TE and needs to get upfield in a hurry and be able to hold the point of attack to force run plays back inside. It doesn’t necessarily have to be your best pass-rusher, but we saw that with Buffalo in 2014 with Mario Williams. Super Mario certainly seems like a guy who can play this spot, and being that this defense was originally rooted from the 4-3 Over front, it’s often the LDE spot. Mario Williams had a career year in Buffalo in this role with 14.5 sacks, a career high for him. Jason Jones played this role in base looks for the Lions during his tenure there and often reduced inside in nickel and other sub-package looks. Cameron Wake, a mainstay at LDE for Miami since the team switched to a 4-3 in 2012 until the Achilles injury last year will probably also see significant snaps here. Those are the big three. I think you could see Miami try guys like Terrence Fede, Cleyon Laing and Farrington Huguenin in this role during training camp and preseason, but we’ve not seen either of the latter two play an NFL snap in this defense (Lang was in the Raiders’ camp coming out of college before his CFL days), so that’s a “remains to be seen”. As for Fede, he’s made some spot plays here and there, but I’m not sure he’s particularly good at any one thing. It wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t make the roster. It wouldn’t surprise me if he made it either.
Outlook: What I think we’ll end up seeing is Mario Williams and Jason Jones playing the end spots in base package looks (4 D-linemen, 3 LBs) as both Williams and Jones have experience playing left and right sides in the past. Jones, a DT coming into the league, can also play inside in passing situations. With that in mind, I’d venture that when Miami runs nickel and other sub-package looks we’ll see Cameron Wake inserted at LDE, Mario Williams shift to RDE and Jason Jones either reduce inside or come off the field to conserve energy. Ultimately, I think Williams plays the most snaps, and you’ll see Cameron Wake (DE snaps only) and Jason Jones (DE and DT snaps) play a pretty comparable number. Cameron Wake will probably also get some snaps in base looks to give Williams and/or Jones a rest.

“Wide-5” DE – This is an example of funky terminology. Jim Schwartz has long called the DE opposite the guy playing a 9-technique a “Wide-5 DE” when in reality, this position is usually lined up in a 7-technique look, at least in base packages. And, sometimes the player at this spot will end up lining up even wider than your traditional 7-technique look. Ezekiel Ansah for Detroit and Jerry Hughes for Buffalo played this role a good deal under Jim Schwartz. With Miami I again see three main guys that will end up at this spot, those guys being Mario Williams, Jason Jones and Andre Branch. For Williams and Jones, it’s simply that both guys can either technique equally well. With Andre Branch, I think it’s simply that he’s not good enough as a pass-rusher that you’d want him here as more often than not this spot will end up without a TE to his side. With Branch, I think he’s best against the run when he’s going upfield and/or retracing his steps and getting 1-on-1 looks is more advantageous for him. I think Cameron Wake, in some base looks when he’s in, could also end up playing this spot some. Chris McCain could also get a nice look here. And, of course there’s Dion Jordan. This role would be tailor-made for him, but I have doubts about him coming back in shape and him staying in Miami if he does.
Outlook: I think you’ll see both Williams and Jones here in base package looks with Andre Branch rotating in to spell those guys.

As a whole, I think we’ll see Mario Williams, Jason Jones and Cameron Wake all getting snaps as the left defensive end, regardless of whether it’s a wide-5 or wide-9 technique. I also think we’ll see Williams playing on the right side. Same with Jones. As mentioned, I think Jones will also get some snaps at DT in sub-packages. I think really it’s going to be a pretty rotation-heavy group along the defensive line outside of Ndamukong Suh, so be ready for that.

The other big thing with this defense and the ends in particular is the ability to convert speed to power in pass-rush. This is something that Mario Williams has done really well throughout his career. Jason Jones has done alright with this, though from what I’ve seen he tends to do some nicer work on stunts, both from a DE and DT alignment than he does as a pure pass-rusher. While Miami’s D-line appears to be set, that ability could be something to keep an eye out for in future free agents and draft classes.

3-Technique DT – This positon pretty much transcends all defenses and the use is pretty much the same. Vance Joseph has said that his plan is to give Ndamukong Suh as many 1-on-1 looks from this spot as he can. The Bengals did this with Geno Atkins last year and he responded with 11 sacks. I think Joseph may look to bring some of those Bengals ideas into the defense here as well. Suh played something like 85% of the snaps for Detroit in 2014, and I expect he’ll also play a LARGE chunk for Miami as well. I think you could see Chris Jones, signed from New England, and possibly Earl Mitchell, spell Suh at 3-technique.
Outlook: This is Suh’s spot and in this defense he should wreak more havoc than he did last year.

2i-Technique NT – The nose tackle position in this defense deviates considerably from traditional 4-3 and 3-4 looks, with the player aligning on the inside shoulder of the guard as opposed to the inside shoulder of the center or aligning directly over the center. There will be certain situations where this player will align in the traditional 1-technique look, but more often than not it’s a 2i technique with the player tilted to attack the A gap to his side. There have been various players that have fit this role: Albert Haynesworth, Marcel Dareus, Kyle Williams, Sammie Lee Hill, Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley, C.J. Mosley, etc. who have all played under Jim Schwartz. For Miami, it sounds like Jordan Phillips is going to be given every opportunity to seize this spot with Earl Mitchell rotating in. It should be noted that when this defense shifts, rather than flopping guys, you just bump the front over so you will see Ndamukong Suh shift to this look quite a bit.
Outlook: With Miami’s staff wanting Jordan Phillips to drop from 330lbs to 315lbs, I think they may be envisioning him as Nick Fairley 2.0. Phillips maintained pretty poor gap discipline against the run last year, but was actually a good pass-rusher notching 2 sacks and I believe 4 or 5 passes knocked down. I think this role, which would allow up to attack upfield into the A gap would be very well suited for him. I can see Earl Mitchell rotating in and at least being more effective than he was for last year; he was putrid in 2015.

Linebackers: Speed at this unit is a premium. Matt Burke’s been fortunate enough to have had that in spades in his last two coaching stops. In Detroit he was able to work with Deandre Levy and unearthed Tahir Whitehead. In Cincinnati he had Vontaze Burfict and used Emmanuel Lamur, Vincent Rey and Rey Maualuga effectively in their roles. With Miami, he’s got two guys in Kiko Alonso and Jelani Jenkins who have pretty good speed and it will be interesting to see if both of those guys rebound from down 2015 season. Detroit and Buffalo both sacrificed size at their OLB spots for speed while having a larger backer in the middle.

Weakside LB: Odds are that in this defensive system, this player probably has pretty good odds of leading the team in tackles just due to the nature of how the position is played. I’ve seen a lot of articles on the wide-9 that list the LBs as playing a “Tan” – 0 – “Tan” alignment, meaning both outside LBs are lined up directly over the tackles with the mike lined up directly over the center. Going back and looking through some of the 2014 Detroit Lions games, the best I can discern is that Matt Burke often had the WLB lined up directly over the guard with the SLB lined up over the tackle or directly over the B gap between the guard and tackle. For Miami, I think this isn’t too different than what Jelani Jenkins had to do the past two years playing WLB for Kevin Coyle. In this defense though, he’ll be more free to move sideline-to-sideline instead of having to maintain a gap. Neville Hewitt, who had some flashes last year – let’s be honest, they were just flashes – seems like a prime candidate to back up Jenkins.
Outlook: This is a contract year for Jelani Jenkins. To me, this year’s about finding out if he’s the player we saw in 2014 and injuries hampered him this past year. Or, is he really just an average player and Miami’s right to want to move on from him? Consider the Myles Jack trade that almost happened. Jack would have been a PERFECT fit at WLB in this defense.

Middle LB: I’ll admit; I was against the Kiko Alonso throw-in to the Byron Maxwell trade. Especially as a MLB as at the time I thought Vance Joseph would bring over a defense similar to what he was a part of Cincinnati or what Denver ran. Kiko Alonso isn’t a MLB in that style of defense. I do think he could be a pretty good fit in the wide-9 front. Typically, these defenses have had a bulkier guy playing in the middle. Jim Schwartz brought Stephen Tulloch to Detroit from Tennessee to be the guy. Tulloch’s been around that 245-250lbs range. Brandon Spikes served very well in Buffalo in 2014 at 255lbs. If you go back to that 2014 Lions season, Tulloch tore his ACL celebrating a sack and Tahir Whitehead stepped in. Whitehead was their SLB and moved into the middle at 6’2” 242lbs, pretty similar to Kiko Alonso at 6’3” 238lbs. Both Whitehead and Alonso have speed and pretty good instincts in coverage. In short, I think Alonso could be a very good fit now that he’s two years out from a torn ACL. I’m not sure Zach Vigil is an ideal backup here; he’s simply too slow. I envision UDFA James Burgess as more of a WLB so maybe Akil Blount – 6’2” 243lbs and pretty athletic will show something.
Outlook: Alonso gets top billing here. Hopefully he’s over his injury and hopefully this system proves to be a good fit as I don’t see a viable backup to him on the roster as it currently stands.

Strongside LB: This position is becoming like the fullback of the defense for 4-3 fronts; you simply don’t see this spot on the field very often any more unless you’re in a base set. I don’t see it being any different this year for Miami, especially since this spot is an off-the-ball LB position. Koa Misi is still the guy there and he should be solid as a run-stopper, especially since he won’t be directly engaged by a TE or T right at the snap. That said, I’d be surprised if he’s getting any more than 15-20 snaps per game as I don’t think he’s cut out to play in nickel situations in the manner in which Vance Joseph will require. As far as a backup here, I’d guess Spencer Paysinger gets the first crack. He had some nice plays in goal line defense last year, but he’s strictly a special-teamer in my book other than that. Maybe Zach Vigil gets a look here as he did in the Dallas game last year. Perhaps there’s a surprise. Consider that Detroit used Ashlee Palmer, a safety in college, to fill in at SLB in 2014 when Whitehead replaced Tulloch. This positon is NOT suited for a player like Dion Jordan or Chris McCain to play. Let’s nip that in the bud right now. It’s a downhill, attacking vs. the run type of position.
Outlook: Koa Misi seems like he’d be the locked-in guy here. Hopefully playing fewer snaps will help him stay healthy which has been a bugaboo for him for like 5 seasons now. I think he’ll fill the role just fine and be a good player against the run.

Overall, for the LBs I think Kiko Alonso and Jelani Jenkins are the bread winners for the position. They seem like the guys who will be making the most tackles and seem the likeliest to be on the field in 2-LB situations. They’ve both got injury histories, so that’s my main concern here and with the unit as a whole as there’s not very much good depth.

Secondary: This unit has undergone wholesale changes since last year. Reshad Jones is the only starter back. In are Byron Maxwell via trade, draft picks Xavien Howard and Jordan Lucas, and free agents Isa Abdul-Quddus and Ifo Ekpre-Olomu. Michael Thomas and Walt Aikens return as depth, but they’re even better special teamers. The secondary being Vance Joseph’s specialty, I think this unit has the potential to improve based on a simpler scheme and playing to the strengths of the players. I think we’ll end up seeing a lot of press looks on the perimeter out of a 2-deep look, but I expect either safety could wind up rotating toward the box near the snap and there being a lot of Cover 1 and Cover 3 looks with press on the outside still.

Left CB: Vance Joseph himself has said this is a battle between Tony Lippett and Xavien Howard. The way Joseph talks I get the impression he’s going to play the CBs on sides as opposed to having a pure #1 and #2 perimeter CB as he’s said Byron Maxwell is the RCB. Joseph also said that Howard’s eyes need work, and for that reason I’m tempted to peg Tony Lippett as the front-runner here. Cincinnati had a history of CBs being drafted highly and not playing right away in recent years with Dre Kirkpatrick and Darqueze Dennard both taking time. The Bengals also play a more complicated coverage scheme so maybe Howard bucks that trend. I like his athletic traits, as I do with Lippett’s, but Howard’s game tape is a roller-coaster. Up and down.
Outlook: I think either Lippett or Howard could end up a starter to start the season with the other taking over at some point down the road. I could also see both of these guys being starters a few years from now. This will be a good battle to watch this preseason.

Right CB: As Joseph said, and the Dolphins-Eagles trade would indicate, Byron Maxwell is the guy here. I think Miami’s got him on the right path and taking him back to his roots with the Seahawks and what made him successful. Keep him on the right side, let him press, and I think he’ll be fine. As far as a backup here, I’m keeping my eye on Ifo Ekpre-Olomu. I do think Vance Joseph may take a shine to him the way he did Pacman Jones in Cincinnati. That is, of course, if Ekpre-Olomu comes back healthy. If he does, I think he’s solid depth for this season. After that, who knows what he could become?
Outlook: Maxwell’s the man now. We’ll see if he plays like it.

Slot CB: This will be a key position in this defense. Cincinnati made good use of Darqueze Dennard until a torn ACL took him out. Leon Hall, despite all his ailments, actually played decently well for the Bengals last year. Detroit in 2014 made good use of multiple guys using Glover Quinn, Cassius Vaughn and Don Carey in the slot. Joseph has said Bobby McCain is there now and reports are he’s gotten the first team reps. I like that. I thought he played well at times in the slot; he struggled outside. I think him staying inside could help. Jordan Lucas, who played CB for 3 years at Penn State and a year at SS is also running there. He’s got a little more size than McCain, but is a rookie and I feel like him transitioning back to slot CB could be a bit challenging initially. Joseph said Tyler Patmon will also get a look here.
Outlook: I think Bobby McCain gets first crack at this job and I think he’s got the potential to be that “starter” at the position Vance Joseph mentioned during his OTA presser.

Strong Safety: As I mentioned before, the strong safety will often come into the box if Miami plays this the way Detroit and Buffalo did under Jim Schwartz. Given the strengths of both Reshad Jones and Isa Abdul-Quddus, both of whom could plays this spot, I think staying in a 2-deep shell will be something Miami does a lesser amount of as opposed to playing with a man in the box. Reshad Jones I think could really elevate his game in this system, but his contract issue/holdout remains murky at the moment. Vance Joseph said that Michael Thomas is playing Jones’ spot in OTAs. Abdul-Quddus played this role for Detroit last year and Joseph has said he’d prefer to play left and right safeties as opposed to a true free and strong, so that’s something to keep in mind. Shamiel Gary and A.J. Hendy could be interesting to watch as a potential third guy at this spot in camp.
Outlook: Reshad Jones is a stud and I think he could be even better in this system provided he and the Dolphins iron out his issues with is contract. Michael Thomas wasn’t very good last year filling in when Louis Delmas went down; maybe he does better in this system if called upon, but he’s getting a roster spot as he’s a special teams ace.

Free Safety: Isa Abdul-Quddus seems like he’s the easy choice here. He had experience as a deep safety with the Saints, prior to joining Detroit, and he’s adept at strong safety as well. Thus, he seems like a perfect running mate to team with Reshad Jones and eventually the pair could end up as left and right safeties as Joseph wants. IAQ is a fast player and he’s physical enough when called upon. I think he ends up being a steal in terms of Miami’s free agent class. Walt Aikens was terrible last year when on the field in defensive situations, but he gave Michael Thomas a run for his money as best special teamer. I think that keeps Aikens alive for now. Gary and Hendy may also have a shot here as well.
Outlook: IAQ could be the steal of free agency and I’m excited to see how he and Jones pair together.

So, there you have it in terms of players I think we’ll see this year. If I’m making a defensive depth chart heading into training camp, I’d go with this:

LDE – Mario Williams/Jason Jones, Cameron Wake
3T – Ndamukong Suh, Chris Jones
2iT – Jordan Phillips, Earl Mitchell
RDE – Jason Jones/Mario Williams, Andre Branch, Chris McCain
WLB – Jelani Jenkins, Neville Hewitt
MLB – Kiko Alonso, Zach Vigil, Akil Blount
SLB – Koa Misi, Spencer Paysinger
LCB – Tony Lippett, Xavien Howard
SS – Reshad Jones, Michael Thomas
FS – Isa Abdul-Quddus, Walt Aikens
$CB – Bobby McCain, Jordan Lucas
RCB – Byron Maxwell, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu

With this depth chart I’m leaving out the techniques played by each defensive end and am just focusing on where guys will most likely play the most snaps. I think we’ll end up seeing Williams and Jones on both sides, so I’ve listed them as such. Again, just to clarify, I think in terms of DE snaps, Mario Williams gets the most with Cameron Wake and Jason Jones playing a near equal amount. The difference is that Wake’s snaps will be exclusively at DE while Jones will probably play both DE and DT. I went with Akil Blount over Terrence Fede or another DE for the time being as his numbers lead me to believe he can at least be a solid special teams contributor. The only game film I've seen of him is in this year's NFLPA Bowl.

Now, let’s take a look at some things we might see this year out of this defense.

First things first, just because the front is wider and your SLB is going to be off the ball the vast majority of the time, this defense can still run over and under looks. After all, it’s rooted in the 4-3 Over, so some looks we see this year will be somewhat similar to what we saw out of Kevin Coyle’s base packages. Credit to Ludacris in Club Level for the screenshots.

4-3 Over Wide-9


4-3 Over Wide-9 with SLB on the line of scrimmage.


4-3 Under Wide-9


4-3 Wide-9 Nickel with Under Front
https://detroitlionsall22.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/det-ne-suh-drops-ridley-tfl1.gif?w=1164&h=638 - couldn't get this GIF to work properly.

Instead of just looking at some of these still frames and GIFs, I think the following article by Fran Duffy of the Philadelphia Eagles does a tremendous job of highlighting the Wide-9 defense that Jim Schwartz will be bringing to the Eagles this season. Schwartz is their new defensive coordinator.

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/n...-Defense/72122296-c9e4-47e6-8eb5-cf5b0f65c1eb


Some fronts from that article we may see would be this nickel/dime look by Detroit with both ends playing 9 techniques and both tackles playing 3 techniques.



From that, you can get a little creative. I’m not sure if this is something Vance Joseph will delve into or not in terms of letting your DEs stand up. Schwartz did it as Jerry Hughes was pretty good at it and he even had Mario Williams up in certain alignments, in this case a blitz by the slot CB. This is one of the few examples you’ll see where the DEs actually drop into a short zone or the flat.



Also from the article and the GIFs within it, you can see where you can get creative while only applying pressure with four guys up front. You’re going to see a lot of stunts. DE-DT, DT-DE, and for those of you much older than me, you may remember the great Steelers defense of the 70’s, you’ll see their “Tom Game” stunt they used to run with Joe Greene. You'll see something similar to it in the GIF below of Suh against the Buccaneers.



Another example from the article is this play where we see a 2-deep coverage look with what looks like a cover 2 underneath.



Mixing in zone coverages was one aspect I really liked in Detroit’s 2014 tape. I think Teryl Austin did a very nice job of bringing over those things from Baltimore. It’ll be interesting to see if Vance Joseph does that, or if he’s simply going to remain flexible while playing press-man in 2-deep, Cover 1 and Cover 3 looks. This is from the Bengals last year under Paul Guenther. What you’ll see is a 2-deep look with a late rotation into a single-high safety look with Reggie Nelson taking the deep third and George Iloka playing as a robber. One thing the Bengals did differently from what I think we’ll see Miami doing is that they were flexible with how their CBs lined up. Dre Kirkpatrick, the LCB, more often than not lined up a lot in press looks while Pacman Jones, the RCB, played off man. He’s not in this particular case, but he did play off frequently. I think with Maxwell manning that side and the abilities of Lippett/Howard to press, I think we’ll see Miami lined up in press the majority of the time.



The thing to focus on here is the safeties. I do think these late rotations could be part of what Vance Joseph does, and I think Isa Abdul-Quddus has the speed and range to emulate what Reggie Nelson does on this play. I think Reshad Jones, who has freelanced in the past, is suited to do what Iloka did, and with that, you still have a guy in IAQ whose fast enough to help make a play if Jones gambles and misses. Walt Aikens and Michael Thomas were often out of position, missed tackles, or just took bad angles and were to slow to make stops if Jones missed a gamble (see Giants MNF game).

With Vance Joseph’s background being in the 2-deep look, I think he could borrow some of these things that Paul Guenther installed to rotate into Cover 1 and Cover 3 looks. Here’s some video of Vance Joseph explaining his base coverage look back when he was the Texans DB Coach.

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv-med...condary-/01fd92ca-8428-4d2d-8fba-b5b520ce1c09

Seeing all of these components from the Lions, Bills, Bengals and bit of Joseph’s background, I think that paints a little clearer a picture of what I think Miami will run. I think we’ll see the 4-3 Wide-9 package with various coverage looks behind it that are rooted in press-man looks; Cover 1, Cover 3, 2-Deep, and perhaps some Cover 2. I think blitzing will be kept to a minimum, as will funky looks where we see DEs and/or DTs dropping into short zones or the flats, but we may see them here and there. One other element to consider is that Joseph and especially Adam Gase have harped on being adaptable from week to week. Miami may very well mix up their coverages and some of their pressure packages on a week to week basis. While this look isn’t very common, I think it’s versatile and plays well to the strengths of Miami’s players, especially the D-linemen. That, that right there is the main difference from what we saw under Kevin Coyle. He was jamming square pegs into round holes. Some weeks Miami was fortunate enough to play well, but even in some, well, a lot of wins, the defense didn’t play as well as it could have and should have. Hopefully this year we’ll see Miami’s players used in ways that they’re better suited for.

As far as an outlook for the total defense this year I think that Miami will be better than last year. I’d like to think they’ll have better pass-rush numbers and if Jordan Phillips takes a step forward, they could take a nice step forward against the run. As long as Reshad Jones shows up for training camp, I’m not as worried about the secondary as some on this board. What worries me is the linebacker unit. All three of the guys penciled in as starters have injury histories. Recent injury histories at that. And depth there isn’t where it needs to be. Alas, Rome wasn’t built in a day and the Dolphins remodeling of the defense won’t be done in a single offseason. That said, if that trio is able to stay healthy, Alonso and Jenkins in particular, I don’t think Miami will end up in the bottom 5 of the league in most defensive categories again. In my opinion, a jump to somewhere between 15-20 in the league in most categories sounds about right.

 

- Wider alignment of the D-line along the front.
- Presumably more press coverage outside.
- More reliance on getting pressure with the front four as opposed to blitzing.
- Speed over size in terms of the LB unit.
- Somewhat easier to fit personnel at certain spots: DE, MLB.

 

Absolutely. Teryl Austin came up with a few ways to use Suh as a DE. Here he is running a stunt with Ezekiel Ansah for a sack from what I'd call a "ghost" 7 technique; roughly the same as what Schwartz calls the "Wide-5". There's a still shot of this image out there somehwere. Suh actually knocks Pouncey off his block with one hand. Impressive. BTW, that's Jason Jones lined up at DT over Satele in the shot.

Another thing to notice is that with only 4 guys pressuring Tannehill on this play, they literally have every receiver covered and covered well.



I think Lou Anarumo had him lined up in various alignments out wide to use his pass-rush. There were even some snaps where he was a pure DE coming off the edge with no one outside of him. I do wonder if we could see some looks where he's in a 3 or a 4i technique with a DE outside of him and you can see all manner of stunts. I do think we might see some looks where Miami sugars both A gaps with the DTs and DEs lined up wider; that was a look that Kevin Coyle brought from Cincinnati and Cincinnati used it with Paul Guenther last year.

 

Thanks. I think as long as Miami gets better production from the Jordan Phillips/Earl Mitchell combo, the run defense will be better. Both Mario Williams and Jason Jones are better run defenders than Vernon and Wake and Kiko Alonso's speed allows him to cover more ground. This defense is setup to funnel runs back to the middle of the field, so as long as the LBs are able to stay off blocks, there's ample opportunity for them to make plays. I'm interested to see how Koa Misi plays, when he plays that is, in an off-the-ball look for most of his snaps. Jelani Jenkins has been pretty good at shooting gaps in the run game when he's healthy. I think Kiko Alonso has that same type of ability. Koa Misi strikes me as someone who could be really good at it if he understands how he's supposed to play. But, I think it all starts with getting better production out of that Phillips/Mitchell combo as the DEs Miami have now are better able to set the edge against the run.

 

Bumping this since camp starts in a few days.