Apparently, Smith and Vontae have switched sides of the defense. Sparano said something to the effect that the different sides of the defense suit each one's talents better. I was wondering if anyone knew Nolan's defense with enough depth to explain why this might be. My guess is that most #1 receivers are bigger, more physically dominating types (such as Brandon Marshall), which suits Smith's size and press technique (and yes, I've read the reports that Marshall has been beating Smith in camp over the first few days. That doesn't change the point). Whereas the typical #2 receiver is a speedier and shiftier in tight spaces, which might suit Vontae better as Smith has had the bad habit going back to his days at Utah to get beaten deep. Thoughts?
I think it's less to do with matching up players physically and more about catering to strengths when it comes to routes and parts of the field.
Well, just about every time Smith has lined up on Marshall it has resulted in a TD to Marshall. So, I don't think that is the reason. As for the reason; I don't really know. From the reports that I have read, Vontae actually holds his own against Marshall.
I really think you're making a few assumptions. Just because Marshall has a few touchdowns on Smith in practice, doesn't mean Smith is giving Marshall a touchdown every time he lines up against him. I've seen tweets/reports of Vontae getting beat by lesser receivers, but that doesn't really tell the whole story.
Very true. I was going to mention that receivers like Bess and Gates (great route runner and a pure speed guy, neither big and physical... that's my point) are giving Vontae a good go. I know that Marshall isn't getting a TD everytime Sean covers him. I was just saying I haven't heard anything about Vontae giving up much of anything when lined up on Marshall. That probably has a lot to do with the number of snaps that Vontae ends up being on Marshall. I don't know.. I am not there to see. So all I have to go on is the reports. So, I stated what I read in the reports.
im a little confused as to why everyones acting like its such a big deal? These two are both awesome and quite frankly trying to decide whose better is a game by game decision. Who cares whose on what side? Outside of opposing offenses who wish one of them just wasnt on the field i guess.
I'll have to let more knowledgable posters fully explain it as it pertains to our particular defense, but here's a simple example from Wikipedia: So, in this particular example, they might like Vontae's ability to track more and Sean's ability to float, particularly with his size.
Going back to Madison and Surtain, they always lined up the same way. I think a corner gets a certain feel for playing his half of the field. Inside or outside shade coverage on the receiver has a different technique when playing the left vs the right. In a way you can compare it to playing LT vs RT or LG vs RG, in pass protection. It'll have a completely different feel if your kick sliding with your left vs your right foot. It'll take some getting used to. Any lineman will tell you, if they've been practicing one and not the other and all of a sudden in a game the starter goes out and they have to jump in to something they haven't been practicing, there's an adjustment period. Didn't Sean Smith play the LCB position in college? And I believe Vontae did as well? Someone has to play on the right. I would imagine that the closer the receiver gets to the boundary, the better Sean is in coverage due to his arm length and size. He'll just smother the receiver.
More flexibility on Defense, and keep in mind SS24 moves to the Hybrid Safety to handle Te's and Carroll comes in at Boundary Corner.
I am glad to have them both. We are just discussing and trying to figure out the reasoning as to why they have switch sides of the field, that's all. I like what both of them bring to the game. Just making observations (all be-it based on reports from me... so not so much physical observations but more mental ones) and such.
That's a good point. Thanks whoever the hell you are. I know members here by avatars and you sir are no Padre! I don't know who you are but, you better return him ASAP! J/K... I am loving the new Bruise Brothers avatar... brings back some fond and not so fond memories. :P
Great points. I was thinking the coaches wanted to get both guys comfortable on either side to prepare for any scenarios where we wanted to swap CBs to matchup vs specific WRs. Rex Ryan does a terrific job of this w/ Revis and Cromartie and it allows him some liberties in terms of pressuring the QB that most coaches simply don't receive. But if either CB is uncomfortable on the left or right then it diminishes the impact of the switch. We have Houston in Week 2 and when we played them in 2009 Sean Smith shadowed Andre Johnson for most of the day. Nolan wasn't the DC then, but it may be strategy he chooses to employ. OTOH smaller, quicker guys like Desean Jackson, Miles Austin & Santonio Holmes may find Vontae shadowing them when we fact those teams this season. Now that Sean and Vontae are 3rd year players the coaches may feel more comfortable switching them when the need arises and if they can do it successfully it adds yet another wrinkle that Nolan can use against our opponents.
CFL season is well begun, so Wally Buono is busy and it is time to let fly my Dolphins Flag. 49ers ate them alive in that SB.
Its a good thing no matter how we slice it. Well, unless one of them ends up stinking on the opposite side. I like the idea because it gives the team some flex if anyone gets hurt or if a certain Wr is burning one of them. Just switch them back
It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to keep them on one side. The only reason I can think of them doing this is because of the breaks on the ball not being the same on each side. I'd rather they align by Field and Boundary though. However, it has worked for the most part so can't complain too much.
But that's not what Sparano said. He indicated that the skill sets (relative to the scheme) of Vontae and Smith fit them switching... that they would be better in these new spots. Presumably their skill sets fit them being on the side their were on under Pasqualoni's scheme. Then, when we hired Nolan, my guess is they knew that they should switch them but didn't want to harm them at that stage of their development. Now that they're third year players, they feel more comfortable switching them to the roles they should be playing. And my question was: what are the specific requirements of Nolan's scheme that precipitate this sort of thing? Frayser's post shed some light on this (which I read as Smith playing more to the QB's blind side, allowing him to roam more) but I was just curious if anyone had the details.
Yeah, that's why I said what I said about the breaks on the ball. They're probably moving them around to get them used to it all. Like I said though, I'd rather align by field and boundary.
One advantage is Vontae is a much bigger threat to blitz, and a CB blitz to (most) Qbs blindsides can become gamechanging plays.
