Xs & Os vs. Jimmys and Joes

by BillyGoat , At Thanksgiving with Joe Bethersontin, Monday, November 18, 2024, 09:16 (556 days ago) @ Mike (bart)

Great post. I also think one key to the Golden defense has been the synchronization between coverages and pressures. We had so many plays under Lea where we got pressure but were playing soft coverage behind it and allowed completions. Lea, on the whole, was awesome. But the timing was off in those situations. With Golden, we get pressure and I'm pretty sure we don't just force a quick throw, but we force the quick throw that we want and are sitting on. Easy pass defended (if not a pick).

But Golden has also benefitted from a great deal of continuity by some really smart and experienced players up the middle of the defense.

Overall, Golden's Ds have been a whole greater than the sum of their parts. Some really good parts in there, to be sure.

But we are going to have a LOT to replace next year, losing our best corner in a generation (Morrison), an elite college safety and turnover machine (X), the all-time leader in games played (Kiser), an undersized but relentless horror movie villain in the middle (Cross), and Mills. To say nothing of two absolutely critical transfer acquisitions in Clark and Heard.

I'm excited for the guys we do bring back. Cautiously optimistic that we will sustain our level of play at LB. Gray and Moore seem up to the task at corner (though depth is a concern). Shuler has shown a lot at safety (but his running mate is totally unclear). Burnham, Young, Botelho, and Traore should be a very good DE group. We definitely need significant help inside on DL and definitely a DB or two.