Smaller Linebackers or More Safeties?
Porque no los dos?
It’s been a while! Well, here’s some good news, the Jets won a football game! 12-7 over the New York Giants in Robert Saleh’s debut game as the coach and Zach Wilson’s debut game as an NFL QB. While it hasn’t been so long since their last win on December 27, 2021 against the Browns, it feels good to not feel bad about a Jets win.
Here’s a little of what we saw from Zach Wilson.
In this postgame rundown:
Small linebackers are people too
Denzel Mims isn’t dead yet
Zach Wilson debuts well
Watch out for Jonathan Marshall
Let’s get into it.
POINT OF EMPHASIS
Smaller linebackers or more safeties?
As more spread offensive concepts came into the NFL, the league moved to starting three receivers routinely and running backs that are used significantly more as a fourth receiver. That meant that defenses needed to catch up. Gone are the days of twin thumper interior linebackers of the 3-4.
So does that mean that Robert Saleh’s system simply removes a linebacker from the field in favor of a safety? While the coach and his scheme is clearly pliable, Michael Nania doesn’t believe that Saleh will change it up and explained why in his fantastic job dispelling this three-safety narrative a few weeks ago.
Coaches who gets the current NFL landscape
On offense the number of players eligible to catch passes hasn’t changed, teams have just optimized their players to catch more passes.
Fullbacks are all but gone from the league and single back sets are prevalent
Running backs are used more as receivers
A second tight end has been removed in favor of an additional receiver
This all leads to offenses running three, four, or even five receiver sets with alarming regularity than two decades ago.
The simple truth is that base formations on defense must be more attuned to the passing game. In the Robert Saleh / Jeff Ulbrich scheme, linebackers are simply going to be required to do more in coverage than they might in an other system.
Robert Saleh on his system:
“When you look at the pass game in our system, we ask more out of our linebackers, I think, than any system in football. They are stressed heavily in the pass game. They were almost asked to be supermen, to a degree. But the good ones can do it.
“I think we learned it way back in 2012. The evolution of the [receiving] running back and the passing game was far outpacing the linebacker. We’ve had these smaller, longer, faster linebackers since 2012.”
Every coach will tell the press that their system requires versatility. In the case of the Jets system this is not an exaggeration when it comes to their linebackers.
How might things shake out?
Coverage skills at linebacker are extremely coveted. That’s why players who are extremely athletic and versatile float into early picks on draft day or high dollar contracts thereafter. That’s also why some defenses contort themselves into base nickel and dime packages to paper over their coverage deficiencies at linebacker.
With the Jets going all-in on offense in the early rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft, they had to get creative with their constraints.
Robert Saleh was asked about the team’s selections of Jamien Sherwood and Hamsah Nasirildeen. Both played safety in college but were tagged as linebackers by the Jets quickly thereafter.
"In our scheme, with the chaos we create up front, our guys are more run and hit, more lateral players," Saleh said. "We look at them, these young men, they're down safeties, which is basically linebackers. There's examples all over the league where guys didn't play behind the ball or it's just very hard to evaluate linebackers nowadays with how the college game has evolved.
"What can we see from those guys? We can see their ability to read, diagnose the run, hit play coverage and understand the rough concepts in front of them. We feel like they would be able to translate to linebacker easily."
Expect CJ Mosley (who is playing at a significantly lighter weight this season) and Jarrad Davis to man the first two linebacking spots, but keep your eyes on Nasirildeen over Sherwood for now as Nasirildeen had three tackles in his first preseason game against the Giants. An ACL tear in 2019 and a weird year with COVID protocols prevented a proper rehab, the Jets are banking on his being undervalued coming into the NFL Draft.
SHOVEL PASSES
Zach Wilson passes first test. Wilson was ready to go after a tougher scrimmage game last week. Wilson (6/9, 63 yards, 0TD - 0INT) threw some crisp passes and made some key third down conversions in his first NFL start.
Full review. Bent runs down both the showings of the offense and defense against the Giants.
Discount doublecheck. Josh Johnson told the press post-game that Wilson “reminds me a lot of Aaron Rodgers with some of the throws he makes.”
Denzel Mims plays angry. Mims looks to be improving after a bad bout with food poisoning this spring.
Strong start. The Jets defense set the tone for the team in their preseason opener.
Underrated! What Jets players got jobbed in Madden 22?
Sling on. Giants QB Daniel Jones tells the Jets rookie to “keep slinging it!”
FINAL THOUGHT
The Jets drafted Jonathan Marshall a DT from Arkansas in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, but last night he played like an early round pick, recording three tackles and the final points of the game in his safety of Giants QB Clayton Thorson. I was impressed and wanted to take a look at his prospect profile. Check out that impressive group of comps!
Now go run some steps!
