The Philadelphia Eagles will be even stronger with Michael Bennett, Richard Sherman could become a key player in Seattle’s division rival San Francisco, the New England Patriots will shine with clever trades and Miami’s offense could bring surprises: In the new issue of his NFL column, SPOX editor Adrian Franke looks at the top 10 moves of this offseason – and gives tips on how to better understand football on TV.
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Honorable Mention: The Los Angeles Rams go all-in!
Of course one of the most spectacular teams of this offseason were the ultra-aggressive rams. Since I had already written more detailed about the steps in L.A. in the past weeks (among other things here in detail about new the Defense as well as here about the Cooks Trade) the Rams run here out of competition and do not appear in the ranking.
A 30-year-old cornerback returning from an Achilles tendon rupture is a commitment with lots of question marks. It’s important to keep that in mind with Sherman – even if he will probably get fit for the training camp.
But until the pre-season ended for Sherman due to injury, he was still one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. Since 2011, no cornerback with at least 300 targets has allowed a worse register rating against itself than Sherman (47.7), no corner with the same parameters has a lower completion percentage against itself than Sherman (48.1 percent).
In the last two seasons he also proved himself more often as a man-corner, but his strength still lies in occupying the left cornerback spot in the cover 3 defense and thus clearly limiting the offense in its radius. The good news is that this should be his primary task in San Francisco.
Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh worked in the Seahawks’ defense coaching staff from 2011 to 2013 – when the Legion of Boom was born, so to speak – and then coached in Jacksonville under former Seattle Defense Coordinator Gus Bradley. The embossing in the Cover 3 Defense is definitely there, and Sherman’s influence will go beyond the purely sporting: Behind a highly talented front he can quickly become the clear leader of the secondary – and that he will be extremely motivated is out of the question anyway.
The great Bill Walsh, one of the most important offense minds of all time in football, had a somewhat surprising answer ready when asked about the most important thing in football: “The most important thing in football is pass rush in the fourth quarter”. What was meant was: Whoever still has the power and enough in the tank as a team in the final quarter to put constant pressure on the quarterback has a good basis for success in the NFL.
No team was better in this than the Eagles last season. One of only seven teams in the Regular Season, Philly had four players with at least five sacks: Brandon Graham (9.5), Fletcher Cox (5.5), Chris Long and Derek Barnett (5 each). In the deep defensive line rotation, only Graham (64.3 percent) played over 60 percent of the snaps, followed by Cox (58.9), Vinny Curry (55.9), Long (48.1), Timmy Jernigan (47.8), Barnett (41.1) and Beau Allen (41).
In other words, the Eagles had the best defensive line in the NFL because they could spin at a higher level than any other team – fulfilling Walsh’s premise. With Curry and Allen, Philadelphia have lost two players from this rotation, but one could argue that they are even better in both positions, at least for the short term.
While Haloti replaces Ngata Allen, the trade was arranged for Michael Bennett with the knowledge that curry could go. Bennett is one of the league’s most dangerous pass rushers in recent years, can play defensive end and defensive tackle. He gives the Eagles, while Barnett should get more snaps and rookie Josh Sweat comes into the mix as a situative pass rusher, for the pass rush an even more dangerous presence. Philly had hardly any cap space and yet the team looks better on paper than the 2017 title version.
The Bengals’ Starting-O-Line last season was a disaster with an announcement. Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler, the two best linemen, were handed over without any reinforcements. Instead, Cedric Ogbuehi slid from the right to the left, Andre Smith and later Trey Hopkins took over Zeitler’s guard spot and Jake Fisher started on Right Tackle.
Especially against the background that Andy Dalton needed a clean pocket and didn’t have the weapons to limit defenses schematically, this was a negligent approach. After all, the Bengals have learned from their mistakes. With first-round pick Billy Price on Center and Cordy Glenn on Left Tackle picked up from Buffalo via Trade, the line should be more stable again in one fell swoop. Dalton will benefit from this as much as Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard.
Especially Philipp Dorsett’s pick in the first round in 2015 gave Colts critics of Colts a very steep lead: instead of addressing the obvious construction sites in the front or offensive line, a filigree skill-position player was used. For years now Indy has been lacking in physique, defensively and offensively on the line of scrimmage. Dorsett was a mega-bust, Donte Moncrief is now in Jacksonville.
One can confidently say that a fresh breeze is coming in here. With Quenton Nelson in the first and Braden Smith in the second round of the Drafts – both Guards – Indianapolis has paved the way for a new identity. Nelson and Ryan Kelly should immediately be one of the top interior duo, so the line doesn’t look so bad with Jack Mewhort and Anthony Castonzo – while the receiving corps obviously wasn’t the focus of this off-season.
The Colts are in an upheaval of at least two years, even if Andrew Luck returns in full this year; one can confidently assume that the defensive front will be addressed next year. It’s obvious that the new team bosses and coaches want to dominate games on the line of scrimmage – Luck can only like that.
New England’s trades are not always successful, but no team has been so aggressive when it comes to player trades for years. The two deals with the Browns this year are promising, at least in terms of the idea and the schematic aspects.
For a third round pick, defensive tackle Danny Shelton came to Foxboro (along with a five-lap pick), cornerback Jason McCourty only cost a six-lap pick and brought back a seven-lap pick. Shelton did not fit into the Browns’ attacking 1-Gap-Defense – it is ideal for New England’s 2-Gap-Defense, and should also help to limit the problems in the Run-Defense noticeably.
In a 2 gap front, the primary task of defensive lines is to hold their position and make room. The D-Liner does not primarily attack the backfield itself, but controls the line and has to read the play. Shelton is ideally suited for this, with him and Malcom Brown in the middle Belichick can play his gap controlling defense, which gives Shelton more value even in a 4-3 formation.
McCourty, however, had a very good season last season, he could directly fill the gap created by Malcolm Butler’s departure. McCourty is not on Butler’s level, but the pats can unpack such a tried and tested pattern again: With Stephon Gilmore as the clear number one corner, Belichick will again use a safety corner combination more often to help McCouty.
In addition, New England were able to recruit Cordarrelle Patterson, the best kick returner in the league from Oakland, to fill the gap created here by the departure of Danny Amendola and Dion Lewis more than well.
Page 1: The 10 top moves of this offseason – the places 10-6
Page 2: The 10 top moves of this offseason – the places 5-1
Page 3: How to understand football better, Breakout-Player – your questions