LA Rams: Evolution of NT role and 2021 impact to Rams defense
In LA Rams News: The evolution of the nose tackle role and how does that impact the LA Rams 2021 defensive philosophy and scheme
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Evolution of NT role and 2021 impact to Rams defense
Oh the days of yesteryear, those shadows of memories where the NFL invented more than just new formations, but actually created new football positions. The LA Rams have a long and storied history, but there are other ways to roll back the calendar and revisit the lessons of long ago and translate yesterday into today’s wisdom. One example is the history of the nose tackle and how that position’s introduction and eventual transformation affect the team in 2021.You know the nose tackle position, right? Well, there is a lot to learn about how the nose tackle came to be, and how that has evolved over time. To understand the entire story, we have to step back in time to Wade Phillips, his father Bum Phillips, and then his mentor, Hank Stram. So who was the guy who put nose tackle on the NFL map? None other than Curley Culp.
In the late 1960s, just after the NFL and AFL combined and created the Super Bowl to determine the NFL Champion, the Denver Broncos draft Curley Culp to become an NFL guard with their second-round pick of the draft. The only problem? He wanted to play defense. So Hank Stram, then head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, traded a third-round pick to the Broncos for Culp and pledged to play him on the defensive side of the ball. The Chiefs finished the season at 12-2 but lost to the then Oakland Raiders in the Divisional round. That season, Culp played defensive tackle.
Culp did not become the nose tackle for the entire 1969 season until the 11-3 Chiefs advanced to Super Bowl IV to face the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings had a dominating running attack, but like many NFL teams at that time, played an undersized center named Mick Tingelhoff, who was swift enough to block downfield very effectively against linebackers because he stood 6-foot-2 and weighed a svelte 237 pounds. Against the Chiefs, he would face 6-foot-2 265-pound nose tackle, Curley Culp, the entire game. Culp won the battle, the Vikings were held to 67 yards rushing, and the Chiefs won the game.
The nose tackle position was born. And the NFL would never be the same.
3-4 began as a rushing defense
From its inception, the odd man front became the hottest new innovation to the NFL, and soon multiple defenses began to deploy their own version of the 3-4 defense with mixed results. The first iterations of that defense truly hinged upon finding a strong-bodied defensive tackle who enjoyed getting double-teamed and triple-teamed routinely, They weren’t exactly in ample supply.
The other feature of the 3-4 defense that teams soon discovered is that the defense was ideally suited to defend against the run, but was less effective against the pass. The reason? The first versions rushed just three defenders and used linebackers in their traditional role of plugging gaps, defending short passing routes, and working primarily against tight ends and running backs.
Of course, that wouldn’t do. 4-3 defenses had a distinct advantage simply because they were able to get after the quarterback with more bodies, and that pulled NFL teams back away from the 3-4 and towards the more dependable 4-3 pass defense. Of course, that wouldn’t last long either.
The 3-4 needed one more innovation to successfully compete with the 4-3, and that was the invention of the outside linebacker edge rusher. Once that role was introduced, the NFL defenses were comparable. But that sort of innovation was not easy to do. College football really wasn’t producing the new role, and the NFL teams, no matter how innovative, were entirely dependant upon what talent arrived each year via the draft.
Innovation, renovation, and implementation
The NFL needed to transform the traditional role of the outside linebacker from pass coverage/ run support to pass rusher/ run support. In fact, former LA Rams outside linebacker Kevin Greene was one of the reasons for that transformation. You see, he was a fifth-round pick for the LA Rams at the outside linebacker role. The problem was that he couldn’t cover the pass to save his career. But he could rush the passer. Now, the 3-4 could hold its own. Still, the lack of quality nose tackles and edge rushers caused shortages for NFL defenses. That forced
Greene would take his pass-rushing persona on to the Pittsburgh Steelers where he would join forces with defensive coordinator Dom Capers. They would continue to dominate the NFL defensive landscape for the rest of Greene’s career. Eventually, Greene retired, Capers was fired, and the 3-4 defense appeared to be sunsetting in the NFL once more.
In fact, the only team that ran a 3-4 defense in 2001 was the Pittsburgh Steelers, who happened to boast the best defense in the NFL that year. Since that time, the 3-4 defense has become more popular once more. You see, in the meantime, college defenses began to adopt the 3-4 defense as well. That meant a greater supply of players who could play nose tackle and edge rusher.
Of course, the Rams reverted to a 4-3 defense and were running that under defensive coordinator Gregg Williams when the team shook up the coaching staff. After hiring head coach Sean McVay, the team hired venerable defensive coordinator Wade Phillips who installed the 3-4 defense for the LA Rams once more. The reason? Simply stated, he believes that the 3-4 configuration is better suited to defend the pass.
View: https://twitter.com/sonofbum/status/1215338370705965056?s=21
Okay, so the LA Rams are back to the 3-4. So how does that impact the nose tackle role for the LA Rams, and ultimately their defense?
Installation
The LA Rams set 6-foot-4, 287-pound Ethan Westbrooks up as their starting nose tackle in 2017. While Westbrooks played between Michael Brockers and Aaron Donald, he was an inflexible player, relegated to stuffing running plays up the middle and slipping inside for the occasional quarterback sack. The LA Rams needed more from the role and signed free agent defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh in 2018. Suh opened a lot of options to the Rams defensive front.
View: https://twitter.com/fb_filmanalysis/status/693250859862327297?s=21
And so, that allowed Phillips to set up his 3-4 defense with the gap responsibilities of a 4-3. Phillips truly has not gotten just how good of a defensive schemer he truly was. His 3-4 actually pushed a five-man defensive front appearance to the offense, and that forced offensive lines to slide to the strong side of the defense, and set up Aaron Donald for one on ones. It was no wonder that 2018 was Donald’s career-high sack total of 20.5 in one year. Donald wins one-on-ones.
View: https://youtu.be/qtHLy9p158U
But Suh was not a resident of Los Angeles, rather more like a rental. In 2019 the Rams needed to reconfigure once more. On this season, the Rams converted the even five-man fronts into a four-man front with three linebackers. You can see how that appeared in this video link right here. Here is another video from 2019 with similar schemes. Ever willing to change his defensive scheme to match his personnel, LA Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips got a lot of mileage out of his defense. Perhaps one of his last acts was to promote 6-foot-4 310-pound Sebastian Joseph Day to the nose tackle/defensive tackle position.
Staley’s modifications
Whether or not he deserved to be released, the LA Rams defense had reached its plateau under Phillips. The Rams changed the basic defensive philosophy at the beginning of the new season and then worked within that philosophy to change up coverages and blitzes. That is the way a majority of the NFL defenses go about their business.
When Staley arrived, he brought a new dimension to the LA Rams 3-4 defense. Learning his craft from another great defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, Staley lined his trio of defensive linemen in the Eagle formation. That dictates that the nose tackle plays over the center but can shade to either side. The defensive ends play off the offensive tackle, but shades to the inside. One of the Rams inside linebackers shades to the other side of the offensive center and the two outside linebackers line up outside of the offensive tackles.
View: https://youtu.be/zmdaZSWe77k
By aligning in this manner, the defensive players have a tremendous advantage against the run, as they begin the play by being in the running lanes. Unlike the five-man front of Phillips, this Eagle formation forces offensive linemen to rely upon double teams to open running lanes, which in turn frees up a defender to make the play. The Rams disguised their looks on each play and then disguised their defense further for each team that they faced.
The nose tackle, surprisingly, takes on a huge number of double teams because he is the fulcrum of the defense. While 2019 was a learning period for nose tackle Sebastian Joseph Day, he matured and was ideal to play that role in 2020. The Rams rushing defense was so good because the real work was handled upfront. All that was truly needed by the linebackers were to stay home, read the offense, and play basic defense. Casey Sulley from WeeklySpiral.com does an outstanding breakdown of the Rams 3-4 defense under Brandon Staley, and I recommend you check it out. It shows how the Rams pushed tremendous pressure on the quarterback, despite only rushing four.
Morris’ makeover
So now one year later, the LA Rams’ defense is undergoing another makeover. While there is a myriad of questions to ask and answer, the key to the defense is how the nose tackle role will transform this year. Of course, we could speculate, by why not go straight to the source. Here is Sebastian Joseph Day talking about upping his pass-rushing techniques, and how to improve his game at his role at nose tackle for the 2021 season. Bash (as he is known by his high school coaches) doesn’t describe any changes to his body size and frame, so it’s clear that his basic role won’t change
Where the nose tackle role may change a bit is the pass rush, because the Rams will need to replace the production of Michael Brockers and Morgan Fox. Sebastian Joseph Day will certainly factor into that.
We’ve done a quick and dirty analysis of the LA Rams defensive line, and concluded that this may actually be the most talented group of players that head coach Sean McVay has ever had to work with. So that begs the question, will that surplus of talent modify the Rams defensive philosophy?
Morris talks about how he will field a base 3-4 defense but will implement sub-packages. That suggests a bit different method, as that suggests that the Rams will roll in more comprehensive personnel packages based on down and distance. In Staley’s packages, the Rams relied on adapting with reconfiguring the defensive plays.
For the Rams’ new defense, look for the Rams to rely a bit more heavily upon a linebacker or a super safety for pass defense over the middle of the defense. That specialization will mean that the defensive front may convert partially back to a two-gap alignment.
We know that the new defensive scheme will not be as insulating to the inside linebacker positions. As we showed previously, Staley’s scheme practically ran interference for the linebackers on each play, containing running plays and occupying offensive linemen before they could get to the second level. Now? Those linebackers will be more involved, may face an occasional blocker, and that is why the Rams invested a valuable draft pick to get their guy.
We’ll know soon what the Rams defense is predicated upon. But one key to everything is the nose tackle role. Hopefully, this discussion will highlight some points to watch for through the 2021 training camp.
