A near certainty for the 2017 Rams: Wade Phillips will improve defense

[tomas]

*How will the two new outside Lb'ers (Barwin/Quinn) play after moving from 43 DE.

Connor Barwin best success came when Wade Phillips (Houston Texans) moved him to outside linebacker in 2011.Connor Barwin is a true 3-4 player.It will allow him to play better than he did last year in Philadelphia (4-3 defense).

 

[OldSchool]

During OTA's ? Right now I won't be to concerned . An injury is never a good thing , but unless that is what caused him to miss games last season ? I know he was hurt going into the season last year.

Interesting listening to J Joyner about playing FS. I like what he said about being the last line of defense & taking better angles.
Why Williams never had him play FS before is beyond me. Where John Johnson fits & back up SS ?? Cody Davis ??

I seem to remember a video where one of either JJ or McVay talking about JJ had spent some time learning SS.

 

[So Ram]

I seem to remember a video where one of either JJ or McVay talking about JJ had spent some time learning SS.

I just saw him with Dana on Rams sight. I think he was talking about being a FS .
I might have misunderstood? I think FS is the best fit for his size. IMO just from playing sports it's easier to come up & jump moving forward. If he needs to get deep it's about cutting off angles & reading the ball. He always comes up and hits. As a CB that to be has been his strong suit.

 

[OldSchool]

I just saw him with Dana on Rams sight. I think he was talking about being a FS .
I might have misunderstood? I think FS is the best fit for his size. IMO just from playing sports it's easier to come up & jump moving forward. If he needs to get deep it's about cutting off angles & reading the ball. He always comes up and hits. As a CB that to be has been his strong suit.

I know next to nothing about his skill set, just remember seeing him being talked about at SS.

 

[BonifayRam]

I seem to remember a video where one of either JJ or McVay talking about JJ had spent some time learning SS.

I recall an interview with John Johnson where he stated that during the post-Draft rookie minicamp he was working exclusively @ Strong Safety. He went on to say that he thought he would see work in the Nickle corner & @ deep safety. He said it was a surprise.

JJ is 6-1 205 pounder, Mo is 6-1 220 pounds, Mark Barron is 6-2 1/2 213 pounds. If Wade thoughts is he is planning to go with just 4 safeties & go heavy @ corner then Alexander/ Joyner/ Davis & Johnson would be probably end up as the safety cadre. A safety like Brian Randolph would be a nice practice squad member & stands a chance to remain there all season due to teams being scarred off from all the knee surgeries.

 

[Prime Time]

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/05/25/roger-goodell-nfl-players-relationship-touchdown-celebration-rule

1. Aaron Donald’s fit with new Rams coordinator Wade Phillips.

I think what’s interesting is how he’ll fit playing in a 3-4 front for the first time in his career. And to this question, new coordinator Wade Phillips answered to me a while back, “everywhere”. What did he mean? Phillips was saying that Donald is a player who you fit in a scheme, and not the other way around. But more than just that, there was an opening there to flip the notion that all 3-4 defenses are created equal.

The truth is there are certain fronts that Donald wouldn’t be ideal. The old read-and-react 3-4 usually demands tall, long athletes to play the 5-technique end spots and outsized nose tackles to anchor the middle, and Donald, at 6-foot and 284 pounds is neither, and using him as a hold-your-ground linemen wouldn’t be the best use of his talent.

But Wade’s scheme isn’t like that. It attacks, and gets players upfield, and doesn’t require linemen to hold blocks like Dick LeBeau or Bill Belichick 3-4 defenses of the past would. “He’s one of the best players in the league,” said one scouting director of Donald. “And he’ll still be a 3-technique in that scheme. So there won’t be much different. There are attacking three-down looks there, it’s not a ‘read’ defense.”

Now, what’s interesting is the name Phillips invoked to me when we discussed how Donald fits—JJ Watt. Well, Watt won a Defensive Player of the Year for Phillips. And then, Watt got a big new contract before his first season playing in new coordinator Romeo Crennel’s more traditional 3-4.

Watt responded with two more Defensive Player of the Year awards. He was a good enough player to make it work both ways. And Donald will be just fine—and probably pretty rich—when the season starts.