Ranking every NFL defense from 1 to 32 going into the 2021 season

[nighttrain]

The Rams defense still has Ramsey and Williams, AD and Floyd. Has it really changed all that much? The biggest losses are JJ and Hill. I look at JJ as a difference maker, and Hill as solid. So the main drop off is likely at Safety. But I don’t think it will be that big of a drop off.

Throw in an improved A’shawn and hopefully still improving Gaines and the defensive line won’t miss Brockers but might miss Fox.

So 1 down to 10 is possible, but I think 6th or better is more likely. Especially if Stafford can take the offense where McVay thinks he can. Teams will be one dimensional early on in games.

good thinking
train

 

[CoachAllred]

From 2015 to 2019 the Vikings ranked 5th, 6th, 1st, 5th and 9th in points allowed.

It's like saying McVay would be offensive coach of the year if we have a top offense this year. They still have a ton of talent on d

It was meant more as a joke than anything else.

 

[CoachAllred]

#1 ranked Minnesota, a huge jump from #18.

He was using the Football Outsiders’ Adjusted Games Lost metric or some BS.

Truth is Vikings were ranked 29th in what I consider the most important
Ranking and that is Points allowed per game. Now a crappy offense can certainly
affect the amount of points a defense gives up, but I still consider it to be a pretty good
indicator.
The vikings gave up 29.7 points a game, which in my opinion is not a 18th ranked defense.

 

[1maGoh]

He was using the Football Outsiders’ Adjusted Games Lost metric or some BS.

Truth is Vikings were ranked 29th in what I consider the most important
Ranking and that is Points allowed per game. Now a crappy offense can certainly
affect the amount of points a defense gives up, but I still consider it to be a pretty good
indicator.
The vikings gave up 29.7 points a game, which in my opinion is not a 18th ranked defense.

I don't think advanced metrics work well in football, but I do think a breakdown of points allowed from kickoffs, points allowed from punts, points allowed from turnovers, and points on turnover plays would be helpful. If you wanted to get really really fancy, points allowed from punts after 3 and out. Those numbers would give you a better indication that a defense was doing is job.

At some point though it doesn't matter. Stop allowing points.

 

[Ram65]

As I’ve said endlessly this offseason my concern is losing Staley.
His game plans were good and his adjustments were A +.

I can appreciate your apprehension about Morris replacing Staley. I was excited about Staley as McVay hired a relatively unknown LBer coach that coached the Bears when they stopped the Rams dead in their tracks in 2018. Agree he was great at game planning and adjustments. McVay wanted a defense that he had the most problems against. Staley delivered it.

Did you get a chance to listens to the podcast of McVay, Morris and Mike Tomlin? I got to listen to just over of it. It is a great listen. These three go way back to Tampa Bay as coaches under John Gruden. McVay was the youngest and followed Morris and Tomlin around. They are all very tight and learned a lot together. Morris at a very young age was given the head coaching job. It didn't work out after a 10-6 start.

My opinion is that McVay knows what he is doing. Some have speculated that he gave input to Staley on the defense. I'm not sure about that. I do think McVay and Morris have the type of relationship that would allow McVay to collaborate with Morris. It could be McVay will let Morris alone to do his thing. There has been lots of speculation on Morris changing things up. I see him staying with the same basic concepts but, adding some twists. He might have even said that was his plan. That would be a good idea as keeping the opposing offensives from setting on the same defense.

I think we will know how Morris is doing within the first three games.

 

[Ram65]

It amazes me that no sportswriters have asked McVay the question yet as to Morris and our scheme and how he is supposed to learn it. OR whether they are going to run more of the mainstream shit he's comfortable with.

I suppose it could be a competitive thing. Making the Bears prep for a wider base of looks. But there's no real problem I can see to McVay answering that. So surprised none of these guys who like to ask redundant ass and stupid questions can't prod him a bit on the topic.

It's like a massive question that has been avoided all offseason. They have let McVay brush it aside a bit too easily IMO.

Here is a good interview.

Raheem Morris lays out vision for Rams defense

www.therams.com

Raheem Morris lays out vision for Rams defense​

Feb 13, 2021 at 09:00 AM

Stu Jackson
Staff Writer

Raheem Morris has a pretty good idea of what he's inheriting at his new job, especially when it comes to personnel.
In defensive lineman Aaron Donald and cornerback Jalen Ramsey, he has two players who are not only multi-All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections, but in his words on the Rams Revealed podcast, also "potential gold jacket guys" – meaning potential future hall-of-famers.

"You don't mess them up," Morris said during a video conference Thursday, when asked how he intends to use the duo. "Let's let these guys get going."

It's a wise approach to take, as the two will be the cornerstones of a defense that won't be undergoing wholesale changes with Morris overseeing it.
Morris began his coaching career gaining extensive experience in the Tampa-2 defense, a system traditionally employed in a 4-3 (four down linemen, three linebackers) alignment that creates a three-deep look in Cover 2 with the middle linebacker dropping back to cover the middle of the field.
However, Morris is aware of the way defensives are evolving, particularly when it comes to the trends involving the usage of sub-packages. The Rams are going to "look like a 3-4 base team," as in, a three-down linemen, four linebackers alignment, but won't strictly be that for their base scheme.

"When you go into your sub-packages, which the league has kind of developed into, you see a lot more four-down fronts," Morris said. "Whether you're talking about odd or even fronts, whether you're talking about bringing different people in to do some different things, you're going to do all those things, you're going to have all those different types of packages. Obviously, you'll talk about who you are and what you are. We're going to look like a three-four base team, something that we tried to look like in Atlanta."
This aligns with Rams general manager Les Snead's end-of-season comments about head coach Sean McVay wanting to "keep the DNA" of Brandon Staley's Vic Fangio-influenced defensive scheme, with Morris adding his own twist. It was a similar approach taken by Staley after he took over for Wade Phillips, who deployed a base 3-4 scheme during his three seasons with the Rams. Staley kept the 3-4, but also deployed a variety of alignments and fronts.

Like his predecessor, Morris will also look to find ways to capitalize on Ramsey and Donald's versatile skillsets.
"Jalen is a great player," Morris said. "He's probably rare. He's unique. He can be a shutdown corner. You can move him inside. He can play at the nickel position. He's smart. You see his toughness oozing all over the tape. You see his competitive nature just all over the tape. You see the exciting plays. You see what he can be and his best version of himself at all times when he's out there in the field."
As for Donald, the goal remains to find ways to scheme on-on-one matchups for him. Among interior defenders with at least 150 rushes against two or more blockers, Donald led the league with 319 per PFF and still posted the highest win rate at 18.2 percent. However, Morris also recognizes the value of that attention commanded by Donald.

"You want to get him aligned up and find the ways to get him one-on-ones, but at the same time, he's done such a great job of getting his teammates one-on-one and setting up the guys around him that you don't want to take away that part of his strength either," Morris said.
Beyond Donald and Ramsey, the rest of the group could look different with safety John Johnson III, outside linebacker Leonard Floyd and cornerback Troy Hill all pending unrestricted free agents. Morris said he's going to give his opinion, but understands those decisions are ultimately Snead and McVay's to make, whether it be for financial or other reasons.

Morris knows those players and others contributed to a No. 1-ranked defense, but the final piece to the vision of his defense involves much loftier goals.

"I wasn't brought here to try to duplicate what they did last year," Morris said. "We were brought here to win and we're brought here to win a championship."

 

[CoachAllred]

I don't think advanced metrics work well in football, but I do think a breakdown of points allowed from kickoffs, points allowed from punts, points allowed from turnovers, and points on turnover plays would be helpful. If you wanted to get really really fancy, points allowed from punts after 3 and out. Those numbers would give you a better indication that a defense was doing is job.

At some point though it doesn't matter. Stop allowing points.

You're absolutely right. The way you break it down seems more adequate.
I agree with you that it gets too crazy with the way some of these sites analyze by adding
so many variables it blurs or gets away from the truth.
I don't think they understand football well enough to truly understand the value of each variable
And I think the Vikings being ranked 18th in defense yet allowing an insane 30pts a game is a
perfect example.

 

[Merlin]

Here is a good interview.

I recall this article and it doesn't really tell us anything about how he's going to run this defense. This is what I'm talking about. The back end and how we played last year is a style he's not too knowledgeable about. Did he do a lot of research to learn it? Is McVay teaching it to him? Or maybe our secondary coach?

We hired a guy last year who installed the Fangio defense and led us to a top defensive season. Then we replaced him with a guy who has a history of more conventional schemes. There is a story there not being reported is all I'm saying. As usual the LA media sort of lets them get away with vague descriptions and generalizations.

Anyone who watches ball knows the league is all about the sub packages. But underlying scheme, what you show before and after the snap, matters too. Nowhere in there does he say "we're gonna run the Fangio scheme." Which is something that McVay specifically identified last year as something he wanted.

Also what is interesting is the question of McVay's grasp of the scheme. Was that all about him gaining the knowledge of how it is schemed up so he can better attack it? In other words is he willing to go back to more conventional looks on the back end now with Cover 3? There's a lot there to write about IMO that has not been written about is all I'm saying.

 

[shovelpass]

Nowhere in there does he say "we're gonna run the Fangio scheme."

This line made me a little unsure

We're going to look like a three-four base team, something that we tried to look like in Atlanta."

I know it's in regards to base D, but Staley/Fangio run a 3-4 base. Why not just say it's going to be the same or similar instead of bringing up Atlanta?

The last part too

"I wasn't brought here to try to duplicate what they did last year," Morris said. "We were brought here to win and we're brought here to win a championship."

 

[Ram65]

Maybe, I'm the only one that isn't worried about Morris especially after listening to the video in the article if you click the link above. Also the podcast I mentioned earlier that was posted in another thread. The guy been around.

I highly doubt that if asked specifics about the defense Morris would give away anything valuable to the press. I know McVay says a lot but, he never gives away what he plans on doing with the offense.

As I stated before Morris isn't going to make any wholesale changes on the defense. I trust McVay and Snead know what they are getting with Morris. I'm not worried.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Did you get a chance to listens to the podcast of McVay, Morris and Mike Tomlin? I got to listen to just over of it. It is a great listen. These three go way back to Tampa Bay as coaches under John Gruden. McVay was the youngest and followed Morris and Tomlin around. They are all very tight and learned a lot together. Morris at a very young age was given the head coaching job. It didn't work out after a 10-6 start.

Here is that one;



View: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5F9WG2odP3yg6pm6Ev8NAF

 

[Kupped]

I wasn't sure where to post this thought but didn't think it was worth a new thread.

I generally like what I'm hearing from the Rams camp about the defense under Morris. It sounds like they're really just trying to build on last year, understanding that teams will be all over last year's tape, trying to figure it out.
Having better ILB play should be a nice boost and I think the backfield will be great. It would be great to see some of the young edge guys take a big leap on pass rush.

 

[Merlin]

I think Morris is going to be a hell of a head coach once he gets another shot. No doubt about that in my mind. Leadership is really important in that role and he's got that down.

With camp most of the way done here's my concerns right now...

1. Morris and the scheme. Just the question of how he's going to call it. He's had some questionable defenses.

2. Replacing Brock. Been saying for two years I don't trust Robinson. Here we are just about to start the season and oh guess what homey needs surgery. So now we see why DL was prioritized in this draft and I just hope someone can step up and not be a liability at 5T. 5T is the key for our line and early part of our season.

3. Secondary. Just not feeling this group like I was last year. Last season the group was greater than the sum of the parts. This year we'll see. I feel like they expected Long to step up but all we've seen from him is vids of the guy getting torched by Dallas. Can Rochell step up and in? Dear God I hope so.

Lastly it is strange that I'm not too concerned with ILB. Sure is nice to have Jones waiting in the wings and knowing we'll see some upside soon.

 

[FarNorth]

I think Morris is going to be a hell of a head coach once he gets another shot. No doubt about that in my mind. Leadership is really important in that role and he's got that down.

With camp most of the way done here's my concerns right now...

1. Morris and the scheme. Just the question of how he's going to call it. He's had some questionable defenses.

2. Replacing Brock. Been saying for two years I don't trust Robinson. Here we are just about to start the season and oh guess what homey needs surgery. So now we see why DL was prioritized in this draft and I just hope someone can step up and not be a liability at 5T. 5T is the key for our line and early part of our season.

3. Secondary. Just not feeling this group like I was last year. Last season the group was greater than the sum of the parts. This year we'll see. I feel like they expected Long to step up but all we've seen from him is vids of the guy getting torched by Dallas. Can Rochell step up and in? Dear God I hope so.

Lastly it is strange that I'm not too concerned with ILB. Sure is nice to have Jones waiting in the wings and knowing we'll see some upside soon.

Excellent article from Jourdan Rodrigue on Ramsay and Morris that suggests Morris will follow Staley's scheme at least in using Morris as the "star" back. A key may be how Long steps up on the outside, thereby freeing Ramsay to move around as needed.

Cornerback Jalen Ramsey is the Rams’ ‘Star’ — a position that can evolve as he does, too

"He's one of those guys who can go anywhere — outside, inside, outside linebacker, you can put him almost anywhere," Raheem Morris said.

theathletic.com

More depth here from JR than anything I've see so far on how Morris is looking at the secondary.

This is encouraging to me, but as you say how Morris actually calls the scheme in a game remains to be seen.

 

[hotanez]

I think Morris is going to be a hell of a head coach once he gets another shot. No doubt about that in my mind. Leadership is really important in that role and he's got that down.

With camp most of the way done here's my concerns right now...

1. Morris and the scheme. Just the question of how he's going to call it. He's had some questionable defenses.

For him to get a shot at being a HC , Morris needs to nail number 1 on your list. If he fails with this level of talent, I see no way a GM chooses him.

 

[Merlin]

For him to get a shot at being a HC , Morris needs to nail number 1 on your list. If he fails with this level of talent, I see no way a GM chooses him.

Maybe. But I'm not so sure of that. Fisher was never any good as a DC. Vrabel never really put up a top defense on his own (i.e. away from Belicheat). It happens. And Morris would undoubtedly be a good interview. Plus he's gonna get them since he works for McVay.

You know what would suck is him not getting a job if his defense is a top unit. But I doubt that happens. Things go well we may lose both coordinators after we win it all this year.

 

[hotanez]

Maybe. But I'm not so sure of that. Fisher was never any good as a DC. Vrabel never really put up a top defense on his own (i.e. away from Belicheat). It happens. And Morris would undoubtedly be a good interview. Plus he's gonna get them since he works for McVay.

You know what would suck is him not getting a job if his defense is a top unit. But I doubt that happens. Things go well we may lose both coordinators after we win it all this year.

In this case I would disagree only because he takes over the number 1 ranked D that has the best NFL player in AD and one of if not the best CB in the game in Ramsey. If he blows it I just don't see how a GM would give him a chance.

 

[Merlin]

You make good points. Almost convinced me in fact!

 

[hotanez]

You make good points. Almost convinced me in fact!

I'm hoping he nails it and we're a top 3 Defense but that will almost guarantee he will be stolen from us just like Stanley

 

[Mojo Ram]

I tend to oversimplify sometimes, but i feel like AD & Ramsey are the base defense in terms of what the DC is going to run. They're both so dominant that any DC worth his salt will design the attack & coverage around their particular strengths, much like an offensive mind like McV will run an offense based on the strengths of his QB.

It's quite possible that Staley wasn't a defensive genius and was just smart not to try to force his scheme.. knowing that he was blessed with AD & Ramsey. It would help explain the move from a legend like Wade Phillips to a relative unknown in Staley.

Just an oversimplified thought.