Weapons Check: Christian Hackenberg – Preseason Week 3

http://www.jetnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Christian-Hackenberg-Week-3-Preseason-6.gif

Christian Hackenberg made his much awaited debut for the Jets in the game against the Giants.  He led the Jets to a touchdown, and gave hope to Jets’ fans for the future, although some of the faults that showed up in college came back to bite him in the preseason.   Let’s examine how he did:

1) 

This is Hackenberg’s first pass of the game, and an excellent introduction into his ability.  The Giants are playing single high safety on this play, and only really rush three people on this play.  They drop everyone else back, and dare Hackenberg to beat them.   He goes through all of the reads, with Chandler Worthy as the fifth read on this play.  As Hackenberg scans the field, the linebackers all follow his eye and move away from Worthy.   This is an absolutely beautiful throw, placed where his WR can be the only one to make the play on this throw.  Of course, Worthy drops the pass and it ends up an incomplete pass.  This is a great example of his ability to read the field and make a strong throw.

2) 

This play is set up perfectly, and expertly run right up until the most important part, which was the pass.  The Jets are running a screen here, but Hackenberg sets this up perfectly with his eye movement.  He sells the read and possible pass to his right, moving all the linebackers to that side in a similar fashion to the last play.  The Jets have this set up perfectly, they have a WR blocking one defender with an offensive lineman running out to block the one defender in the open.  This could be a big pass, but Hackenberg makes a horrible throw on this play.  Notice the timing of this play as well, when the RB is starting to turn around be simultaneous with the timing of Hackenberg turn around as well.   This is an easy screen pass, and Hackenberg doesn’t put enough loft on the pass and throws the pass behind the RB.   Atone Smith can’t make an one handed play on this pass, and it leads to an incomplete pass.  Hackenberg struggled mightily in college with screen passes, so it’s disheartening to see him struggle with the same concept in the preseason games.

3) 

This throw is one of the biggest reasons why Jets’ fans should be hopeful to the future.  This is a 3rd and 15 throw, with the Giants playing back trying to prevent the first down.  When you hear people talk about “throwing receivers open” this is what they are talking about.  Zach Sudfeld is well covered on this play, but Hackberg puts the ball right on the TE for the conversion.  Notice the timing of Hackenberg’s windup on this throw, because Sudfeld is just not open at the time.   Also, notice how Hackenberg steps up with his lead foot on this throw, helping him be accurate with the throw.

4) 

This is a good pass by Hackenberg and a nice catch by Charone Peake.  The Giants are playing two high safety on this play, but Peake moving at the line causes some confusion on the defense.  The middle linebacker moves up to cover Peake on this play, while the CB that was initially covering Peake moves back.  This late movement causes an issue with the defense, essentially giving Peake a free release and allowing him a straight run towards the safety.  Hackenberg realizes this matchup, alas right out of the run fake, he’s looking for Peake, and makes a good throw.  It isn’t a great throw, because the pass is a bit behind the WR, who makes a good adjustment to the pass.   Also, notice how wide open Robby Anderson is at the end of it.

5) 

A very good throw by Hackenberg, and a nice catch by Robby Anderson, who absolutely blows by his defender.  The Giants are again in one deep safety look here, but man coverage underneath.  Anderson runs by his defender on the inside, and then turns outside to create separation, as well as a favorable angle for the QB.   Hackenberg makes a very good throw here, however he is making this throw flat footed.  It doesn’t cost him on this play, but lazy mechanics have cost zip on his passes in college.  This pass is impeccably placed, so there wasn’t anything the defender could do to defend the completion.  The second aspect which makes this play successful is the slot WR on the right, who makes a very good double move on his defender, which creates a big problem for the high safety.  The safety has to choose between Anderson and the WR down the middle, and he chooses the middle WR, which allows Hackenberg to throw to Anderson without the fear of a safety over the top.  This is a good read by the young QB, and a good throw, although the mechanics need to be better.

6) 

The first TD for Hackenberg in his Jets career, and this is a beautiful throw and catch.  It’s reminiscent of Decker’s TD against the Patriots last year, with a perfectly placed throw.  On this play, the Jets play a rub route with Peake, although it could have been called a penalty, with Anderson going one on one with a safety.  Anderson fakes an inside route, to which the safety bites, and then runs outside creating separation.  This route is over at this point, because the safeties always have to play the inside route since it’s an easier throw.  To make the outside throw, the QB has to lob the ball over the safety, but before the sidelines.  Hackenberg makes a great throw where Anderson is the only one that can make a play on the ball.  Once the ball was throw, the safety might as well have stopped and headed back to the bench, because he has no shot on this throw.

7) 

Remember the bad mechanics?  Well Hackenberg displays bad mechanics on this play, which takes zip off the football, thus allowing for a LB to tip the ball.  Hackenberg opens up too much on this pass, which leads to a slower pass, although the LB does make a good play on the ball.  If he steps up on this pass, there is a better chance the ball has more zip, and therefore less time for the LB to adjust his route (which is going the other way) and tip the pass.  This is a good read by Hackenberg, as Anderson is open on the play, but it doesn’t reach him without being tipped.

8) 

An Absolutely horrible throw by Hackenberg, which leads to an interception.  This is a third down play with their backs against the goal, and the Giants drop back a lineman into the passing lane in the middle.  Hackenberg reads the play from his left to right, but for some reason assumes the lineman will follow the slot receiver to the outside, but the lineman doesn’t bite.  Hackenberg make the throw to a TE, who beats the individual defender and would be open in a vacuum.   However, the lineman jumps the route for the pass in the middle and gets the pass thrown right towards him for an easy interception.  The lineman misses the catch, but tips it up enough for  a LB to intercept the pass.   This is a throw that many Jets’ fans have seen from Mark Sanchez or Geno Smith.  This is one of Hackenberg’s biggest weaknesses, because he has trouble with linebackers and lineman who drop back into coverage.  The Jets need to utilize the running game more with him in the game to keep the defense honest.

9) 

Another horrible decision and throw from Hackenberg, as he locks into Anderson from the snap.  The pocket is clean for the most part, but Hackenberg makes a bad read.  On the Sudfeld throw, you saw the positive side of throwing a WR open, but this is the negative side of it.  On this play, Anderson isn’t open on the play when Hackenberg makes the throw, but unfortunately for the Jets, Anderson doesn’t get any separation.  There is an argument that the defender could have been called for pass interference.   Extrapolating Anderson’s position from when Hackenberg starts his windup, to where the ball ends up, the pass would have been a bit behind the WR had Anderson continued inhibited towards the middle.  This is another example of Hackenberg opening up a bit more than necessary to make this throw .  By rule, pitchers in baseball are told to point their toes to where they want to throw the ball to gain optimal control.  You notice on a consistent basis, that Hackenberg opens up too much, which causes him to rely more on his arm than mechanics.  Football isn’t quite the same as pitching because sometimes QBs have to release the ball before optimal set up, but that’s not the case here because the pocket is clean for Hackenberg.

10) 

This is a failed screen pass, and probably the best evidence of Antoine Smith not making the team.  Instead of finding an opening for a screen pass, Smith gets stuck on the defensive line, making a completion all but impossible.  Since this is a set screen play, Hackenberg can’t be blamed for not stepping up for this pass because he needs to lead the defensive line up the field to create more space for the RB.   Remember the first screen pass (also a failure) and how it was set up perfectly?  Notice Hackenberg on both plays, then observe where the RB is when he makes the turn for the screen pass.  On the first one, the RB is in the open perfectly for the pass.  On this play, Smith is all but on the ground trying to wiggle free, which ends this play before anything develops.

11) 

A 3rd down play and another conversion.  The Giants are playing zone on this play, and Hackenberg makes this play perfectly.  First, he holds the center of the zone (the LB in the middle) with his eyes, and looking towards his right.  This creates a triangle of space for Anderson to settle in, which makes for an easy throw.  There is ample evidence that Hackenberg has the mental side of the game down, and this is a very good example of his abilities.  He makes the entire defense shy away from Anderson because he’s not even looking at him until the last second, therefore the LB can’t move towards Anderson to close off the open area.  Anderson also runs a good route on this play, and settles in the soft part of the zone, showing good field awareness.   It’s a great throw and read.

12) 

Another screen pass, another failure.  This is a fairly easy set up, with the screen set up as a dump off to the right side.  However, the Giants have a rusher come up the middle to cause Hackenberg to move back in the pocket.  As the defender grabs Hackenberg, he makes a good throw to the RB, who flat out drops the ball.  The ball hits Antoine Smith right on the arms, and the Jets have this set up to be a very good play for a decent gain.  The Giants are dropping more and more people for Hackenberg, forcing him to read his progressions.  Chan Gailey counters this by dialing up screen passes, but they just failed over and over again.  The play call is so that the Giants would give up yards on screens, but also force their LBs to step up further on future plays.  This is a great example of an OC trying to help the QB with play design, but it didn’t work out for the Jets.

13) 

This play was highlighted by the announcers because Smith had a shot at the first down, but chose to go lateral, and then get stuffed short of the marker.  An absolute horrible play by the RB on this play, given the situation.   As for Hackenberg, he makes a good read and makes sure that Smith has enough room for yards after the catch.  This should have been a first down, but Smith fails.  This play is more to highlight what Gailey is trying to do with screen plays, as you notice the amount of space that is available between the RB and the defenders.

14) 

 To set up this play, remember the Jets were stuffed on third and short with Geno Smith earlier in the game.  They go for a pass on 4th and 1 on this play, but it starts off with a bad snap, which causes Hackenberg to lose concentration.  To make matters worse, there is a free blitzing linebacker coming at Hackenberg right in his line of sight, which causes Hackenberg to panic and throw a bad pass to Sudfeld.  On this play, both Chandler Worthy and Robby Anderson are open, but Hackenberg goes towards Sudfeld as he’s being taken down.  One of the reasons why David Carr failed with the Texans was because he would lose his sight line when pressured.  Hackenberg slid in the draft because they feared that the porous offensive line at PSU caused him to lose his line of sight when pressured.  This play is a good example of it, as Hackenberg is looking straight at a wide open Worthy, or Anderson as he crosses the middle.

Conclusion:

Christian Hackenberg made his debut for the Jets and he played well.  He had some really nice reads and good throws during the game.  The TD throw to Robby Anderson was a great pass, but his troubles with screen passes show up during the game.  There were some instances where the foot opens up too much, causing some inaccuracies.  The interception was just a horrible read and throw by Hackenberg, which leads to his up and down nature.  Overall, it was a good debut for Hackenberg, although he does have some flaws to clean up.

Please discuss this article as well as other New York Jets topics on our forum (Click Here).

Please check out prior articles of our Weapons Check series:  (Jalin Marshall) (Charone Peake) (Darron Lee) (Robby Anderson)

Also read our college based scouting report on Christian Hackenberg from earlier this year:  (Pros) (Cons) (Team Failure) (Summary)

JetNation.com
http://wp.me/p59zQO-71k
#Check, #Christian, #Hackenberg, #Preseason, #Weapons, #Week - #Football

Weapons Check: Jalin Marshall – Preseason Week 1

http://i2.wp.com/www.truesportsfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Jalin-Marshall-7-Great-Route-Catch.gif?fit=637%2C358

Each week, we’ll examine some of the new weapons on the New York Jets.  Unfortunately, pre-season games do not come with coaches film, so film breakdown will not be quite as comprehensive as previous endeavors until the regular season starts.

Our first subject is Jalin Marshall, signed as an un-drafted free agent out of Ohio State University.  He has impressed the team’s reporters with his ability during practice, but week 1 of the preseason was the first time fans across country saw his ability.  Let’s examine his week against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Good:

1) 

This play is mostly remembered for the completion to Quincy Enunwa, but Marshall provides a great decoy on this play out of the right slot, and is part of the reason this play is successful.  The most important aspect of this play is the timing he displays with Fitzpatrick on this play.  As Fitz reaches the apex of his drop back and has his arm cocked for a throw, Marshall is in his break and turning around.  The timing on this play with Marshall draws in two defenders who are sure the ball is going towards Marshall, thus opening the back-end of the play for Enunwa.  While Marshall won’t get credit for this play, his action and timing on this play is a big reason why this was a great pass.

2) 

This is a very good pass to Charone Peake down the sideline.  At the same time, Marshall runs a very good route at the same time and is open for the check down in the middle of the field.  It’s the same route that he drops a third down pass from Geno Smith earlier in the game, but in this case, the LB is playing deeper.  This is also an example of how a QB can influence defenders with his eye.  Geno Smith is looking at the left side of this play from the start, the read is the cross between Ross/Marshall, and if that is defended, then go with Peake and his one on one match-up.  However, notice the defender on Marshall stopping even before Geno has started his motion to throw.  The best QBs in this game would reverse field and find the open Marshall on this play, but that does take years of experience and wisdom.  On this play, Marshall does show a good route, as his cut is pretty linear instead of a round path.  He cuts on a dime on the 22 yard line on this play, which helps create some of the separation.

3) 

In this play, Jace Amaro has pre-snap motion indicating man coverage, with a man high safety.  This defensive formation is only presumed because of the lack of coach’s film, but there are 10 defenders on the screen, so either there is a deep safety or they are playing with 10 players.  Marshall is on the right slot on this play, and has responsibility to carry his defender and possibly engage the safety.  The beauty of this play is two fold, with the primary one being the timing of the snap.  Once Amaro is in motion, his defender is at a disadvantage, and the ball is snapped as soon as Amaro is set.  This forces the defender to line up about a yard inside of Amaro, so the fake slant route inside forces the defender to go even further inside, opening up the outside for Amaro.   The second aspect of the play is Marshall absolutely flying by his defender, because by the time he is off the screen, he has good separation from his man.  He’s open for the pass up the seam but Geno passes on the pass (and to defend him, we can’t see the proximity of the safety) but Marshall runs a great route.  He fakes the quick out route, something the Jaguars are looking for on third and short, and then blows by him inside.  Jeremy Ross is on the outside on this play, and he is running a comeback route on this play.  Note the route running, lack of separation, and timing issue here.  It’ll be important to compare them in a couple of plays.

4) 

This is the kick return, and probably the best return the Jets have accomplished in years.  Marshall showed an innate ability to make the first man miss on numerous occasions in punt returns during college.  This ability is highlighted here because the path is clear, but he does have to make one defender miss early on in the return, which sets up the whole play.  Marshall indicates that he is running the outside of the defender, and then quickly cutting inside, the same move he showed off on the previous play.  Once he is past the defender, the Jets are set up with blocks down the field, and the biggest reason Marshall may have been caught is a last ditch dive by the kicker, which slows down Marshall.  This is a play that would have been stopped near the 25 yard line in the past because the Jets rarely employed returns with the ability to make defenders miss in the open field, rather opting for pure speed.

5) 

On this play, Amaro moves down the line pre-snap, while the no particular defender moves with him.  This indicates zone coverage on this play, and Geno correctly takes advantage of the 1 on 1 match-up at the bottom of the screen with Charone Peake.  However, Marshall finds an opening in the zone and is open for a TD pass as well on this play.  Marshall did the same fake outside and go inside move again on this play, and the LB lets him pass, with no safety nearby.  However, this is a pre-snap read pass, since the right side is crowded, and the left side is isolated one on one with the WR, so Geno can’t be blamed for throwing this pass towards Peake.  Marshall shows a good ability to find the crease in the zone defense here.

6) 

Remember the comeback route run by Jeremy Ross a few plays earlier?  Well this is how that was supposed to be run.  While Ross changed directions three times on that play, Marshall runs this route with great precision.  The biggest sell for the WR on this play is to make the CB believe that this is a go route and twist his hips around.  When Ross changed directions, the defender had not committed to the go route with his hips, thus allowing him to drive on the ball.  Marshall turns the hips of his defender, and then stops on a dime to create about 3 yards of separation, making this an easy throw.  This is very advanced route running, especially for a player that is fairly new to the position.  On a personal scouting basis, Marshall has given off a poor man’s Edelman vibe with his ability to run routes, and make defenders miss while lacking absolute top end speed, and both are converted QBs.  Julian Edelman was the better prospect coming out of college, don’t make a mistake about it, but Marshall’s skill set is extremely valuable in today’s game, with spread offenses and one on one match-ups.

7) 

On this play, Marshall goes in motion pre-snap, and the ball is snapped as soon as he’s set.  This is a fairly easy pass to Peake, and Marshall isn’t even open on this play, since the safety has him covered deep.  However, his route running and breaking the ankles of the primary defender needs to be highlighted.  Marshall runs the same fake outside, slide inside move he’s been thriving on all game.  However, instead of going inside, he makes a double move and goes back outside, throwing the defender off balance and causing him to trip over his foot.  This is another example of great route running on his part.  There are two other aspects of this play that needs to be highlighted.  One, notice the defender on Peake move backwards as soon as Marshall showed up on his side.  This is because the Jaguars had a blitz planned from their left side, but once Marshall showed up on that side, they switched it.  This last minute change caused the coverage to be different because inexperienced QBs are likely to throw the ball faster once they see a blitz coming, therefore it’s more advantageous for the defenders to play bump and run.  However, the simple motion flipped this playing, forcing the defender to give up room on Peake, allowing for this easy completion.  The second aspect of the play is the RB, who makes a great dive to protect his QB from the blitz.  The RB on the play is running a ball fake, thus blocking is not the primary goal, but as soon as the fake is over, he realizes there is a free defender from his left, and makes a diving block to keep Petty from being hit.  It won’t show up on the stat sheets, but this is a great job blocking by the RB.

8) 

The play is classified as a good play, even though the outcome of this was horrendous.  The Jets are fielding a punt late in the 4th quarter, and Marshall is by the 10 yard line.  Too many times in the past, Jet defenders have floated back inside the 10 yard line to fair catch punts, guaranteeing them horrible field position.  Exorbitant amounts of remotes have been sacrificed in Jet households over this practice, but Marshall makes a very good read on this play.  He realizes the ball is over his head at the 10 yard line, and lets the punt go over his head.  The chances are the punt bounces into the end zone, or takes a bounce in favor of the Jets.  So two of the three options for the ball favored the Jets, but of course it took a parallel bounce and the ball was downed inside the 5 yard line.  While the result was poor, more times than not, this type of decision will work out in favor of the Jets.

Bad:

1) 

This was a critical third down for Geno Smith on his first drive.  The play-call is essentially a short pass to Marshall if a LB picks up the RB out of the backfield.  The pre-snap read on this play might have been a reason for this play to go south.  Trevor Reilly goes in motion prior to the play, with a LB shadowing him.  Pre-snap reads indicate that this is a man coverage situation, in which Geno should see if Marshall could beat his man, and throw him the pass, if it’s the case.  Marshall does a good job on creating separation on this play from his initial defender, and in a vacuum, would be a great target.  However, there is one LB in the middle of the field that is playing zone, causing Marshall to get alligator arms on this pass, and drop the pass.  Marshall did display a tendency to drop some passes while at Ohio State, so this is nothing new, it’s probably one of his biggest weaknesses.  As for the pass, Geno could not wait further because then the RB’s route and Marshall’s route would have been in the same area, increasing risk.  This play is also an example of why it’s hard to examine performance in pre-season games because the personnel are different.  On this play, there is a single high safety, with a one on one matchup on the bottom of the screen (Jeremy Ross), but the Jaguars just play man defense on the guy.  If that is Brandon Marshall or Eric Decker, the defense would have shaded players towards that side, or the QB would take more chances with the one on one match-up.  Since, this article just deals with Jalin Marshall, it was a good route and separation on his part, but a bad drop in the end, especially on a crucial third down.

2) 

This is another critical third down play in which Marshall drops the ball over the middle.  This whole play is essentially designed for Marshall here, and everyone makes their end of the play.   Jeremy Ross runs his man through the zone of Marshall’s defender to slow him down, and Amaro runs deep to clear the middle of the field.  The outside WR runs deep, while the RB takes his man away from the play.  Geno steps up in the pocket, and delivers a good pass, but Marshall drops the ball again with a LB closing in on him.  Marshall has a very good ability to make defenders miss right after the catch, this ability may stem from taking his eyes of the ball and looking at defenders before he secures the ball, which might be contributing to his drops going across the middle in traffic.  This is a brutal drop in the red-zone.

Conclusion:

Jalin Marshall flashed during practices, and he backed it up with a great game for the Jets.  He showed good decision making in the return game, and showed extremely good route running ability.  He did have two bad drops in big spots, but otherwise was a bright spot.  It should be interesting to see how the Jets incorporate him more into the lineup.

 

 

 

 

 

JetNation.com
http://po.st/zyZQVl
#Check, #Jalin, #Marshall, #Preseason, #Weapons, #Week - #Football

Weapons Check: Darron Lee – Preseason Week 1

http://i2.wp.com/www.truesportsfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Darron-Lee-4.gif?fit=639%2C358

Our second film breakdown of the Weapons Check series deals with rookie linebacker Darron Lee, out of Ohio State University.  Lee, played mostly with the second unit, but did make his presence known during the game.  Since defense is more reactive, it’s hard to grade Lee’s performance on a preset rating scale, similar to the ones dealing with players on offense.  We’ll break down some plays, and see how Lee is adjusting.  Unfortunately, preseason games aren’t privy to coaches camera, therefore these film breakdowns are not comprehensive by any means.

1) 

The first play we analyze is a group tackle by the Jets.  Darron Lee doesn’t seem to get official credit for this tackle, but he’s a big reason the runner was stopped.   Lee displays his biggest advantage on this play, which is speed.  He beats the guard to the outside, preventing the offensive lineman from gaining leverage on this play.  If Lee is slower, then this play works much better because the offensive lineman would be right in the path of Lee, but the speed helps him evade the block.   Lee also shows great closing speed on this play, which is something that stands out with him on tape from college.   While it is not a display of extreme athleticism, it is definitely good to see the extra burst from the linebackers on defense.  While he doesn’t get much credit on the play, it looks like Lee makes the biggest impact on this stop.

2) 

This is not a successful play for Lee, nor the Jets.  The reason this play is here has nothing to do with the run either.  What is important about this play happens right before the running back takes the ball to his left.  The Jets run a double A gap blitz through the same gap, banking on the first defender to create spacing for the second blitzing player coming behind him.  From a defensive standpoint, think of the first blitz-er acting almost as an offensive lineman as the worst case scenario, trying to open up the hole for the runner behind him.  The Jets run this blitz to perfection here, as Lee has a direct path to the RB (and if it was a passing play, then the QB) but the RB makes a quick cut that gives him some space.  Remember, this is the second string unit, so it does not have stalwarts such as Mo Wilkerson, Leonard Williams, or Sheldon Richardson.  The right side of the defensive line gets pushed back, creating an escape route for the RB.   Lee doesn’t do anything else on the play, but the execution of the blitz was very good.

3) 

Statistically, this is probably the best play of Darron Lee’s night.  Subjectively, it’s probably one of his worst plays of the night.  Remember the last A-gap blitz on the previous play, well it’s very much the same concept, but a C-gap blitz on this play.  On this play, the lead blitz player acts the same as before and takes out a blocker with Lee tasked to follow him.  However, the guard for the Jaguars recognizes this blitz pattern, and hands over his responsibility to the center, and then engages Lee, stopping him in his tracks.  Lee isn’t going anywhere on this play, but Chad Henne gifts him a sack by essentially falling right in front of Lee.   Lee does his task by falling on top of Henne, but this is not a good play by Lee.  Rather, the right side of the defensive line makes great penetration into the backfield (unlike the last play), therefore flushing Henne out of the pocket on a 3rd and long.

4) 

The tackle on the running back might just be Lee’s best play of the night.  At the onset of this play, Lee is mirroring the RB, thus it’s his responsibility to stop him.  Lee absolutely annihilates the C-gap on this play, and blows up the play in the backfield.  What is most impressive about this tackle?  The closing speed.  The RB is a about a step away from the right hash mark, and Lee is a good two yards away from him, but Lee makes the tackle before the RB has hit foot on the hash mark.  Last year, this is a play where the RB absolutely makes it to the outside for a few yards.   The Jags have this play set up pretty well, and if not for Lee’s tackle, they have blockers out in space for every Jet in the area, except for the single high safety.

5) 

There is a penalty on this play, negating this tackle.  However, since it’s preseason, it’s more important to see the ability here than the result.  This is a simple run to the left, with the offensive line sliding to the left.  The LT is supposed to slide out, and then seal off the LB from getting to the RB.  If the LT does his job, there is a decent hole for the RB to run through here, but Lee shows off his speed and beats the LT inside, blowing up the play.  There was a lot of chatter about the size of Lee and how blockers will over-power him, but people are under estimating the impact of speed on the game.  These blocking assignments are rooted in timing, and Lee’s speed throws off this timing.  If Lee is a hair slower, the LT on this play comes around and blocks him off.   There are plays were Lee will be over-powered (The sack play being an example) but his speed adds such a dimension to the defense, that it’ll disrupt the blocking schemes of an offense.

6) 

This is an experiment in slower GIFs to showcase Lee’s ability with more clarity.  If there is a problem viewing these slower paced plays or if you feel that a regular paced play makes for better viewing, please let me know in the forums.  Since defense is harder to dissect, a slower paced film helps people understand the intricacies better, in my opinion.

On this play, the right side of Jacksonville’s line slides left.  The left side of the offensive line blocks their man one on one.  Since the right side TE and Tackle slide , this leaves the RG free to engage the LB in the open.  The Jags would presume in this case, the OLB to the left has to contain the run, therefore would run to the outside lane (which he does), and ergo a huge hole should be open right up the middle.  Bruce Carter shows off his speed  by simply beating the RG to the hole, robbing the guard of any leverage and stopping the play.  This is another timing play that would work on slower LBs, but fails here because the offensive line’s timing is thrown off.  Bruce Carter makes the tackle on this play.  Darron Lee is tasked with containing the edge, and he does a good job in getting to the edge, forcing the RB to re-route inside.

Bruce Carter is a former second round pick of the Dallas Cowboys, and was once regarded as a possible first round pick.  He is mainly known for his speed at LB, so the coaching staff is certainly trying to speed up the middle of the defense.  Carter reportedly ran a 4.39 forty yard dash in college, before he suffered an ACL injury.  At the combine, Carter ran a 4.57 forty yard dash, but he was still recovering.

Edit:  This section was edited due to a mistake.  The original post wrongfully labeled Lee as the tackler on this play, instead of Carter.  Thank you to thatboyjack on our forum for catching the mistake.

7) 

The best of Lee, the worst of Lee.  This is a short yard run, where the Jets crowd the line and bring their linebackers on a blitz.  Lee slips through the gap, and has a clear shot at the RB, showing off his elusiveness.  The Jets have single high safety with man coverage across the board, and everyone else is running towards the ball, so they sold out for the run.  The RB has room to the outside on this play, and there is a decent chance he can get to the edge on this play, if Lee does not enter the vision of the RB.  However, Lee’s presence forces the RB to reverse course, which makes Lee miss the tackle.  However, this change in course led the RB to run right back into where the Jets had strength in numbers, so in the grand scheme of things, it was a good play.

Remember at the start of the article, it was stated that it’s almost impossible to grade defensive players because it’s a reactive game?  This would be a good example as to why.  Lee’s main priority in this case is to either tackle the runner (in which case, he fails) or prevent him from getting outside (which could explain his over-zealousness to get ahead of the RB, and would mean a success), but it’s hard to tell without knowing the call.  This is also the same on pass coverage, where a TE might run right past him on a play.  This could either indicate a zone defense for the LB (in which case, fine play) or missed coverage on man defense (terrible play), thus creating a high vulnerability to assumptions when trying to grade them.

8) 

This play is here to just show Lee covering a TE.  There aren’t many plays that show him in coverage, and the ones where he was in coverage, the route isn’t clear with the TV camera angle.  This is one of the few angles on TV that showed him in coverage and he seemed to handle himself fine on this play.  The TE on this play doesn’t run a complicated route, and sits down in the middle of the field as if it was zone coverage, even though the defense played man coverage.  Lee doesn’t really lose separation when the TE takes a step outside, and he’s right next to him to jump the route if the pass was thrown to the TE.

Conclusion:

Darron Lee is not a perfect prospect by any means.  Perfect prospects go in the top 5 of the draft.  However, Lee is a great prospect that adds much needed speed to the defense.  This breakdown shows that while there are occasions where he gets held up by stronger blockers, he can wreck havoc by disrupting the timing of blocks.  Lee displays excellent closing speed, and on numerous occasions, shot through the gap before the offensive lineman was ready to block him.  There are times where he will be taken out of a play because he wasn’t able to bull-rush an offensive lineman, but he makes up for those with his ability to blow up plays in the backfield.  We can’t analyze his coverage skills until the season starts with the All-22 camera angles, however the scouting reports glowed about his coverage skills because he’s a converted safety.   He looks like a much welcome addition to the Jets defense.

Please read our report on Jalin Marshall from Preseason Game 1, here

Please provide feedback on the article, and discuss this article on our forums, here.  I would love to hear feedback on the slower GIFs, to see if it’s a good idea or not, moving forward.

 

JetNation.com
http://po.st/Ckdagf
#Check, #Darron, #Preseason, #Weapons, #Week - #Football