Washington’s Defensive Alignment
- Thread starter December05
- Start date
Well T-Rob won’t be a part of it. Going to UGA.
Hate to see TRob going there, it’s what Georgia needs, another great recruiter. Another ex DC as well. I had hoped he would stay, but oh well . So they now have Co-Co-Co defensive coordinators? Or did Muschamp leave? Or Schumann?
edit, I see Muschamp is moving to an off the field role ‘ to spend time with his family’ . More Likely because TRob is a better recruiter.
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Yes, your last point was one of the things I mentioned originally. It’s a better time to be thin at OLB than otherwise. I believe Jess’ points on this morning’s arrivals support that this will be a bigger change than some are stating.so check this out:
2025 Washington Huskies Football Depth Chart | Ourlads.com
The most respected source for NFL Draft info among NFL Fans, Media, and Scouts, plus accurate, up to date NFL Depth Charts, Practice Squads and Rosters.www.ourlads.com
and look at their 'EDGE' players. One is pretty much a Jack prototype player. The other is like an Eboigbe or 'big' DE like we have used just maybe a bit smaller.
Guys like Oatis, Keenan, or Smith aren't going to be 'edge' guys, ever really. Latham maybe could; the transfer in from ATM might be a good fit as the big edge also.
The positive to that, is we really don't have that many guys on the roster right now that fit the typical "edge" player role like Anderson, Turner and Braswell, so a small adjustment might be a positive thing
I like a more traditional four- man front; we’ve just got to hope that the talent difference here will help improve the defense over Washington’s last year. 123rd in first downs giving up and 124th in penalties (which isn’t a talent issue) are concerning.
Yeah, his UW defense was pretty bad, they outscored everyone most games
With both Rees and T-Rob going to UGA it makes me think they were told they weren't going to be retained.
While I really enjoy and appreciate Jess' writings, I fundamentally disagree with him on Saban's defense. Jess has held that we're a 3-4 over/under team, even now. Like I said, I'd been charting our defensive alignment on every play for years, and the % of plays we line up in the 3-4 is in the very, very low single digits - like 1-3% low and in many games it was 0%. With the % of plays in that alignment being that low, I just can't think that's really our base defense. We're in Nickel over 75-80% of the time, so that's really our base. Most of the time, that's 3 true DL guys and one OLB, and that OLB is really an edge DE in the way they play a vast majority of the time. It's pretty much what the UW front would have looked like with their small edge being 6'4' 255 - that's almost exactly what Anderson, Turner and Braswell are. The other 'edge' was bigger (275 I think) and that's like Eboigbe or J Latham.
Three or four freshmen were red shirted and fit this mold. All have spent the year in the weight room to put on some weight. Be interesting to see what they look like in the spring.so check this out:
2025 Washington Huskies Football Depth Chart | Ourlads.com
The most respected source for NFL Draft info among NFL Fans, Media, and Scouts, plus accurate, up to date NFL Depth Charts, Practice Squads and Rosters.
and look at their 'EDGE' players. One is pretty much a Jack prototype player. The other is like an Eboigbe or 'big' DE like we have used just maybe a bit smaller.
Guys like Oatis, Keenan, or Smith aren't going to be 'edge' guys, ever really. Latham maybe could; the transfer in from ATM might be a good fit as the big edge also.
The positive to that, is we really don't have that many guys on the roster right now that fit the typical "edge" player role like Anderson, Turner and Braswell, so a small adjustment might be a positive thing
One of the freshmen is really the only one who currently fits - Keeley.
Pierre will have to gain weight - 25-30 pounds based on current roster weight
Russaw is a bit short and likely becomes an ILB
Renaud was a tweaner but had been playing over on the DL. If we do shift to more of a true 4-2, he might be a fit at the 'big end'
Osborne - Same as Renaud.
Is this the case for this year only or has this been a trend. I only ask because more four man lines may have been out of necessity. DT's did not seem to be up to the normal Saban standard this year. Plus Turner appeared to be versatile. He more than held is own as a non-anchor DE in the run game. I might argue this is just Saban being flexible and maximizing the personal that he has.
There is a great quote from John Harbaugh that I will paraphrase. The gist is, it is the responsibility of the coaching staff to unlock the maximum potential of any given player. If a player underperforms, its on the staff as much as the player. Saban is one of those coaches who can do that.
This goes way, way back. Here is an article where Saban says they were in the 3-4 less than 20% of the time, back in the 2011 season...
Alabama defense 101: nickel = Star, dime = Money, DBs = LBs
Nick Saban explains the origin of the terms. Who will fill these important roles this season?
www.al.com
that 20% has continued to shrink every year as more and more teams run more 11, or even 10 personnel groupings as their base offense. One of Pruitts seasons the only time we ran something that looked remotely like the 3-4 was on goalline/short yardage. Our use of that grouping has legit been down in the low single digits for a long time.
Go look at the defensive stats - you'll usually see the 'star' pretty high up in tackles.
To your point though, there have been years where we played the nickel with a grouping that was 2dl, and 2olbs more, and years where we played with 3dl and a single OLB more, and some years that it was a pretty even split. It still operated like a 4 man front, we just had guys better/deeper skills in different placed in the depth chart. Gol*ing ran a lot, probably more than he should have, with 2DL and 2OLBs. I kinda got it, as our best players through his tenure were often the OLBs. Pruitt leaned more into the 3DL 1OLB grouping except for situations that were a bit more pass likely.
In my opinion the best defenses are multiple. The best DE's in my opinion are those who can at the last second take on OLB responsibilities. One of my favorite plays was in the 2022 UM<>OSU game. OSU was up 10-0 and had it 4th and 2 at the edge of FG range. Jaylen Harrell was the DE. Cade Stover was the primary target. UM mucked it up, by having Harrell cover Stover in man. The play was not made and the rest is history. If UM did something predictable, OSU converts and it is 13-0 or 17-0. We might say, game over.This goes way, way back. Here is an article where Saban says they were in the 3-4 less than 20% of the time, back in the 2011 season...
Alabama defense 101: nickel = Star, dime = Money, DBs = LBs
Nick Saban explains the origin of the terms. Who will fill these important roles this season?
that 20% has continued to shrink every year as more and more teams run more 11, or even 10 personnel groupings as their base offense. One of Pruitts seasons the only time we ran something that looked remotely like the 3-4 was on goalline/short yardage. Our use of that grouping has legit been down in the low single digits for a long time.
Go look at the defensive stats - you'll usually see the 'star' pretty high up in tackles.
To your point though, there have been years where we played the nickel with a grouping that was 2dl, and 2olbs more, and years where we played with 3dl and a single OLB more, and some years that it was a pretty even split. It still operated like a 4 man front, we just had guys better/deeper skills in different placed in the depth chart. Gol*ing ran a lot, probably more than he should have, with 2DL and 2OLBs. I kinda got it, as our best players through his tenure were often the OLBs. Pruitt leaned more into the 3DL 1OLB grouping except for situations that were a bit more pass likely.
Football is about deception. Whether it be college or the NFL, when we see a QB confusingly throwing into a covered receiver while someone else is wide open, that is a defense deceiving what they are showing. Formation is just a means for perpetuating deception. Point taken, that Alabama is more of four guys on the line.
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