Five NFL defenses that will be very different in 2023

[primetime]

‘Touchdownwire’ article from Doug Farrar and Greg Cowell. Discusses 5 teams whose defences will be different this season (Miami, Vikings, Browns, Bills and Falcons). Full article in link ( https://flip.it/_LqCmV ) however the falcons info is below - good read.

The Atlanta Falcons under Ryan Neilson 

With new defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen, who had been the New Orleans Saints’ defensive line coach,  I’d say to expect a lot more varied fronts and man coverage from the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons played man last season 22% of their snaps, which ranked 27th in the NFL. The 2022 Saints played man coverage on 40% of their snaps, which ranked second. New Orleans especially played a lot of 2-man – the most in the league. Now, we don’t automatically assume that Nielsen will bring everything over from New Orleans, but when you look at their new personnel, they’re telling you what they want to do. They traded for Jeff Okudah, who is a dead-red press cornerback. Okudah had 43 coverage snaps in 2-Man last season. They got Mike Hughes, who was also with the Lions last season, and he’s played that stuff, as well. A.J. Terrell had kind of a down season in 2022, but he’s great when he’s on, and he is very comfortable in man coverage. 

 

Adding Jessie Bates III certainly allows them to play more two-high stuff. Last season, they were in two-high 44% of the time, which ranked 24th. The Saints were in two-high 54% of the time, which ranked 15th.

Then, you add the guys to a front seven that didn’t do much of anything to disrupt the quarterback last season – they had the NFL’s second-fewest sacks with 21, and the NFL’s second-fewest pressures with 88. David Onyemata. Calais Campbell. Bud DuPree. Kaden Elliss. The Saints ran a ton of different fronts last season, and you’d expect a lot more varied fronts than we saw last season. Not that there will be a ton of blitz – the Falcons did it 19% of the time last season, and the Saints did it 15% of the time – but it’s more about throwing things at the quarterback pre-snap that the quarterback might not be ready for.

 

Greg on why Nielsen should bring as many things from New Orleans as he possibly can:

“One of the things I’ve done over the years is, when I talk to offensive coaches who game-plan, I always ask them, who are the toughest coaches and coordinators to play against? And Dennis Allen’s name always comes up. So there’s no question that Ryan Nielsen, who’s a younger coach… this is his background right now. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have his own ideas, but this is his background right now. So, you would expect to see a lot of those same principles.

“Now, Dean Pees was there, and Dean Pees is a guy who’s very multiple in how he approached pressures and coverages. So, it’s not as if they didn’t do a lot of different things, but you mentioned 2-Man, and I’ll be very curious to see if they’ll do that [in Atlanta]. Obviously to do that, you have to have a pass rush. Because if you’re going to play 2-Man coverage, that’s seven people in coverage. The five man-to-man defenders, and the two deep safeties. You need to be able to impact the quarterback with four defenders, and doing that within three seconds.”

[PriMeTiiMe]

2 minutes ago, primetime said:

You need to be able to impact the quarterback with four defenders, and doing that within three seconds.”

[primetime]

Certain DCs (like some OCs) are almost guaranteed to have good defences wherever they go. Obviously it’s way to early to say this about Nielsen but I have a good feeling about him. Hopefully he is the next Wade Philips, Mike Zimmer, etc 

[ItsJustMe]

1 hour ago, PriMeTiiMe said:

Seriously. 

[Mister pudding]

I actually think our D could win us some games this year. Bend but don't break is over

[PokerSteve]

13 minutes ago, Mister pudding said:

I actually think our D could win us some games this year. Bend but don't break is over

[GritsPittz]

As bad and untalented as our defense was last year it still put our offense in position to win a few games and it closed out a couple of games. Hopefully with all the talent added it wins us games instead of just putting the offense in a position to win. 

[BtK]

59 minutes ago, primetime said:

Certain DCs (like some OCs) are almost guaranteed to have good defences wherever they go. Obviously it’s way to early to say this about Nielsen but I have a good feeling about him. Hopefully he is the next Wade Philips, Mike Zimmer, etc 

Dean Pees used to be such a DC, no? I am hopeful with Nielsen, but I was also optimistic when DQ arrived. 

[JDaveG]

I've been thinking a lot about Bates.  The article says he'll allow us to play a lot of 2-high.  Most people when we got him lauded him as a single-high stud.  I honestly think they're going to do a lot of both.  They can use him and Grant in 2-high looks, and they can also roll Grant into the box or man him up on someone and let Bates roam.  

I think they're going to be as multiple on the back end as they are on the front end.  Pees always said they were multiple up front and very vanilla in the secondary.  That's what I think will be the biggest change this season -- we're going to be multiple everywhere.  

Not that we never disguised coverages before.  I'm just saying I expect them to do a lot more moving of the chess pieces in the secondary now that we, well, have a secondary.

[Falcons_Frenzy]

1 hour ago, PriMeTiiMe said:

Elliss and AK 🤞

[Spongebob]

3 hours ago, Mister pudding said:

I actually think our D could win us some games this year. Bend but don't break is over

I'm going to wait and watch before I declare this

[Mister pudding]

5 minutes ago, Spongebob said:

I'm going to wait and watch before I declare this

I said think, not know 😂

[CombatFalcon]

I think we are going to see more 1 and 2 high safety looks, just because we trust our front 4 more. AS has stated that he prefers his defense to rush 4 or less most of the time, so TF went out and got a reliable d-line to make the rushing of 4 or less guys more reliable. The back end is going to have a lot of trust, which is fine, but we cannot continue to play the soft zone coverage with the notion that we are just hoping we can buy enough time for the d-line to get there. It hasn't worked for years now.

Nielson coming from the Dennis Allen school of defense is a good thing. Allen was always an above average DC, and he did well within that role for years, and he was always a guy who coached aggressive defenses. Nielson has a track record of doing the same. He is most assuredly going to add his wrinkle into what he has learned. Every coach does.

[gazoo]

13 hours ago, JDaveG said:

I've been thinking a lot about Bates.  The article says he'll allow us to play a lot of 2-high.  Most people when we got him lauded him as a single-high stud.  I honestly think they're going to do a lot of both.

That’s exactly what I believe, we are going to do a lot of both.  
 

I think Bates allows us to do a little more press coverage up front. Bates played a lot of single high in the past at a very high level, so I’m certain we will see a lot of this, but I predict a lot of double high as well, depending on the matchup. 
 

[H2O]

I'm still not sure which position or positions Ellis is going to play.  Is he a edge rusher, inside LB, outside LB or all of these positions?

[LightningDawg58]

So based on this we will play:

More man coverage 

More 2 high safety shells

Blitz less but more pressure due to better personnel.

Sounds cool I guess.

I just want a defense that affects the game and not the other way around.

Im sick of playing on our heels while we get carved up. I’d rather attack and be disruptive and live with a big play here and there. 

Honestly, we should be better but doesn’t seem like we will be more aggressive. I have always been in favor of man over zone so I guess that is progress.

[blutarski]

1 hour ago, H2O said:

I'm still not sure which position or positions Ellis is going to play.  Is he a edge rusher, inside LB, outside LB or all of these positions?

Yes..Yes and Yes.  Brining a guy like Eliss over with Neilson will make the transition to a new scheme more fluid.  Especially since Eliss already understands how different roles incorporate into the pressure packages.  

[Hashbrown3]

On 5/24/2023 at 8:23 AM, JDaveG said:

I've been thinking a lot about Bates.

[Hashbrown3]

1 hour ago, H2O said:

I'm still not sure which position or positions Ellis is going to play.  Is he a edge rusher, inside LB, outside LB or all of these positions?

[215FalconsFanatic]

On 5/24/2023 at 9:23 AM, BtK said:

Dean Pees used to be such a DC, no? I am hopeful with Nielsen, but I was also optimistic when DQ arrived. 

Yes i dont know about the Pees hate. Look to fact that spent how much money upgrading our D. It wasnt good. Pees was making chicken salad out of chicken ****. 

He retired because he previously had retired and he probably didnt want to go thru all this again. 

I thank him. Wish him well. And look forward to OUR next chapter as a football team.

[SaintRay]

Falcons trying rub some of that Saints on themselves.

Lol

[Hashbrown3]

1 minute ago, SaintRay said:

Falcons trying rub some of that Saints on themselves.

Lol

Very funny Ray. But after we smoke y’all twice this year, you’re staff will be rubbing a genie lamp for help! 😆

[AtlantaFanSinceBirth]

On 5/24/2023 at 8:23 AM, BtK said:

Dean Pees used to be such a DC, no? I am hopeful with Nielsen, but I was also optimistic when DQ arrived. 

I think the biggest issue with Dean Pees is that the league has passed him by or started to pass him by. His style of defense just wasn't keeping up with the new aged NFL offenses.

[SaintRay]

6 minutes ago, Hashbrown3 said:

Very funny Ray. But after we smoke y’all twice this year, you’re staff will be rubbing a genie lamp for help! 😆

I have no idea what to think about my team this season. They have talent, but will the coaching staff be able to elevate the players?  If so, they have what it takes to win the South. If not, they should be canned after the season. 
 

I don’t see the Falcons making a huge jump this year. 9-10 wins maybe if all goes well. Your defense will take time to jell with all of the new players.

[Hashbrown3]

Just now, SaintRay said:

I have no idea what to think about my team this season. They have talent, but will the coaching staff be able to elevate the players?  If so, they have what it takes to win the South. If not, they should be canned after the season. 
 

I don’t see the Falcons making a huge jump this year. 9-10 wins maybe if all goes well. You defense will take time to jell with all of the new players.

I’ll take the slow gel 10 but raise you a slick gel 12 buddy.