Bill Belichick, Iowa State and the Future of Defensive Football

Dr. Gonzo

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SoSH Member
Jan 8, 2010
5,213
Just a phenomenal article and study on the Pats trying to keep up with and get ahead of air raid concepts through scheme and roster construction. The article really shows the thinking behind letting Flowers and Jones walk and the ability to create pressure out of sub packages with blitzing and attempting to cause confusion.

Also, the article really shines a light on the importance of having a player like Chung who can play the joker safety position, described below.

The beauty of this design is that the middle safety, called the “joker safety” by coach Cody Alexander, can be brought into the box and gives Iowa State the flexibility to run a 3-4 without making a substitution.
The article was really educational and also shows the importance of the Pennel signing and Shelton looking better at the end of the year. The run defense in these subpackages are dependent on gap control and funneling runs into Hightower, Roberts, and Bentley.
 

SMU_Sox

queer eye for the next pats guy
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2009
8,878
Dallas
@mascho is a must follow. It is amazing how to me how many great posters here have gone on to write and produce fantastic content.

Quick edit: I am going to finally go to the Scouting Academy myself. If anyone is interested in joining up with me in the the Fall semester send me a PM.
 

Super Nomario

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Nov 5, 2000
14,012
Mansfield MA
Mark has written a lot of killer stuff through the years, but this one stands out as one of his best. I especially likes where the highlights Chung as the crux of the scheme and where he notes that this scheme de-emphasizes edge rush.

I also think a 3-3-5 makes some of the recent signings make sense. With Pennel and Guy and drafting Cowart, did they really need to bring Shelton back? But it makes sense if you need to control the line of scrimmage with just three down linemen. And Collins brings a really interesting element to the LB corps; you put Hightower, Van Noy, and Collins out there in that look and you can create confusion as to who is blitzing without actually sending an extra guy.