Rotations Galore

[SecretAgentMan]

Y'all know what they say about Baseball?

You'll win games if you have a good pitching rotation.

Well what about Football? This is true for a team like ours. Especially on defense(front 7)

What I'm surprised almost no one outside the Flock is talking about is how good the rotation is going to be.



First off, lets go with the obvious one.

I'm dividing it into 4 categories

Superstars
Breakout Potential
Jack of All Trades, Master of none
Solid Role player

Superstars.

Terell Suggs: Tsizzle, everyone's favorite trash talker.
The future hall of famer(yes I can call him this now. The only thing he has yet to do is win the DPOY TWICE), is returning from injury. But he's awesome in all aspects of his game. Hell of a pass rusher and an even better run defender. He sets the edge better than most OLBs in the NFL.

He's an all pro if he returns to form.

Haloti Ngata
Probably the best player on the defense. He's our anchor, and another all pro. I call sizzle the Wildcat, Ngata is the attack dog. Suggs gets the credit, but a lot of the success he has is affected by Ngata. He eats blockers for breakfast and if he gets anywhere remotely close to the backfield where the QB is, it's over. He's going to stay on the field the entire time. Like Suggs will(not literally, but he and Suggs will play 85% of the snaps)

Elvis Dumervil.
For Doubters: Again, you have it wrong. He's still a star. He played a 4-3 scheme that he didn't fit in last year with his hand in the dirt on every play. He doesn't have that problem anymore. He's got two all pros next to him and might be able to get 10-13 sacks easily.

Breakout players:
Art Jones: He had a nice year last year. Showing promise as a 3-4 DE. He's a beast, and might be a pro bowler next year if he keeps it up.

Brandon Williams: To tell y'all the truth, I don't think Williams starts this year. But he's going to be playing a ton. He might be the NT we've been looking for ever since Gregg left. He can rush the passer, stop the run. He's a 3 down NT.

Pernell McPhee:
Landshark is good too. A lot like Jones, except He's a better run defender.

Courtney Upshaw: Upshaw is already an elite run defender. If he becomes a DECENT pass rusher he's a pro bowler. Nuff said.

Arthur Brown: Work ethic is awesome. I think Ray Lewis will be Jordan and Brown Kobe Bryant.

Ray will always be better, but Brown will have one of the best work ethics I've ever seen. Not a lot of rookies work that hard that have that kind of ability. He might be a pro bowler THIS YEAR if he stays healthy.

Side note: he will be a better player than Ray has been the past 2-3 years. Age clearly caught up to Ray, and youth injection was needed.

John Simon. He's got a high ceiling. Hard nosed worker, and will knock you down at all costs. He's ripped. He's the unofficial replacement to JJ

Side note: Upshaw might be an entirely different player than JJ, and at least have a degree of pass rush. He might be the next James Harrison.

Jack of All trades:
Chris Canty does it all. Rush the passer, stop the run. Not at a superstar level but well enough to start.

Dayrl Smith: the best LB to never play in the pro bowl. He does everything well. Was injured but was one of the best when he wasn't.

Solid Role Players.
Marcus Spears

Spears is a great run defender but he provides nothing more.

Jameel McClain
McClain is really solid run defender and a good leader. Not a good enough athlete to be elite.

Josh Bynes
Will be solid but nothing special.

Terrance Cody
Solid run defender. Not great or good, just meh. Underwhelming

Deangelo Tyson
Again, solid but nothing special

So my prediction for the lineup is

Jones, McPhee,
Ngata, Williams, Cody
Canty, Spears

I don't want to start a rookie at NT. I think Ngata will play DE ALOT, and then Williams will move to NT, but I don't think he starts.

Ngata vs a Center is scary. It's tough for anyone to shut him down.


Upshaw, Dumervil
Arthur Brown, Josh Bynes
Dayrl Smith, Jameel McClain
Suggs, Simon

This is a lineup that's set to stop the run first. And if you cannot stop the run, you sure as hell are going to lose.

Dumervil will play a lot on 3rd down.

At which point I think our starting lineup will be

Ngata
Williams
Canty

Dumervil
Brown
Smith
Suggs


I can easily see us having an elite run defense and leading the league in sacks


The combinations are endless. If we want to stop the run and the run only for a play.

Spears
Ngata
Canty

Upshaw
Brown
Smith
Suggs.

Done.

Offenses aren't going to know what to plan for.

[5aiah]

More threads like this. Lol. I love these lineups because that's how it was coming along in my head for both the real life team and my madden team. We have the best balance of both specialists and versatile utilities that the possiblities are indeed endless. Where would McClellan fit in this because he will get some time im sure. With Suggs and Simon?

 

Edit: Or could we give Daryl a break and have McClellan in there at times. 

[5aiah]

I was thinking of the rare time we go true 43 what would we look like when gearing up to crush the run.

 

This would be us in 4-3 Over/Under which to the untrained eye looks like a 5-2.

 

SLB in the dirt playing the 9 technique(over the TE): Courtney Upshaw.

LDE playing the 7 technique: Terrell Suggs.

NT playing the 1 technique: Brandon Williams.

DT playing the 3 technique: Haloti Ngata.

RDE playing the 5 technique: Pernell Mcphee.

 

Weakside LB:Arthur Brown

Middle LB:Jameel McClain

[Gordo52]

The rotation on the interior our biggest strength IMO.

Canty,Ngata,Williams,Jones, Spears, Cody.

We got so many defensive lineman that can do so much for us. Gives us a ton of flexibility.

[Gordo52]

I was thinking of the rare time we go true 43 what would we look like when gearing up to crush the run.

This would be us in 4-3 Over/Under which to the untrained eye looks like a 5-2.

SLB in the dirt playing the 9 technique(over the TE): Courtney Upshaw.
LDE playing the 7 technique: Terrell Suggs.
NT playing the 1 technique: Brandon Williams.
DT playing the 3 technique: Haloti Ngata.
RDE playing the 5 technique: Pernell Mcphee.

Weakside LB:Arthur Brown
Middle LB:Jameel McClain

Hopefully he'll be heathy enough to play. Daryl Smith would probably play the will, Brown at MIC.

[cushrinada1986]

Y'all know what they say about Baseball?

You'll win games if you have a good pitching rotation.

Well what about Football? This is true for a team like ours. Especially on defense(front 7)

What I'm surprised almost no one outside the Flock is talking about is how good the rotation is going to be.



First off, lets go with the obvious one.

I'm dividing it into 4 categories

Superstars
Breakout Potential
Jack of All Trades, Master of none
Solid Role player

Superstars.

Terell Suggs: Tsizzle, everyone's favorite trash talker.
The future hall of famer(yes I can call him this now. The only thing he has yet to do is win the DPOY TWICE), is returning from injury. But he's awesome in all aspects of his game. Hell of a pass rusher and an even better run defender. He sets the edge better than most OLBs in the NFL.

He's an all pro if he returns to form.

Haloti Ngata
Probably the best player on the defense. He's our anchor, and another all pro. I call sizzle the Wildcat, Ngata is the attack dog. Suggs gets the credit, but a lot of the success he has is affected by Ngata. He eats blockers for breakfast and if he gets anywhere remotely close to the backfield where the QB is, it's over. He's going to stay on the field the entire time. Like Suggs will(not literally, but he and Suggs will play 85% of the snaps)

Elvis Dumervil.
For Doubters: Again, you have it wrong. He's still a star. He played a 4-3 scheme that he didn't fit in last year with his hand in the dirt on every play. He doesn't have that problem anymore. He's got two all pros next to him and might be able to get 10-13 sacks easily.

Breakout players:
Art Jones: He had a nice year last year. Showing promise as a 3-4 DE. He's a beast, and might be a pro bowler next year if he keeps it up.

Brandon Williams: To tell y'all the truth, I don't think Williams starts this year. But he's going to be playing a ton. He might be the NT we've been looking for ever since Gregg left. He can rush the passer, stop the run. He's a 3 down NT.

Pernell McPhee:
Landshark is good too. A lot like Jones, except He's a better run defender.

Courtney Upshaw: Upshaw is already an elite run defender. If he becomes a DECENT pass rusher he's a pro bowler. Nuff said.

Arthur Brown: Work ethic is awesome. I think Ray Lewis will be Jordan and Brown Kobe Bryant.

Ray will always be better, but Brown will have one of the best work ethics I've ever seen. Not a lot of rookies work that hard that have that kind of ability. He might be a pro bowler THIS YEAR if he stays healthy.

Side note: he will be a better player than Ray has been the past 2-3 years. Age clearly caught up to Ray, and youth injection was needed.

John Simon. He's got a high ceiling. Hard nosed worker, and will knock you down at all costs. He's ripped. He's the unofficial replacement to JJ

Side note: Upshaw might be an entirely different player than JJ, and at least have a degree of pass rush. He might be the next James Harrison.

Jack of All trades:
Chris Canty does it all. Rush the passer, stop the run. Not at a superstar level but well enough to start.

Dayrl Smith: the best LB to never play in the pro bowl. He does everything well. Was injured but was one of the best when he wasn't.

Solid Role Players.
Marcus Spears

Spears is a great run defender but he provides nothing more.

Jameel McClain
McClain is really solid run defender and a good leader. Not a good enough athlete to be elite.

Josh Bynes
Will be solid but nothing special.

Terrance Cody
Solid run defender. Not great or good, just meh. Underwhelming

Deangelo Tyson
Again, solid but nothing special

So my prediction for the lineup is

Jones, McPhee,
Ngata, Williams, Cody
Canty, Spears

I don't want to start a rookie at NT. I think Ngata will play DE ALOT, and then Williams will move to NT, but I don't think he starts.

Ngata vs a Center is scary. It's tough for anyone to shut him down.


Upshaw, Dumervil
Arthur Brown, Josh Bynes
Dayrl Smith, Jameel McClain
Suggs, Simon

This is a lineup that's set to stop the run first. And if you cannot stop the run, you sure as hell are going to lose.

Dumervil will play a lot on 3rd down.

At which point I think our starting lineup will be

Ngata
Williams
Canty

Dumervil
Brown
Smith
Suggs


I can easily see us having an elite run defense and leading the league in sacks


The combinations are endless. If we want to stop the run and the run only for a play.

Spears
Ngata
Canty

Upshaw
Brown
Smith
Suggs.

Done.

Offenses aren't going to know what to plan for.

You have a prediction for the DB's?

[hawkprey]

We also have a lot of players who play multiple positions. Ngata plays anywhere on the inside. Canty and Daryl Smith come from a 4-3 and can play those spots. Arthur Brown can play 4-3 OLB. McPhee can play DE or OLB. Huff can play FS, SS, or CB. Elam can play FS or SS... You get the idea.

[msufan]

Looks like McPhee is a LB.

[qredett]

My favorite DL combination (not including OLB's) is going to be Ngata, Mcphee, and Jones.

[ravensdan]

Y'all know what they say about Baseball?

Yes! It is finally over, I can't take any more of this mind numbing game and any analysis pertaining to it....
Isn't that where you were going with this?

[5aiah]

Does anyone have a record of the exact base defense we used and who played what technique? I'm a huge X and O's junkie. I know we used the hybrid 34 personnel in 43 look often but does anyone have the exact stats on that?

[Sami84]

My favorite DL combination (not including OLB's) is going to be Ngata, Mcphee, and Jones.

 

Feel canty should be in there

[Ravens1991]

This post has me really pumped. I honestly feel this should be our 3rd best defense behind 2000, and 2006.

[5aiah]

This post has me really pumped. I honestly feel this should be our 3rd best defense behind 2000, and 2006.

It could be. Honestly we are so deep here that I'm not worried about its durability during the season or playoffs. I think we can keep everyone fresh and get our new guys/rookies plenty of experience at the same time. Webb will have a huge comeback season as well. We have so many guys fighting just to get on the field at every position.

[Sami84]

Our front d will be brutal. Biggest upgrade compared to last year.Obviously our offense will struggle with no pitta or boldin . But we are used to that in years past.

[5aiah]

You have a prediction for the DB's?

Webb and Graham on base defense. Then in nickel we go with Graham and Jimmy(allowing him to press) on the outside while Webb shuts down their slot receiver. Then at dime back I'm sure we will let Chykie prove himself even though I am not big on him. 

 

Our front d will be brutal. Biggest upgrade compared to last year.Obviously our offense will struggle with no pitta or boldin . But we are used to that in years past.

I mean with a number one defense I'm sure we can deal with whatever goes on with the offense. Like you said we have done it before.

[qredett]

Feel canty should be in there

Ahhh. Yes, I forgot about him.