vin.couve12
New member
Now we're getting somewhere. Urlacher was never a beast against the run. In his later years he became proficient at it to the point where he didn't need to have the big DTs in front him AS MUCH, but also in his later years he lost quite a bit of range and was less effective in coverage.
From the horses mouth: Urlacher was in the pro bowl with Jeremiah Trotter years ago. They were talking on the sideline and Urlacher was gushing about how Trotter got off blocks and how he needed to improve in that area.
OTOH, Urlacher being a former safety was highly effective in coverage right off the bat.
To the point, none of the video evidence shown is about Wagner getting off blocks. You'd be hard pressed to find a MLB who sheds blocks better game in and game out. Does he have times where he locks up with an OL? Sure, every LB does. Most have a much harder time than Bobby just because of the natural physics of tangling with much larger players, but as a percentage Wagner is very successful in that area.
Also, Wagner's two interceptions against the Dolphins last year were prototypical interceptions. The first he tracked the WR deep and undercut the route near the sideline for the pick. The other he tracked back across and high pointed the INT. There are backers better in coverage than Wagner, but it's not a weakness.
Exhibit A:
We run a lot of cover 3 which only leaves two LBs in short zones. We get a lot of complaints about our LBs in general in coverage and it's generally about choosing the lesser of two evils. In cover 3 the middle of the field has a lot of space, but it protects you deep. I don't have a vid right off hand on cover 3, but yesterday I saw us run a short play against cover 2 buc with success. In cover 2 you have 3 LBs in short zones to protect against short throws. We hardly ever run it because it has vulnerabilities deep. When we do run a cover 2 we use cover 2 buc. This is where the MLB bails deep to protect against the area between the safeties.
As you can see the MLB bails and there are only 2 LBs covering short zones. It's more vulnerable to short throws than standard cover 2 and at least in respect to cover 3, those 2 LBs zones are the same. Because of our bend, but don't break style we take the risk of less coverage short and more coverage deep. This leaves whichever LBs are in the shorts zones with quite difficult jobs.
Man coverage is different of course.
Back to Urlacher, the player today who is currently most like him is Keuchly. His strong suit is not getting off blocks. He's a guy, like Urlacher, who needs to run free to be able to beat angles or he becomes less effective. Knowing this, the Panthers spent two high draft picks on DTs. One of which was the best DT in the draft. The other, Short, probably played with the most natural leverage of all DTs in the draft.
Notice their DTs and also notice Keuchly here.
I know it's easier for people to blame one person, but that doesn't make it right. I know it's easier to look at past "legendary" LBs as examples, but they too are flawed like everyone else and we may or may not be practicing the same concepts.
This game is not a simple as it's made out to be. Breaking down a single play isn't even as simple as it's made out to be. Looking at the Panthers play above, what if you replace Short with McDonald and McDonald is rendered null like our last game? That lane is wide open and Kechly is 5-6 yards deep and reach blocked by an OL, which he's not going to beat.
From the horses mouth: Urlacher was in the pro bowl with Jeremiah Trotter years ago. They were talking on the sideline and Urlacher was gushing about how Trotter got off blocks and how he needed to improve in that area.
OTOH, Urlacher being a former safety was highly effective in coverage right off the bat.
To the point, none of the video evidence shown is about Wagner getting off blocks. You'd be hard pressed to find a MLB who sheds blocks better game in and game out. Does he have times where he locks up with an OL? Sure, every LB does. Most have a much harder time than Bobby just because of the natural physics of tangling with much larger players, but as a percentage Wagner is very successful in that area.
Also, Wagner's two interceptions against the Dolphins last year were prototypical interceptions. The first he tracked the WR deep and undercut the route near the sideline for the pick. The other he tracked back across and high pointed the INT. There are backers better in coverage than Wagner, but it's not a weakness.
Exhibit A:
We run a lot of cover 3 which only leaves two LBs in short zones. We get a lot of complaints about our LBs in general in coverage and it's generally about choosing the lesser of two evils. In cover 3 the middle of the field has a lot of space, but it protects you deep. I don't have a vid right off hand on cover 3, but yesterday I saw us run a short play against cover 2 buc with success. In cover 2 you have 3 LBs in short zones to protect against short throws. We hardly ever run it because it has vulnerabilities deep. When we do run a cover 2 we use cover 2 buc. This is where the MLB bails deep to protect against the area between the safeties.
As you can see the MLB bails and there are only 2 LBs covering short zones. It's more vulnerable to short throws than standard cover 2 and at least in respect to cover 3, those 2 LBs zones are the same. Because of our bend, but don't break style we take the risk of less coverage short and more coverage deep. This leaves whichever LBs are in the shorts zones with quite difficult jobs.
Man coverage is different of course.
Back to Urlacher, the player today who is currently most like him is Keuchly. His strong suit is not getting off blocks. He's a guy, like Urlacher, who needs to run free to be able to beat angles or he becomes less effective. Knowing this, the Panthers spent two high draft picks on DTs. One of which was the best DT in the draft. The other, Short, probably played with the most natural leverage of all DTs in the draft.
Notice their DTs and also notice Keuchly here.
I know it's easier for people to blame one person, but that doesn't make it right. I know it's easier to look at past "legendary" LBs as examples, but they too are flawed like everyone else and we may or may not be practicing the same concepts.
This game is not a simple as it's made out to be. Breaking down a single play isn't even as simple as it's made out to be. Looking at the Panthers play above, what if you replace Short with McDonald and McDonald is rendered null like our last game? That lane is wide open and Kechly is 5-6 yards deep and reach blocked by an OL, which he's not going to beat.
