BDL 2020 Week 8 - Williamsport Soul Reavers @ New Orleans Jazz

[Ragnarok]

BDL 2020 Week 8

Match: Williamsport Soul Reavers @ New Orleans Jazz

Away Owner: @wwhickok

Home Owner: @WFLukic

 

Vote for who you think would win the game.

Rules:
One vote per person, duplicate accounts will be banned and action taken against those attempting to rig the results.

One vote per team involved in the match. Co-owners may vote in every match up except their own.

For members, who have been following along, and wish to vote.  Please join the conversation and maybe give a reason you voted as you did. This will alleviate any suspicions of unusual voting and will promote discussion.

Note: Players that have a (D) next to their name indicate that they are doubtful or unlikely to play. Players with (Q) are game-time decisions.

Good luck to you both.

[Ragnarok]

WILLIAMSPORT

OFFENSE:

QB: Ben Roethlisberger
RB: Derrick Henry
TE1: Dallas Goedert:
X : Michael Gallup 
Z: Allen Lazard - INACTIVE
Slot WR: Calvin Ridley 
LT:  Dion Dawkins
LG: Cesar Ruiz
C : JC Tretter 
RG: Mark Glowinski
RT: DJ Humphries 

Bench:
RB: Ronald Jones II
RB: Frank Gore 
TE2: Vance McDonald 
TE: Robert Tonyan
WR4: Reagor
WR5: David Moore
WR6: Jaylen Guyton
OT: Charles Leno 

DEFENSE:

LDE:  Javon Hargrave 
NT: Tyson Alualu 
RDE: Cam Heyward
LOLB: Brian Burns
LILB: Jordyn Brooks
RILB: Jerome Baker
ROLB: Shaq Barrett
LCB: Darius Slay
RCB: Carlton Davis 
FS: Quandre Diggs
SS: Adrian Phillips 

Bench:

NT:  Leonard Williams 
INT: Jonathan Hankins
LB: Kyle Fackrell
LB: Devon Kennard
NCB: Tayvon Mullen
CB: Troy Hill 
CB: Cam Sutton
S/LB: Jeremy Chinn 

 

 

NEW ORLEANS

Offense:

QB: Josh Allen
RB: Melvin Gordon
WR1: DeAndre Hopkins
WR2: DeVante Parker
Slot WR / OW: DJ Moore
TE: Tyler Higbee - INACTIVE
LT: Taylor Decker
LG: Joel Bitonio
😄 Alex Mack
RG: Justin Pugh
RT: Jawaan Taylor

RB2: David Johnson
RB3: Devin Singletary
RB4: Nyheim Hines
TE3/FB: Nick Boyle
TE2/WR4: Mike Gesicki
WR5: Kenny Stills
OL6: Chukwuma Okarafor
OL7: Austin Corbett

Defense: 

OLB: Justin Houston
DE: Jeffery Simmons
DT: Christian Wilkins
DE: Shelby Harris
OLB: Josh Allen
ILB: Alexander Johnson
ILB/S: Foye Oluokun
CB: James Bradberry
CB: AJ Bouye
CB: JC Jackson
FS: Kevin Byard

DE3: Chase Winovich
DE4: Olivier Vernon
DT3: Dre’Mont Jones
LB3: Danny Trevathan
LB4: Terrell Edmunds
S2: Kareem Jackson
CB4: Cameron Dantzler
CB5: Anthony Brown

[Ragnarok]

WILLIAMSPORT

Let's put the women and children to bed and go looking for ******* dinner! READY! BREAK!

m

 

*Notes*

We are anticipating NOLA will attempt to run 4 WR to spread us out with so many 'Big Name WRs. If this is the case we will run a Dime defense with Jeremy Chinn covering the RB or TE and using Heyward, Hargrave, and Alualu to rush the passer. Although, now that Thomas is officially out we also recognize that they could lean toward more 3 WR sets or we could see Parris Campbell and/or Mike Gesicki in a 4WR or 5 WR set.

If they go 5 WR Chinn will play the middle LB/coverage role, Hargrave and Heyward will stay on and Hilton if active hr will cover he 5th WR
If in fact Michael Thomas does play, while we are going to treat him as 100%, the fact remains he will not actually enter this game completely healthy, he will be dealing with a hamstring issue.

Likewise DeVante Parker will be treated as 100% if he plays, but he is dealing with a groin injury.

If he plays Tyler Hgbee enters the game with a hand injury.

OFFENSE:

Run/Pass Ratio: 52/48

Our offense starts with Derrick Henry, Ronald Jones, and Frank Gore. While Henry will be the bell cow, the other two will help keep him fresh. As good as Simmons and Wilkins are against the run, they can also get beat with it. Simmons for example has a 58% success rate which means 42% of the time he fails.

More so their front seven has a serious lack of pass rush capability, they combine for just 7.5 tackles through 30 (cimbined) games, which would be ranked 28th in  NFL for all teams through 6 games. 

We will use Derrick Henry and Ronald Jones both on inside, off tackle and toss outside runs (though Henry will see more straight up the middle to tire out the DL) Gore will be used as a pure inside runner. 

Jones and Henry will also be used in the passing game on screen and angle plays out of the backfield. 

We are making on major change to our offense and moving Jaylen Guyton to our #4 WR spot where he will share time with David Moore as the slot receiver as well. 

With the running game we are going to, as we have done, run some 2TE sets. We are going to use Henry and Jones in the passing game and use all 3 of our RBs to tire out the front 7.

One wrinkle we are going to throw into the game is an outside rush, just once, with Jeremy Chinn to try to catch the defense off guard. 

We are also going to run an uptick of 4 WR sets in this game to spread the defense out if Stephon Gilmore is out (if he isn't we will still run some but not as frequent).

We respect the secondary of NOLA and that's exactly why we are going to do this. We will run 4WR, Single Back formations to both pass and run out of. If NOLA keeps a heavier front on the field to rush the passer we will use a combination of passing, to include but not limited to, RB screens and quick out routes, slants, and comeback routes to get the ball out quickly and underneath the secondary to neutralize the pass rush (or lack there of) .

If they roll out a lighter, DB heavy defense we will let Henry run it, we absolutely believe Henry has the advantage over their DBs physically. 

David Moore, Michael Gallup, and Calvin Ridley are capable of going deep, which they'll get opportunities to do in this game. But also we are going to focus on efficient, chain moving football.

Additionally we will use Ridley primarily out of the slot in 3 WR sets in this game to take advantage of possible favorable matchups in the secondary.. We will utlize the TEs in the passing game to some degree but they will have a bigger role as blockers in the run game and in situational passing to help negate any pass rush (or the lack there of). We are also going to implement Play Action and Ben's pump fake to catch defenders off guard. 

IF NOLA tries to be cute like Berlin and put 8 men in the box to try to stop the run, we will audible to a deep pass sending our WRs deep, as well as setting up some quick hit routes, for what should ultimately be a pretty easy TD.

For plays where we might need extra time in the pocket I will hold a TE or 2nd RB  to help in a 'FB' role.

DEFENSE:

Last week there were some false narratives that I want to clear up before I get into the specifics of my gameplan.

"Jerome Baker sucks in coverage" - While I'm not about to sit here and suggest he is the next high profile coverage LB, last season he had 1 Int and 4 PDs, this year so far he has 1 PD He plays 100% of the snaps but less overall coverage [I'm assuming] because Miami is typically getting beat by a landslide so the other team is running the ball. He is one of the better young run stopping LBs in the league.

-- "Your DL can't stop the run or rush the passer" -- Not sure if you've heard of Cam Heyward and Javon Hargrave or not. Leonard Williams in fact is primarily a run stopper. As far as pass rush, its what Hargrave and Cam Heyward do for a living, especially when they were on the same team IRL.  Last season, Alualu, Hargrave, and Heyward were part of a DL that allowed a defense to garner nearly 60.sacks. Leonard Williams is a hole clogged good at sustaining engagement with his OL assignment to allow the LBs to get into the backfield free.. 

-- "Your LBs are terrible" -- Shaq Barrett, Brian Burns, and Jerome Baker are terrible since when exactly? Through 7 weeks my starting LBs not including Brooks or Bush (now on IR), have combined for 77 tackles, 7 sacks, and 4 FF. If you add Kennard and Fackrell to that, it becomes 101 tackles, 10 sacks l, 5 FF, & 1 Int.  So I think its fair to say, my LBs aren't terrible. 

Like last week  our CBs will have specific assignments.

Darius Slay > DeAndre Hopkins
Carlton Davis > DJ Moore
Trayvon Mullen >  Devante Parker
Troy Hill  > Parris Campbell
Cam Sutton > #5 WR/TE
Jeremy Chinn > RB or TE (in 2 TE or 4WR sets)

On the Dline,  Tyson Alualu will play NT to allow Hargrave to create extra pass rush on rhe edge. 
Leonard Williams will be rotated into the game occasionally on passing downs at LDE, in these situations when we are using 3 down linemen, Hargrave in these situations will slide to NT. In DB heavy formations where we are using only 2 down linemen (not a frequent formation) it will be Hargrave and Heyward on the field.

I've made a couple lineup changes this week. Jordyn Brooks will come at ILB opposite Baker, Brooks will be the LB that stays on the field in Dime LB. Barrett will maintain his role as the SLB and Burns as the WLB. Tghe Dline remains unchanged. Kyler Fackrell will rotate with Burns and Kennard with Barret to keep them fresh through the game as needed. 

With RT Jonah Williams likely out for this game as well as RT Mitchell Schwartz (and even if he does play won't be at 100%) it leaves them having to start Jawaan Taylor or Chuks Okorafor. We will absolutely seek to exploit this with blitzes to that side.  We want these blitzes to accomplish two things, either get to Allen or flush him directly into Shaq Barrett and Cam Heyward on the other side. Okorafor, while having played fairly well this year has been susceptible to speed off the edge.

Something I haven't implemented into my gameplan thus far and will this week is the addition of stunts along the defensive line with Cam Heyward and Javon Hargrave to help confuse the OL and create pressure as well as cross blitzes with Baker and Brooks.  We are going to spread out the use of any stunts and cross blitzes to avoid becoming predictable. Earlier on we want to dial up a heavy blitz to try to get Allen rattled. Brooks will be responsible for a Spy on Allen and should Allen decide to run, we want Brooks to make sure Allen remembers the hit he took whrn he wakes up on Monday morning. 

We want to be physical against the RBs as well whether it's David Johnson, Melvin Gordon, or Devin Singletary, or even Zack Moss. We will attempt to limit the running game and make New Orleans one-dimensional. 

When it comes to the pass we are going to dial up some Cover 2, Cover 3, and Cover 6 Zone's in this game but like last game, we are going to go more man than Zone (but not by a great margin) with so many high profile WRs in this game. Id be surprised if it wasn't NOLAs plan to spread out into multiple 4 and 5 WR sets and therefore we will run more Nickel and Dime in this game. But we will adjust away from Dime should they be running less 5WR sets. We will have some heavy sets for blitzing and run Defense but we want to stop the pass above all else. Our 2 starting safeties will play deeper, but not necessarily be dedicated to that all game. Hopkins will see doube coverages with Diggs and Slay.

More than likely NOLA will have DeAndre Hopkins, DeVante Parker. DJ Moore. & Parris Campbell,(and Stills)  at WR, possibly Tyler Higbee at TE but if not him then most likely Mike Gesicki and/or Nick Boyle, although Boyle is a mediocre Receiving threat at best, he is mostly a blocking TE. Troy Hill will be active this week as he has done a great job limiting receptiona this season. Cam Sutton will come on as the #5 CB.

It is worth noting that DeAndre Hopkins enters this game having had a questionable designation due to a current ankle injury (as per his designation prior to Sundays game; is now on bye week).  It is also worth mentioned that Parker is dealing with a groin injury.

We are expecting a mixture of passing formations, 3WR, 2 TE, 4 & 5 WR and we expect NOLA to find away to create some Deebo Samuel trickery even without Samuel being the one to so do it. We are expecting Gordon to be both a runner and receiver out of the backfield and plenty of opportunities for Singletary, Johnson, and Hines (Moss is also a possibility). 

If NOLA decides to use the spread offense to enable Allen to run into open field, the moment he crosses the line of scrimmage I want all 11 guys pursuing him and I want all 11 guys laying a hit on him. 

Our goal is to match our coverages with the # of WRs on the field. 

Blitz %: 35%
Man/Zone Ratio: 47/53

 

NEW ORLEANS

Motivation:

If we lose this week, Williamsport clinches the division. We’re back at home, fans are coming back in and we’re playing in our bizzbowl against a division rival. This is a kitchen sink game and we absolutely cannot lose this. 

Offense:

1RB-3WR-1TE Base (50% Pass – 50% Run): 

While our base will be an 11 personnel setup, we plan to run a substantial number of snaps in both 12 and 22 personnel packages. These will range from featuring DJ Moore in the backfield as our flex, to 2 TE heavy sets with combinations of Higbee (if he plays), Boyle and Gesicki.

Passing Game: 

We welcome DeAndre Hopkins, arguably the best WR in the NFL to our offense and he’ll be running a full route tree on the outside drawing double coverage for the majority of the time. Where he doesn’t draw double coverage Allen will happily throw it to him and we’ll gladly take the large gains every time. 

Beyond this, we’re planning to utilise both the pistol and shotgun quite significantly and allow Allen to scan the defense and identify potential double coverages. In particular outside of Hopkins, we’re planning to have Allen few a deep balls to Parker in single coverage given his deep threat ability.

Moore’s diverse offensive role will put pressure on both the CB3 and Williamsport’s back up level LBs. He’ll be tasked with going deep on occasion, running slants and crossing routes and motioning into the backfield either as a runner on tosses or receiving jet sweeps. We feel confident that we can get a couple of big plays out of Moore and that can be the difference. 

Lastly, when in our Greg Roman inspire 2 TE 2 RB or 2 TE 1 RB sets, we’re planning on using play-action for downfield passing, and misdirection to get our TEs and RBs involved in the screen game as Allen’s mobility and our backs/Gesicki’s receiving ability will given us the ability to make WSR pay for any over pursuit again the run.

Running Game: 

We’re going to rotate our backs heavily in the running game and will have a focus on running them at the edges behind Decker (Okorafor) and Taylor. There’s no particular rhyme or reason for who’ll be in on which down, it’ll simply be a matter of who’s running well and the freshest, although Hines will only be used on passing downs and Gordon will take goal-line carries. 

As alluded to above, we’re planning to weave in a fair amount of the Roman inspire 2TE-2RB split-back and pistol formations, with the aim to get Allen in situations where he can run and pick up consistent gains or toss it to one of backs in option-type situations. Boyle will act as the blocking TE, Gesicki the receiving TE lining up either in the backfield, in-line or motioning out wide, Hopkins on the outside and Moore as the 2^nd back, occasionally getting motioned wide too. 

Otherwise we’re planning to run it behind Taylor and Boyle on the outside of him, specifically towards Brian Burns and to a lesser extent, Barrett. Burns is a great pass-rusher and will cause difficulties for Taylor in the passing game, but Taylor is a mauler and in the running game along with Boyle will create huge holes for our RBs who all specialise as outside runners. Similarly, we’ll have sets where Higbee or Boyle are lined-up on the left with Decker and the same push is made towards Barrett with the aim of exhausting him to reduce his effectiveness as a rusher and taking advantage of WSR’s lacking edge depth.

Lastly we note that if Decker is out, Boyle will play the majority of snaps to assist with our blocking and we’ll run the ball around 60% rather than 40% of the time. 

Defense:

The Williamsport offense runs through Derrick Henry and so it’s our goal to load up the line of scrimmage with 7 or 8 men in the box and take away the running option. We have the confidence in our backend with a great CB group and Byard to prevent any deep hits as we focus on taking away the short passing game and Henry as a runner. We want to prevent Williamsport from generating momentum by hitting Henry at the line and by stopping him from tiring out our defense. 

On passing downs we’ll generally go lighter with Wilkins coming out, Allen and Houston sliding to the edges with their hands on the ground and K Jax coming in for Oluokun as the 2^nd safety.  

Cover 1 Man: 

We’re also retaining our modified 2-Man Under defense from last week. While Hyde will start closer to the line of scrimmage and occasionally blitz, he will generally drop back to the intermediate level (10-15 yards from LOS) while Byard will remain deep as a center-fielder against the deep ball. While Hyde will primarily be in coverage, he will act as a deeper spy for Tannehill if he leaves the pocket.

The coverage assignments will be:

Gilmore - Ridley
Bouye - Gallup
JC Jackson – Moore/Raegor/WR3
Johnson – Goedert/TE
Oluokun/Kareem– Henry/RB

Dantzler will come in for 4WR sets, while heavier sets will see Kareem Jackson or Trevathan coming in for JC Jackson depending on if it is a more pass or run-oriented look.

[Scoundrel]

[VigilantZombie]

Reports on Allen Lazard were very unclear this week. It looks like he wasn't active. As such he would be replaced by WR Jalen Reagor (or David Moore if Reagor is inactive)

I apparently also forgot to give 'Reagor' a first name lol.

[WFLukic]

Hahaha just Reagor is hilarious.

[Scoundrel]

9 minutes ago, WFLukic said:

Hahaha just Reagor is hilarious.

So good he only needs one name 

[bcb1213]

I'm gonna have to come back.  Reading Williamsport write up gave me a headache 

One lol though. Writing Leonard Williams is really mainly good against the run then we're putting Leonard Williams in at end in passing situations 

[VigilantZombie]

16 minutes ago, bcb1213 said:

I'm gonna have to come back.  Reading Williamsport write up gave me a headache 

One lol though. Writing Leonard Williams is really mainly good against the run then we're putting Leonard Williams in at end in passing situations 

Lol the context that statement is meant that Hargrave is more athletic than Alualu. Williams can pass rush and proved that last night. But he is also very good against the run but I also think that's Alualu's strength at NT.

It allows me to keep the DL fresh while getting the most out of the Dline. I completely botched the wording there.

I probably rewrote that sob 4 times. 

[WFLukic]

Woops just realised i forgot to delete a part of last weeks gameplan when copy pasting across. Ignore the stuff about Hyde/Tannehill in the defensive section.

[bcb1213]

I have to go Williamsport here.  With Gilmore out and lukic seemingly playing all man all the time, I see cam Dantzler and Anthony brown or whoever I don't know letting him down seeing however Gilmore has been assigned Ridley 

Reaves 27-21

Edited November 3, 2020 by bcb1213

[WFLukic]

30 minutes ago, bcb1213 said:

I have to go Williamsport here.  With Gilmore out and lukic seemingly playing all man all the time, I see cam Dantzler and Anthony brown or whoever I don't know letting him down seeing however Gilmore has been assigned Ridley 

Reaves 27-21

Ah Bradberry was meant to be on Ridley, I didn't even name Gilmore in my lineup. Don't know how you missed Bradberry but jumped to Brown/Dantzler.

 

Edited November 3, 2020 by WFLukic

[VigilantZombie]

21 minutes ago, WFLukic said:

Ah Bradberry was meant to be on Ridley, I didn't even name Gilmore in my lineup. Don't know how you missed Bradberry but jumped to Brown/Dantzler.

 

I mean, I don't think he missed Bradberry. You literally have your coverage assignments as Gilmore - Ridley. As far as Brown/Dantzler, that's who you've got listed as a CB in 4WR sets.

You didn't even mention Bradberry outside of listing him on your roster. 

Edited November 3, 2020 by wwhickok

[WFLukic]

22 minutes ago, wwhickok said:

I mean, I don't think he missed Bradberry. You literally have your coverage assignments as Gilmore - Ridley. As far as Brown/Dantzler, that's who you've got listed as a CB in 4WR sets.

You didn't even mention Bradberry outside of listing him on your roster. 

I don't mention Brown except in my roster either. To see Brown and completely miss Bradberry makes no sense. 

[VigilantZombie]

1 minute ago, WFLukic said:

I don't mention Brown except in my roster either. To see Brown and completely miss Bradberry makes no sense. 

I'm simply suggesting why he said what he said. I'm not advocating influence here.