Jaguars sign Shaquill Griffin

[Tugboat]

On 3/18/2021 at 12:07 PM, pwny said:

 

This is what you hope to see, when it comes to Free Agents.  You don't want to have to be sorta "begging" them to come here.  You want them to see an organization that's trying to turn things around and at least could have a bright future, with them being part of it.

Of course, it means that...until things actually do start to turn around and they start to put a better product on the field, there will continue to be limitations on who we can realistically land as Free Agents with other choices all over.  Especially the "top tier" guys with a lineup of suitors around the block.  But you've gotta start somewhere.  And bringing in guys like this who seem to "get it", seems like a reasonable place to start.

[pwny]

5 minutes ago, Tugboat said:

Kinda interesting, philosophically.  There are some teams/coaches that believe that and work that way.  But also an awful lot that tend to think and try to build the other way around.

Depends a bit, on how you want your DBs and the back end of that defense to play i guess.  If you want aggressiveness and versatility in the secondary, it kinda has to become more of a priority, just to get guys with the premium skillsets to a multiplicity of concepts, and especially certain physically demanding roles and responsibilities.

 

I kinda tend to lean the other way around.  Good defense today, starts up front.  I think you can find more "limited" or "niche" guys in the secondary that you can shelter schematically by not asking them to do things they're not capable of.  But it's that see-saw effect where if you do it right, i think you can find success with either philosophy.  You just have to have a cohesive vision of how it's all going to come together, one way or the other.  Be that an emphasis on strong, versatile players in the secondary who can backstop a front that you have to get really "creative" and scheme guys into niche roles to pressure.  Or if it's a robust front who can just get after it and feast, to make things simpler on the back end to allow your more niche guys in the secondary to stay within their comfort zone.

To further clarify: he’s also indicated that big time pass rushers are great to have. Just that if you don’t have them (and we don’t right now, and didn’t really have the means to add an elite pass rush via Free Agency), the mixed fronts and versatility of a 3-4 can allow you to make up some of that difference.

Corners and pass rush rule the league. He just believes you can get like 80% there by scheming until you have elite pas rushers easier than you can get 80% there in the secondary.

[Tugboat]

3 minutes ago, pwny said:

To further clarify: he’s also indicated that big time pass rushers are great to have. Just that if you don’t have them (and we don’t right now, and didn’t really have the means to add an elite pass rush via Free Agency), the mixed fronts and versatility of a 3-4 can allow you to make up some of that difference.

Corners and pass rush rule the league. He just believes you can get like 80% there by scheming until you have elite pas rushers easier than you can get 80% there in the secondary.

That's fair, and can definitely have more than a grain of truth to it.  Especially when it comes to the 3-4 being able to open up some more "schemed" looks to generate pressure for those more "niche" guys, or unexpected guys with weird skillsets.  I'm certainly expecting to see some sack numbers registered for a wider ranging group of players with this defense, than what we've seen in recent years.