LIONS DEFENSIVE SCHEME: MAN VS ZONE BREAKDOWN

[Karnage84]

This came up in the mock draft thread but I felt it was interesting enough to break out on its own. I also didn't want to plug up the mock draft thread with this kind of chatter. 

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-week-12-coverage-update-giants-predictable-jets-best-performance

BOLD = Win

OFF = % of man coverage our offense has faced

DEF = % of man coverage our defense ran

• Week 1 PHI - OFF -29.3% ; DEF - 59.1%
• Week 2 WAS - OFF - 24.3% ; DEF - 36.4%
• Week 3 MIN - OFF -18.2% ; DEF - 71.7%
• Week 4 SEA - OFF -43.8%; DEF - 45.7%
• Week 5 NE - OFF - 65.9% DEF - 65.4%
• Week 6 BYE 
• Week 7 DAL - OFF -30.3% ; DEF - 22.6%
• Week 8 MIA - OFF -33.3% ; DEF - 19.0%
• Week 9 GB - OFF - 17.2%; DEF - 42.3% <<< Aubrey Pleasant fired
• Week 10 CHI - OFF - 42.4%; DEF -  33.3%
• Week 11 NYG - OFF -61.3% ; DEF - 46.2%
• Week 12 BUF - OFF - 43.9%; DEF - 41.8%

OFF OVERALL = 37.4% (3rd highest in NFL)

DEF OVERALL = 44.1% (3rd highest in NFL)

Edited December 6, 2022 by Karnage84

[Just Want A Title]

It may or may not be a correlation but it seems like the Lions have been doing a much better job of mixing up zone and man coverages since Aubrey Pleasant was fired.  I suspect that makes the defense much harder for QBs to to read.  Also, it there could be a much greater emphasis in disguising coverages but that is just a guess on my part

[Karnage84]

1 hour ago, Just Want A Title said:

It may or may not be a correlation but it seems like the Lions have been doing a much better job of mixing up zone and man coverages since Aubrey Pleasant was fired.  I suspect that makes the defense much harder for QBs to to read.  Also, it there could be a much greater emphasis in disguising coverages but that is just a guess on my part

It feels much more like consistency. We're seeing man coverage in the range of 40% +/- over those few weeks while it significantly varied in prior weeks. You're going from one week running nearly 72% man to another week running 19%. 

Looking at the numbers, it feels like they said "we want to be super heavy in man". Then things didn't work. Then during the bye, they said "let's go heavy in zone". That didn't work. They fire Pleasant and then find this balance that seems to be working. 

[Karnage84]

@Sllim Pickens holy s#!%. I just found the PFF grades for man vs zone - NFL AND CFB. 

[Karnage84]

• Joey Porter Jr 6'2, 198 lbs - Man - 79.3; Zone - 62.1
• Brian Branch 6'0, 193 lbs - Man - 79.0; Zone - 77.6
• Kelee Ringo 6'2, 210 - Man - 71.5; Zone - 62.1
• Mekhi Garner - Man - 69.3; Zone - 62.6
• Malachi Moore - Man - 68.7; Zone - 61.2
• Christian Gonzalez - Man - 64.4; Zone - 77.1
• Eli Ricks - Man - 64.1; Zone - 77.4
• Clark Phillips 5'10, 183 lbs - Man - 85.9; Zone - 75.9 <<<<<<<< 
• Emmanuel Forbes 6'0, 180 lbs - Man - 84.4; Zone - 79.5 <<<<<<<<<<
• Devon Witherspoon 6'0, 180 lbs- Man - 88.5; Zone - 89.9 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< <<<<<<<<<<<

Edited December 6, 2022 by Karnage84

[Louis Friend]

I like Forbes in the second if we pass on Porter in the first. But with the Lions draft pick dropping, I'm thinking he might not be there. 

Can you look up Garrett Williams Syracuse?

[Karnage84]

Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, TCU, Man - 65.4; Zone 74.2

Garrett Williams, Syracuse, Man - 64.1; Zone - 74.6 @Louis Friend

Cam Smith, South Carolina - Man - 57.1; Zone - 67.6

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by Karnage84

[Just Want A Title]

34 minutes ago, Karnage84 said:

• Joey Porter Jr 6'2, 198 lbs - Man - 79.3; Zone - 62.1
• Brian Branch 6'0, 193 lbs - Man - 79.0; Zone - 77.6
• Kelee Ringo 6'2, 210 - Man - 71.5; Zone - 62.1
• Mekhi Garner - Man - 69.3; Zone - 62.6
• Malachi Moore - Man - 68.7; Zone - 61.2
• Christian Gonzalez - Man - 64.4; Zone - 77.1
• Eli Ricks - Man - 64.1; Zone - 77.4
• Clark Phillips 5'10, 183 lbs - Man - 85.9; Zone - 75.9 <<<<<<<< 
• Emmanuel Forbes 6'0, 180 lbs - Man - 84.4; Zone - 79.5 <<<<<<<<<<
• Devon Witherspoon 6'0, 180 lbs- Man - 88.5; Zone - 89.9 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< <<<<<<<<<<<

I had Devon Witherspoon in my first Mock draft.   He isn't being talked up too much but he has some serious cover skills.  

[Karnage84]

2 minutes ago, Just Want A Title said:

I had Devon Witherspoon in my first Mock draft.   He isn't being talked up too much but he has some serious cover skills.  

This definitely helps open up my eyes to some of the guys and how to view them. 

[Karnage84]

This bit of information is only going to add to my overall confusion.

• Jeffrey Okduah - Man - 57.2 (37.2% of COV Snaps); Zone - 64.6 (46.5% of snaps)
• Will Harris - Man - 55.4 (38.5% of snaps); Zone - 81.0 (47.9% of snaps)
• Mike Hughes - Man - 41.9 (42.7%); Zone - 68.3 (42.75 of snaps)
• Amani Oruwariye - Man - 29.3 (39.3%); Zone - 42.4 (43.4%)
• Jerry Jacobs - Man - 35.3 (37.8% of snaps); Zone - 71.0 (48.8% of snaps)
• AJ Parker - Man - 38.8 (33.8% of snaps); Zone - 42.3 (50% of snaps)
• Bobby Price - Man - 50.5 (36.8% of snaps); Zone - 54.7 (57.9% of snaps)

According to PFF, Jeffrey Okduah is average in man; above average in zone; Will Harris is elite (I just threw up in my mouth a little) in zone and only a hint below Okudah in man (??what??). We also run the third most amount of man coverage in the league and yet we seem to have limited success there. 

 

[Sllim Pickens]

3 hours ago, Karnage84 said:

This bit of information is only going to add to my overall confusion.

• Jeffrey Okduah - Man - 57.2 (37.2% of COV Snaps); Zone - 64.6 (46.5% of snaps)
• Will Harris - Man - 55.4 (38.5% of snaps); Zone - 81.0 (47.9% of snaps)
• Mike Hughes - Man - 41.9 (42.7%); Zone - 68.3 (42.75 of snaps)
• Amani Oruwariye - Man - 29.3 (39.3%); Zone - 42.4 (43.4%)
• Jerry Jacobs - Man - 35.3 (37.8% of snaps); Zone - 71.0 (48.8% of snaps)
• AJ Parker - Man - 38.8 (33.8% of snaps); Zone - 42.3 (50% of snaps)
• Bobby Price - Man - 50.5 (36.8% of snaps); Zone - 54.7 (57.9% of snaps)

According to PFF, Jeffrey Okduah is average in man; above average in zone; Will Harris is elite (I just threw up in my mouth a little) in zone and only a hint below Okudah in man (??what??). We also run the third most amount of man coverage in the league and yet we seem to have limited success there. 

 

Now it would be nice to see these since Pleasant was fired.  But yeah, that is interesting info for sure.  Definitely not what I had expected. 

[Karnage84]

Weeks 9 - 13

• Will Harris - Man - 63.1; Zone - 68.5
• Jerry Jacobs - Man - 40.8; Zone - 71.0
• Mike Hughes - Man 62.2; Zone - 67.0
• Jeffrey Okudah - Man 52.9; Zone 63.3
• Amani Oruwariye - Man - 30.7; Zone - 62.3

 

Here you go @Sllim PickensI'm just starting to figure out some of the nuances of the PFF site for this kind of detail. 

Edited December 7, 2022 by Karnage84

[Karnage84]

Weeks 1 - 8

• Jeffrey Okudah - M - 68.7; Z - 60.1
• Mike Hughes - M - 55.8; Z - 50.6
• Will Harris - M - 47.4; Z - 81.4
• Amani Oruwariye - M - 64.3; Z - 50.1
• Bobby Price - M - 60.2; Z - 66.3

[Superduperman]

I look forward to which CB they're gonna get with one of those round 1-2 picks because they're going to take one, and they will get a good one. Porter, Ringo, Forbes, Witherspoon are my guys right now

[Sllim Pickens]

@Karnage84 Again its not what I expected.  lol.  I am so confused again.