Obviously, losing Ogbah is a bad thing. But he didn’t really fit our defense anymore. Boyer is running almost exclusively a 4-2-5 this season, and Ogbah isn’t a great fit in that system because he doesn’t put enough pressure on the QB to be one of just two edge rushers (nor is he a great interior pass rusher).
Ogbah is much more suited to be a 3-4 DE, but we haven't been playing much 3-4 because we want to find ways to get Wilkins, Sieler, and Raekwon on the field and because Phillips and Ingram aren’t true OLBs—we don’t want them in coverage.
As a result, I think our front 7 looks fine—maybe even better—without Ogbah.
At DT, we can run a three-man rotation of Wilkins, Sieler, and Davis for two slots.
At edge, we can run a 4-man rotation of Chubb, Phillips, Ingram, and Van Ginkel for two slots.
And at LB, we can play a three-man rotation of Baker, Roberts, and Riley for two slots. Lately we’ve also been mixing in some Van Ginkel snaps on obvious passing downs where we go with only 1 true linebacker, which I love.
And then in the secondary, we play 5 guys virtually every snap. Howard, Kohou, and Holland are always three of them. Rowe gets most of the snaps as the 4th guy.
That 5th slot in the secondary is our biggest weakness (other than our crappy linebackers). Right now it’s getting divided up between McKinley, Bethel, Crossen, and Igbinoghene. Byron Jones would obviously be a much, much better option.
Ogbah is much more suited to be a 3-4 DE, but we haven't been playing much 3-4 because we want to find ways to get Wilkins, Sieler, and Raekwon on the field and because Phillips and Ingram aren’t true OLBs—we don’t want them in coverage.
As a result, I think our front 7 looks fine—maybe even better—without Ogbah.
At DT, we can run a three-man rotation of Wilkins, Sieler, and Davis for two slots.
At edge, we can run a 4-man rotation of Chubb, Phillips, Ingram, and Van Ginkel for two slots.
And at LB, we can play a three-man rotation of Baker, Roberts, and Riley for two slots. Lately we’ve also been mixing in some Van Ginkel snaps on obvious passing downs where we go with only 1 true linebacker, which I love.
And then in the secondary, we play 5 guys virtually every snap. Howard, Kohou, and Holland are always three of them. Rowe gets most of the snaps as the 4th guy.
That 5th slot in the secondary is our biggest weakness (other than our crappy linebackers). Right now it’s getting divided up between McKinley, Bethel, Crossen, and Igbinoghene. Byron Jones would obviously be a much, much better option.