Flo loves to play 6 DBs in "and long" situations, so there's really no reason to put him in that position.
Even if he's on the field in 2 LB packages, his responsibility won't likely be coverage, other than backs.
PFF Ranks Miami's Defensive Line 28th
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Even if he's on the field in 2 LB packages, his responsibility won't likely be coverage, other than backs.
gregorygrant83
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I think officially the starting d line will be Wilkins, Davis and Ogbah, with the starting linebackers being Van Ginkle, Baker, McKinney and Phillips. I think the Wilkins, Davis and Ogbah trio is more than good enough and better than 26th, but I'm not sure how high I would put them. I wouldn't expect a pro bowl selection out of the group this season. I think the linebacker corp is better and the secondary is the best defensive unit.
TheRevoltingBlob
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Remember when PFF had nearly all of our units ranked at the very bottom last year, and they were proven correct by our complete disaster of a season.
Oh, right... that didn't happen.
Oh, right... that didn't happen.
That’s certainly could happen lol
I thought that was pretty far out there for you.....lol
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I think I read that he could be used to rush the passer some.
Regardless of actual PFF rankings, you have to put the brakes a bit on your expectations of the 21 Fins defense. Fins were 1st in takeaways and were bottom 5 in giveaways(before the Bills game). These are things that simply dont repeat, half of it is pure randomness; And when you start to look deeper into the other effeciency stats it becomes blatantly clear that they werent all that great outside of that.
A case could be made that play calling was a big part of it as the Fins were actually 2nd in the league at blitz%, but in of itself, a high blitz % is a high variance strategy. In other words, in a 16 games season you could get lucky and get the #1 takeaway crown or get the short end of it like Arizona at #18. All of this has little to do with player skill, these are things that are very luck related and affect games at a high level.
A case could be made that play calling was a big part of it as the Fins were actually 2nd in the league at blitz%, but in of itself, a high blitz % is a high variance strategy. In other words, in a 16 games season you could get lucky and get the #1 takeaway crown or get the short end of it like Arizona at #18. All of this has little to do with player skill, these are things that are very luck related and affect games at a high level.
Turnovers, defensive TD's, success stopping opponents on 3rd and 4th down, are great when they happen. But are also not a given from year to year. Being consistent in scoring defense, stopping the run and defending the pass, can be argued they are the true stats that make a great defense. It seems though the latter three are the more consistent stats compared to TO's, TD's and 3rd/4th down efficiency. Having those flash plays that make fans stand up and go bonkers for the defense, create an Illusion, that a defense is better than the traditional stats would indicate. Once a defense loses those flash plays, the indication of a team who is not very good defensively, rears its head.
Feverdream
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But... you should factor in that the reason we were able to blitz so much was that we had Jones and Howard in single coverage so much... most teams just can't do that, because their corners are nowhere as good as ours are.
That said, the reason we HAD to blitz so much was that our pass rush was weak.
So... if we can generate more pressure with less guys... we'll be better yet.
Which is why I believe Miami's DL got a low ranking from PFF. If they improve at stopping the run and rushing the passer, the ranking should also improve. They are an assignment sound group and all have some good traits, but collectively they need to step it up a notch.
Feverdream
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I think a lot of PFFs ratings are overly reliant on splash plays, and if they graded us on JUST the pass rush... one on one... then 28th might be fair, but there is so much more than that to consider.
Anyone who has been around here for long has seen my crying, screaming... yelling for us to pleeeease bring in some pass rushers, so yes... I get that part, but our tackles are pretty stout, and Ogbah wasn't stellar, but he was okay... and Seiler is a very nice rotational player, so we didn't suck... but the problem wasn't really our Defensive line in my mind, it was our edges and our linebackers who just do not scare people. They were a very pedestrian group.
Not addressing anyone specifically, but I think part of the descrepency between "rankings" and results is due to scheme and philosophy.
It's really not a straight comparison between the multi front hybrid we employ verses many other defensive systems.
My opinion, we are not far away (one or two studs) from being a dominant defense. Maybe Philips is one of those guys, maybe Iggy, who knows.
We need to generate an organic pass rush, and set the edge against the run. That is it.
I have faith we can going into year 3 of Flo.
It's really not a straight comparison between the multi front hybrid we employ verses many other defensive systems.
My opinion, we are not far away (one or two studs) from being a dominant defense. Maybe Philips is one of those guys, maybe Iggy, who knows.
We need to generate an organic pass rush, and set the edge against the run. That is it.
I have faith we can going into year 3 of Flo.
What's missing is a Jeff Cross type of 3/4 DE. If Miami had a DE or two like Cross, that be a boon for the base 3/4.
But are they so great if you just ignore the INTs for a second...? Because blitzing so much did come at a price as the Fins were giving up 8 yards per pass attempt, which is 4th to last in the NFL in 2020. The fact Howard got all those INTs kind of made it moot, but is Howard likely to replicate the INT numbers in 2020? History strtongly leans towards no, and if thats the case, then the whole thing looks a whole lot different.
Now the additions on D really seem to hit the nail on what they actually needed to be able to get the same pressure output while blitzing less which is great. But I really dont expect the Fins to be top 5 in takeaways next season and they'll have to improve on the other 95% of plays where there arent any TOs to really remain in the top 10 in scoring D. Or maybe Howard is just the GUY that flat out dominates and he gets another double digit INT season, maybe he is the Cam Wake of the secondary... At some point, we're bound to get another one of those...
