HoofHearted

Groot very likely plays both. Against heavier sets (12 or heavier) is when we will be in a base Tite front or an Under front. Groot in the Tite front is a boundary outside backer. Everyone is crying about his coverage ability, but against these heavy sets we’ll either be in man allowing him to rush or cover 3 where he is a hook/curl dropper to the short side of the field. It’s no different a drop than when we dropped him into coverage on sims in McDermotts defense. If we’re in an Under front he’d be the 5t to the weak side. Outside of that we’ll primarily be in JL’s Peso front which is a 4-2-5 (and really a 2-4-5 with 3-4 personnel). He’ll play the same 5t in that which we’ve seen him play his entire career under McDermott.

I honestly don’t understand why 5t keeps being brought up with a base front. If JL brings in a Tite front it will be 4is and a shaded nose. We’ll only see a 5t if we run an Under front as our base. Nickel (Peso) is a different story.

I agree. I think he'll play predominately in a 4i/3t role. His position flexibility is what this thread was about though. The ability for us to use him as a weapon and attack matchups in specific scenarios.

A 5 is not a head up technique. We also won't be playing a 0 nose - he'll be a shade. Regardless though, if you're doubling one than you're leaving one unblocked. If you're doubling two then you're leaving two unblocked. The only case where there can be a double is if the offense reads one of the overhangs or an interior guy if they're running midline.

He's a one step, punch, and read defender - fine for taking on doubles - but the whole design of the 5 man front is to eliminate doubles and create 1v1s across the board. Penetrators are what you want - not slugs.

Yes, he’s not going to be your every down nose but he offers a ton of versatility (as does Deone) to move around and take advantage of matchups.

Ideally you want two guys who have the range to play high as well as the physicality to play in the box. The more interchangeable these two are the more balanced we can be with our pressures from either side. This isn’t going to be a Rex Ryan/Mike Pettine defense. Google Dave Aranda, that’s the scheme JL runs. Has the flexibility to base out of a Tite, Odd, or Under front, but will largely be the same 4-2-5 we’ve been running (alignment-wise) the majority of the time.

If you’ve coached then I think it should be pretty easy for you to determine what guys can do well and what guys can’t do well. Should give you a pretty good idea (maybe not exact) about the direction this thing is going to go, especially if you understand the full scope of the scheme JL runs.

I disagree with this. He’s going to stay within his system. With that it’s pretty easy to determine where this defense is going to go. It’s going to base out of a 3 down front, and will reduce the ends and backers down in nickel to play any 11p or lighter sets. Outside of that it’s figuring out which front fits this group best, which if you’re looking at just current roster construction it’s an under front. Regardless though it’s going to be a 1 gap principle front. It’s going to rely on sims and creepers to counter opposing offenses pass pro allowing us to drop 7 and only rush 4 to get pressure. It’ll be heavily MOFC coverage reliant. So many on here are projecting ideas based off an old school two gapping 55 front and that’s not what this is going to be.

Milano can’t play outside backer in this defense. Needs to be someone who can hold up in the run game on the edge.

We're going to be mostly Nickel regardless. To 11 personnel or lighter he's going to be in Nickel Personnel.

If he plays exclusively to the boundary we'll be able to mask it some.

Trey and Groot would play the same position if they both projected as OLBs. I'll admit Groot isn't a great fit as an OLB in this defense, but unless he's able to add considerable weight he's not going to hold up as a 4i either. I think we could get away with him being a boundary backer in Leonhard's defense just because of his length allowing him to get into passing windows without having to be great in drops, but it's not an ideal fit. Bernard is strictly an inside backer in this defense, and more suited for the Will position than the Mike.

Bingo!

Again, where are the doubles in a 5 man front?