Who hurt and who helped.... Pre-season game 2

[GunnerBill]

The defense is coming together with essentially a bunch of spare parts, many of which would be terrible in an attack like Schwartz' which is totally reliant on having playmakers up front.

 

This is the advantage of Rex D. You don't need a bunch of stars up front. Rex exposed himself as a one trick pony DC last year but that one trick still works effectively if the players know what they are doing and execute it unselfishly.

 

It is a different philosophy of building a defense ultimately isn't it? If you are building a Jim Schwartz defense you spend your resources up front because his D is predicated on the front 4 getting pressure, forcing the ball to come out quickly and therefore only requiring the guys on the back end to maintain coverage for a short period. Give him the horses up front and he can work with the Leodis McKelvins and Ron Brooks of the world in the secondary.

 

If you are building a Rex defense you spend your resources on the back end because Rex will generate pressure with scheme, whether that means sending extra guys or exotic looks to confuse the Quarterback. He can do that without elite talent but it does require his secondary to play much more single man coverage and in some instances to be able to cover for longer and so the secondary is where he needs his elite playmakers.

 

I don't think either approach is right or wrong it is about matching your scheme to your talent effectively and building something sustainable. I am encouraged (only pre-season I know) by what I have seen from Rex so far this year and you can call me one of those who was sceptical about whether the league might have moved past the Rex Ryan style of D.... I hope that scepticism is firmly laid to rest and that as you say the one trick can still work effectively if players buy in.

 

Having said all that about where you spend resources for a Rex defense..... I'm still going to argue Shaq was the right pick. I am on record as to my thoughts on how good he can be.... if I am wrong I will be the first one to hold my hands up.