William Jackson III

[SunsetBengal]

(12-23-2019, 09:33 PM)Joelist Wrote: Poor scheming and coaching in the secondary contributes a lot to the problems. Let’s remember that Zimmer got really good secondary play out of similar players by tailoring his scheme to what they did well. He knew his players were much better in press man than in zone (especially the awful soft zones we seem to love) so he had a lot of man looks and fewer zone looks.

And we are still trying to play soft zones with players who are obviously better in man coverage.

I agree about scheme and coaching having a direct impact on the lack of plays being made by our secondary.  Many of our DBs were high picks, 1st and 2nd round talents, truly gifted athletes.  It's not like the forgot how to ball, it's that they aren't being coached to their strengths.  And to be honest, I really haven't noticed any of them come forward, in a leadership role, and take command of that secondary.  That secondary hasn't had an identity since 2015, Reggie Nelson was that vocal leader that called the shots out there, picked guys up after a bad play, and led by example with his fantastic instincts as an over the top defender.

We had one before Nelson, in Terrance Newman, and Chris Crocker before him.  Sure, coaching plays a huge role in their success or failure, but one of the players must also step into that leadership position, and hold his teammates accountable.