College football man free 5 man pressures LSU ,Texas, Michigan,michigan state

 

MAN FREE PRESSURES AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL

Below are some man free pressures from some of the best coordinators in the game. Lets start with one of the best college coordinators in the game Donnie Brown. Brown uses a tremendous amount of presnap movement, especially on 3rd down by shifting fronts to screw with protection. 

#1 is Michigan under Don Brown. 

Michigan vs Notre Dame 2018

Here Michigan goes from an odd look to a 4-2 load look presnap. 
They bring America's blitz 4 to a side and go man free. 

Blitz concept #2

They move from a 4-2 to a bear look, They run a 2 man game inside with their 2 interior lineman and the mike lb who moved down to the los.

Here's some video of the 3 clips above.

In another 2nd and 10, they overload a side (4men on the right) and go man free again. They are in man free coverage with the lb responsible for the rb his way. Great job in coverage.

The Irish free release the back and no one blocks the defensive end on the right as the Irish are sliding to their right. The Rt gets beat as well and the pressure forces the quick throw.

On the very next play they go to their odd look , again with some presnap movement and bring some more 5 man pressure

Another team I took a look at was LSU and their defense. They mix up some different fronts and run some unique blitzes.

3rd and 5

LSU vs Miss State

LSU in there odd front brings 2 lbs , the sam and mike and the will adds in when he sees the hb block.

2nd and 10 

LSU goes to a double mug look.

They bring both lb and play man free. 
The RB misses the block on the weakside lb and he comes clean to get a good hit on the qb.

on 1st and 10 the tigers run a 5 man game and americas blitz off the strong side. They do a great job in coverage and get the sack.

Texas Defense Vs LSU

Texas looks like its running the pressure out of an odd 3-3 look.

Looks like they are playing the rb with the lb to his side and bringing the pressure with the lb away from the back!

These are just some of the 5 man pressures you see at the D1 level. There are plenty and more analysis will follow.

Here is michigan state running a 5 man pressure out of their odd front. they go with 3 lb and 3 dlineman and bring 5 with the blitz coming away from the back.

the remaining lb has the rb.

The rb steps inside and doesn't see the lb causing a 3x2 situation on the defensive left

The odd look caused some issues with protection. The mike goes c gap and they are able to get home as the rb and right side can't pass it off .

These are just some cover 1 pressures you see. 

Broncos run game attacking the Bear front/odd fronts vs Dolphins and using motions vs Steelers

I analyzed the Broncos run game against the Dolphins and Steelers.

The Broncos used some good schemes to rush for 189 yards on 33 carries vs the Dolphins. They primarily did it against 2 fronts, the bear front and the 4-2 front with 2 2i (inside techniques). They also played some man free which allowed the Broncos wr to crack on the SS and block 2 for 1 because their was no crack replace with the cb. 

The Dolphins love the bear front on run downs.  The Bear front has been used throughout the year by the dolphins. It has been effective for them in the run game, playing dividends vs teams in the last few games.

The trouble with the Bear front is usually in the passing game as you are forced to play cover 1(man free) or  cover 3 with some 1/4, 1/4 half coverages sprinkled in. The Dolphins play alot of man free with it.

The Broncos changed some of their traditional zone schemes and went to some more power gap schemes in this game. They ran outside trap and some power and had various plays in which different players pulled and it worked out very succesfully.  When they went to their 4-2 with 2 , inside 2i techniques, the Broncos attacked that and got 2 big runs for 40 yards. 

BEAR FRONT

Lets look at some of the bear runs. 

Here they run a nice 3x2 double team scheme with the guard tackle and tight end. They seal the right side, the h back kicks out and they get a nice 9 yard gain.

 Here on 1st and 10 the Broncos run the outside trap scheme pulling the guard and the backside tackle for 5 yards 

After the 5 yard gain they come back to the power scheme on 2nd and 5. The dolphins are in man free(outside leverage by the sam lb gives it away) They run power with the left guard kicking out the olb.

The Broncos get a nice 25 yard gain on the play. wr does enough to block the SS and set up the big run.

The 

On another 1st and 10 vs bear, they pull the guard and he logs the de and it allows the tackle to turn it outside for a nice 9 yard gain. The tackle sees the guard log the de and stays outside, the rb follows and its a nice gain.

Vs. 42 front

Dolphins play both dt in 2i's, inside shade in their 4-2 look. They get hit for 2 big runs vs this.

They run to the right side for 20 yards with Lindsay on the scheme below. Great job by the center getting out and blocking the SS.

Here they pull the center and tackle and run outside trap concept. The defensive end works up field so the tackle kicks out and the back cuts up. 

They run a similar scheme but pull the backside tackle and he kicks out for a 20 yard touchdown, nice check and scheme design for another 20 yard gain and touchdown. 2 big plays vs the dt and nose being in 2i fronts. 

These were some of the successful runs the Broncos had on the day. They did a nice job scheming things up and running effective schemes vs the Dolphins bear and 4-2 front.

Vs The Steelers

Some of the best runs they had is when they motioned as the Steelers play man free quite a bit. 

By motioning, you sometimes get a secondary/lb displaced and allow cutback lanes. Especially since Dupree can be vulnerable in the run games because he loves to rush the passer.

Below, the Steelers have safety blitz which looks like changed with the change of strength. They usually send the sam but here send the weak free safety. The Broncos go jet motion and the lb has to cover it and it creates a huge cutback lane on inside zone. The LB leaves the box and it causes issues.

A nice 8 yard gain

On 2nd and 3,

They run inside zone off jet motion, the Steelers have a sam blitz on and this time don't check the blitz. The sam blitzes and the lb takes the jet motion. This leaves a huge cutback lane on the inside zone. Broncos get 17 on the play.

Later on the Steelers try to adjust with the safety as they blitz the mike with the motion. The Broncos get the same effect as the Steelers leave yet another cutback lane. 3 carries for 42 yards using motion early in the game. Nice scheme by the Broncos.

The Steelers defense can be vulnerable at times when you go 3x1 to 2x2 and motion when in man free and  the Broncos took advantage of that in the run game.

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Buffalo Bills Road to a Super Bowl-Bills personnel analysis

Here's a quick look at the Bills and what deficiencies they have in order to win a super bowl. The Bills have a real good window over the next few years and should be exciting to watch. A couple things stand out from watching them over the year.

The Bills are 3-4  moves from a championship, The players they need to add are lb, edge de,  rb and possibly an interior offensive lineman if Feliciano departs during Free agency .  I think they have some flaws especially on the defensive side, that get masked with the great play from their offense, especially in the passing game. They just outscore everybody! The pass rush was non existent vs the Chiefs which led to Mahomes having a field day. On the day, they had 1 sack and 3 qb hurries. 

On offense, people say the rush offense was poor, was it? Or, was it a matter of the Bills choosing to use more of a short passing game instead early in games. The 2 best rb Singletary and Moss, averaged 4.4 and 4.3 per carry.

Lets look at the defense:

 Statistically, they were middle average in most defensive categories and they definitely need to improve against the run and in the pass rush department :

 1. They were 20th in yards allowed rushing. This is concerning because they were leading quite a bit in a number of games. Double digit leads throughout many games so this stat is alarming. 

2. They were 19th in opponents 3rd down conversion rate.

3. Red zone defense: 20th in red zone points, td's allowed.

4. 14th in points allowed at 23.2 per game

5. 17th in yards allowed per play

6. On a positive note, they were 4th in turnovers which is very important. 

Observations:. 

They also had some major flaws in their pass defense, which I thought was more underneath at times but also because they couldn't get to the qb with 4 man rushes.   1 sacks and 3 hurries vs a beat up Chiefs line was a problem in the playoffs. 

But that being said here's what I see. 

Biggest area of weakness:

1. LB-  Underneath pass coverage

The Bills were exposed in the offseason, they need to cover better underneath as Kelce and Hill killed them in the playoffs. Edmunds looks lost in pass coverage at times. He needs to improve as a pass  defender. As a whole , Hill was 9 for 172(easily could have been 200 with a drop early) and some were not the lb's fault but Kelce was 13 for 118. That's close to 300 yards on the 2 guys in their offense who should be the focus. 

2. 

Here's another example as the Chiefs go orbit motion and hit the deep crossing route.

 DE- Right side of  their run defense- Seems like teams made a killing running left vs the Bills, They were really exposed in the run game at times but still managed to make it to the AFC championship.

They lacked major production as a pass rush unit. There leading pass rushers gave them 5 sacks a game, one being AJ Kline who plays linebacker. The inability to get to the passer was evident in the Chiefs game. They got 1 sack and 3 hurries all game. That allowed Kelce and Hill to work the middle of the field and really hur them in pass coverage. 

They were 20th in the league against the run. 18th against the pass, so some improved play on the defensive line is a must. 

The Patriots ran the ball on them 29 times for 183 yards. The Jets and Dolphins will definitely be better run teams next year. The Bills run defense needs to get better. You saw it in the first Patriots game and here are some examples. 

The Patriots really attacked the Bills right side of their defense. Here is counter blocking,example  #1 22 yard td.

Counter blocking scheme 2 : 20 yard gain

Here they get hit with toss for a 7 yard gain as they don't set the edge! Just think the run defense needs to get better. 

3. RB- The Bills need a little more of a power run game. Their strategy seemed to get up early, then run the football but they need a little more production out of their run game. I don't know if its an inability to run the ball or more of a choice not to? They need a little more balance at times. But, is it a personnel issue or a matter of just not running the ball more.

The Salary Cap:

The Bills are operating under a tight cap as we speak. It looks as if they are around the cap limit for 2021 of 180 million. With that being said, who do you cut and who do you bring back.

John Brown will probably be cut (7 million savings) and they will go with a cheaper 3rd option. 

On Defense, expect a defensive lineman to be cut, Mario Addison was average this year. (6 million savings) That will probably be 1 of the moves the Bills make to free up some money for Williams or Feliciano. They need to sign at least 1 of them. 

Free agency:

Offense:

TE- They need to add a tight end. Definitely need more production there. 

G and Tackle- Feliciano and Daryl Williams, 2 starters need to be resigned or replaced. The problem is the guard market is slim so Feliciano should get about 8-10 million per year. Daryl Williams had an excellent year as well. Those are 2 tough problems to solve.

WR- They can save money by cutting John Brown and adding a #3 option. That's a no brainer. They have 2 studs in Diggs and Beasley.

RB- Can get a cheap one in the draft, why mess with it in free agency. 

Defense:

LB- Milano's a free agent and Edmonds can't cover. That is an area of concern for the Bills.

Def Line- They need production on the edge and to improve their pass rush. Defensive line is a concern. I like Hughes but Oliver and Addison have been disappointing. Need to improve at that position. 

Safety-Hyde and Poyer are very good.

CB-White is solid and Norman is a free agent so they need to address the one side. Maybe get Norman back on a friendly deal or move on in the draft.

That's really it in a nutshell.

The Bills have some tough decisions to make but can definitely improve with the right decisions in the offseason.