DVOA rankings paint a clear picture of the defense

[Mloe68 1,521]

Number surprised me a bit especially with the top WRs but it paints a clear picture that our issues are not with our starting two corners but rather our third/fourth corner and a complete inability to handle tight ends by safeties or linebackers. And obviously a similiar problem with the RBs. Should hopefully paint a clear picture of how Veach needs to address this defense in the offseason.

Overall rank 26.

vs #1 WR - 2nd

vs #2 WR - 4th

vs other WRs - 26th

vs tight ends - 27th

vs RBs - 27 th

[reesebobby 5,663]

Our safety and inside linebacker play has been bad. Old Testament bad. 

[FANATIC 852]

I laugh at all these stats. Great for fantasy and info for talking heads to discuss. This is not baseball. Every game & situation is different. Strategies change on the fly. Schedules are not equal. Injuries are moment to moment. Weather is a big factor. Too much is made of these stupid rankings. Wins are the only thing that matters!

[Mloe68 1,521]

23 minutes ago, FANATIC said:

I laugh at all these stats. Great for fantasy and info for talking heads to discuss. This is not baseball. Every game & situation is different. Strategies change on the fly. Schedules are not equal. Injuries are moment to moment. Weather is a big factor. Too much is made of these stupid rankings. Wins are the only thing that matters!

This has zero to do with fantasy and everything to do with helping to identify who and what works and who and what doesn't. Its one tool to use and its pretty spot on if you ask me when evaluating our defense. And its not fantasy at all that if you rank worse than 25th, you aren't winning the Super Bowl. Coaches use statistical analysis in nearly any sport to HELP in their evaluation. 

[Lamardirts 2,121]

Yeah it just clarifies what we already know that our safeties and ilbs have sucked really badly this year.

[FANATIC 852]

21 minutes ago, Mloe68 said:

This has zero to do with fantasy and everything to do with helping to identify who and what works and who and what doesn't. Its one tool to use and its pretty spot on if you ask me when evaluating our defense. And its not fantasy at all that if you rank worse than 25th, you aren't winning the Super Bowl. Coaches use statistical analysis in nearly any sport to HELP in their evaluation. 

We agree to disagree. 😀

[DieHard 2,061]

Yes, I think it is very telling and confirms our eye test that ILB and S are bad. I think OD (44) and Lucas are probably up and comers but I am hesitant to go all in on them just yet. At the same time they have that lunch pail fly around the field with reckless abandon thing that I love. I hope they continue to develop. 

OD is a little light in the ass as a LB and Lucas a little light in the ass for a safety. Good young prospects though.

[Balto 723]

One could also say that improving our top corners would strengthen the coverage on the other WRs and TEs

[liquidfriend 1,151]

The Chiefs have probably the saddest set of ILB's in football today.

[ChiefsFoolFan 149]

36 minutes ago, DieHard said:

Yes, I think it is very telling and confirms our eye test that ILB and S are bad. I think OD (44) and Lucas are probably up and comers but I am hesitant to go all in on them just yet. At the same time they have that lunch pail fly around the field with reckless abandon thing that I love. I hope they continue to develop. 

OD is a little light in the ass as a LB and Lucas a little light in the ass for a safety. Good young prospects though.

I have seen promise with DOD as a nickel/coverage ILB.  I agree that he is small for an ILB, but he is damn fast & looks good in coverage & tackling in the flats.  I have high hopes for DOD.

[Iluvhouse24 1,808]

9 minutes ago, liquidfriend said:

The Chiefs have probably the saddest set of ILB's in football today.

So Hitchens had almost 50 starts in Dallas. He wasnt an unknown. He is 26. He isnt past his prime. He played at a high level in Dallas. How do upu explain that?

I kerp hearing he sucks. He isnt playing well, but I refuse to believe the dude just lost all his ability in one offseason. Why did he thrive as a SAM in Marinelli's defense but he's lost as a WILL or MIKE in Werthers' scheme?

[liquidfriend 1,151]

4 minutes ago, Iluvhouse24 said:

So Hitchens had almost 50 starts in Dallas. He wasnt an unknown. He is 26. He isnt past his prime. He played at a high level in Dallas. How do upu explain that?

I kerp hearing he sucks. He isnt playing well, but I refuse to believe the dude just lost all his ability in one offseason. Why did he thrive as a SAM in Marinelli's defense but he's lost as a WILL or MIKE in Werthers' scheme?

I think it's a blend of coaching and what Sutton is asking from him. 

They fired a really good LB coach in Gary Gibbs because?  Not really sure.  From what I can see, he and Ragland are asked to do a lot of read and react to fill in gaps and they aren't the best at choosing the right spots.  There are a few times where you see Hitchens not have to think about what he's seeing and he make some good plays.  Sutton's scheme requires a lot out of players.

[Iluvhouse24 1,808]

7 minutes ago, liquidfriend said:

I think it's a blend of coaching and what Sutton is asking from him. 

They fired a really good LB coach in Gary Gibbs because?  Not really sure.  From what I can see, he and Ragland are asked to do a lot of read and react to fill in gaps and they aren't the best at choosing the right spots.  There are a few times where you see Hitchens not have to think about what he's seeing and he make some good plays.  Sutton's scheme requires a lot out of players.

Exactly. Some players are best in a system that lets them use instincts and attack. They were hoping that Hitchens could bring us some of what DJ did in his prime. He clearly isnt suited to that role. 

[Mloe68 1,521]

40 minutes ago, ChiefsFoolFan said:

I have seen promise with DOD as a nickel/coverage ILB.  I agree that he is small for an ILB, but he is damn fast & looks good in coverage & tackling in the flats.  I have high hopes for DOD.

He was a playmaking machine at Clemson. He has a lot to learn and Andy said as much last week, but he also brings skills which match where this game is going and needed on defense.  

[liquidfriend 1,151]

4 minutes ago, Iluvhouse24 said:

Exactly. Some players are best in a system that lets them use instincts and attack. They were hoping that Hitchens could bring us some of what DJ did in his prime. He clearly isnt suited to that role. 

As of right now, no he isn't.  Can that change?  Well, we'll see because he'll be here for at least another year. 

I think we have some holes talent wise, I think the scheme is too complicated for a really young Defense and yeah part of it is Defense in the NFL is declining.

[Iluvhouse24 1,808]

2 minutes ago, liquidfriend said:

As of right now, no he isn't.  Can that change?  Well, we'll see because he'll be here for at least another year. 

I think we have some holes talent wise, I think the scheme is too complicated for a really young Defense and yeah part of it is Defense in the NFL is declining.

Not in Baltimore.

[Mloe68 1,521]

37 minutes ago, Iluvhouse24 said:

So Hitchens had almost 50 starts in Dallas. He wasnt an unknown. He is 26. He isnt past his prime. He played at a high level in Dallas. How do upu explain that?

I kerp hearing he sucks. He isnt playing well, but I refuse to believe the dude just lost all his ability in one offseason. Why did he thrive as a SAM in Marinelli's defense but he's lost as a WILL or MIKE in Werthers' scheme?

I think we all hoped he’d be DJ2 but reality is this guy is a 4.7 guy not a 4.5 sideline to sideline guy DJ was. Short area quickness and a great tackler was his MO. This guy doesn’t suck but was overpaid because he’s limited. However covered by the right guy (Sean Lee) in the right role he can be a very solid producer for us. Considering our financial investment I hope both Veach and Andy see this moving forward. Doesn’t help his counterpart is clearly not 100 percent.  

Sidenote is you have to really respect his toughness. He was in so much pain yesterday he could barely bend over to tie his shoes.  Yet gutted it out through most of the game  

[liquidfriend 1,151]

26 minutes ago, Iluvhouse24 said:

Not in Baltimore.

I guess, but it's not like they are piling on the stress on the opposing teams and it helps to play Buffalo and the Titans Offense for stat padding.

[Iluvhouse24 1,808]

42 minutes ago, liquidfriend said:

I guess, but it's not like they are piling on the stress on the opposing teams and it helps to play Buffalo and the Titans Offense for stat padding.

Im really curious as to what happens if Werthers is finally shown the door or "retires". Do they stay in a 34 or switch to an even front? If they cut Houston and let Ford walk it frees up about 21 million in cap space. Thats a lot of pass rush to say goodbye to, but Speaks has flashed real ability and they could get another pass rusher in the first 2 rounds on a rookie contract. These are the kinds of moves we need to make to get back into really good cap shape.

[kkuenn 3,613]

21 minutes ago, Iluvhouse24 said:

Im really curious as to what happens if Werthers is finally shown the door or "retires". Do they stay in a 34 or switch to an even front? If they cut Houston and let Ford walk it frees up about 21 million in cap space. Thats a lot of pass rush to say goodbye to, but Speaks has flashed real ability and they could get another pass rusher in the first 2 rounds on a rookie contract. These are the kinds of moves we need to make to get back into really good cap shape.

Stay in the 3-4 use draft and cap space to get those for it at OLB, CB and ILB or S. Draft then too for depth,competition and development. With the cap space saved and what we have also next year we could do wonders on defense. Offense is set already and we can resign those to new contracts so when Mahomes is up the others are still around and already signed.

[Iluvhouse24 1,808]

15 minutes ago, kkuenn said:

Stay in the 3-4 use draft and cap space to get those for it at OLB, CB and ILB or S. Draft then too for depth,competition and development. With the cap space saved and what we have also next year we could do wonders on defense. Offense is set already and we can resign those to new contracts so when Mahomes is up the others are still around and already signed.

Im ready for a 43. Im sick of the 34. Thats in large part due to Sutton who has taken the fun out of defense though, so if we got a new DC who ran a 34 but liked to bring it, I'd be down.

[liquidfriend 1,151]

Their base D is going to be nickel and dime packages

[Iluvhouse24 1,808]

10 hours ago, liquidfriend said:

Their base D is going to be nickel and dime packages

Regardless a 4 man front changes the responsibilities of the d-line and linebackers. It would have an impact on our decision making regarding personnel regardless of whether or not we spend 1/3 of our snaps in base and the rest in subs.

Especially when they potentially have about 35 million dollars worth of decisions to make between Houston and Ford. 

[sith13 1,746]

When you are terrible against the run or the RBs the rest of the stats don't really matter for a defense.

Not sure if a switch to 4-3 would solve our problems. It's easier to recruit for and more player options are available but as long as the coaching mentality is so soft the end result will be the same.

[xen 1,010,220]

12 hours ago, Iluvhouse24 said:

Not in Baltimore.

And yet they're not getting the stops that matter against good offenses.  Welcome to the 2018 NFL.