4 Man fronts in 2022…. Roster shaping up!

The War Room Detroit Lions — The Den
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I guess it’s time we start trusting Brad/Dan, and simply taking them at their word… Whether their grand plan comes to fruition is yet to be written, but they will sure as hell call it as they see it along the way!

From quickly moving on from the Lynn experiment, to standing by Goff as much as possible without completely showing their draft plan, to being vocal about the change to a 4 man front….

I KNOW IT HAS BEEN ADDRESSED AND DISCUSSED IN HERE…. But more in the light of us “adding 4 man concepts, bs really truly understanding we are looking a a true base 4 man front with a combo of 4-2-5, and 4-3-4 looks!

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Tell me if this looks familiar-

LDE- Cam Jordan- LIONS- currently have Josh Paschal, and Romeo Okwara pegged here. If you take a look at height, weight, speed, power, and production numbers coming out, Paschal is as close to young Cam as it gets. A 270 pound run stuffed with 13-15 TFL and 4-6 sacks a year in college with strong RAS score….

NT- Malcolm Brown- at 6’2 320 Browns size is similar to McNeill, but Brown has an inferior athletic profile and less upside as an interior rusher. LIONS- this role currently rests with McNeill who is far better suited as a 4-3 nose vs a pure 0 tech. I see 4 sacks coming from Alim this year. I see Brockers as the backup and breather here- Pensisni likely doesn’t make the roster

3T- David Onyemata- LIONS- I think Levi O will perform much better as a rush DT than a 5 tech as he was asked to be last year. The Lions made a sneaky good UDFA signing with Demetrius Taylor as well… his 10 yards is FIRE, and his vertical and bench pretty solid at 6’1 295…. He could be a nice little rush DT who can scratch out 2 sacks in limited snaps. He had a TON in college!

RDE- Trey Hendrickson/Davenport- LIONS- this is where we will deploy Hutch, Harris, and for now J Okwara, but honestly I think Julian makes his way to SOLB in camp…. The combo of Hutch and Harris should yield 15 plus sacks from this spot, and keep guys fresh…

Recap-

Early Downs:

5/7 Tech: Paschal & Romeo
NT- McNeill & Brockers
3 Tech: Levi O & D Taylor
7 Tech: Hutch & C Harris

Passing Downs:
7 Tech: Romeo/Harris
NT- Levi O/D Taylor
3T- Paschal
7 Tech- Hutch

I think Julian makes the team in a weak LB room given he showed the range to cover, and if an injury occurs he immediately slide up to rush edge 7 tech if needed.

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4-2 & 4-3 LBs

The Saints run a predominant 4-2 with starters D Davis and Pete Werner…. The 225 pound Zach Baun comes in as a rush LB occasionally.

LIONS-

Anzalone took a ton of snaps at LB in NO in 20’. I think he, Rodriguez, and Board will sort out the chase and tackle spot…

Barnes, J Davis, and J Okwara all have the 235-245 frame with roughly 4.58-4.62 speed and some pass rush to them. Davis has had a 6 sack year, Okwara a 5 sack year, and Barnes had great pass rush numbers at Purdue.

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The backs end will feature both 4 and 5 DBs-

Lattimore, J Jenkins, CJ Gardner-Jonson:

LIONS- AO, Okudah, Iffy, Jacobs- I think we find a helluva a 3 CB nickel package in here.

Jenkins & M Lewis-

LIONS- bold prediction, but I think Joseph will prove to be a comparable center fielder to what M Williams was…. The biggest question on our D is can Walker or Elliott step up like M Jenkins always has.

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I’m not putting the Lions depth chart in Saints territory yet, but unlike prior copy cat regimes, this one makes sense!

Remember trying to make E Sims into D Brooks, or Redding into Sapp? How about Tavaii into D Hightower or Tabor into D McCorty….

Our guys drafted slow, small body types simply because it worked elsewhere as a one off…

Hutch/Paschal/D Taylor- a collective 42 TFL, and 27 sacks last year….

If it were just the stats, sure it would be okay… but one is a defensive rookie of the year favorite, one was primarily used to set and crash the edge, and one was used as a rush DT-

So they produced, excelled and tested very well for exactly what they will be asked to do here

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I figured J Okwara would get moved to OLB, it makes sense. Along with running alot of 4/2, Nickel and even Dime sets.

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Remember Terrell Austin’s defense a few years ago with Sun and Fairly?
That was a 4-3.
We have a pretty dam good rotation in place for an effective 4-3 front.
Btw, in that alignment Julian Okwara would become an OLB.

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Detailed read my friend. Thanks.

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Yes, that’s something I could see them doing. Use those 3 as blitzing linebackers in passing/3rd down situations. JD is not an every down player, but he had shown some ability to blitz, just never put him in coverage.

Julian is a dude I think has real potential rushing the passer. He had 5 sacks and 9 QB hits while only starting 1 game last year. And he’s a lot bigger than Barnes or Davis when it comes to height and arm length. Julian’s issue early in his career has been that he’s been getting his butt kicked in the run game.

The defense overall has a lot more depth than last year. The D-line is very deep now with young highly drafted players. The key as always will be the development of these young players. But, the cupboard is no longer empty. AG has some pieces to work with now.

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That would be the theory… however Ohara said he’s on the roster bubble as a pure 4 man front edge. We all assume he could make the transition much like we’ve spit balled that Okudah or Iffy might move to safety?

It might just be that Julian hardly plays? Or he could possibly transition to an off the ball LB- he seems to have a similar skill set to Barnes.

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I saw the press conference with AG after we drafted Aiden and he said we were in sub packages 75% of the time, which meant we were in a four man front, so it shouldn’t be a huge transition for the Lions. From Wash interview with O’Hara, it sounds like we are going to be more aggressive with the attacking.

I like it, it sounds like AG/MCDC are designing schemes to fit the players instead of trying to pigeon hole the players.

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Sounds a lot like nickel base…

741wdgg

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Steve Yzerman gives a profound answer to the type of Head Coach he will be looking to run the Redwings.

It’s a great answer and precisely describes the type of Head Coach that Dan Campbell strives to be.

Dan is making changes that best fit his personnel. Adapting…being malleable as a coach.

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Its sounds to me like the Lions are going to a one-gap style system which is basically a 4-3 but you could also play it with a 3-4 too. I thought they were going to do that last year, but maybe they didn’t feel like they had the personnel once they got going.

I think this is the reason they brought back JDavis, for instance. If Davis is going to be a productive player, it’ll be in a one gap system IMO. Where he isn’t overthinking and just shooting his gap and chasing. I mean you know they didn’t bring him back to cover anybody.

But it also fits with what we’ve done with Rodriquez. The guy runs a 4.52. Super fast for a LB. Can cover, yet flies downhill.

I’ve been hoping a beat writer will have a nice write up for us on this topic in the offseason.

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Bingo.

Last year was all about “play fast”. There was absolutely a belief that the team was going to play less “contain” and more “pressure”.

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I have my doubts J Davis makes the final roster. I do think Rodriquez makes the 53

Another point Houston is same size as Davis an years younger don’t sleep on him as inside LB.

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