Levi was a bad pic because Levi was picked to be a penitratior and help the inside pass rush, but he’s not a pass rusher, he is one dementional run stopper at best. He is just a guy. You can switch him and nick Williams in and out all game long and never see a difference in the inside rush , Strong is a better inside pass rusher then Levi. People taking about him playing better or good is people that think he was brought in to stop the run. We invested 3 high resources in the offseason and still do not have anyone that can rush from the inside. That’s a fail by Holmes. Unless you believe that Holmes brought both Levi and McNiel in to be run stuffers.
I mean if you look at Needs for are defense Inside Pass rusher is near the top and with what we did last year it shouldn’t be. Like Patricias defense the lack of pressure form the inside makes our out side rushers less effective. This is one reason are pass rush is still non existent. Now I used to argue that Patricias Defense didn’t rush by design, Glenn on the other wants to rush I believe but doesn’t have the inside guys that can penitrate stop QBs from stepping up in the pocket avoiding our outside rushers. We simply do not have the talent on the inside to stop QBs from stepping up and it kills your pass rush.
Blocked a kick, deflected a pass. Those 2 plays I remember, which were promising signs. I really would like to see more as a pass rusher though. I know he’s a rook, but when we drafted him the scouting reports were talking about his pass rushing potential. Haven’t seen that at all. This stat hurt my brain when I looked it up. 0 QB hits all season for Levi, zero!
It’s a very good point, getting pressure in a QB’s face changes everything, and allows those D-ends to get home because the QB can’t step up. I’m not ready to give up on Levi, he could still develop into a decent pass rusher in the future.
On a positive note, what I find impressive is that the secondary has managed to play decent considering the glaring lack of a pass rush, credit to AG and Pleasant for that. Imagine what this defense could be if we add some pass rush next year.
I’m not any kind of Xs and Os guy, but it seems to me that generating inside DL pressure from primarily 3-4 concepts is a tall order, especially for rookies. If they can occupy blockers effectively, that seems like they’re doing their jobs.
The design of the defense seems to be to get pressure from the OLB. With so much money tied up in guys that aren’t generating pressure (Flowers and ROkwara), the focus on the linemen as the problem seems misplaced to me.
Good post.
Their OLB coach mentioned the same dreaded words that Bo Davis said about the past system… they play contain, first. If they’ve contained properly on 1st and 2nd down, the offense is behind the chains and the defenders have then earned the right to pass-rush.
As you say now and as I said with Patricia here, it’s more about the horses than it is the scheme.
All that said, I think we should all notice by now that the QB isn’t sitting back there on an endless clock, as they were the past 3 years.
We should also notice that unlike Patricia, AG and Pleasant are actually disguising coverages and confusing the opponent. (something we ~should~ have seen under Patricia, too)
I agree it would be nice to see more interior pressure from the Lions… and I do think Levi might be playing at a little heavier weight than he was in college.
I also think there is another factor that is related to the scheme that @Doctor_Love and @LineBusy discussed above… and it is the fact that Levi has barely been on the field in obvious passing situations. Almost every time the Lions force a 3rd and long, it seems like its Williams & Brockers, or one of the OLBs kicks inside.
Levi has played about 180 snaps… with a max of 30 in the Browns game… while Nick Williams has about 380 snaps and Beockers is at 437 snaps. Hand has 88 snaps in only 3 games… and got 68 against the Steelers alone.
Big difference in opportunities so far.
Edit to add… 2nd play of game and Williams got blown 5 yards off the ball by a single block.
What’s interesting is if you try and have an intellectual conversation about the coaching, all you hear is how you can’t judge this roster because it’s the least talented roster in the history of football. But then in the next thread it’s “Brad Holmes has the best I drafted FA class in the nfl and everyone looks great.”
Only the Lions fans can look at a 0-16-1 team and think everyone is doing just swell.
Alim blew up a few running plays yesterday in the backfield. And Levi with his first sack after blocking a kick vs the Browns. The kids are showing some improvement at least.
Year two is when we can begin evaluating the rookie DT’s. They need an off season focused on the workout room and a nutrition program. Like what I see so far…
