[FBALL]

Thanks for the quick course in defense 101!

So let me see if I have this straight...the consensus on the board seems to be that this year's Russell team would be better off taking the aggressive approach, right? And the reasoning behind this line of thinking is that this year's defensive line is not able to consistently win their battles and keep containment. Therefore, they are allowing blockers to get to the linebackers on most plays? Is this right? If this is the case, I can see the logic behind just sending everyone of them through the gaps in the hopes of avoiding making our line have to stand up to stronger offensive lines. Isn't the strength of our defense the linebackers and secondary anyway? This seems like it would put all the pressure on them to make the tackles should one of the defensive linemen not get to the play first.

However, has Russell ever strayed from a conservative defensive approach? Is there any reason to believe that they would do this? What kind of risks do you think the coaching staff is willing to take? Or will they just keep doing the same things and hope these players somehow get stronger, faster, and more aggressive in the final weeks of the season?

I really think fixing the defense should be the main focus right now. As I said in a previous post, the offensive production is pretty similar to last year. Shoring up the defense seems like it would generate the best returns.

Here's another thought. Would frequently blitzing some combination of the linebackers and/or safeties sort of accomplish the same thing? Abrams and Rogers both seem pretty fast and aggressive. Would this have a shot of working?

The best thing would be get Tyler Jones back and let him take away half of the field.

Since that is not an option I think you just mix it up. Russell has blitzed the linebackers some. The thing is not to be predictable. Mix up your blitzes. Turn the linemen lose, change up your coverages, play gap control. Just confuse the offense for the other team.

The linebackers have been decent but the secondary as a whole does not tackle very well. The defensive line is not weak and with the new kid, I believe just got much stronger.

The defesive ends are a big key in this defense. Sometimes they rush, sometimes drop into coverage. They are playmakers that can do alot of things if you have the right players playing there. We lost both starting defensive ends from last year and both were very good. So far this year we haven't seem the same production.