JT Woods (Now Signed)

[Xenos]

They had a lot of guys playing with brick mittens and bad coverage last year. Both factors should be improved significantly, i expect many more as well and don’t care who gets them.

It’s nice that they ended up OTA with the jug machine to see which side, defense or offense, caught the most footballs.

[Steve]

Most DBs aren’t going to get that much since interceptions are so flukey.

Most aren't but a few do.

A big part of it will be if the guys in front of him can get some tips, and then how well does he react to the ball. Some guys can just come up with some of those split-second reactions that other guys can't. JC Jackson has a lot of int over the last few years and I don't think he is necessarily that much luckier than most, just when his hands feel the ball, he seems to come up with some int that other guys don't.

The downside is that I don't think we necessarily play a scheme that is condusive to getting int. The older style of "country cover" dropping zone defenses, where the guys are more static, but spend more time reading and reacting, over time, tend to get more int. The more reading/reacting (almost like man) matchup zones, like the ones we play, are more like a man coverage. The DB are closer/tighter to the receivers, and from time to time you get more int form that, but mostly it hurts a bit overall.

I think the biggest thing is that over time, a DB who has a track record of getting int, lucky or not, QB just tend to stay away from them.

[Xenos]

Most aren't but a few do.

A big part of it will be if the guys in front of him can get some tips, and then how well does he react to the ball. Some guys can just come up with some of those split-second reactions that other guys can't. JC Jackson has a lot of int over the last few years and I don't think he is necessarily that much luckier than most, just when his hands feel the ball, he seems to come up with some int that other guys don't.

The downside is that I don't think we necessarily play a scheme that is condusive to getting int. The older style of "country cover" dropping zone defenses, where the guys are more static, but spend more time reading and reacting, over time, tend to get more int. The more reading/reacting (almost like man) matchup zones, like the ones we play, are more like a man coverage. The DB are closer/tighter to the receivers, and from time to time you get more int form that, but mostly it hurts a bit overall.

I think the biggest thing is that over time, a DB who has a track record of getting int, lucky or not, QB just tend to stay away from them.

Agree with last part in particular. How many Ints like Revis and Deion get? Probably low because they blanket their guys so well.

[Lefty2SLO]

Agree with last part in particular. How many Ints like Revis and Deion get? Probably low because they blanket their guys so well.

In a man scheme it's more difficult to get int's because your primary focus is on covering your man, as opposed to zone which allows the DB's to have more opportunity to lay back and watch both the QB and receiver. The good one's time it up to jump routes and bait QB's into ill advised throws.

The way I see it; man concepts tend to limit completions more than zone, but zone concepts provide more opportunities for takeaways. Both can be effective - it really comes down to the players.

[Lefty2SLO]

In a man scheme it's more difficult to get int's because your primary focus is on covering your man, as opposed to zone which allows the DB's to have more opportunity to lay back and watch both the QB and receiver. The good one's time it up to jump routes and bait QB's into ill advised throws.

The way I see it; man concepts tend to limit completions more than zone, but zone concepts provide more opportunities for takeaways. Both can be effective - it really comes down to the players.

I don't have the expertise to evaluate Staley's system on the back end; is he running combo coverages? Man cover on the outside with zone coverage by the safety's?

[Steve]

Like Lefty2SLO said, tighter coverage the QB is less likely to throw into the tight coverage or if he does, then the pass is less likely to completed because the DB can knock the ball away or disrupt the catch.Staley's scheme makes up for it by being hard to read, so sometimes a QB will misread the coverage and there will be a DB in the way. Derwin James int to close out the 1st Raiders game last year was like that. I think Carr thought James was going to fall off and cover short, or jump inside or going to be covering the ball differently, and James looked like he was more ready for the ball to be there than Waller was.

Staley's scheme uses a lot of different coverages. Matchup zone coverages, man to man, man and zone (man under with deep S help) and combos. We basically do almost every kind of coverage there is.

The big thing with press coverages is that you can really disrupt short timing passes, and make the QB hold the ball, giving the pass rush a chance. IT also disrupts the timing later on, so if the pressure is there, the throw is made and the QB is relying more on muscle memory, the pass is more likely to be be off target (where the receiver should be as opposed to where he actually is).

In both man-to-man and matchup zones, the DB has their back on the QB a lot more, so while the coverage is tighter, they can't always see the ball, so there will be some times they either don't know to react (get hit by the ball) or can't react in time. But JC Jackson got a lot of int the last couple of years because he was so tight if the WR juggled it he was there, or if the ball was just not quite where the WR could get it, he pulled it in. Woods was a little different. He got some tips, but also had some int where he just reacted super quick and was able to grab the ball as he was coming up to play the man out of his break, on top of the regular deep S make a great break in front of the throw. Some guys are just better at pulling in passes then other guys.

Some of it I think is guys like Woods and Jackson are just playing the mental game better than some of the guys around. As the play develops, they are thinking about where the ball will be coming from, and just preparing themselves to get it, and then sometimes they do. It doesn't happen that way very often, but a great season for int is 6 or 7 int, which comes out to doing this once every 2 or 3 games? It may not happen a lot, but if you go through the proccess, it can pay off in the long haul.

[Steve]

Agree with last part in particular. How many Ints like Revis and Deion get? Probably low because they blanket their guys so well.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/def_int_career.htm

Deon was tied for 24th and Revis was tied for like 230th. Revis played for like 11 years, and Deon for 14 seasons. But both had stretches where no one wanted to throw near them. Deon got somewhat more int and was often allowed to "travel" - covering 1st or 2nd best receiver, making it harder for QB to keep track of him.

[Steve]

They had a lot of guys playing with brick mittens and bad coverage last year. Both factors should be improved significantly, i expect many more as well and don’t care who gets them.

I think a lot of that is that it is hard to play the game mentally when it is all you can do to get lined up and figure out the assignments. Some of it was because we were a young team, but some of it was years of playing a very simplistic D that is a complete different style. Word out of OTA and minicamps is that the players are much better acclimated to the scheme and should be thinking less and reacting more.

[Steve]

My expectation is not for any one player but the Defense as a whole. I expect them to get many more than the pitiful 11 interceptions they got last year. :Lamp:

We didn't cover very tight and teams were often just keeping the ball on the ground, so they were not forced into situations where they had to throw a lot of dangerous passes. When offenses can afford to play a lot of quick, short passes and can just keep the ball away from a D, they aren't going to commit many turnovers. Flip the script and so long as the O is doing their job, then it puts a lot of pressure on the other teams O to keep even on the scoreboard.

[Leslie Grossman]

Don't tell me the Jackboyz are back...hope nobody gets cleated like what happened before with Derwin...

ah the Jackboyz....in my best Tywin Lannister voice "That was a rather short reign"

[dmac_bolt]

ah the Jackboyz....in my best Tywin Lannister voice "That was a rather short reign"

It was like a curse, i hope they don’t dub thyselves early. Just play some ball

[sonorajim]

FS Darren Sharper's 9 Int, 15 PD, 3 TD 2009 season had a major impact in the Saints SB run.
Give us some of that please.