Cliff Avril talks D-Line

[SeattleAddict]

My takeaway, and maybe I read too much into it, is that all the talk about going back to 4-3 isn't really what's happening. When Sherman and others talked about "going back to the old scheme" they are talking about going back to 1-gap instead of 2-gap responsibilities. As he described it, I got thinking about how Barton would run into blockers, and I think this is why - he had to make too many decisions too quickly and couldn't do it - just ended up running right into people. When they went back to "this is your gap, fill it" the defense got much better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fioicwdh11w

[auroraave]

this is a great find! I think the scheme was seattle's undoing defensively last year, combined with the loss of Adams. This year the dline is improved, not because of overwhelming talent, that ceiling has yet to be uncovered, but because of depth - the depth will make that unit a strength. That's not saying they will be a formidable run defense, that remains to be seen - but depth is always a huge asset in the new 40 game seasons. The problem seattle is going to have deal with is teams running as much as possible - to attack seattle's weakness - while avoiding attacking seattle's biggest strength - that secondary. I agree with cliff - the depth is a huge deal - now there is depth at dline, secondary, RB, WR and oline. LB still a big question mark. Barton's problem was having to read rather than just react to his gap assignment. Lots of assignment confusion early on last year - a lot of it probably due to the loss of Adams who was expected to be playing near the LOS - then that all blew up.

[D-train]

I still can't believe the decision to replace the fired DC from the horrid 2021 defense with an internal option that was a part of that same coaching staff. Why wouldn't they go external? Maybe trying to be awarded one of those "special" draft picks.

[douche]

I miss Avril. He was solid.

[SeattleAddict]

I miss Avril. He was solid.

Everybody misses Avril. Good player, good guy, and even though he came to Seattle mid-way thru his career, he still says "we" when talking about the Seahawks, because he is part of the family. Plus, signing him and Bennett was the move that put us over the top, and unlike Bennett, Avril never turned into a douche (no offense ).

[douche]

None taken. He was a good dude all around.

[Michael K.]

this is a great find! I think the scheme was seattle's undoing defensively last year, combined with the loss of Adams. This year the dline is improved, not because of overwhelming talent, that ceiling has yet to be uncovered, but because of depth - the depth will make that unit a strength. That's not saying they will be a formidable run defense, that remains to be seen - but depth is always a huge asset in the new 40 game seasons. The problem seattle is going to have deal with is teams running as much as possible - to attack seattle's weakness - while avoiding attacking seattle's biggest strength - that secondary. I agree with cliff - the depth is a huge deal - now there is depth at dline, secondary, RB, WR and oline. LB still a big question mark. Barton's problem was having to read rather than just react to his gap assignment. Lots of assignment confusion early on last year - a lot of it probably due to the loss of Adams who was expected to be playing near the LOS - then that all blew up.

I am very curious about your depth theory. We play 3 D Lineman, and have 6 players listed on the depth chart. Are there players not listed that I am forgetting about? I like the guys we added, but the one issue I see is depth.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/team/depth/_/n ... e-seahawks

[SeattleAddict]

I am very curious about your depth theory. We play 3 D Lineman, and have 6 players listed on the depth chart. Are there players not listed that I am forgetting about? I like the guys we added, but the one issue I see is depth.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/team/depth/_/n ... e-seahawks

well, every player listed as EDGE is essentially a d-lineman half the time (OLB the other). So Taylor, Mafe, Smith, Nwosu, Hall, and I'm missing somebody are half DEs. There will probably be 2 D-Linemen from the UDFAs, too. Either way, I think you're right about the depth on the interior - plenty of depth on the edge, but not much beef in the middle, assuming Mone isn't going to play.

But hell, it's the Seahawks, so there will be at least half a dozen guys on the 53 man roster that are nowhere on any of these lists.

[douche]

According to the ESPN link, there is zero depth at FB and RG.

[Michael K.]

I am very curious about your depth theory. We play 3 D Lineman, and have 6 players listed on the depth chart. Are there players not listed that I am forgetting about? I like the guys we added, but the one issue I see is depth.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/team/depth/_/n ... e-seahawks

well, every player listed as EDGE is essentially a d-lineman half the time (OLB the other). So Taylor, Mafe, Smith, Nwosu, Hall, and I'm missing somebody are half DEs. There will probably be 2 D-Linemen from the UDFAs, too. Either way, I think you're right about the depth on the interior - plenty of depth on the edge, but not much beef in the middle, assuming Mone isn't going to play.

But hell, it's the Seahawks, so there will be at least half a dozen guys on the 53 man roster that are nowhere on any of these lists.

So, who plays LB then? If thats the case, we play a 5 - 2 front and we are woefully thin at LB. DL is the 3 man front. We have 6 of those. Are you telling me having one backup at each of those spots makes us deep?

Again, I like the guys we have, but I don't know that I would say we are deep. We got killed in the run game last year, and while they didn't exactly help, I'd say most of the blame went to the DL and ILBs. Not being able to rotate them isn't going to make that issue go away. Obviously we will sign more, but I think the reason Big Al didn't resign is money. We have to have the cap room.