SBNation Article: How best to utilize Gary
Interesting article at SBNation on how best to utitlize Rashan Gary in M's defense. Here are some highlights (but worth a read, so I recommend a click-through) ...
So the ideal deployment of Gary would be letting him rush the edge sometimes, but keeping him prominently involved in stopping the run. He should be positioned to loop inside on pressures. Often, he should start on the inside.
A multiple-front defense like Michigan's would be easy to move Gary around in. The Wolverines have done so with 6'5, 300-pounder Chris Wormley, who had 14.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 2015. Against a pro-style team like the hated Michigan State, perhaps Gary would be best as an under-front three-technique.
On any runs to the tight end side, Gary would have the opportunity to be an interior disruptor, penetrating from the backside and utilizing his ability to shuck blockers and dart through gaps.
But against a spread squad like Ohio State, perhaps Gary could also contribute as a DE who has the agility to rush the passer, play the option on the edge, and handle the techniques teams have for getting playmakers loose on the perimeter.
The key is whether Gary becomes a jack of all trades, a master of one, or a master of all. The former would make him a valuable contributor to any team. The second could make him the strongest weapon on the field. The latter would mean dictating matchups and make him the queen of the chessboard, so to speak.
February 5th, 2016 at 12:12 PM ^
Rushing pass rushing pass third down DE.
February 5th, 2016 at 12:30 PM ^
But Don Brown need not be told twice:
Now assume that Rashan is the Tackle (T):
In "EAGLE 4" he'd be a 3-tech.
In "HAWK 3," he'd be a 5-tech and, against pro-I, on the outside and be an edge rusher vs. pass.
These are a couple of his 3-4 fronts. So rest assured, Don Brown is way ahead of you, and he knows how to use a player of this quality.
February 5th, 2016 at 2:08 PM ^
We've been recruiting people like this for a while; Wormley, Henry, Hurst, Gary, Godin all fit the profile. This is why Brown should have a smooth transition in 2016 despite the lack of experience at LB.
Assuming Peppers is the de facto WIL and assuming Charlton is the WDE/OLB (i.e., SAM) edge guy you only need to figure out the ILB spots (Z and Mike in your graphic). Assuming Gedeon is one, you have about a dozen young candidates to fill the ONE! questionmark on the defense.
It's trickier if Charlton stays as a true DL (End) because then you have SAM and the other ILB spot to fill. Still in great shape and with an even more loaded DL, but it means more inexperienced players on the field.
Where/how Charlton is deployed is a huge domino in how this defense functions and what personnel looks like. From Brown's comments it sounds like he's expecting to use young players immediately so I would bet on Charlton sticking to what he's been doing.
February 5th, 2016 at 6:17 PM ^
ideally, you want a person that runs no less than a 4.7 40 due to his additional role to get to the curl area in pass prevention. Obviously, he has the strength to man that position, but I would think it better to prepare a young player than attempting to introduce an experienced player, regardless of whether they might possess the skill set required, to a position where the transfer isn't necessarily seamless. While it is much easier to rotate lbers because the demands of the positions are relatively the same, often times learning a new position requires the player to rid himself of the habits that have become ingrained as a result of his former position and the countless repititions that result in certain habits becoming second nature. . Some can do this easily and some have a hell of a time doing so. I think the best analogy I can come up with is taking an infielder, where his intitial reaction is the difference between success and failure. If you put him in the outfield and, by habit, he reacts to the ball the moment it is hit, instead of taking an automatic step backward in order to gain an accurate reading of the trajectory of the ball, obvious results will occur. I speak from experience on this. Being the fastest player on our softball team, my range usually resulted in playing second or shortstop, depening on how heavy the opposing team was in regard to playing left or right handed hitters. We faced some teams built for nothing but power and ground balls were a rarity. In such cases, I, along with my teammate that normally manned one of the infield positions, would go to the outfield where are speed would be of greater benefit to the defense. We both were guilty, myself more than him, in all honesty, of taking that misfortunate step forward on line drives hit straight at me, but by being roughly 140 feet farther away, often times what I thought was a ball coming at me at about a height of just under six feet would turn out to be one that was at a height of 6'6". Many were the times I returned to the dugout with my face being an uncomfortable shade of red. I think the amount of times I was able to successfully recover and make the catch, even after making the mistake, I could count using no more than three fingers.
February 5th, 2016 at 12:27 PM ^
February 5th, 2016 at 1:21 PM ^
especially when you have the luxury of Glasgow, Wormley, and others that have already demonstrated their ability to do well against double teams in the middle (yeah, I know Wormley played the edge a lot last year).
Rob
February 5th, 2016 at 1:02 PM ^
February 5th, 2016 at 1:22 PM ^
Step 1: Just put Gary on the field
Step 2: Let Gary wreck shit
Step 3: ????
Step 4: Profit
February 5th, 2016 at 1:35 PM ^
February 5th, 2016 at 2:21 PM ^
come from sources desgined to produce anything but. Although not a novel idea, many defenses at tall levels still employing this technique, in both pass and run defense, Peppers and Gary possess perfect skill sets to attack the offense from a stack formation.
Many on the site, depending on the era they played their high school ball, are familiar with this technique and it is called by many names. Part of our defensive package in the 80s and 90s included, not necessarily the stack formation, more prevalent in even numbered DLs, but the majority of the stunts are designed with the OLman attempting to block the man the formation dictates and by so doing create nothing short of a hand written invitation to "Come on In." Don will have fun with this defense, but rare - for MI at least - is possessing arguably the most dangerous db an DLman in cfb. Closest we have come, I believe, is Steele and Woodson and the attention paid to Woodson presented opportunites and schemes for Herman that he never saw again, although English was able to employ a wide variety of schemes when he had perhaps the nation's no. 1 front seven. When you get this much talent together you get...............................well what you get is Alabama.
February 5th, 2016 at 1:43 PM ^
Probably at end. Next year we are rotating Glasgow, Mone, Wormley, Hurst, Charlton, and Gary. Glasgow, Mone, and Hurst are NT/DT types. While Wormley and Gary are DT/DE types and Charlton is more a pure DE type.
I think you'll see the rotation match that. Maybe on passing downs you can move Gary inside to get a better pass rush.
February 5th, 2016 at 2:24 PM ^
I wan't to see him blindside hit the Sparty QB at full speed next year in EL, see the ball go flying ... & Peppers scoop it & take it to the house!