For those of you that think the problem with the secondary is because of our front 6 and the amount of sacks and hurries we're getting, what evidence would make you think the problem is in coverage?
For those of you who think the problem is in coverage, what evidence would you accept to change your mind that the problem is in the front 6?
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For those of you that think it's in the jimmys and joes, what would change your mind to think scheme is a bigger factor?
For those that think it's scheme, what would make you think it's on the individual players?
I’m not zeroed in on any one cause, but I’ll answer.
I think our front 6 is not getting enough pressure. For me to change my mind, I would need to see opposing QBs get flushed out of the pocket, hit as they throw, and/or sacked at a higher rate than what I’m currently seeing. Alternatively, if I saw an opposing QB repeatedly picking on the same DB or throwing to the same route, it would tell me the problem is coverage.
For me to believe that the problem is the front 6, I would need to see opposing QBs having >4 seconds in the pocket often, rarely getting hit, and rarely having to move or scramble. The other evidence of a poor defensive front would be failure to stop the run, which seemed to happen lately.
For me to believe the scheme is the problem, I would need to see players arguing with each other pre-snap or the opposing offense repeatedly running the same plays to great success. (For example, the 2017 Miami game was a schematic indictment of Ted Roof as our DC. Screen passes can be schemed against.)
For me to believe it’s a talent issue, I would need to see players routinely getting run over, pancaked, outrun, or outjumped.
Granted, this rubric is specifically for the defense. Offense would need its own slightly different rubric.
Since offenses succeed by exploiting weaknesses, the biggest sign of a clear problem on defense is a weakness that an opposing offense can exploit with impunity.