Will Greg Blache Change Strategy?

[Adam291]

There's still the afterglow of the Orakpo pick, especially when considered he'll line up along with Albert Haynesworth, but I wonder what exactly the Redskin's defensive strategy will be. As we know, Greg Blache is focused on stopping the run before blitzing and pressure on the QB, which is one reason (among others) Jason Taylor fizzled.

In Tennessee, Haynesworth was given a bit of freedom to do his thing (much like Taylor in Miami), and while I'm not sure about the defensive strategy in Texas, Orakpo was a pass rusher exclusively, so neither one might be comfortable in the disciplined defense the Redskins employ.

It's not like our current focus is unsuccessful; while we might not get much pressure or sacks, our defense did what it wanted to do and we ended up with the 4th best. But there's the risk that it might not use these guys to their best abilities, and could completely handcuff them.

So what do you guys think? Will Blache allow for Orakpo and Haynesworth to freelance more and rely on their respective speed and power to make plays? Or will he keep doing what we've been doing and hope these better athletes will take it to another level?

Just something to think about.

[LoveDaSkins172645]

I would hope that Blanche is SMART enough to actually look at the physical gifts of the front four and allow them a little bit of freedom, I wouldn't say freelance, but I would hope he can tailor the defense to use what we now have. I hate the defense approach to it's the scheme and not the player, that is total BS and we need to have a physical attacking defense to knock the crap outta opposing QB's. If I was Blanche I would pretty much tell Arakpo, GET THE QB AND KNOCK THE SNOT OUTTA HIM!!!!

[SkinsTerps26]

Blache hide our weakness last year incredibly well. well enough to be the 4th ranked D with that anemic pass rush.

now he has haynesworth and orakpo to work with.

ladies and gentlemen, lets get real here, its like playing with a Ferrari after owning a Buick, he'll enjoy his toy

[TheLongshot]

Blache has always been one to adjust to what he had. Think about the fact that he was considering moving Jason Taylor to OLB, for example.

[stoney26]

The mans last name is BLACHE!!! Not BLANCH!!! The guy has only been one of our coaches for 5 going on 6 years now. I usually dont care about last names being misspelled like Cambell or Malcomb or Rodgers because they are pronounced the same. But there is too much a difference in Blache and Blanch to get it wrong.

As for changing his strategy??? I doubt thats going to happen. You dont see to many coaches in the NFL that have been coaching this long change their game up. Blaches defenses were like this in Chicago and was the same last year. I just hope the superior talent on the D-Line this year will equal more turnovers.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

The mans last name is BLACHE!!! Not BLANCH!!! The guy has only been one of our coaches for 5 going on 6 years now. I usually dont care about last names being misspelled like Cambell or Malcomb or Rodgers because they are pronounced the same. But there is too much a difference in Blache and Blanch to get it wrong.

Sally Jenkins once spelled his name "Blatche" lol...and this was just last offseason. :doh:...

[Warpath11]

As for changing his strategy??? I doubt thats going to happen. You dont see to many coaches in the NFL that have been coaching this long change their game up. Blaches defenses were like this in Chicago and was the same last year. I just hope the superior talent on the D-Line this year will equal more turnovers.

While I would love to see a more aggressive approach that attacks the line of scrimmage with reckless abandon (even on running downs) I tend to agree with you that a coach, epecially a grizzled veteran, does not easily change what he has perfected (in his opinion) over 20 years of football.

[IbleedBnG83]

He better let that Man Child run loose!!!!!!!!!!

[GibbsFactor]

I too am a bit worried what our dline will do this year given the scheme.

If we continue to just play gap control with our front seven, we will be hurting the performance of our talent. I hope to see more stunts and exotic swaps with our line this year. If they are set to play gap only then I don't see a lot changing which is scary. Hopefully he will be more open to allowing our line the chance to move around to try and confuse opposing o lines. Because if our boys are expected to stay home and not stunt or shift then I have fears that Reggie White, Deacon Jones and Lawrence Taylor wouldn't make a difference.

[Adam291]

While I would love to see a more aggressive approach that attacks the line of scrimmage with reckless abandon (even on running downs) I tend to agree with you that a coach, epecially a grizzled veteran, does not easily change what he has perfected (in his opinion) over 20 years of football.

I'm not sure about that. Bill Belichick and McDaniels/Weis had New England's offense as a one that relies on the run for years. As Brady turned into an elite QB, and especially since they had Moss, Welker, Stallworth and Gaffney, they incorporated a spread-offense because it suited the talent they had.

Because if our boys are expected to stay home and not stunt or shift then I have fears that Reggie White, Deacon Jones and Lawrence Taylor wouldn't make a difference.

Exactly. But as someone said above, Blache might have just been using the disciplined gap-control scheme to hide weakness at pass rush. Maybe now that he knows we can pressure the QB on talent alone, he'll relax the scheme. Who knows, but I was just wondering if anyone knew something I didn't. This could be something to look for in preseason.

[Mad Mike]

I too am a bit worried what our dline will do this year given the scheme.

If we continue to just play gap control with our front seven, we will be hurting the performance of our talent. I hope to see more stunts and exotic swaps with our line this year. If they are set to play gap only then I don't see a lot changing which is scary. Hopefully he will be more open to allowing our line the chance to move around to try and confuse opposing o lines. Because if our boys are expected to stay home and not stunt or shift then I have fears that Reggie White, Deacon Jones and Lawrence Taylor wouldn't make a difference.

Bzzzzzt. Wrong.

You use lots of blitzes and stunts to make up for a bad D line and it usually means you are giving up coverage to do it. I'm sure we will do our share of blitzes, twists and such but we have the talent now to let the front four do their thing and that's a good thing. That's the point of paying all that money for all of that talent. It allows you to put more pressure on the quarterback AND more people into coverage.

It constantly amazes me, the way fans assume coaches are idiots who prevent players from performing for some reason. Like the way fans blame Zorn for Jasons inability to make plays. They don't have a clue what the play was supposed to look like but they damn sure know that Zorn is holding Campbell back when the reality is it's the other way around. I mean seriously. The guy was an all pro QB and learned coaching under some of the best. How many QBs do you know who would run a bland passing attack if given the chance to run their own team? Why assume Zorn would? And why assume an excellent defensive coach like Blanche would?

An back to the question that started this thread. Blanche put together a #4 defense last season with a pretty poor D line. I wouldn't expect major changes in scheme and I'm not too worried about it.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

now heres a good thread for the offseason.

gotta wonder if now with all the pressure guys we added if hes gonna alter the dline a little to have our guys get to the QB more. i find it hard to believe we'd pay haynesworth and sign orakpo so they can "contain". i always thought that was a BS excuse for our guys just not being good. hopefully we play a little more wildly this year than safe all the time. im willing to see our D get torched a little more at times if it means more turnovers and more sacks.

although you gotta wonder, if our offense is bad again, im not sure blache will be able to set the dogs loose on defense. tough to take risks when the O doesnt score points.

[pvkeeper19]

Orakpo doesn't change Blache's philosophy, he reinforces it. Blache doesn't like to blitz. He wants pressure on the QB from his linemen. Orakpo is a pass rush threat from the DE position opposite Andre Carter. That's what they brought Jason Taylor in to do; it just didn't happen because he underachieved/got injured.

[Stophovr6]

Change completely, no. Adapt, yes.

[Hunter_R]

Blache hide our weakness last year incredibly well. well enough to be the 4th ranked D with that anemic pass rush.

now he has haynesworth and orakpo to work with.

ladies and gentlemen, lets get real here, its like playing with a Ferrari after owning a Buick, he'll enjoy his toy

I hope so. If he uses his new toys for containment, like he did last season, he needs to go.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

now heres something interesting

OP made a great thread relevant about the team and the future, and still nobody is talking about it, and everyone is still talking about campbell in multiple other threads.

trying to jumpstart this thread a little bit, i hope that blache changes his philosophy, but only if our offense decides it wants to come out of a coma. i think our DBs will greatly benefit from an intense pass rush, but again if were not gonna score more than 13 points a game, all the pressure will be for nothing.

on the other hand, you could argue that if the defense gets more rabid, we'll get more turnovers and drive killing sacks, which will give the offense more opportunities. i guess the coaching staff will make this call come preseason when we see what the O is gonna look like in year two of our "west coast offense" (which wasnt a west coast offense at all last season, although i wish we'd actually run one).

[SKIN4WAHOOZ]

The mans last name is BLACHE!!! Not BLANCH!!!

[usapatriot]

Personally I hope that Blache doesn't change much. I like what he has done. I wouldn't mind a little more blitzing but overall I'm happy with Blache.

[Ray Brown]

Blache expects his dline to get pressure on the QB by themselves without having to blitz using LB's and CB's. The additions of Haynesworth and Orakpo will aid in this pursuit. The scheme shouldn't hold them back from being able to get pressure.

[Adam291]

now heres something interesting

OP made a great thread relevant about the team and the future, and still nobody is talking about it, and everyone is still talking about campbell in multiple other threads.

Thanks for the thread endorsement.

on the other hand, you could argue that if the defense gets more rabid, we'll get more turnovers and drive killing sacks, which will give the offense more opportunities. i guess the coaching staff will make this call come preseason when we see what the O is gonna look like in year two of our "west coast offense" (which wasnt a west coast offense at all last season, although i wish we'd actually run one).

That's what I was going to say. When Haynesworth got here, everyone was saying how it was our DBs who could benefit the most. There will be more chances for INTs and FFs, thus, more opportunity for offensive and defensive TDs. With a greater chance of scoring-- and hopefully more scoring itself-- the need for being so conservative on both sides of the ball gets minimized.

When we're protecting a 3-7 point lead or trying to overcome an opponent's lead, it's easy to see why Zorn and/or Campbell wouldn't want to take a big risk with the ball. With a two-possession+ point lead, high risk/high reward plays become more attractive. More throws downfield, maybe having a bit more of the 'gunslinger' attitude for offense, and more blitzes and creativity on defense.

[Leonard Washington]

I'm still shocked that Orakpo is already slated to start as a rookie. We haven't heard that in a couple of years.

[Veretax]

I agree with what one guy said. Our Defensive backfield is set, we have concerns at Linebacker, and if we can figure that out, we have the tools to really pressure people in nickle and base sets.

[GibbsFactor]

Some coaches do inhibit the ability of players. There was a real nice piece on the Titans defensive line and how they use stunts and shifts to confuse the offensive line. This is playing to a strength. When you have an Albert Haynesworth on your line, the Oline protection schemes will be aimed at doubling him at all times. If you can disrupt that protection scheme by moving Haynesworth, he will be able to fly by on the outside.

I'd like to think that our defensive line has enough talent to hold their own at home and use the doubles on some to allow the other two to need to simply beat their man. But I'm not sure we have another Tackle that can beat one on one blocking, Griff might not be able to and we know Carter can't. So my concern would be that the double just roles to Haynesworth and no one else consistently beats their man. Moving the line around and giving them some freedom would help alleviate that.

But I don't expect someone so set in their ways to see another view point.

[Adam291]

I agree with what one guy said. Our Defensive backfield is set, we have concerns at Linebacker, and if we can figure that out, we have the tools to really pressure people in nickle and base sets.

What if we played in a base cobra package and skipped a 3rd LB? Maybe that's a horrible idea, but we have Landry, Horton, Doughty-- all starting-caliber safeties-- plus Moore who could probably be a starter soon, if he isn't already. Why not just play one of them as a safety/LB hybrid? They all seem to be pretty good hitters and tacklers, and obviously they'd have some kind of coverage skills (at least as good as some LBs) so a 4-2-3 base might fit our roster better than trying to find injury-prone FAs or low round developmental LBs.

[fansince62]

There's still the afterglow of the Orakpo pick, especially when considered he'll line up along with Albert Haynesworth, but I wonder what exactly the Redskin's defensive strategy will be. As we know, Greg Blache is focused on stopping the run before blitzing and pressure on the QB, which is one reason (among others) Jason Taylor fizzled.

In Tennessee, Haynesworth was given a bit of freedom to do his thing (much like Taylor in Miami), and while I'm not sure about the defensive strategy in Texas, Orakpo was a pass rusher exclusively, so neither one might be comfortable in the disciplined defense the Redskins employ.

It's not like our current focus is unsuccessful; while we might not get much pressure or sacks, our defense did what it wanted to do and we ended up with the 4th best. But there's the risk that it might not use these guys to their best abilities, and could completely handcuff them.

So what do you guys think? Will Blache allow for Orakpo and Haynesworth to freelance more and rely on their respective speed and power to make plays? Or will he keep doing what we've been doing and hope these better athletes will take it to another level?

Just something to think about.

excellent question...I have been wondering myself if Blache will shift to a more attacking style. One would have to assume the answer is yes.