Brandon Staley, Former Rams DC - New Chargers Head Coach

[Topcat]

Remember that Ramsey doesn’t just play corner on that team under Staley. It’s called the Star position. He’s much more multiple.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ocr...-the-star/amp/

Good read...one more example of how Staley thinks outside the box the way he moves players like Ramsey around...gotta think our D, and for that matter, our O will be light years ahead of the tired old Lynn & Gus show...

[Topcat]

John Spanos puts his feet on Stan's furniture.

Spanos.png

Baby Spanos reminds me of the little kid that counts up his Christmas presents and ends up knocking down the tree...and Deano is the grumpy older bro who yells at him, "Johnny Boy, get out from behind that tree, ya dummy!!!"

[21&500]

Alright. 24 hours of digesting the news and just now catching up. My final word on the hire itself.
I think it’s no coincidence Daboll decided to stay in Buffalo a day after our hiring. To me it says we were his only option and we chose Staley over Daboll, the least experienced candidate over the most experienced candidate (interviewed, besides clappy).
so to me it’s a ballsy choice, higher risk/not much higher reward. I wouldn’t have done it, but hopefully Spanii and Telesco know something(some things) we don’t.
From everything I’m reading about Staley, he’s supposed to be a genius, so considering his uber short resume, I think it’s fair to expect smart decisions across the board, not just defense.
during the last hire, I (wrongly) wanted Patricia because he was known as the smartest (xs n os) guy in the room, and I will roll with highest football IQ ANYDAY!
So it appears that Staley is being sold as that guy, the savant. Well great, I think it can work, he has smarts AND there is evidence for character traits that show up as good communicator/likable/leader etc.
I am officially on board with supporting our new HC but also reserve the right to be critical when it’s warrented.
no doubt there is a plan to support Herbert in his journey and it better be wicked smart!

GO STALEY!!

[Steve]

Here's a good video on Staley's D to follow up your lineup wu-dai

https://youtu.be/zmdaZSWe77k

Except our strengths and weakness are completely different from what the Rams have, so little of that applies.

We can put James back in the deep secondary, it is a position he can play, but it will take him out of a lot of action. It might help him stay healthy, but it will mean he won't be around nearly as many plays, and the days of him stuffing the run in the backfield and rushing the QB off the edge are not something you can do from a deep alignment. James need to be in the box to be around the ball to let him be the impact type of player he has been for us.

Bosa is not going to line up as a 4i DE/DT. Can he pull off those alignments, sure. He can control some blockers and keep the LB free to run to the ball. But you don't pay a pass rusher like Bosa to occupy and control gaps to keep the ILB free. He is not going to be in an alignment to beat blockers and get to the QB. He has to control the gap first, then when he reads pass, shed the block and

We can still draw from some of those things, but those are change of pace things to do, not regular staples of the D. At least not a good use of the money (salary cap) and draft picks we have invested. I think Staley can find ways of using players like James and Bosa. Some 34 teams have used players like that in the past.

The bigger issue is whether you can see the rest of our D doing what is asked of them in those assignments. Joesph, sure, no problem. I think Murray may have struggled as a rookie, but a lot of rookie LB struggle in pass coverage, and he did play pretty well vs the run. Everyone else ... That is the challenge. Our old D under Gus was a very multiple 43/34 hybrid D. The double Eagle alignment/looks that the video showed are elements in the 49ers/Seahawks/Jags/Chargers D for the last several years. We had that element in our D, it just didn't suit our personnel, so we don't use it much (we still use it though).

Those elements were in the scheme, I think he wasn't using them because of the personnel we had. It takes pretty good personnel who can do a lot of things well to run a lot of things schematically. We will never know for sure, but it seems like a lot of the things we ran were limited by the people we had, particularly the DL. Joesph is the only guy inside who can consistently win, and that is not enough no matter what D you play.

[Fleet]

[Topcat]

Except our strengths and weakness are completely different from what the Rams have, so little of that applies.

We can put James back in the deep secondary, it is a position he can play, but it will take him out of a lot of action. It might help him stay healthy, but it will mean he won't be around nearly as many plays, and the days of him stuffing the run in the backfield and rushing the QB off the edge are not something you can do from a deep alignment. James need to be in the box to be around the ball to let him be the impact type of player he has been for us.

Bosa is not going to line up as a 4i DE/DT. Can he pull off those alignments, sure. He can control some blockers and keep the LB free to run to the ball. But you don't pay a pass rusher like Bosa to occupy and control gaps to keep the ILB free. He is not going to be in an alignment to beat blockers and get to the QB. He has to control the gap first, then when he reads pass, shed the block and

We can still draw from some of those things, but those are change of pace things to do, not regular staples of the D. At least not a good use of the money (salary cap) and draft picks we have invested. I think Staley can find ways of using players like James and Bosa. Some 34 teams have used players like that in the past.

The bigger issue is whether you can see the rest of our D doing what is asked of them in those assignments. Joesph, sure, no problem. I think Murray may have struggled as a rookie, but a lot of rookie LB struggle in pass coverage, and he did play pretty well vs the run. Everyone else ... That is the challenge. Our old D under Gus was a very multiple 43/34 hybrid D. The double Eagle alignment/looks that the video showed are elements in the 49ers/Seahawks/Jags/Chargers D for the last several years. We had that element in our D, it just didn't suit our personnel, so we don't use it much (we still use it though).

Those elements were in the scheme, I think he wasn't using them because of the personnel we had. It takes pretty good personnel who can do a lot of things well to run a lot of things schematically. We will never know for sure, but it seems like a lot of the things we ran were limited by the people we had, particularly the DL. Joesph is the only guy inside who can consistently win, and that is not enough no matter what D you play.

If Staley rolls with the Cover-6 a lot of the time, James would be one of two "deep" safeties, but I would still expect Staley/Our Next DC to move him around like a chess piece kind of like he did with Ramsey...one thing I noticed about Derwin is that even when he was playing FS, he has great anticipation, and even pre-snap, I noticed him edging up or over to where he thought the play would go...and he was usually right...in Staley's D, I think at the Star position or one of the two safeties, he ends up moving up and/or over to break up pass plays over the middle and for run support...

[gzubeck]

Yep...POTW...and you can add to those points that the Spani gleefully pocket their share of NFL TV revenue, the same share Kroenke gets...without forking over anything extra...while the Rams still are stuck with making those hefty mortgage payments with NO gate revenue, parking $ nor concessions...

And to make matters worse the Rams are not feeling the Goff love. Sorry if off topic but can you see us raiding their closet even more by trading our 13th pick. LOL!

:hello:

[Steve]

Good read...one more example of how Staley thinks outside the box the way he moves players like Ramsey around...gotta think our D, and for that matter, our O will be light years ahead of the tired old Lynn & Gus show...

Every team has guys at some position or another to adjust to a teams unusual formations or personnel adjustments. Generically they are called an adjustor, which is just a coaching term for a player who travels outside of the usual base assignments. Every team has a position name for it.

That player used to be mostly a Will LB back when Seau was our Will. He would walk out to cover a RB in the slot, or line up as an edge rusher on the next play, or inside on the play after.

Then teams started playing a lot more WR and smaller TE and RB, it become the slot CB or the SS. Ramsey is a natural CB, so he is used like a slot CB who simply will travel, but it also means everyone around him must adjust too, so it may be a bit much, at least at first.

James is that guy for us. The rest of the players we have ... they are nothing special enough to want to move them around to gain mismatches. Harris might have been in the day, but he is not a tackling machine and he was terrible this season.

The big thing that Staley is going to have to do is get more out of the players we have had and develop their fundamentals. Cut down on the mistakes and have more of our players win their matchups more consistently, we have a chance. The X&O's are nothing special.

[Topcat]

Every team has guys at some position or another to adjust to a teams unusual formations or personnel adjustments. Generically they are called an adjustor, which is just a coaching term for a player who travels outside of the usual base assignments. Every team has a position name for it.

That player used to be mostly a Will LB back when Seau was our Will. He would walk out to cover a RB in the slot, or line up as an edge rusher on the next play, or inside on the play after.

Then teams started playing a lot more WR and smaller TE and RB, it become the slot CB or the SS. Ramsey is a natural CB, so he is used like a slot CB who simply will travel, but it also means everyone around him must adjust too, so it may be a bit much, at least at first.

James is that guy for us. The rest of the players we have ... they are nothing special enough to want to move them around to gain mismatches. Harris might have been in the day, but he is not a tackling machine and he was terrible this season.

The big thing that Staley is going to have to do is get more out of the players we have had and develop their fundamentals. Cut down on the mistakes and have more of our players win their matchups more consistently, we have a chance. The X&O's are nothing special.

I'll bet Staley's X's and O's are more creative than Lynn and Gus's X's and O's...agree we need to work on fundamentals...

[21&500]

I really like how Staley’s defense “starts” from the secondary and towards the front 7, whatever I imagine that to mean
But the emphasis is in limiting those explosive plays on offense so I can absolutely see James playing deep S more often if that’s what he values.
ive been calling for a change that ensures his safety/health even at the sacrifice of the do-all role he’s been asked.
James doing 80% of what he can 100% of the time is better than doing 100% of what we can 5/16 games or whatever he’s averaging a season

[Leslie Grossman]

Trading the 13th pick to them to draft a QB? Sure if they are willing to pay more than the value chart, since they are in the NFC, and most importantly we have our star QB so can't be humiliated down the road if it turns into a star QB for them.

[Guest]

My take on Brady is not incorrect, as it was a different league without the pass-friendly rule changes that benefit today's passing attacks early in Brady's career. Bellichick with McDaniels brilliantly adapted to the rule changes and brought in the necessary skill talent to exploit said changes later on. Most QBs weren't thriving early in Brady's career, and most of the pass-heavy teams were certainly not winning Superbowls. The representative teams then had elite or above average defenses with good running games and competent to good passing attacks. In fact, even up to today, that is still the successful formula for those representing their teams in the Superbowl and championship games.

As far as BUF/BAL, I never said the running game won the game, I said the mix of run and defense did. Allen had a 62% pass accuracy ratio, and 1 TD. The defense scored the other TD with the pick 6, and largely won the game based on what I saw. The Ravens dominated possession, 3rd down conversions, but Bills defense stepped up when it mattered. Had they not, Bills would have lost that game with the offensive strategy deployed all the way through 3 quarters.

Also, since we're on the topic of competency of an offensive mind as head coach, I can remember that Weiss, McDaniels, Mangini and O'Brien all flamed out as head coaches, so just because some were offensive gurus and had success and experience as coordinators, it does necessarily translate to success at the head coaching level.

Your take on Brady was and is incorrect. You tried to point to Belichick as a defensive minded HC as being a huge factor in the development of Brady. I noted that Brady did not have a great season until his 8th year in the league, which is 100% correct. He topped out in the low 90s in QB rating before 2007--good, but definitely not great even in that time frame.

BUF's offensive strategy versus BAL was its best strategy. Allen just struggled in executing what they had executed well all season long. They missed at least two TDs and a FG. They could not run the ball worth crap and proved that by averaging two yards per carry.

Your original post did use the word "saved" and it was applied to the defense and running game, which is hilarious since they never went run heavy until there was 2:41 left in the game.

But Daboll did a great job of calling plays in that game, of making adjustments in that game, and of knowing when it was time to go conservative (with 2:41 left and up two scores while deep in their own territory).

I do not care if other good OCs did not do as well as HCs. Daboll's play calling for BUF has been so good this season (on the level of Reid and Payton) that that alone trumps everything else from every other candidate and it also happens to address our team's biggest weakness.

But that is not what ownership decided and I believe they made a mistake since they did not hire the best candidate.