Brandon Staley, Former Rams DC - New Chargers Head Coach

[Critty]

So you are planning on Tillery and JJones keeping Murray clean ?

Hell, I do not even have Murray playing there. He's on the EDGE in my world, setting and providing backside pursuit + blitzing--where Kenneth can have some impact.

Bosa's hand will be in the dirt.
Eagle Front 4i.
Hybrid DE.

There will be a variety of looks, depending on effectiveness, matchups and opponents offensive attacks.

I am gonna blister TPB's hide in a couple of days, when I get time to bring it all together.

I think Staley mixes it up. Bosa will be hand in dirt, but I dont think exclusive there as the 4i. I think he moves him to edge a bit and even inside to zero. And uses him in stand up looks. Bosa is the best pass rusher. Where ever he can get a one on one matchup along the line is a good matchup.

You think Murray plays edge. Maybe.
Im not so sure putting him on edge and pass rushing is best.
Im thinking put him in the middle and keep him clean. Let him play down hill and sideline to sideline. He can still blitz from there.

There may be a player or even two on starting front 7 not on roster A free agent and/or rookie draft pick.

Now that they picked Staley as HC.
if I'm thinking edge players in his scheme.
Ojulari became a much more interesting name in the draft. And Floyd a much more interesting name in free agency.

[Xenos]

Peter King talks about Staley and how he was the Chargers guy all along:

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/01/18/chiefs-chad-henne-nfl-playoffs-fmia-peter-king/

1. BRANDON STALEY. Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley got to bed in California on Sunday around 1:45 a.m. PT. By 8:30 a.m. PT, he was up doing a Zoom coaching interview with Houston GM Nick Caserio. By 1:30, he was on his way to the Chargers’ offices in Orange County for a formal interview. By 7:45 p.m. PT, he was being announced as the new coach of the Chargers. That is one heck of a day, and today would have been a continuation of that. He was scheduled to fly to West Palm Beach at the crack of dawn for his interview today with the Eagles. (They’ve been doing the interviews in Florida.)

I don’t think the Chargers rushed to hire Staley because they feared the Eagles might; I bet it was a factor, but a small one. More of a factor was this: They were convinced no matter how long the process went on that Staley would be their guy. I had Staley on my podcast last week, and you could see why he’d be sought after. He finds ways—with Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey, say, with the Rams—to get them to buy into what the defense is doing.

On my pod, he told this story: “Back in the springtime, I made like a 90-play cut-up of Jalen from Florida State, Jacksonville, to last year in LA. Lot of good, some not so good, and then, ‘Hey, here’s our vision for you.’ We talked through a lot of things philosophically about how he plays technique and how we want to play and just learning about what he’s comfortable with and what he’s not comfortable with, and then where we think we can go. We were talking about him playing inside at what we call the star, you know, in the slot. He goes, ‘Well coach, I’ve been dying to play that my whole career. I’ve been dying to play in there.” Like, ‘I don’t see myself as a corner. I see myself as a football player.’ When he said that, it’s like, I didn’t know how this was gonna go! I was hopeful. But you don’t know how anyone’s gonna receive it.”

Should be interesting to see his approach to Justin Herbert as well as the D. Staley was a three-year college quarterback at the University of Dayton.

[Boltnut]

So you are planning on Tillery and JJones keeping Murray clean ?

Hell, I do not even have Murray playing there. He's on the EDGE in my world, setting and providing backside pursuit + blitzing--where Kenneth can have some impact.

Bosa's hand will be in the dirt.
Eagle Front 4i.
Hybrid DE.

There will be a variety of looks, depending on effectiveness, matchups and opponents offensive attacks.

I am gonna blister TPB's hide in a couple of days, when I get time to bring it all together.

I see Murray as an OLB in a 3-4 also.
I think where we might want to be looking is 3-4 DE.
Bosa and Tillery are definites. Breiden Fehoko will get a chance. But we'll need another DE through the draft.

What do you think of Ta'Quon Graham...?

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

[Topcat]

I think Staley mixes it up. Bosa will be hand in dirt, but I dont think exclusive there as the 4i. I think he moves him to edge a bit and even inside to zero. And uses him in stand up looks. Bosa is the best pass rusher. Where ever he can get a one on one matchup along the line is a good matchup.

You think Murray plays edge. Maybe.
Im not so sure putting him on edge and pass rushing is best.
Im thinking put him in the middle and keep him clean. Let him play down hill and sideline to sideline. He can still blitz from there.

There may be a player or even two on starting front 7 not on roster A free agent and/or rookie draft pick.

Now that they picked Staley as HC.
if I'm thinking edge players in his scheme.
Ojulari became a much more interesting name in the draft. And Floyd a much more interesting name in free agency.

I'd rather move Murray to Will--let him blitz from there...Murray isn't all that strong in coverage, so we still need a Mike who can cover...

[ChargersPowderBlue]

Chances of drafting or going after a top corner increased with the hiring of Staley.
You can't count on Casey Hayward anymore....his decline wasn't sudden, but gradual.

He slowly became Casey Backward. He's living on reputation at this point. Same goes for Chris Harris Jr. Then you have Michael Davis, and frankly, I've had my fair share of him in these 3 years he's been the starter at the position.

The team is going to need find better CBs. Better corners who can take on their receivers 1-on-1. That's one of the things that killed the team in 2020. It was the reason why Gus was hesitant to blitz. You need the talent at cornerback when you blitz. You need the corners who can cover well 1-on-1 when you do it. The secondary got lit up good many times in 2020.

[21&500]

Random thought but it just occurred to me
the balls on Staley...!
to be so inexperienced and basically signing up to play Mahomes/Reid twice a year
not to mention his mentor and idol in Fangio
and to a lesser extent, Gruden and his unique situation of being a tenured HC
I believe that’s what they call, “moxie”

[gzubeck]

Random thought but it just occurred to me
the balls on Staley...!
to be so inexperienced and basically signing up to play Mahomes/Reid twice a year
not to mention his mentor and idol in Fangio
and to a lesser extent, Gruden and his unique situation of being a tenured HC
I believe that’s what they call, “moxie”

Kicking Wade Phillips out and turning defense into #1....Balls like Bowling Balls....

:Cheers1:

[jaguarmanftype]

What part of the Bills could not run the ball against the Ravens do you not understand? What part of the game plan was great, but Allen was slightly off do you not understand? The stats for the offense do not reflect that running the ball more would have been a better approach. They averaged two yards per carry. Daboll knew going into the game that the run game would be ineffective. He just mixed in runs to try keep BAL honest. Moving the ball some through the passing game is better than moving the ball none through the running game.

Nobody is saying that BUF's defense did not play well. They scored more points than the Ravens did on offense. But your original suggestion that the ground game saved them was and is asinine.

You suggested that Belichick was hugely responsible for Brady's development. Brady did not have a great season until his 8th year in the league and after McDaniels became the OC. Being in the top 10 is good, not great, just as I said. And to be clear, nobody is saying Belichick did not help Brady develop, but it was McDaniels and his system that brought out the best in Brady.

That is why Brady's development was delayed and did not follow the normal career arc for QBs. Just as I stated, your Belichick example of a great defensive coach and a QB actually supports my position since it took the great offensive mind in McDaniels to draw out Brady's best.

The Patriots as a team won 3 Super Bowls. Jim Plunkett's Raiders and Eli Manning's Giants won two. Trent Dilfer's Ravens won one. Being on Super Bowl winning teams by itself says the same thing about the greatness of all of those QBs--nothing. That being on a Super Bowl winning team means anything about how good, great, average or terrible a player is arguably the single greatest mistake made by fans in all of sports. The issue is how Brady performed, not how his team performed. Nobody is saying that the Patriots did not have strong teams in the seasons in which they won Super Bowls.

Regarding rule changes in Brady's first 8 years, in 2002, helmet to helmet contact against a QB on a change of possession was not allowed. In 2006, avoidable low hits to the QB were outlawed. In 2007, the penalty for illegal cut blocks against receivers was increased from 5 to 15 yards. Contrary to your suggestion, none of these rules were primary movers in the evolution of the passing game. Passer friendly rules did change the game, but your timing as it relates to Brady and his development is simply all wrong.

Lastly, I could care less what a player or coach says in some made for television fluff piece or interview. Most players and coaches know not to air their dirty laundry in public, so most of their comments regarding the greatness of their counterparts need to be taken with a grain of salt and not accepted as gospel.

Here we go again....

How do you know the Bills could or could not run the ball, or at least incorporate the running back in short yardage passing when they only attempted any type of rushing twice in the first half? How is it a great gameplan to go into a game with a high wind advisory, where even one of the best kickers in the league couldn't knock in chipshot field goals, and attempt to lob it all over the field? The drive where they actually scored their their lone offensive TD in the game incorporated Devin Singletary in short yardage passing to their back, which I consider to be an extension of the run game, and a few attempts at rushing which gave them the go ahead to throw to Stefon Diggs for the TD.

"Buffalo’s offensive plan was obvious from the start. They attempted 22 passes compared to two rushes. Of those two rushes, one was a Josh Allen scramble. The quarterback went 13-of-22 for 120 passing yards in the first half. The Ravens did what many defense struggled to do against Buffalo: Limit explosive plays by the Bills’ playmakers.

Buffalo’s offensive game plan altered a little bit in the second half because of that. The Bills shifted to a passing attack that focused on shorter routes. They also got running back Devin Singletary involved in the mix, as he had four touches on the half’s opening drive. Finally, the Bills broke through, as Allen found Stefon Diggs on a wide receiver screen from three yards out to score what would be the game’s only offensive touchdown." https://billswire.usatoday.com/2021/...lamar-jackson/

And just to point out, I never put emphasis on what actually won the Bills the game in my original post, I used a conjunction and pointed out the defense first. Again, the only offensive TD came from when they incorporated Devin Singletary and short yardage throws, and it's obvious it was primarily the defense that won the game.

As far Belichick being responsible for Brady's development, well, I'd like to fucking think that the head coach of a team that implements the overall philosophy, culture (which is now part of popular lore - The Patriot Way) and acquires the staff and in Belichick's case, the talent would have a large role in their development. Brady won a Superbowl in his first year as full-time starter, and two more all before McDaniels was a blip on anyone's radar for offensive coordinator (he was a defensive assistant the first 2 years), yet I'm fairly certain that Belichick was a constant and had a large part in this successful run. It's somewhat humorous to sit and read that Brady's development was delayed in the face of evidence above. He was already a top 10 QB, and this is all before rule enforcements/changes, scheme changes to exploit said rules and physical upgrades in athletes that dominated the league later in the decade. This was certainly before McDaniels stepped in 2006 as OC which coincided with Brady's prime years, and had Randy Moss brought in 2007. I won't argue that McDaniels had a role in Brady's development somewhere, but I cannot discount the head coach of a franchise has a huge part in that role for the reasons I outlined above.

Also, I have to mention that your supposed "normal career arc" for QBs is overstated, especially if we are looking at the time frames.

Prior to 2008, a QB has only surpassed 5,000 yards passing in a season only a single time. Brees became the second QB to reach that milestone in 2008. In 2011, 3 QBs alone topped 5,000 passing yards. Only 10 years prior, surpassing 7.0 YPA for a QB was considered very good. Only 11 QBs would reach that mark. 10 QBs surpassed that mark in 2003. By 2008, 17 QBs reached that mark. Over the years, we've changed what we have come to expect from QBs. A 60% completion percentage was once considered a milestone for a successful season. In 1983, only 8 QBs completed over 60% of their passes. 20 QBs surpassed that in 2010. Now, that is just the baseline for a QB. In 1983, when the defense still had an even ground, 10 QBs had 5% or more of their passes intercepted, including John Elway and Ken Stabler. Only 4 QBs, including Dan Marino, had less than 3% of their passes intercepted. In 2010, only a single QB had 5% or more of his passes be intercepted. Why you may ask this was the case? Well, some of it had partly to do with rule changes or enforcement of old rules that had been laxed prior and given priority that you may be understating. Good article and Reddit thread(s) about the 2004 re-emphasis on the 1994 5-yard illegal contact rule below.

"The impact of this new emphasis on unimpeded receivers will be huge. Go back to 1994 when the rule was put in. Passing yardage went up a total of 26 yards per game (from 401.2 to 427.2, second highest in the modern era). Average completions went from 11.6 to 11.7. Average attempt went from 5.8 yards to 6. Scoring went from 37.4 to 40.9 per game.

Expect the same types of increases this season. More teams will have the ability to pass for 4,500 yards. Games will be higher scoring.

The downside is that the first month of the season may be ugly because of the number of penalties that will have to be called to break the habits of physical cornerbacks. In 1994, the first year of the "chucking" revision, 117 illegal contact penalties were called. Flags were thrown so often in the first part of that season that officials started feeling sorry for defensive backs. With the gray area of the rules revision, less penalties were called in the second half of the season and only 53 and 50 were called the next two seasons.

It's not out of the question for a record number of illegal contact penalties to be called given the history that more were called in 1994 than in 1995 and 1996 combined.

The rest of the impact will be speculation. Offensive coaches tell you they expect more man-to-man coverage at the line of scrimmage. I don't know if I believe that. There aren't as many cornerback who have the ability to jam a receiver at the line and stay with him after five yards without the ability to grab him after five yards. Receivers are getting to be bigger and strong while the average cornerback hasn't significant grown or gotten that much faster.

Advantage, receiver.

Every few years, the NFL adjusts rules to open up offenses. This new emphasis on calling penalties for extra contact will be huge this season." https://www.espn.com/nfl/columns/sto...ohn&id=1840261

Good outline in this Reddit thread as well. https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comment...ake_it_easier/

"In 1996, the NFL announced they'd actually enforce the illegal contact penalty, created in 1978, more stringently than before. The rule was no longer just a recommendation. In 2001, the NFL announced Roughing the QB penalty would be enforced more strictly and specifically targeted late hits. By 2002, they protected the QB even further by barring helmet-to-helmet contact with a QB at any time, even after a change of possession.

The NFL again tightened down enforcement of already existing rules for illegal contact, pass interference, and defensive holding in 2004. QBs received even more protection in 2006 when the NFL barred hits to the QBs below their knees unless the defensive player was blocked into the QB. WRs saw additional protection in 2009 when contact to the head of a defenseless receiver was prohibited. The NFL expanded the rules for defenseless receivers to include all players in 2010. They also threatened an additional crackdown on these penalties and threatened players with suspensions

Another thing people often forget about is the evolution of the tight end. Tight ends used to almost exclusively be used for blocking, and the semi-recent emergence of receiving tight ends has allowed QBs to have an extra big bodied receiver to create mis matches, and has added another player to check down to."

Good additional Reddit threads on this as well:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/7gnckf/what_exactly_was_the_2004_rule_change/

https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comment...legal_contact/

Good charts on the efficacy of the passing game over time, particularly the timeframe we're talking about: http://archive.advancedfootballanaly...g-in-2011.html

To end this, for my dollar, I measure success of a team, and by extension their quarterback by wins in the postseason and Superbowl appearances, not by their quarterback throwing for 5,000 yards and 40 TDs in what ultimately may amount to meaningless seasons and statistics. If yards and passing attempts were the barometer for ultimate success, we'd have Jameis Winston and Dak Prescott having deep playoff runs, but that is not the case.

I'm fairly certain if you ask any quarterback what means more to them in their journeys, I'm sure they'll agree with the above, as while individual accolades are important, it's still a team game, and ultimately, why the likes of Eli Manning and probably even Jim Plunkett will be in the Hall of Fame eventually.

[CivilBolt]

He slowly became Casey Backward. He's living on reputation at this point. Same goes for Chris Harris Jr. Then you have Michael Davis, and frankly, I've had my fair share of him in these 3 years he's been the starter at the position.

The team is going to need find better CBs. Better corners who can take on their receivers 1-on-1. That's one of the things that killed the team in 2020. It was the reason why Gus was hesitant to blitz. You need the talent at cornerback when you blitz. You need the corners who can cover well 1-on-1 when you do it. The secondary got lit up good many times in 2020.

Maybe Davis can still develop into an elite CB with Staley. He has the length/speed and still fairly young. I think Rams CB Troy Hill was undrafted as well.

[jaguarmanftype]

Not sure if this posted already, but Vic Fangio was interviewed by the Chargers social media team about Brandon Staley.

[Heatmiser]

That was classy of Fangio. He could easily have said no thanks. This is not a major media outlet, it is the Chargers PR staff.

TG

[dmac_bolt]

Maybe Davis can still develop into an elite CB with Staley. He has the length/speed and still fairly young. I think Rams CB Troy Hill was undrafted as well.

Davis is the best CB on the roster. Which isn’t great - Hayward needs to be let go as prior posters are 100% right the game has now sped past him, and they need a new #1 cover corner. A cover corner should be a top 3 priority this off season imo. Maybe top 2 though Edge rusher is probably #2.