Blogging The Boys
The Cowboys defense has had a rough go of things this year. Perhaps you’ve noticed. Matt Eberflus and his entire unit are under fire, both from fans and opposing offenses, and there doesn’t seem to be much promise on the horizon. However, the Jets have frequently been a get-right team for defenses over the years, and may offer the same kind of respite this week.
It’s a new era in Gotham City, as Lions defensive coordinator and former Jets first-round pick Aaron Glenn is leading the team in his first go at being a head coach. Unsurprisingly, Glenn sought to replicate the magic of that Lions resurgence by bringing Tanner Engstrand along as his offensive coordinator.
Engstrand had been on Dan Campbell’s staff in Detroit since the beginning, and he held the title of pass game coordinator for all three years that Ben Johnson was cooking defenses every Sunday. Many believed Engstrand was the heir apparent to Johnson, but he opted to follow Glenn to New Jersey and help rebuild a franchise that’s never been known for high-scoring offenses.
This is Engstrand’s first opportunity to call plays at the NFL level, though he held that role for the San Diego Torreros of the FCS back in 2011. In short, Engstrand is very much learning on the job, just as Glenn is doing so as head coach. The two of them know what it takes to revive a long dormant program, but knowing and doing are two different things.
Through four games, Engstrand’s offense has been a mixed bag. They rank 21st in both EPA/play and offensive DVOA, yet they’ve scored three or more touchdowns in all but one game this year. They’ve also done this amidst a barrage of injuries, namely to their quarterback.
This past offseason, the Jets brought in Justin Fields to be their new starter. Similar to how the Dan Campbell era began with bringing in Jared Goff, who many had written off, Glenn and Engstrand saw similar value in Fields. The former first-round pick is still just 26 and went 4-2 as a starter last year with the Steelers after being dragged down by some miserable teams in Chicago.
To that end, much of what Engstrand’s scheme has evolved into is a result of Fields being the quarterback.
Johnson, who we profiled a couple weeks ago, crafted the Lions’ juggernaut offense out of what his players did best. Goff was most comfortable operating under center with play action, and Detroit had a loaded offensive line. Thus, Johnson built a run-heavy scheme that sucked linebackers in on every play action pass, giving Goff wide open skill players to throw to.
Fields is a very different player. He’s a legitimate dual-threat quarterback who has typically excelled on deep passes, but tends to have trouble with the finer points of the position, such as pre-snap diagnosis and playing within structure.
So far, Engstrand has crafted an offense that caters to Fields’ strengths. They’re lining up in shotgun at one...
