Hogs Haven
Scheme, personnel and preparation will lead to more turnovers, a stouter run defense, and better ability to close out games.
On Wednesday, Joe Whitt talked to reporters, and I found several of his comments about this season’s defensive goals and specific players to be highly intriguing.
Let’s look at some of his specific comments.
Last season:
· We didn’t produce the ball like I wanted to — the reason being we dropped 16 of them, literally just balls that touched our hands that we felt that should have been caught. If we catch half of those, that puts us in a different ring.
· We didn’t play the run well enough, and I thought that we would have.
· Third, [we didn’t] close games out… the way that I was anticipating.
And so, when we get into the offseason, we look at it in three different things:
1. Was it schematics?
2. Was it the player? or
3. Sometimes, did we just get beat?
And so, the turnovers we’re going to emphasize because we just have to catch the ball. Some of the things we’re doing with the front for the run game we have changed and some we have adjusted. And then winning time moments in two-minute — we’re going [to compete] every day to get those things better.
Much of what he said in the rest of the press conference provided insight into how the Commanders plan to stop the run, produce more turnovers, and close games out defensively by adjusting scheme, personnel and preparation.
He’s a uniquely big man that can bend and play with some power and speed. We will have the ability to move him up and down the line of scrimmage. So, we can put him wherever we want to because he has that type of skill set. He’ll be difficult for tight ends to block if we put him in the six technique, or, if we kick him inside, he has the length that’s going to be difficult for guards to deal with as well. So, he’s an intriguing young man to work with.
This seems to confirm that Kinlaw will be used the way the Jets used him in 2024 – at times playing the DT spot in a 4-3 defense, but at other times, lined up on the outside shoulder of the tackle on the strong side (where the tight end is aligned).
With the Jets in 2024, per PFF, Kinlaw played 316 snaps at left tackle and 299 snaps at left end. This contrasts with his alignment pattern with the 49ers. With SF in 2023, Kinlaw lined up as a DT on 418 snaps, but played DE on only 116 snaps.
In 17 games with the Niners in ’23, Kinlaw produced 25 tackles and 3.5 sacks. In 17 games with the Jets in ’24, his...
