- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 562,903
- Reaction score
- 48
Under new defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, there was a lot of mixing and matching during the Indianapolis Colts' first minicamp practice, with a variety of players and personnel groupings getting opportunities.
Jake Arthur of Horseshoe Huddle put together his key takeaways from Tuesday's practice, one of which was the heavy rotation of players at multiple positions on defense.
"We obviously know most of the starters on defense, but trying to guess the primary rotational players is like trying to solve a puzzle," wrote Arthur. "Injuries have allowed several different players to get some looks with the first and second-team defenses, but Anarumo is also tinkering with looks for his nickel and dime defenses as well."
Anarumo brings a more aggressive defense to Indianapolis, and one where multiplicity plays a key role. Like any coordinator, Anarumo has his defensive principles that his scheme is built around, but this system is also malleable and quick to adjust based on the skill sets that are on the roster and what the opponent does.
Along with the more aggressive play style, another noticeable difference about this defense will be the heavy usage of disguised coverages. The ultimate goal, as Anarumo has described, is to keep quarterbacks off balance and guessing. By disguising coverages, what a quarterback sees pre-snap vs. what he sees at the top of his drop could be quite different, which then leads to hesitation, and an opportunity for the defense to strike.
"Really the aggressive mindset," Cam Bynum said of Anarumo's defense when asked how it compares to Brian Flores' defense. "That's one thing that they share and they have in common, and that's the mindset that I love to have on defense.
"That we're going to send pressure, that we're going to mix things up, variations of everything, but at the end of the day we want to go down with our best guys being aggressive and that's the mindset I like to have. I don't want to sit back and just let things happen in front of us, I want to be able to command the offense to be able to do what we want them to do."
As Arthur mentions, we know Laiatu Latu, DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, Kenny Moore, Charvarius Ward, Cam Bynum, and several other players are going to be starters on this Colts' defense. But at heavily rotated positions, like defensive tackle and defensive end, how does that pecking order shake out?
In addition to that, what does the linebacker depth chart look like behind Zaire Franklin and Jaylon Carlies? Also, in a defense that is going to have a much greater reliance on the defensive back position, so who fills those additional roles?
On paper, once the 53-man roster is set, the Colts will have their depth chart just like they do every season. But what the playing time situation looks like for a number of those players could ebb and flow and truly be dependent upon what the game plan calls for.
At this portion of the offseason, Anarumo is still learning about his players and how they fit his scheme. Part of that equation is putting players in a variety of roles to see how they perform and who fits best where.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Colts minicamp: Defense is mixing and matching under Lou Anarumo
Continue reading...
Jake Arthur of Horseshoe Huddle put together his key takeaways from Tuesday's practice, one of which was the heavy rotation of players at multiple positions on defense.
"We obviously know most of the starters on defense, but trying to guess the primary rotational players is like trying to solve a puzzle," wrote Arthur. "Injuries have allowed several different players to get some looks with the first and second-team defenses, but Anarumo is also tinkering with looks for his nickel and dime defenses as well."
Anarumo brings a more aggressive defense to Indianapolis, and one where multiplicity plays a key role. Like any coordinator, Anarumo has his defensive principles that his scheme is built around, but this system is also malleable and quick to adjust based on the skill sets that are on the roster and what the opponent does.
Along with the more aggressive play style, another noticeable difference about this defense will be the heavy usage of disguised coverages. The ultimate goal, as Anarumo has described, is to keep quarterbacks off balance and guessing. By disguising coverages, what a quarterback sees pre-snap vs. what he sees at the top of his drop could be quite different, which then leads to hesitation, and an opportunity for the defense to strike.
"Really the aggressive mindset," Cam Bynum said of Anarumo's defense when asked how it compares to Brian Flores' defense. "That's one thing that they share and they have in common, and that's the mindset that I love to have on defense.
"That we're going to send pressure, that we're going to mix things up, variations of everything, but at the end of the day we want to go down with our best guys being aggressive and that's the mindset I like to have. I don't want to sit back and just let things happen in front of us, I want to be able to command the offense to be able to do what we want them to do."
As Arthur mentions, we know Laiatu Latu, DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, Kenny Moore, Charvarius Ward, Cam Bynum, and several other players are going to be starters on this Colts' defense. But at heavily rotated positions, like defensive tackle and defensive end, how does that pecking order shake out?
In addition to that, what does the linebacker depth chart look like behind Zaire Franklin and Jaylon Carlies? Also, in a defense that is going to have a much greater reliance on the defensive back position, so who fills those additional roles?
On paper, once the 53-man roster is set, the Colts will have their depth chart just like they do every season. But what the playing time situation looks like for a number of those players could ebb and flow and truly be dependent upon what the game plan calls for.
At this portion of the offseason, Anarumo is still learning about his players and how they fit his scheme. Part of that equation is putting players in a variety of roles to see how they perform and who fits best where.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Colts minicamp: Defense is mixing and matching under Lou Anarumo
Continue reading...
