Lou

[cincygrad]

Cool breakdown of Lou's defense. He really does a nice job covering up holes in that secondary by disguising coverage. Obviously easier to do to Picket or Tannehil than it will be for Mahomes or Allen, but it's a tough unit to play for sure.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Lou is a witch. No question about it. The only thing that sucks is he's going to end up getting a look for H.C.

And to think - this was the 5th option at DC for Taylor when 4 other guys turned the job down. Thank your lucky stars!

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I was not a fan of the signing if I am to be honest, but Lou has really developed into a great DC, and he is innovative, kind of like Paul Brown/Bill Walsh was with the offensive side of the ball. He needed to get his type of players to make it work, and it helps that Reader is a beast, Hendrickson is relentless, Wilson is intuitive, and Awuzie is shut down.

 

[Cincyfan78]

I was not a fan of the signing if I am to be honest, but Lou has really developed into a great DC, and he is innovative, kind of like Paul Brown/Bill Walsh was with the offensive side of the ball. He needed to get his type of players to make it work, and it helps that Reader is a beast, Hendrickson is relentless, Wilson is intuitive, and Awuzie is shut down.

Agreed - that 1st year - the defense was awful, but lost something like 7 expected starters.

What I love about Lou is - his use of both man and zone in the same concept/play. That is something that I think goes a long way to him being able to just rush 3 and drop 8. It allows the mix/match with 8 defenders in pass coverage, but because it's not a straight up man/zone scheme - it takes any QB some time to get a feel-allowing the 3 man rush to bring pressure.

 

[cincygrad]

Agreed - that 1st year - the defense was awful, but lost something like 7 expected starters.

What I love about Lou is - his use of both man and zone in the same concept/play. That is something that I think goes a long way to him being able to just rush 3 and drop 8. It allows the mix/match with 8 defenders in pass coverage, but because it's not a straight up man/zone scheme - it takes any QB some time to get a feel-allowing the 3 man rush to bring pressure.

I think one of the major problems during the first year was that Lou was working with a bunch of Marvin's guys. To be fair to the vets, they were also aware that Lou wasn't anyone's first choice as DC. Dunlap, in particular, didn't seem keen to buy into the process. Atkins was hurt and not up to his standard. And overall there just wasn't a lot of athletic talent on board. Credit to Duke (and whatever coaches were involved) for identifying the right types of guys in FA that would make the difference - Hendrickson, Reader, Chido, Hilton, Vonn, BJ, Larry (last year), and even Eli Apple.

 

[Cincyfan78]

I think one of the major problems during the first year was that Lou was working with a bunch of Marvin's guys. To be fair to the vets, they were also aware that Lou wasn't anyone's first choice as DC. Dunlap, in particular, didn't seem keen to buy into the process. Atkins was hurt and not up to his standard. And overall there just wasn't a lot of athletic talent on board. Credit to Duke (and whatever coaches were involved) for identifying the right types of guys in FA that would make the difference - Hendrickson, Reader, Chido, Hilton, Vonn, BJ, Larry (last year), and even Eli Apple.

Absolutely. Their hit rate on F/A in defense has been insanely good.

 

[jbuck]

I figure Mike Hilton showed up and taught the whole u nit how to play.