Cant find it now but someone tweeted that he has the 9th most QB pressures not sure if it is OLB or all positions. And every player above him is averaging 420 or so snaps when Coples has something between 350-375ish.
I knew I would get slaughtered for calling Rex' defense a 3-4. I am very aware he runs a hybrid scheme. My POINT is that if we lose Rex (who in my mind is a premier defensive mind) our best course is to go to a "pure" scheme & we DO have the horses to make that work & run a more "pure" tampa 2 scheme as another poster pointed out. If we revamp our OLB core then we really do have the personnel to run the scheme & run it well (I.E. the Seahwaks running their scheme). What I do NOT want to see is a new regime come in & ship out "square pegs" for "their" scheme. For instance, when we were in the opposite side of the spectrum and had a premier talent in Jonathon Vilma. We shipped him out for a low round pick because he didnt fit the scheme...after picking him 12th overall 2 years earlier. I am interested in fitting our personnnel into scheme, not the other way around. That is the fastest way to rebuild and generally new regimes SAY they will but really only play lip service to it & end up setting back the franchise another year when they take multiple years to bring in guys that fit their methodology...
That is why my only hope is that if the potential new HC is a DC they better run a similar system. Front 7 is the only strength of the team, they do not need to create another hole by changing personnel. If the HC is an offensive mind then they better be smart and choose a DC wisely.
That's one of my problems with the way Rex plays defense. He has a really good defensive mind, but the exotic schemes, the different schemes every play, I think they are hurting us this year. I think Rex's approach worked very well in 2009-10 because back then our defense was mostly experienced veterans with relatively little talent, except in the secondary. His defense was perfect for that group, because we had very little talent in the front seven, so any pass rush had to come on blitzes or exotic packages, and our excellent secondary was a safety net. But these days, the defense is completely different, the front seven is the strength now, especially on the line, and the secondary is weak. Also, players are much younger, and less experienced. Instead of playing to the strengths of the D up front, and letting them pressure the QB, lots of plays I see Richardson/Coples either dropping back into coverage, or Rex only rushing 3 so that the D-Linemen are double or triple teamed by the blockers. Then, of course, there are the other plays where they bring a blitz, which very rarely gets us anything, but often results in a 1 st down for the offense. Also, all the exotic schemes seem to confuse our younger players, and there are tons of blown plays, not to mention almost no turnovers created, because everybody's mind is occupied with the complexity of the defense, instead of just relaxing and trying to make a play.
