Jim Leonhard and Mike Pettine Talk Safeties

by John B on Oct 19, 2011 9:09 AM EDT

Today the league sent an article in a release from the league talking about the evolution of the safety position. It has quotes from Jim Leonhard and Mike Pettine. Pettine's comments in particular are noteworthy. He talks about the complexity of today's offenses and the need to have smart people as the last line of defense who can diagnose things. Right or wrong, that kind of thinking probably has a lot to do with the Leonhard/Eric Smith starting safety combo the Jets are using. They lose something in an athletic sense. The Jets want their smartest two safeties out there. Whether what they gain in smarts makes up for the loss in athleticism is up for debate. Leonhard's comments kind of say bigger, slower players at the position are being phased out of the league. It reminds me a bit of Smith

Offenses are trending towards an NFL-record passing yards total in 2011. How can defenses combat the explosion of the passing game? Effective play from the safety position.

"The job is absolutely harder," says New York Jets safety JIM LEONHARD on playing safety in the NFL. "Offenses have morphed from using two-back, power-running formations to where they're always spreading you out. You used to be able to have a safety who could play in the box and one playing free but now that big safety is getting run out of the league."

....

While athletic ability and cover skills are vital for NFL safeties, the importance of dissecting offenses is not overlooked.

"You have to be very cerebral back there," says New York Jets defensive coordinator MIKE PETTINE. "You need to be able to stay on top of things because the game is so complicated now. There are a lot of moving parts because teams don't just line up and run at you. There are stacks, bunches, shifts, motion and tight ends and running backs lining up in places they never did before. It's a lot to keep up with."

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With JIM LEONHARD and MIKE PETTINE's comments,

you’d think BRODNEY POOL would be getting more looks, since he’s more of a cover guy. I guess ERIC SMITH is still the best option out there, REX RYAN seems to know what he’s doing.

by psuwxman on Oct 19, 2011 9:26 AM EDT reply actions

ha

i was wondering the same thing

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by rexthejet on Oct 19, 2011 2:02 PM EDT up reply actions

The team is locked into their Saftey philosophy

I realized that when Kerry Rhodes was given his walking papers. Remember, at first Rex didn’t like Smith and even called him out on a few occasions. I would love to know Rex’s true opinions on Smith and Pool. It’s really a mystery to me how he defines the Saftey position.

by Can'tWait on Oct 19, 2011 9:38 AM EDT reply actions

Funny

how we still have communication errors back there… I hope they stick Pool in there this week, Gates will be a handful

by Jerrad p on Oct 19, 2011 10:29 AM EDT reply actions

Its a dicey scenario though and I'm not sure we have the right philosophy.

Yes, its important to have intelligence back there to quickly diagnose whats happening and to get positioned properly. Being smart can trump athleticism if you can figure out whats coming and can position yourself properly against it. But how often can you really rely on getting it right with your pre-snap reads? And once the other team sees how you read and react, you can easily be manipulated when they want to manipulate you. And what do you do when you’re wrong? Thats it, they win and get a huge play? Its too risky to weight intelligence more heavily.

Being athletic and having good post-snap instincts are more important. Being able to feel whats going on post-snap and having the athleticism to make up for mistakes is more valuable, IMO. Opposing QBs and OCs are too smart these days, and they’re going to figure you out eventually. You have to be able to overcome miscues with athleticism.

Coaches have to use alignments and coverages to dictate when the ball is going to come out and influence where its going to go. But you need to have athletes out there that can win their match-ups and run to the ball when the offense wins the scheme battle.

by Crackback on Oct 19, 2011 10:37 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs