DB's

[Scorp]

I was wondering if anyone had any insight on the impact of the Julius Peppers move to Chicago, and the Karlos Dansby move to Miami. The players I'm wondering if will have more tackles as a result, C.Tillman & A.Wilson. Also, can anyone here tell me what a cover-2 corner is, and how you locate them on a team?

[Scorp]

I also wanted to add a second part to this, even though the topic is titled DB's, because I was extremely disappointed in Mario Williams last year. I lost some key matchups due to his "0's". B.Cushing and D.Ryans are stud LB's, so does this mean that if a team has good LB's that the defensive line will underperform?

[Phish Brigade]

Totally forgot to check this forum. Sorry to leave you hanging. Not that I'm an IDP guru or nuthin, but I usually keep an eye on this forum because I love IDP.

You've got a couple of questions:

1- I think Peppers will be a good fit in Chicago. When healthy, they've always done a good job at getting pressure from guys who aren't in the front 4. Having guys like Tommie Harris doesn't hurt. Peppers always did well without a huge threat on the other side anyway. And Dansby will be fine in Miami too, I don't think the move to Miami hurts him much.

2- The best way to describe the cover 2 scheme is to think of it as the "Tampa 2" defense. Think of the Tony Dungy/Monty Kiffin years in Tampa. They ran a 4-3 defense ( 4 lineman DE-DT-DT-DE and 3 LBs SLB-MLB-WLB instead of 4 LBs and a nose tackle ), the Bucs had a good DLine ( Sapp, Simeon Rice ), Derrick Brooks at LB ( Barrett Ruud now ), and Ronde Barber and John Lynch. Strength/Pro Bowl talent across the board. The MLB often stays in coverage with the safeties playing deep and the cornerbacks usually give a cushion. They cover the short to mid-range stuff and force you to beat them deep. This isn't your Pittsburgh/Baltimore blitz defense. It's a painful defense to watch when a team like the Bills run it. ( Thank god they're switching to a 3-4, I need a change ) No pash rush and giving up chunks of yards over and over again. Bend, but don't break. It works with pressure from the front 4 and the MLB being very mobile and often in coverage instead of at the line and blitzing. Think of Indy in recent years. Which explains why the Bills have sucked on defense, they haven't had Freeney and Mathis. Hope that helps.

3- Mario Williams - Even the best DEs get shut out. It happens to Jared Allen and it happens to Peppers. They are very inconsistent and often take advantage of weaker opponents. Good LB's in a 4-3 defense like Houston help, but it doesn't hurt Williams' value. It is what it is. I'm sure the best pass rusher of all time named Bruce Smith got shut out once in a blue moon.

[MR ROURKE]

Phish pretty much covered the Tampa2/Cover2. It's designed to have safety help over the top and not allow big plays. The secondary is supposed to keep everythign in front of them. Corners are allowed to take slightly more risk in this coverage because they know they have help behind them. The key to playing the cover2 well is getting pressure from the front 4. If there isn't any pressure from the front 4, then they have to blitz which takes away from the coverage ability and opens holes in the defense that can easily be exploited be the offense to move the chains. The addition of Peppers give the Bears more ability to create pressure with the front four.

Mario Williams is a stud. He had a shoulder injury and couldn't raise his arm above his shoulder for most of last year. Very tough to pass rush against a OT with only having partial range of motion. It's buy time on Super Mario. It says something when 43 tackles and 9 sacks for a DE while playing through injury to help your team is a down year. 99% of DE's would give their left arm to be able to have seasons like that.