LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

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  • SteelHead
    Backup
    • Jan 2009
    • 207

    LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

    [url="http://news.steelers.com/article/105491/"]http://news.steelers.com/article/105491/[/url]


    LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package
    Tuesday, May 19, 2009

    By Teresa Varley
    Steelers.com
    To say that defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau eats, sleeps and breaths football is not an understatement.

    The mastermind behind the Steelers defense that was once again ranked number one in the NFL last season laid out a new defensive package for the team at OTA’s on Tuesday and it came to him the night before.

    “He gave us a new defense today that he thought about last night when he was in bed,” said an amazed James Farrior. “He drew something up for us today. We expect stuff like that from Coach LeBeau.

    “This offseason is no different. We probably have about 10 new calls right now. They are going to keep coming. It’s the same every year, new calls in and tweaking stuff to make us better. He has a great mind.”

    While the players do come to expect this kind of thing from LeBeau, they know how lucky they are to have him working his magic on the defensive scheme.

    “He is constantly thinking of ways we can do better,” said defensive end Brett Keisel. “We put in a whole new package today that the wizard came up with last night. He was making some potion and somehow these X’s and O’s came up and it worked really well today so I am sure it’s something we will use.”

    Keisel, who credits LeBeau and the other Steelers coaches with the success he has had in his career, knows that the new ideas will keep coming week after week because LeBeau is not someone who will ever let the team rest on their laurels.

    “He is never satisfied with where we are,” said Keisel. “The last few years, I think three out of the last five, we finished number one here and it’s never enough for him.

    “He sometimes shows us this ring he has and it’s the Super Bowl XL ring and it’s never enough. He wants to have 10. Once he has 10 he will have to start putting them on his toes.”



    I have a feeling Ziggy will figure into some of these new wrinkles this year. With his ability to get off the ball and rush the passer in our 2 d-lineman 3rd down packages it could really open up some different schemes on the back end. You gotta love bad words passion for the game. It will be a sad , sad day when he decides to hang it up.
  • Oracle

    #2
    Re: LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

    i know they're saying to the media that they draft hood to play 3-4 DE but i think they've got a few other tricks up their sleeve. He's an interior pass rusher. that's what he does best. i wouldn't be a bit surprised to see him lined up at DT on a 4-3 front to rush the QB from time to time. Or drop back into hot coverage on corner/fire blitzes.

    Comment

    • Oviedo
      Legend
      • May 2008
      • 23824

      #3
      Re: LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

      Despite the naysayers, the 4-3 is coming
      "My team, may they always be right, but right or wrong...MY TEAM!"

      Comment

      • RuthlessBurgher
        Legend
        • May 2008
        • 33208

        #4
        Re: LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

        Originally posted by Oracle
        i know they're saying to the media that they draft hood to play 3-4 DE but i think they've got a few other tricks up their sleeve. He's an interior pass rusher. that's what he does best. i wouldn't be a bit surprised to see him lined up at DT on a 4-3 front to rush the QB from time to time. Or drop back into hot coverage on corner/fire blitzes.
        I think, as a rookie, the only playing time Ziggy will get will be as a DT in a four man front in nickel and dime defenses where he can rush the passer. It will take him some time to adjust to a role as a 3-4 DE (but he will eventually get there...possibly as a starter in 2010 if they are not able to resign Keisel).
        Steeler teams featuring stat-driven, me-first, fantasy-football-darling diva types such as Antonio Brown & Le'Veon Bell won no championships.

        Super Bowl winning Steeler teams were built around a dynamic, in-your-face defense plus blue-collar, hard-hitting, no-nonsense football players on offense such as Hines Ward & Jerome Bettis.

        We don't want Juju & Conner to replace what we lost in Brown & Bell.

        We are counting on Juju & Conner to return us to the glory we once had with Hines & The Bus.

        Comment

        • TallyStiller
          Starter
          • Dec 2008
          • 513

          #5
          Re: LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

          Wondering if 4-3 might be in the offing sooner than we think... Casey is a FA after this season, and will not likely be cost effective to re - sign... let Keisel walk as well, and all of a sudden there is a lot of potential flexibility in terms of personnel there. Say, Smitty, Hoke (who has always been more the 1 gap, penetrating type of tackle anyways), Ziggy, and Woodley down, Harrison playing a 4 - 3 Sam with Farrior in the middle and Timmons moving to a Will backer like he played in college. Or if we want to go smaller up front, use Ziggy and Smitty inside and put Woodley and Davis at the ends... still the same general idea, though, and a direction we may be headed like it or not due to finances.

          Comment

          • Oviedo
            Legend
            • May 2008
            • 23824

            #6
            Re: LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

            Originally posted by TallyStiller
            Wondering if 4-3 might be in the offing sooner than we think... Casey is a FA after this season, and will not likely be cost effective to re - sign... let Keisel walk as well, and all of a sudden there is a lot of potential flexibility in terms of personnel there. Say, Smitty, Hoke (who has always been more the 1 gap, penetrating type of tackle anyways), Ziggy, and Woodley down, Harrison playing a 4 - 3 Sam with Farrior in the middle and Timmons moving to a Will backer like he played in college. Or if we want to go smaller up front, use Ziggy and Smitty inside and put Woodley and Davis at the ends... still the same general idea, though, and a direction we may be headed like it or not due to finances.
            I've been saying the same thing for 2 years but everyone wants to pretend like it could never happen. You could even run a hybrid this year with Woodley as a "swing" player who goes between 4-3 DE and 3-4 LB. That way you could essentially keep the same players on the field and switch on the fly.
            "My team, may they always be right, but right or wrong...MY TEAM!"

            Comment

            • BURGH86STEEL
              Legend
              • May 2008
              • 6921

              #7
              Re: LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

              Originally posted by Oviedo
              Originally posted by TallyStiller
              Wondering if 4-3 might be in the offing sooner than we think... Casey is a FA after this season, and will not likely be cost effective to re - sign... let Keisel walk as well, and all of a sudden there is a lot of potential flexibility in terms of personnel there. Say, Smitty, Hoke (who has always been more the 1 gap, penetrating type of tackle anyways), Ziggy, and Woodley down, Harrison playing a 4 - 3 Sam with Farrior in the middle and Timmons moving to a Will backer like he played in college. Or if we want to go smaller up front, use Ziggy and Smitty inside and put Woodley and Davis at the ends... still the same general idea, though, and a direction we may be headed like it or not due to finances.
              I've been saying the same thing for 2 years but everyone wants to pretend like it could never happen. You could even run a hybrid this year with Woodley as a "swing" player who goes between 4-3 DE and 3-4 LB. That way you could essentially keep the same players on the field and switch on the fly.
              2 years and still no change. I don't think Tomlin will mess with the defense when it is not broken.

              Comment

              • Oracle

                #8
                Re: LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

                while i don't expect to see a pure 4-3 in 2009 or 2010. it's very likely we see some hybrid or flex packages very soon. that's what lebeau does best. disguise his looks. we have a few different guys who are flexible enough to position themselves either hand down or standing up, and then either rush or drop back (ex- harrison 99 yard INT) while still being able to adjust to pass or run if they happen to guess wrong. if dicky has the right personnel he can do some amazing things. the more i think about it, hood must have been a deliberate choice based on his skill set because he sure doesn't look like a prototypical steeler 3-4 DE. i also don't think tomlin's preference will come into play as long as lebeau is around. his results are too good to go forcing a change based on philosophy.

                Comment

                • stlrz d
                  Legend
                  • May 2008
                  • 9244

                  #9
                  Re: LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

                  Originally posted by Oviedo
                  Originally posted by TallyStiller
                  Wondering if 4-3 might be in the offing sooner than we think... Casey is a FA after this season, and will not likely be cost effective to re - sign... let Keisel walk as well, and all of a sudden there is a lot of potential flexibility in terms of personnel there. Say, Smitty, Hoke (who has always been more the 1 gap, penetrating type of tackle anyways), Ziggy, and Woodley down, Harrison playing a 4 - 3 Sam with Farrior in the middle and Timmons moving to a Will backer like he played in college. Or if we want to go smaller up front, use Ziggy and Smitty inside and put Woodley and Davis at the ends... still the same general idea, though, and a direction we may be headed like it or not due to finances.
                  I've been saying the same thing for 2 years but everyone wants to pretend like it could never happen. You could even run a hybrid this year with Woodley as a "swing" player who goes between 4-3 DE and 3-4 LB. That way you could essentially keep the same players on the field and switch on the fly.
                  I predict next season the first sentence of that post will be, "I've been saying the same thing for 3 years but everyone wants to pretend like it could never happen."

                  :P

                  Comment

                  • steelernation77
                    Backup
                    • Jul 2008
                    • 343

                    #10
                    Re: LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

                    The 4-3 will not happen.

                    Why? Because it'd be effin idiotic.

                    When you train all your players to play a 3-4 , it'd be dumb to make them switch positions and have totally different responsibilities

                    The Steelers had one of the best defenses in franchise history last season, I really don't see why the team would change, or why any of you would even be slightly enthusiastic about a change.

                    Comment

                    • mshifko
                      Starter
                      • May 2008
                      • 686

                      #11
                      Re: LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

                      ziggy's going to fit in fine with this defense...i don't expect too much from the get go, but i can easily see him helping out this year...his size/athleticism will allow us to do a lot of different things from that DE spot

                      i love seeing stories like this about lebeau coming up with new stuff...so glad we have the coaching staff we do, no reason we can't have another successful season
                      "The standard is the standard" Mike Tomlin

                      Comment

                      • papillon
                        Legend
                        • Mar 2008
                        • 11340

                        #12
                        Re: LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

                        Lets say the Steelers convert some linemen to 43 linemen and switch some backers to fit the 43, etc. Do we have the right athletes and secondary players to play a 43? That's the question.

                        Pappy
                        sigpic

                        The 2025 Pittsburgh Steeler draft

                        1.21 - Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon - Nick Emmanwori, S, S. Carolina
                        3.83 - Kaleb Johnson, RB, Iowa - DJ Giddens, RB, Kans St
                        3.123 - Will Howard, QB, OSU
                        4.156 - JJ Pegues, DT, Ole Miss
                        5.185 - Clay Webb, OG, Jack St
                        7.229 - Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, DT, Georgia

                        "Football is a physical game, well, it used to be anyways" - Mel Blount

                        Comment

                        • feltdizz
                          Legend
                          • May 2008
                          • 27531

                          #13
                          Re: LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

                          Originally posted by steelernation77
                          The 4-3 will not happen.

                          Why? Because it'd be effin idiotic.

                          When you train all your players to play a 3-4 , it'd be dumb to make them switch positions and have totally different responsibilities

                          The Steelers had one of the best defenses in franchise history last season, I really don't see why the team would change, or why any of you would even be slightly enthusiastic about a change.
                          going to the 4-3 would be like trading Big Ben for Michael Vick...

                          why the hell would we change to the 4-3 when we already have stunts that mirror the 4-3 and our D was #1?

                          talk about changing just to change.
                          Steelers 27
                          Rats 16

                          Comment

                          • phillyesq
                            Legend
                            • May 2008
                            • 7568

                            #14
                            Re: LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

                            Originally posted by feltdizz
                            Originally posted by steelernation77
                            The 4-3 will not happen.

                            Why? Because it'd be effin idiotic.

                            When you train all your players to play a 3-4 , it'd be dumb to make them switch positions and have totally different responsibilities

                            The Steelers had one of the best defenses in franchise history last season, I really don't see why the team would change, or why any of you would even be slightly enthusiastic about a change.
                            going to the 4-3 would be like trading Big Ben for Michael Vick...

                            why the hell would we change to the 4-3 when we already have stunts that mirror the 4-3 and our D was #1?

                            talk about changing just to change.
                            Count me among those who hates the idea of a 4-3. The Steelers run the 3-4 better than anybody -- just look at their defensive rankings over the years. Why change?

                            If you assume, for the sake of argument, that the Steelers go 4-3, and use Smith, Hoke, Hood and Woodley, where is the depth? You're going to teach two guys in their 30s new responsibilities, with no depth behind them, and take an extremely effective 3-4 OLB and convert him to DE. Why? What is the appeal? I just don't get it.

                            Comment

                            • flippy
                              Legend
                              • Dec 2008
                              • 17088

                              #15
                              Re: LeBeau dreams up a new defensive package...

                              3-4, 4-3, 2-5 who cares what we call it??? We've got players with positional flexibility that can be used in a lot of creative ways.

                              When you look at some of our recent top picks (Timmons, Wood, Hood) they seemed better suited for a 4-3. But then you have Harrison and Hampton are built for the 3-4 and those are our 2 most valuable guys in the system.

                              And then Smitty, Keisel, and Farrior all could work in either system, but they're all getting older.

                              Whatever we do, let's just put the best 7 guys on the field together and figure out how to use the best of their skills to the defense's advantage.
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