Boy, he doesn’t hold back here.
Here’s Oldnotdead…
Jimmy Lake coached DBs under Raheem for one year in Tampa. Jimmy Lake learned the Tampa two style of defense from Monte Kiffin. Tampa two run by Raheem when he was with the Buc's finished two consecutive years in the 30s. That is where Raheem is striving to take the Rams. Tampa two is a 4-3 scheme and the Rams have 3-4 personnel.
The only thing good was that under Lake he didn't allow freebies in the short zone. Raheem is trying to remake the roster of this team into another failed scheme. He failed in Tampa now he's trying to do it now. He tried quarters and sucked at it. Now he intends to run a scheme that failed in Tampa in LA. That's the only reason for bringing in Jimmy Lake. The only saving grace is that Lake doesn't have his DBs standing like posts in their zone. They play it actively moving to cover receivers. The problem is that the Tampa two relies on a MLB/hybrid SS to play that middle zone. It relies on two DTs playing a one gap scheme. We saw Raheem doing it last season and it failed. He had Gaines and Copeland playing DTs. But now without Wagner in the middle zone Raheem will have to play Lake as that MLB/SS in that middle zone. It only works if you have an outstanding DL who can pressure with only 4 while stopping the run. Howard and Jones will have to cover that short zone while playing the run.
Now I can see why Ramsey wants out. Raheem doesn't realize he doesn't have the players on the back end to play that style. It hasn't worked because he played his DBs passively. So they bring in Lake to get them to play aggressively. That means Scott and Yeast will play the back end. Raheem better play Durant and Rochell if he wants to stand a chance. What I'm hoping is that Raheem will defer to Lake on who plays.
This why on a previous post I showed the 4 DL with who they have to play that Tampa Two front.
DE Donald or Ngakoue
DT Copeland
DT Gaines
DE Floyd
Howard and Jones in the short zone. Quentin Lake SS in the middle zone. Durant and Rochell boundary CB. Scott and Yeast deep cover shell.
Bobby Brown doesn't fit this scheme, Hardy might not either. Jones is not a Tampa Two MLB who can play coverage in the middle zone like a SS. Howard has the speed to play LB in this scheme but he's not particularly good in coverage. Jones lacks the speed to play this scheme.
Tampa two succeeds only if the front 4 can create pressure to force an errant throw. But a skilled veteran QB with a decent OL will cut it to pieces.
See where I'm going with this? Raheem will trash this unit like he trashed the defense in Tampa. So will it work with Jimmy Lake as DB coach under Morris? For two years in Tampa, it didn't. It works best when facing 21 personnel, but breaks down facing 11 personnel. That is why McVay favors 11 personnel because it forces zone coverages out of their comfort zone. That is why Raheem needs to play Quentin Lake as that middle zone defender because Howard doesn't have the coverage skills though he has enough speed. That then forces Howard or Jones into that middle zone spot.
IMO the 4-3 is too predictable against a skilled vet QB. To his credit, Jimmy Lake coaches his DBs to be more active in their zones. The boundary CBs won't be lined up 5-10 yds off the LOS as that allows the X and Z WRs the complete complement of their moves. These past two seasons have shown Raheems coaching weaknesses. His inability to properly use his players. If Lake can have a free hand with the DBs they could at least have a defense that ranks closer to 10 - 13.