Morris is completely aware of Hoecht's limitations. You guys do realize a fire zone is a pressure gamble that sacrifices coverage for disruption seeking a sack, right? It frequently puts some lineman in a short zone drop because they expect to get home with 5 by tricking the OL in focusing on the lineman instead of the blitzer. If the coverage is blown in the deeper zone, uninformed fans will think the lineman was responsible for a deep drop (he wasn't).
He explained the TE play everyone uses where the LB is focused on defeating a run block but the TE spins off the block into a pattern away from the TE. Sorry, there are techniques to counter it but frankly, if the TE does it right and is on page w the QB, it's usually gonna work unless the LB gets away w holding.
To your point, Hoecht is far from ideal for the position but Morris is quite aware. But do you know what blows up a defense more than an OLB/End not fast enough to cover the intermediate zone? One that doesn't know his assignments. One not strong enough to hold the edge. Even worse, one that can't hold the point of attack on sweeps. Faster, smaller players can cover better but not do the job on runs. At some point, you have to pick your poison and he's chosen to run with Hoecht until he can trust the young guys to learn what is truly a difficult position. Think of it this way. TuTu always had the speed and athleticism to do the job. It's taken him 3 years to absorb his role. Gerald Everett made several wonderful plays, but he never really learned the position in Sean's offense. Ochaun Mathis certainly has the preferable body type and athleticism for the position but he's also a friggin rookie and we actually want to win games. Would you guys have preferred the Niners, Colts, and Eagles have an EASIER time running right? Oh, I agree it was bad at times. My contention is, it could have been a @#$%& ton worse.
Look guys, this defense is filled with youth and for these games to have been competitive is a relative miracle. Philly had 9 players on O that are simply better at this stage of their careers than the corresponding player on the Ram's D. Hoecht was one of them. Our Rams fought their asses off and Morris won more gambles than he lost. And all the lazy fan can do is pick on one of the 9 because he's the closest player on a bad play. Yes, Hoecht is miscast in his position. But like a player that plays injured badly because he's still the team's best option, MH should be appreciated for getting as much out of his DL body as an OLB can get.
