Football is a game of deception. There are only so many ways a coach can line up his 11 players and disguising those looks have become a vital part of success for offenses in the modern-day NFL, forcing defenses to play catch-up.
Jim Schwartz knows his play-calling can only go so far to combat the growing number of formations that offenses are coming up with each year, and the Eagles new defensive coordinator has placed a huge emphasis on the versatility of his personnel.
Safety Malcolm Jenkins was a cornerback when he entered the NFL and the two defensive backs the Eagles drafted in 2016, Blake Countess and Jalen Mills, have the ability of playing cornerback and safety.
And as Schwartz describes it, that is completely by design.
"The way offenses run now, particularly with multi-dimensional tight ends, you're using [those tight ends] a lot of different ways," Schwartz explained on Tuesday. "You're using them as wide receivers, or motioning them, you're doing all those different things, and if you have a safety that's not comfortable playing out there like a corner, you're going to be in trouble.
"A lot of our safeties have cornerback [experience] in their background and that's for a reason."
The reason is Schwartz wants to run a simple scheme. As he sees it, the only way to be truly prepared for everything is to keep things simple for his guys. If all 11 players have a certain task they can accomplish on each snap, they can key in on what an offense is trying to do.
"It's a coach's job to make a complex game simple for the players, it's our job to make it where they can digest it," Schwartz said. "There's a lot of things going on on the field with offenses running [up]-tempo now, different personnel groups and formations, so there's a million different things going on."
One way Schwartz hopes to accomplish the simplicity is by created a more straight-forward pass rush, based around his front four. If Fletcher Cox and company can wreak havoc on their own, it will leave more guys in coverage to prevent big plays, something the defensive coordinator isn't too keen on giving up regularly.
"When you're not forced to blitz to get pressure on the quarterback, you're in a very good position on defense," Schwartz said. "And I've been there before where you can't get pressure and have to blitz and it's not a great feeling. You want to blitz on your terms, you want to be able to blitz when you want to, when the situation is right.
"So allowing those guys to keep it simple, to be able to pressure with four and not make yourself skinnier in coverage can also take some of the big plays away from offenses, and big plays equal points."
A look at the Eagles' front-four personnel reveals a lot of different options on Schwartz's plate. Connor Barwin and Marcus Smith are traditional edge rushers who have the body types of 3-4 outside linebackers. Brandon Graham is a prototypical 4-3 pass rusher, albeit a bit undersized. Vinny Curry is a larger defensive end who could kick inside on passing downs and the duo of Cox and Bennie Logan add some weight up the middle.
Schwartz even pointed out the versatility in the Eagles linebacking corps, noting that presumptive starters Nigel Bradham and Mychal Kendricks can play on both the strong and weak sides, eliminating the need for them to switch sides depending on where the opposing tight end lines up.
And all of these options need to be available to Schwartz if he expects his defense succeeds. Because a weak link will be exposed instantly by the opposing offense.
"All those guys are interchangeable and you have to be now," Schwartz explained. "It's very rare that you'll see people line up in two-back with a tight end in the core and two wide receivers. Those days are long past. You'll see that ten snaps a game, maybe. A lot of times you're facing three wide receivers, detached tight ends, you better be a multi-dimensional player who can line-up in space, line-up in the box, cover man and play zone. If not, you're going to be a target for the offensive coordinator."
Tucker Bagley is a columnist for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @tbagley515.
