Whereas Coney and Tranquill had developed their game/instincts to probe and find their opportunities to find gaps with Tillery and Bonner occupying a large portion of the opposing offensive lines, such a feel for the game is difficult with a young linebacker corps learning how the game flows at this level.
The response by Lea against the run is to make the linebackers a bit less discerning and probing while cranking up the aggression. That should make it a bit less cerebral than the approach employed by Coney and Tranquill while forcing opposing running games to kick it wide.
“Te’von instinctively, as the A gap was moving, would track the football and find a way to make a tackle,” Lea said. “So there were still vertical seams, not because of how we were playing the edges, but because we were a little more patient at the second level finding the football and we were able to hold up in front.
“What we need now is a little more vertical push from the linebackers to single the blocks at the line of scrimmage. The result should be to spray the ball out. You’re pushing it outside to your edge players who we think are really good, along with our safeties.”
For lack of a better, more technical term, Lea wants his young/inexperienced inside linebackers to “crash the party” up front to allow quality defensive ends Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem to use their length/strength/experience to control the edge while utilizing different approaches with the cornerbacks and talented safeties in tandem.
