Peter King Offers A Peek Into Jim Washburn's Process
by JasonB on Jan 25, 2011 6:00 AM EST
in Philadelphia Eagles News
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PrintThe Eagles have garnered near unanimous praise for their hiring of defensive line coach Jim Washburn. During his time with the Tennessee Titans, Washburn earned the reputation as arguably the top defensive line coach in the business. But what exactly is he doing that a guy like say... Rory Segrest wasn't? Peter King gave us a little glimpse into how hard this guy works and why he's been so successful.
"In his years coaching the Tennessee line, he'd always get lightly regarded players (Jacob Ford, Jason Jones) or veteran rejects (Kyle Vanden Bosch, Jason Babin) to produce in the pass-rush game," writes King. "One of his secrets was charting every sack in the NFL each year to determine what kind of move was used (spin, bull-rush, stunt/twist) to get to the quarterback, and where exactly the sack took place.
"So let's say Washburn's study determined that the average sacks of the teams Tennessee was going to play the next year occurred 5.5 yards behind the left guard. Washburn would then coach the following offseason to target the area 5.5 yards behind the left guard as the spot during drills his linemen would aim for. He took pass-rush science to a new level."
The crazy thing is that when you think about it, it's not really even that ingenious of a thing to do. Basically just finding out how others are having success and copying it. Where it's so impressive is the amount of work and attention to detail it must take to chart and analyze every single sack. I like that the Eagles have these types of guys in the building. If the coach is outworking the competition, you can see why his players always seem to follow suit.
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Haha, yeah, that was an absurd stat. Wasn’t it sacks / vertical leap * number of backflips they can do – body mass index + the number they wore in college… or something like that? That’s example #1 for me of how people are starting to get a little carried away with numbers in football.
vertical leap, short shuttle, and basically how many games the guy didn’t play in college. I actually thought their logic made sense. Not sure how effective it is yet.
Let the beasting begin.
by TransplantedFan on Jan 25, 2011 11:35 AM EST up reply actions
I just don’t see how judging how high a DE can jump on 2 or 3 attempts at the combine can be a legitimate factor in predicting how good he’ll be as a pro. It’s kinda silly to me.
Like I said, the logic makes sense. How high a guy can jump is indicative of the power in his legs used for short bursts. We talk about guys having a fast first step all the time. Instead of rolling out a tired cliche like “he’s got good burst and a fast first step” they tried to quantify it. The numbers themselves matter less to me than the logic does. Plus, its the first time they are using the stat which means its not going to be perfect. I’d also say they are the first ones to admit that sometimes you can’t quantify things.
Let the beasting begin.
by TransplantedFan on Jan 25, 2011 12:10 PM EST up reply actions
I talked to Bill Barnwell about it and the hindsight was pretty compelling. Pretty much every successful pass rusher in the NFL had scored high using their system.
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The real thing question is:
What if he can bring in Babin or Haynesworth, make Dixon even more beastly, and turn Brodrick Bunkley into who we thought he was?
Wow.
Veritas Liberabit Te
Combined with Trent Cole and Darryl Tapp. And then what if Washburn can get Graham to reach his full potential? (Graham’s potential is HIGH) And then what if he can get Ricky Sapp and Te’o to reach theirs as well?
faints
So much talent on the line, I’m dying to see what Washburn can do with it.
Merry Vickmas everyone! * Falls into pile of snow DeSean style *
"It's simple, ... I'm always striving to do more. Whatever I accomplish, it's not enough. I don't get satisfied. That's not my nature." -Brian Dawkins
graham's potential isnt that high
he’s a what you see is what you get player
a polished pass rusher with good technique and a lot of pass rush moves. It’s a real shock he didn’t produce better in his rookie season
beg to differ
he has plenty of potential to be a dominant pass rusher, whether he reaches that potential we’ll see. But the potential is there.
Really?
a 1st round picks potential isn’t high? Are you dumb?
thats Cobb on Kolb crime if you ask me... as said by yophillybro
"I'm trading Kolb to Buffalo for Cribbs"- the brilliant Trade Kolb
The real thing question is:
What if he can bring in Babin or Haynesworth, make Dixon even more beastly, and turn Brodrick Bunkley into who we thought he was?
Millions of Eagles fans weep with joy.
BOILER UP!! 2010-2011
"You can commit no mistake and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." - Jean-Luc Picard
Dixon is a 2-gap, stout at the point of attack, space eating DT
doesn’t fit washburn’s system very well
It's easier for a 2 gap guy to go to a 1 gap system.
Because it gets simplified, he has to hold up 1 gap instead of 2 allowing him to just attack… If anything the 1 gap system is more DT friendly on a “2 gap” than anything..
BTW everyone compares his ability to Haynesworth who has shown his best days are in a 1 gap system and I ask why can’t the guy who most resembles Haynesworth excel in the 1 gap?
thats Cobb on Kolb crime if you ask me... as said by yophillybro
"I'm trading Kolb to Buffalo for Cribbs"- the brilliant Trade Kolb
I'm actually more excited on what he can do with
Trent Cole, Graham (more so than anyone) and Te’o..
Now I wasn’t a fan of the Te’o pick mostly because of where he was taken but the kid’s got good size for a DE at 6’4 and 263lbs (that’s the size of Bradley) and he’s got decent speed.
He’s not the most physically gifted but Washburn has been a master of turning guys like him into great players..
thats Cobb on Kolb crime if you ask me... as said by yophillybro
"I'm trading Kolb to Buffalo for Cribbs"- the brilliant Trade Kolb
What ever happened to Victor Abiamiri?
Is it just me, or does it seem like his injuries will keep him off the field. At least as an Eagle. I mean, I hope to see him do something… Something. But so far, MEGA BUST
basically went like this.
A lot of talk and then an injury. JJ called him the next strayhan (sp) and then came another injury. Between him and ingram they were the greats that never came to because of injury. Its sad but it happens all over the nfl I feel bad for these guys.
He hit him in a bad spot... the hands.
by DaaaBirdsDaBirds on Jan 25, 2011 7:35 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I forgot Victor Rehabiamiri was still on the team.
by MikeCampy on Jan 25, 2011 7:55 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Never got healthy. JUst one injury after the other. Kinda sad actually.
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His injuries (aside from the wrist)
really seem to be because he’s not properly taking care of his body, the chronic knee injuries have got to be more than bad luck.
thats Cobb on Kolb crime if you ask me... as said by yophillybro
"I'm trading Kolb to Buffalo for Cribbs"- the brilliant Trade Kolb
I like that the Eagles have these types of guys in the building. If the coach is outworking the competition, you can see why (Washburn’s) players always seem to follow suit.
That’s not just true in football. It’s really true in any profession. If you have a boss that you can see is busting his ass every day, you’ll also feel pressured to work hard. If you walk into your boss’ office and he’s on the phone calling his bookie at 2pm on a Tuesday to get the lines for that night’s Mariners/Twins game (drawing on personal experiences here), and he’s waving you in and holding up a finger as if to say, “Come on in, this will only take a second, and then I’ll answer whatever question you have for me.” Well guess what? That’s not going to be a productive office.
wow
at first i was suprised to hear about this… then that feeling went away.
He hit him in a bad spot... the hands.
by DaaaBirdsDaBirds on Jan 25, 2011 9:25 AM EST up reply actions
theory
Obviously we’re going to be shifting to a more aggressive defensive line. How does this effect linebackers?
Asking ernie sims to be good in pass coverage was playing to his flaw. With a more aggressive defensive line, he’ll be in less coverage and probably more run support, right? This would take him from weak to at least marginal
2010-11 Predictions:
Kevin Kolb will go to the probowl and complete >65% of passes.
Jeremy Maclyn will have more receptions than Miles Austin & Steve Smith
Graham will have the starting LDE spot tied up by week 5, win ROTY, and have >10 Sacks
11-5 finish.
by corn on the kolb on Jan 25, 2011 7:05 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Umm
Sims strong suit (if he had one) WAS his coverage…
He can’t blitz he just takes on the OT and keeps running around in circles never getting closer to the QB.
thats Cobb on Kolb crime if you ask me... as said by yophillybro
"I'm trading Kolb to Buffalo for Cribbs"- the brilliant Trade Kolb
Question
I am all for reviewing every nfl sack and using it to form strategy, but doesn’t the comment about aiming for a spot 5.5 yards behind the left guard seem idiotic?
Isn’t it possible that pressure from 4.5 yards behind the right guard causes a certain QB to move towards the place where the sack ultimately happened? Aiming for 5.5 yards behind the left guard while the quarterback stands 4.5 yards behing the right guard is a terrible idea.
by WhatHadHappenedWas on Jan 26, 2011 11:18 AM EST reply actions
No. It's absolutely genius if you ask me.
Going through ever single sack, getting the spot to which the majority of the sacks took place and allowing the DE’s and DLman to attack that spot..
And if they’re aiming 5.5 yards back the majority of the time the QB will be there, I think the 3 step drop brings most (key word most) QB’s back about 5 yards..
Also when you’re aiming 5.5 yards back if the QB so happens to be 4.5 and you go behind you (1) have time to adjust, (2) think about what happens when a DE gets behind a throwing QB
But if the majority of the sacks happen at 5.5 yards back chances are more will happen there and chances are that’s where the QB will end up most of the time..
He’s playing the numbers.
thats Cobb on Kolb crime if you ask me... as said by yophillybro
"I'm trading Kolb to Buffalo for Cribbs"- the brilliant Trade Kolb
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