I ran into Warren Sapp at the Union Trust restaurant last night and he was saying any team would be foolish not to throw the ball against the Eagles if Jeremiah Trotter is on the field.
The former dominating defensive tackle was in town doing the Showtime weekly NFL show with James Brown, Phil Simms and Chris Collingsworth at NFL Films in Mt. Laurel.
Sapp said he would get the ball to the tight end down the seam if he caught Trotter in the game and the Birds secondary in a cover two coverage.
He’s right and that’s why it’s going to be interesting to see what exactly the Eagles will play when Trotter is on the field. How do you hide this guy in pass coverage?
Most of the time, defenses play zone when they expect a run. Playing zone allows the linebackers to look into the backfield without fear that your man-to-man responsibility is taking off elsewhere.
A fast tight end down the seam is one of the exceptions. You occupy the safeties by getting both receivers deep outside and you send that tight end down the seam.
A good Sam backer can help out the middle linebacker by jamming the tight end, so he doesn’t get an easy release. The Eagles don’t do this with their Sam backer, Chris Gocong, because they line him up off the line of scrimmage, so he has trouble getting his hands on the tight end.
I think they should move Gocong up on the tight end’s head and give him responsibility for holding up the tight end and preventing him from getting down the seam.
