re: Kool-Aid McKinstry seems to be having a breakout camp

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Is there a chance we play alot of (3) safety coverages with Reid/ Howden/ Blackmon/ Taylor/ McKinstry?

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No because first we would need 2 strong outside corners, second we'd need a weak nickel, and third we'd need a safety that could effectively cover the slot.

So while we may or may not have a safety to cover the slot (Mathieu retiring makes this less likely), we do not have 2 strong outside corners, and Taylor has already been pegged for that "Vaccaro" role (the one he played in 2013 when he was really good, before Payton fricked up our defense by demanding a switch to cover 3 to mimic Seattle).

The only way I see this happening is if whoever is second outside corner is so weak that we move Taylor back outside.

Now we play more dime coverage with a 3rd safety instead of a 4th corner. That is very likely. But as for nickel coverage I see it as very unlikely.

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It’s been reported that Taylor lines up outside and moves inside when facing multi receiver offensive sets.

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Yes in "base" he would be one of the two outside, but base is run 33% or less by practically every team now. 3 WR sets are the norm, and he will be inside most of the time.

So what do we do on the 67%+ of plays he is inside?

LINK

According to this, in a five year span the average team base package use has dropped even further from 27% to 21%. I guess my numbers were even older than that or just more conservative. Makes it even more imperative someone steps up on the outside or we go get someone.

Yes, and that will have a nickel set behind the 5 man front, with one LB.

But really all that is is the 3-3-5 with the two OLBs on the line (so Young and Granderson on the line instead of dropped back a couple of yards).

Sounds like more than anything our LB depth will be far less important this year since we will only see 1 or 2 most of the time, instead of largely 2 and sometimes 3.

Yes Yiadom actually played better than expected when he was forced to start with us. He would be a good number 2 guy. But we run into a problem of can Kool-Aid cover top receivers, or is he a better number 2 guy? Could Yiadom try to cover the top guy and still do well?

My concern is more that I don't think we have a top outside corner on the roster, rather just a collection of guys that could be good number 2s.

If you can't cover a team's top target, it makes the rest of the defense fall apart. We at least had Adebo before to fill the role when Lattimore went down, and he did well enough. I think it has already been shown Taylor is not that guy on the outside to stick on top receivers. Even if you commit to a double team most plays, if they are beat off the line it won't matter.

It's definitely not a he can't be number 1, more of a big if that he can be. It's a risk we would be taking. The flashes are there, but it's different needing to prove it play after play for 60%+ of the plays in a game. Maybe he can.

I'd rather get a guy we know can though and let the young guys develop a bit more. You can kill a corner's confidence if he is thrown in the deep end and starts drowning.

Rookie Quincy Riley is looking good so far also. The Defensive front will cause enough problems to keep the backend holding up.

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He was the only freshman starting outside CB Coach Saben ever had. If he can handle screaming Nick at 18 he can handle the pros.

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Very good point. If he can handle Nick he can definitely handle us.

I do have high hopes for him, but it just makes me nervous going in so unproven (at the nfl level) at corner as a whole.