Archetypical slot corners, slot receivers, and the 2015 Carolina Panthers

[PhillyB]

After a month of sweating my ass off doing anthropology in Vietnam, I'm sitting in remote upland Laos decompressing before catching a flight back home. I spent yesterday riding a motorcycle across a mountain in monsoon season for twelve hours, so today is a lazy day, which is how I justify spending precious time in Southeast Asia on the internet writing about how we're going to be an offensive juggernaut this year.

Traditionally, when the nickel defense is on the field (an OLB's spot is replaced by the third corner) it's to get some speed and athleticism on the field to combat an extra receiver on the field. This has placed the nickelback in the slot most of the time. Much has been made in the past of archetypical slot receivers: incredibly fast, deep burners, Steve Smith types that can make the nickelback play on an island deep if the safety bites on play action or hesitates to cover an outside receiver. In this tradition, nickelbacks have tended to be smaller, really athletic guys.

PFF stats suggest going into last year's season that the top-rated nickelbacks were:

• Leon Hall
• Chris Harris Jr.
• Brandon Boykin
• William Gay
• Tyrann Mathieu
• Nickell Robey
• Jimmy Wilson
• Brandon Flowers
• Kyle Wilson
• Darius Butler

I calculated their average heights whilst eating Laotian ice cream overlooking the Mekong River, and came out with 5'9" as the height of the average starting nickelback at the beginning of last season.

The reason this is important is because that height average is about to jump much higher over the next half decade. The dual archetypes of the slot receiver and the slot corner are changing. NFL offenses are beginning to split out huge dudes that can catch, putting the likes of Gronk and Jimmy Graham against midgets like Captain Munnerlyn and putting up countless big performances against them. The response: "big nickel" packages.

Rob Ryan's vaunting sixteen-safety defense last year was a hilarious example of how not to conduct the scheme, but in general you're starting to see teams experiment with bringing a third safety onto the field instead of a nickelback in nickel packages, effectively replacing a smaller athletic guy with a big dude that might not be quite as fast or athletic but can match up with big men like Gronk (who dominate because of their size and strength anyway, rather than their speed.)

 

Here are the Giants lining up with a third safety against the Eagles big-ass tight end package:

 

Here are the the assbag Saints dropping Vacarro down into the box in place of the nickel:

 

Here are the Cardinals sneaking Mathieu into a dime package but playing him like a nickel:

 

Playing a big nickel formation makes it easier to disguise coverages, too. Look at this formation against the Saints in 2013:

 

Drew Bree's mole yelled an audible and sent Jimmy Graham (circled) in motion. This causes the nickel back to shift out and line across from him, revealing man coverage. Dropping a third safety in there instead of the obvious nickelback makes disguising coverage much easier. With three safeties on the field in a nickel package, there's no guarantee which of the safeties are dropping back to play the deep pass and which are covering zones or an individual receiver. It can be dissected pretty quickly, but it's one extra thing the quarterback has to think about and account for. The Eagles have become recent masters of this, experimenting effectively with really bizarre lineups at safety, including single deep and two up front playing zone. IIRC it's one of the things they killed us with on MNF last year.

 

So where does this leave the 2015 Carolina Panthers?

On offense: it means we've suddenly got three receiving threats (Kelvin Benjamin, Devin Funchess, and Greg Olsen) along with a shorter guy (Corey Brown) who'd traditionally take the slot receiver role. The fact that these guys should be largely interchangeable means that teams still utilizing smaller nickels (remember, their starting average height was 5'9" going into last season!) may have to face a 6'5" receiver coming out of the slot. The addition of Funchess and the ability of Corey Brown to play from the number one receiver position is invaluable here. since Brown can kick out wide and take a safety and cornerback out of the play by himself on a post, Funchess can cut into a field devoid of defenders because backers have to account for Greg Olsen. This sticks a 6'5" man on little Captain Munnerlyns that have defined the position for so long.

An offensive coordinator worth his salt can take this roster and introduce plenty of wrinkles that allow favorable mismatches. The reverse of the above scenario would be lining putting Funchess and Benjamin out there to draw Big Nickel packages and then rolling Corey Brown into the slot to take advantage of a slower safety on a deep play or a clearout. These are all options we didn't have before adding Funchess.

On defense: the addition of Shaq Thompson may be warrant more excitement than the fanbase seems to be displaying. Shaq has been tabbed by many as a starting OLB, and he appears to be getting a lot of looks at the position based on initial OTA reports. However, at 6'0" with outstanding athleticism, Shaq may actually fit the precise archetype of the Big Nickel joker safety, the role we'd hoped Haruki Nakamura would take on a few years ago before he pooped all over our hopes for the 2012 campaign. Gettleman seems to think Boston and Harper are both good safeties, so Shaq's presence doesn't exclude either of them.

Shaq's ability to command the OLB position may also give Rivera and McDermott some fun options for disguising plays as well. A 4-3 base with Keuchly, Davis, and Shaq as linebackers wouldn't be much different from a nickel package employing Shaq as the nickel. As an opposing offense, accounting for Shaq's role in a particular play can become complicated, especially when trying to figure out what other safeties are doing.

Conclusion: Gettleman's first and second round picks both adapted to a major scheme change we're seeing on both sides of the ball in the NFL. Both are premium players at their respective positions, and should give us a significant edge in those areas. This is one of the primary reasons I expect us to be a very dangerous team in 2015.

 

Laos kicks ass. An old friend of mine from my first-ever backpacking trip to Australia ended up in the country at the same time, but in Vang Vieng, over 200km south. When you're traveling alone you don't pass up that kind of opportunity. I rented a motorcycle and rode south on the overland mountain route, into a monsoon, waiting it out under a shelter with a 10am Beer Lao, and finally rolled into town after a five-hour ride. The return trip took seven hours, most of it at night with a single dim-ass headlight, on a pitch-black mountain road riddled in massive potholes and every hairpin curve skirting the edge of a bottomless chasm. I ran over several snakes and almost hit several cows and finally returned with almost 500km booked over twelve hours of riding. The Laotian landscape is staggering. Here are a few pictures:

 

[BelgianPantherFan]

Nice read and great pictures!

[Ivan The Awesome]

" Shaq may actually fit the precise archetype of the Big Nickel joker safety, the role we'd hoped Haruki Nakamura would take on a few years ago before he pooped all over our hopes for the 2012 campaign.", that had me laughing so hard. 

[cbarrier90]

If we intend to use Shaq in the Haruki role, why did we give him a linebacker's number instead of the 40s, which now can be used at both safety and linebacker?

That's the hangup on the Shaq excitement. In theory he fits the Colin Jones role you have described perfectly, but everything Rivera and Gettleman have said suggests he is a Klein/Glanton/Blackburn replacement.

[Cyberjag]

 

<snip>An offensive coordinator worth his salt</snip>

​Dammit!

[Jeremy Igo]

Excellent content. Wish you would have made it a blog post for longevity sake. 

[Moorgan]

You're words. They are good. I think the fan base is soft on Shaq at the moment because he missed most of OTAs. Out of sight, out of mind. However, I think you precisely nailed why we drafted him and how he will be used. He is a joker for us and as such will cause opposing teams fits.

 

[KillerKat]

This is why I love my CBs at least 6" and my starting receivers at least 6'2. 

[KB_fan]

Great post.  It's entries like these that have me loving the Huddle.  I'm learning so much about the Panthers and the game that I never appreciated as a casual fan. 

Safe travels!

[Jangler]

I hope you planted an American flag for flag day.

Oh and good football words.

[bababoey]

When you drive off the edge of the mountains, because you know it has happened, do they plant a cross, or whatever their religious item is, or do they just laugh at you for being stupid enough to drive in the mountains at night?  Just wondering.

[Darth Biscuit]

Great read Philly.  Luke can play safety, MLB, DE and DT all at once so we're set.

[Snake]

Most teams are going to try to counter the Funchess effect with a Safety and that's where his sneaky speed will come in. KB,Funchess, and Olson is a very dangerous package added in we could you Fozzy as a extra WR.

[PhillyB]

If we intend to use Shaq in the Haruki role, why did we give him a linebacker's number instead of the 40s, which now can be used at both safety and linebacker?

That's the hangup on the Shaq excitement. In theory he fits the Colin Jones role you have described perfectly, but everything Rivera and Gettleman have said suggests he is a Klein/Glanton/Blackburn replacement.

​smokescreen?