[Lotus]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

The reason the Will is a more difficult position than either the Mike or the Sam, at least as I understand NFL defenses, is that the Will is many times more likely to find himself caught in space against a receiver.

Since the Sam always goes to the tight end side, the Will is always responsible for the slant to the isolated receiver, as well as slow developing plays out of the backfield. Rocky was a disaster in this role, for when he was able to diagnose the plays, he tended to not be fast enough to make a difference.

His shortness won't necessarily play better at any position (although you are right about the TE matchup, but remember that in pretty much any scheme except cover two, the strong safety tends to line up to the TE side as well [hense: 'strong'], mitigating the role of the SLB even further).

Grilliams and Blache both are big fans of simplifing the roles of the OLBs against the run. They share the same philosophy: they'd rather see the OLBs take out the lead blocker and open up a clean lane for the MLB to make the play than have the OLB take the blocker head on and try to beat him one on one. It's one of the biggest reasons for Fletcher's success here, I think.

I hope that answered your question. It probably didn't, but maybe there was something valuable in there anyway.

Yes. I'd add that the Will is sometimes matched in pass coverage against a running back. Maybe that's what you meant by "slow developing plays," anyway.