NFP breaks down Patrick Peterson

[Mr. Scot]

The Eagles ran almost all zone coverage. They ran primarily cover 2 and one the zone blitz ran primarily cover 2 and cover 3 shells.

As you say a zone blitz is a cover 2 or cover 3 on top with the blitzes coming from exchanging linebackers, safeties, and defensive linemen. For those that care here are some basics.

http://assets.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/davie/1430750.html

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/the-zone-blitz-aggressive-and-conservative-all-at-once/

Is Peterson good in zone coverage.

http://draftbreakdown.com/scouting-report-patrick-peterson

Most folks think his athleticism and speed as well as good size make him ideal for man coverage. But there are concerns about his having stiff hips and difficulty changing direction and lack of experience playing in zone coverage.

Given his primarily skill sets would not match up with the way we would utilize him, the question is not whether he will be a great player but so much better in our scheme that we couldn't find a guy that will be just as valuable in our scheme at a much cheaper price (ie. later in the draft).

In many ways Peterson reminds of a slightly larger and a little more talented Charles Godfrey who was also a corner in college, ran a 4.38 40, was 5' 11" 205 out of college and was described as a physical hitter. I would be concerned that it would take time to learn our system and excel. Because a corner and a free safety are generally interchangeable in our system. And yes Godfrey played free safety his first year in Carolina.

Not arguing the zone part. That's expected in a Jim Johnson system, but the front seven will be more aggressive than in our prior defenses.

And I disagree that Peterson wouldn't fit in our scheme. I've read more than one profile of him that says while he might be better in a system that emphasized man, he has enough versatility to play in zone coverage and could even be used as an effective blitzing corner.

The one thing I'll give you is that I worry a little about him against West Coast attacks. Deep speed he can handle, but quick receivers can sometimes be rough for him.

(that particular worry isn't big enough that I'd be against drafting him though)

[PantherFan52]

Please pick him or AJ Green.

[bleys]

if you send exotic blitzes, or regardless, let's just say you demand more from your front 7.. I'm not sure how much Zone that will stay, when plays essentially go from Zone cover to Man coverage by default.

he may cover one side of the field, but wouldn't more often than not, those zone coverages turn into man on those plays where the LBers may not be used in coverage?

I would prefer man coverage with the CBs and allow the safeties and LBers step into Zone..

Peterson/Green would be my preference if we don't go after Newton or Gabbert...

[bleys]

if our front 7 is utilized more in blitzing packages, our corners most likely will find themselves in Man by default..

I know what our defense can be compared with, but I'm really interested to see what our defense looks like..

if we don't take Newton or Gabbert, it has to be Peterson or Green.. JMO.. of course, just like Newton/Gabbert, if we end up drafting Peterson/Green, I'm assuming the coaching staff found they would be a great fit...

[Mr. Scot]

if our front 7 is utilized more in blitzing packages, our corners most likely will find themselves in Man by default..

I know what our defense can be compared with, but I'm really interested to see what our defense looks like..

if we don't take Newton or Gabbert, it has to be Peterson or Green.. JMO.. of course, just like Newton/Gabbert, if we end up drafting Peterson/Green, I'm assuming the coaching staff found they would be a great fit...

In a normal scheme yeah, but Jim Johnson's defense uses zone blitzes (just run out of a 4-3).

Granted, what Rivera and McDermott decide to do with the Panthers might not be a pur implementatin of Jim Johnson's schemes, but you'd expect it to be heavily influenced.

If Bolt were around, we could ask him what Rivera tended toward in San Diego.

[panthers55]

Not arguing the zone part. That's expected in a Jim Johnson system, but the front seven will be more aggressive than in our prior defenses.

And I disagree that Peterson wouldn't fit in our scheme. I've read more than one profile of him that says while he might be better in a system that emphasized man, he has enough versatility to play in zone coverage and could even be used as an effective blitzing corner.

The one thing I'll give you is that I worry a little about him against West Coast attacks. Deep speed he can handle, but quick receivers can sometimes be rough for him.

(that particular worry isn't big enough that I'd be against drafting him though)

If we draft him I would expect him to fit in right away. I would not expect him to necessarily start or excel right away. There would be a learning curve and as you say he would struggle against quick fast guys in zone coverage.

Part of the discussion about drafting a guy number 1 is that we wouldn't want to do that unless he was an instant success and an impact guy. There would be some questions about how soon he would pick things up or what kind of impact he would make.

Again I am not saying he won't be a great player in the NFL, simply that he might not be worth the number 1 pick given our scheme. Seems to me with the pay to play concerns and the fact that we play zone primarily that he might not be the slam dunk that others think. His very low wonderlic might also give one pause as he isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer either.

[section543]

If you guys respect NFP's opinion, they have Dareus as 14th best prospect, Newton not in top 25 (#54-Ponder is ranked #1QB). Could all be accurate but would really upset a lot of folks on this board as it looks like a majority either wants Cam or Dareus.