Will Jeff Hafley blitz the Philadelphia Eagles and risk giving up big plays? (With Theo Ash)

to Blitz or not to Blitz that is Jeff Halley's question you are locked on Packers your daily Green Bay Packers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day you are locked on Packers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day I'm Peter bowsky and I cover the Packers for the leap a newsletter I would love for you to subscribe to follow me on Twitter Peter Bowski follow the podcast on Twitter locked on Packers like us on Facebook subscribe to the podcast iTunes Spotify Google podcasts wherever you find podcasts you will find locked on Packers the number one Packers podcast on the internet and the show for fans who know what happened they want to know why and how thanks to everyone who makes locked on Packers their first listen every day we hope you like starting your day with us as much as we like starting our day with you today's episode brought to you by our friends at priz piic go to priz pics.com lockon NFL and use code locked on NFL all lowercase to win $50 instantly when you play Theo Ash joins us on the show today Theo is uh one of the hosts of the stay hot podcast you can also find his work over at the pro football network you've heard him on the mimes podcast um and I think he's one of the upand cominging uh football analysts uh on the internet that we have he also happens to be a Packers fan so we're going to talk to him about Jeff Halley we're going to talk to him about um Jordan love and and a lot of different things lead leading into this Packers Eagles game the way the Packers can and should attack the Philadelphia Eagles before we get there though I just want to mention because this is our Friday show the Packers play tonight um that some injuries to watch here for the the Philadelphia Eagles in particular um we we know Devon white didn't even make the trip so you have now a linebacker group that was a problem before they add Devon white and Zack Bond and now Devon white can't even go now they they did the ass covering thing and said well he was not GNA he wasn't gon to he wasn't going to be the guy anyway okay are you are you sure about that like are you super sure about that okay may maybe that's true maybe that's true the linebacker group is still just not very good Isaiah Rogers was going to start on the boundary or at least in nickel was going to be the boundary Corner they're going to play priority nickel so technically a starter on the boundary even though quya Mitchell was going to be the opposite boundary corner with Darius slle but in nickel Quin Mitchell was going to play the slot if if you're confused I understand it's sort of like when Casey Hayward was the the starting boundary Corner technically he was the starting boundary corner but then Demaryius Randall played the boundry and a nickel Casey Hayward slid inside Quin Mitchell is going to play inside without Isaiah Rogers now you have key Ringo who's going to have to play the boundary in nickel and key Ringo is a a developmental player someone who it seemed like was going to get first round Buzz did not play his best his last year at Georgia um and if anyone likes Georgia players as much as Brian gakin it's howy Roseman so you have a rookie nickel Corner a subpar mediocre linebacker room and then a safety room that reads CJ Garner Johnson but is otherwise particularly uninspiring and this on a group that last year at the end of the year was just not ready for prime time in terms of the run defense or the pass rush now you're going to get fresh Jaylen Carter you're going to get fresh Jordan Davis but it's also early in the season so are these guys going to be up to the the task of playing 60 80 defensive snaps and the answer is in the case of Jordan Davis especially no that's just not what they ask him to do when you have this corner group though you're you're already relying on a thin group and now the Packers if they want to can say I don't know put four guys out there make Cooper dein play who Vic fangio has said is not ready test quinan Mitchell from the slot who I think is was a very good player he someone I said I I wanted the Packers to draft but Vic fangio is playing it a different style of defense they're going to lean into a little bit more Zone coverage a little more quarters coverage than the Packers are they're going to be primary man coverage team I thought that was the best place for quinan Mitchell to play was on a man Centric team now he's going to play in the slot a 61 200lb corner I know he has the movements gos for it but like is that the best place for him I think this is an opportunity for the Packers to attack the Eagles especially in the middle of the field and so this is this is a meaningful injury there there aren't any of those on the Packers side right now um Tucker craft is questionable Marshon lyd is questionable Emanuel Wilson is questionable but they all practiced in some form or fashion all week I would expect them all to be available or at least Emanuel Wilson and Tucker craft we'll see about Marshall lyd who didn't get a lot of training camp practice and I think again the Packers are going to win this game I think it's going to be a fun game I think it is it is more likely the Packers blow out the Eagles than the other way around I'm not saying it's impossible but that's often how you I I think about these games like okay what is what is the more likely scenario in in that interchange and for me it's clearly that the Packers like they look like the Super Bowl team and the eagles look like the team trying to find themselves that just hire to new coordinators where the coach and the quarterback do not get along all those things so let's talk to um Theo Ash we will do that in just a second here on lock on Packers today's episode brought to you by our friends at LinkedIn when you're hiring for your small business you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role that's why you have to check out LinkedIn 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by the barber shop with Tony Wiggins for some real NFL talk make the mad man Tyler Roland and the barber Tony wiggin your second listen at the locked on NF the new lockdown NFL on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts joining me now from the stay hot podcast the pro football network you have seen him heard him on the me and kimes podcast a couple times now of course featuring Lenny too don't want to leave out Lenny uh and Theo it's it's great to be with you um and this is a juicy match up for the Packers to start here week one uh and I want to talk to you about some of the the questions that I have trying to figure out as we as we head in here because all week I've been going okay Jeff Halley he wants to Blitz he wants to live in this single high world the thing about the Eagles is they could not handle pressure last year but also the only good thing they could do really at the end of the year especially was hit deep shots which you're leaving yourself a little bit vulnerable to do if you're playing all this single High coverage where where do you see that push pull for the Packers at least um cashing out like what do you think is the smart way to handle this I think the smart way is to play the way that you are going to play all year and under Halley that is man coverage that is six man blitzes it is living by The Sword and dying By The Sword but it's what we have been asking for as Packer fans for a long time right so I I think regardless of the outcome you've got to you've got to have an identity and I think that this is going to be theirs and I don't think it has to fail against the Eagles last year they really struggled against the blitz like you mentioned they were one of the worst teams at dealing with it last season the Bucks were able to crush them in the playoffs by blitzing they weren't able to communicate win marale even like he doesn't design the most advanced pressure paths I'd say it's more ban coverage on the back end and then everybody just kind of goes and that had a lot of success against Philadelphia at the end of last season now with Travis Kelce not Travis Jason Kelce retired one of those guys and uh J and now Jaylen Herz being asked to set all the protections which he has been asked to do in the past like blitzing could potentially be a very successful strategy the problem is of course you're probably going to have to play the The Man Behind it on two of the best man beaters in the NFL yeah it's a little bit of like strength on strength and weakness on weakness because you're these like everything you mentioned the the way that Packer fans want their defense to play you know it's the the joke about like every even even defensive players they want to play like in Madden where you just call in Gage eight every time like they they want to play that way and so now you see these players they seem so excited to just go attack they're not thinking they're not you know reading and reacting on blocks they're just like let's just go let's just go mess things up and it seems like that philosophical difference like even even like the schematic stuff aside just the philosophy difference seems like it's gonna have dividends to pay here I hope so I hope so and then it'll also help against the Run of course like the eagles are no stranger to facing man coverage even though they have these wide outs last season or two seasons ago when they were in the Super Bowl 2022 they faced more man coverage than anybody else in the league because you got to worry about Jaylen Herz and now you've got to worry about saquin Barkley so you want bodies going downhill not only to mess up the protection but also to to worry about that rushing attack yeah and the rushing attack could be even better uh the last time the Packers saw this rushing attack they gave up over 350 yards just on the ground um and and rout to 40 points like I I understand Joe Barry is is not in the building anymore but man like it that was that was one of those games where you just go does anyone have any Pride like what are we doing here seriously seriously it'll take more than scheme it'll take discipline from the front four uh we can't have people you know stunting when they're not supposed to or or leaving their Gap trying to make a play just to have seon Barkley set them up and then disappear through the the hole they were supposed to be defending so blitzing can help like numbers in the Box can help but also you've got a tackle and you've got to you've got to stay where you're supposed to be which like hasn't could be a defensive coordinator thing but you know the players have to do their part as well yeah what do you see as this as the safety's role in in all of this because it sounds like it's not just going to be not just gonna stick Xavier mckin back there and say okay you're you're Earl Thomas now like you're gonna Patrol the Deep middle you know 80 snaps a game so how do you how do you see that shaking out in terms of how they're going to use those guys because I think especially in a game like this where you're going to need whoever's back there if they are in a single high to be able to roam sideline to sideline how do you how do you think they're best utilized with Javon Bullard and maybe even Evan Williams and some three safety looks I I like the idea of a big nickel um I mean I think the weak point in the secondary right now is Nixon in the slot uh Williams was super impressive in the preseason so I I don't exactly know how it'll look but I would be very curious to see all three safeties on the field in a big nickel look and then I think it's a smart idea to to play if you're with a single high safety like cheat over to AJ Brown's side maybe the best man cover wide receiver in the entire league like whoever is on him give him a little bit of help and then yeah there's going to be a lot of weak safety blitzes um if they're going to play single high and have a guy down in the Box you you'll want him coming downhill maybe you can get a sack or some other Havoc play um I I don't I'll be curious to see I guess I don't know exactly we won't know until the game kicks off it'll be a new defense yeah that's the that's the part that's crazy about all this is we're we're speculating right now and I think even after week one we're going to go okay that was week one the Eagles are a unique challenge it may look different moving forward and that's the that's the uh the problem with just using one game as an evaluation tool I I was looking back at the numbers Theo and Joe Barry versus Jeff Halley last year Jeff Halley sent a DB as a as a pressure player eight times more often than Joe Barry last year um I I wonder if that's something where okay you're going to play that big nickel and and maybe on early Downs you're sending one of those guys just as a as a run Blitzer just to say okay we even though we're playing lighter that lighter body is gonna have to be a force player here and we're gonna send him just to create a little bit of extra chaos for sure and that's the defensive meta that we could be seeing a lot this year Kyle Hamilton comes to mind in that role um there are a few others that have CJ Gardner Johnson I feel like has done that Brian Branch he was safety in college came down and played that Nichols spot created a ton of big plays for the Lions on defense starting week one last year so I think teams are finding that you can have a lot of success by blending that linebacker safety corner all into to one guy and putting him as an overhang and I think that Evan Williams Show enough in the preseason that he should be on the field in a couple packages in in that role yeah I don't know if we're going to see that a ton but I'm with you I I think it would be really cool I've said I think that their primary defense as a as a big nickel would make sense to me um but I I think that's also going to be matchup dependent in a lot of ways uh let's flip it over to the offense for a second I know Matt laflor is GNA vomit as we have this conversation I'm not gonna ask you if the Packers have a wide receiver one let me ask it this way who's the best receiver on this roster I think the best it's tough to say I I think I think the most productive is going to be Jaden Reed I'll say that I I I think that I feel pretty good about about calling him the fantasy wide receiver one or the someone who's going to lead the team in in targets and yards he did have the highest Target right when he was on the field of any of any player last year in their receiver room he did lead them in yardage as a rookie he's going into year two I think as a slot weapon he is the most intriguing to me followed by maybe Wicks and I know that he's the fourth guy on the roster but his size his route running I mean his efficiency last year just blew everybody else out of the water um he he's another guy that I I think those two the two rookies from last season maybe I'm rookie biased right the young player always who knows what could it shiny toy always catches our eye right but you know it's the most efficient guy and kind of the most productive guys so it's not crazy yeah and and you mentioned the the productivity from Jaden Reed second in in catches of 15 plus from the slot last year third in yards from the slot despite having the seventh most catches from the slot so he was he was able to create vertically from the slot which is which is something that I was I was not sure he was going to be able to do in the NFL was that something that that that surprised you that he was able to be as effective winning vertically as he was no I I think that that was kind of his game as that Speedy threat I I liked watching him and and Keon Coleman together at uh yeah at at Michigan State and Reed was kind of that that speedier down well they were both downfield threats just in different ways but he always had the juice I thought I it doesn't necessarily surprise me he's not like a big Aman ra St brown type you know where it's more underneath and turn up field and get Yak he is a little bit slighter and and faster why do you like I want to ask you about the Packers version of this too but there's been a lot made of Shawn McVey saying hey we want to change the way we run the ball we want to we want to lean into away a little bit from the outside Zone and into some of these other power Concepts these Gap runs why why do you can you explain why you think that is and why he's he's talked about it but but why why does that work I think it's just because it's easier to get yards going north and south than east and west I think you saw the downsides of running like exclusively wide zone or at least I saw it with the Falcons last year like bejan Robinson extremely talented player but he was always going east and west I think that you need a little bit of that downhill pressure um and then teams want you to run between the like like they don't want to see how fast you are running to the sideline they want to see how tough you are running North and South so teams kind of sitting on these wide Zone Concepts a little bit as it's taken over the league they're cheating their defensive tackles in a little bit uh farther in one direction to prevent them from getting reached right so if defenses are making adjustments eventually as an offense you got to adjust so if you run wide Zone wide Zone wide Zone and that's the offensive meta the defenses are going to evolve and now it's your turn to evolve as an offense and I do think that that's why uh McVey and some of these others are probably going to get a little bit from the wide Zone type of philosophy even Arthur Smith who ran it almost like exclusively last year if he's going to have any success in Pittsburgh will have to run a little bit more downhill than he did last year so that that's my take on it all right more Theo Ash here to come on lock on Packers today's episode brought to you by our friends at prize picks the 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experts and get unprecedented NFL Insight make the madman Tyler Roland in the barber Tony Wiggins your second listening at the new lock on NFL on YouTube or wherever you get podcasts yeah I was we were talking with Dusty evely earlier in the week about this and and one of the things that struck me watching Marshon Lloyd is I was watching that that running game going this is actually something that I think the Packers could lean into a lot where it the the scheme is sort of all looks like Zone except for one man it's like a oneman power and you got you've got it's like Zone with a puller something like that and and like okay that's the kind of stuff Josh Jacobs is good at that's the kind of stuff that Marshon Lloyd is good at that was the kind of stuff that AJ Dylan was good at it makes you wonder if Matt lefur always kind of wanted to lean into this a little bit more and just didn't have the bodies to do it like could we see that transition in Green Bay coming it would be cool I'd be down to see it I I think that when I watch a Matt lefur offense I want to see at least one of every type of run by the end of the game it's it's kind of a a haunted house for defenses when you're going up against Matt lafl you never know what could pop out at you like Ender around he loves doing that he loves to he loves weirdness or Zone read with Jordan love I want to see that I want to see Power encounter with pullers I want to see wide Zone mid Zone inside Zone I want a little bit of everything from him this year the last thing I think M lefl should be is onedimensional so yeah if if Marshon Lloyd is good at a certain type of run like I think laflor can dream it up so I'm I'm definitely with you there what what kind of answers do you expect Philadelphia to have against pressure because that's been the Mandate for for Kell Moore hey come in make sure that if they have to play Hot that they can do that there there are these answers there you mentioned some of the issues with okay Jaylen Herz has got to Now call set the Protections in addition to all the other pre-nap stuff that a quarterback has on his plate you don't have a future Hall of Famer doing that all for you remember the the the great play pre- snap Jaylen Herz calling out trying to change the play at the line of scrimmage J kelse is basically like enough we're not doing that like he he basically called him off like a like a pitcher giving the the Shake sign to the catcher uh what do you think some of these answers could be which is another way of saying what do the Packers have to be ready for I mean you got to be ready for the quick hitters the Slants the rpos things like that to get the ball out of herz's hands quickly and and beat the man coverage get the guy get the ball in the hands of The Playmakers who can make something happen with the yak and then I think running the ball as well like they're they were very unbalanced at the end of last year like they had DeAndre Swift they had Jaylen Herz but they were passing it at a record rate I think some of the ways that they can alleviate the amount of pressure looks that they're seeing is by dropping the amount that they're dropping back and passing it all and I I think that that's what seon Barkley is partially there to do is just take some of the pressure off of Herz and um make it so you know you can't just pin your ears back and and get after after the quarterback I I asked this question rhetorically the other day um I think it was on a on a stream I said okay what what does a a Kell Moore offense consistently look like what do they do well what is your answer to that question I think one of the things that has always been impressive about more is his balance like even when they were in Dallas and they had Dak Prescott and CD lamb he was definitely focused on running those Zone plays he liked to have two tight ends out there on the field and and run the ball in that way and I think that that's kind of something that MO is going to provide that the Eagles have been have been missing he's also been very good at creating yards after catch I went back and and just before we hopped on here the Chargers last year under Kellen Moore were fifth in yards after catch total yards that seems impossible to me given the receivers that they have there from a talent standpoint and a traits standpoint and then I went back and looked in Dallas three out of the four years he was their offensive coordinator they were a top 10 team in yards created after the catch it seems like from that standpoint he is perfect might be overselling it but a good candidate to come in here and get them back to doing that because back in 2022 that was how they killed teams AJ Brown and Devonte Smith with a chance to make plays after the catch definitely definitely and if you can tie those if if you're going to be balanced and you can tie those run plays to play action and bring the linebackers up uh that is a great way to to generate yak and I'm shocked by that charger stat you just said because I'm right with you like I would not never have expected that those Chargers receivers to be able to do that with the Cowboys it makes sense because CD lamb might be the best Yak guy in the league but for him to do it with LA yeah that's a good point do do do you think the Eagles could or or might need to lean into more of the the RPO game that they were they were using earlier in their career like ironically that was the thing that everyone was saying okay what is the next evolution of that offense we've seen it but now it seems like to your point earlier they may need to go back to some of that to create some of those like hey let's see whether it's a true RPO or just hey a little play action from the gun and it's it's a glance to to get AJ Brown the ball with a chance to make a play so much of that left with stien I feel like like you always want it to stay around because I think Herz is comfortable with it but at the same time if Sten was the RPO guy and he's gone like you do kind of got to stick to your new identity so I think that it will be a part of the game plan but I don't think it will ever get back to the levels and I really don't think the Eagles offense will ever get back to the levels that they were at in in 2022 yeah it does seem like Shane Sten like the the amount of credit given to the the different coaches going back to the Super Bowl in Philadelphia it seems like we've gotten it wrong for a lot of that time because it was like oh Frank Reich he did all this stuff and then we've seen Frank Reich coach and it's like I don't know about that John D Phil hey he's he's this he's this quarterback Guru are you sure about that and now we we may be seeing that hey Nick serani he's this great coach actually now it now it seems like it was the other guy doing that thing and so we'll see we'll see what Nick serani actually actually does here um La last thing that I wanna I want to get your your your take on here I feel like we haven't talked enough about the tight ends and in in Green Bay Luke Musgrave and Tucker craft and and they showed appealing skills last year and different skills where Luke Musgrave is is your big tall fast like he can he can run those Corner routes those Deep Over routs seam routes and Tucker craft can be your Dirty Work guy they fit so well together is there is there a version of this offense they can unlock with these two guys in 12 Personnel both of them on the field at once yeah I think so and it's also an opportunity to to get different wide receivers involved as well when you're into your 12 Personnel package can be different groups than 11 personnel like if you want to get wix on the field for example I think in that in that big touchdown he had versus the Cleveland Browns in the preseason he wasn't out there in 11 personnel but then in 12 Personnel uh he was so not only are you getting both of those tight ends out there it's just a a different way to get all the different receivers involved and and yeah I I absolutely believe that both of those guys play into it kind of like the wide receivers do it's like there's really no one to key in on because everybody in the receiving core is is pretty good so yeah 12 Personnel I think could be a great weapon for them this year well and we saw them do it a little bit last year you line Luke Musgrave up in the slot you have Jaden Reed outside and then you use that little cheat motion to give Jaden Reed a running start and now you had a corner okay H like how are they going to pass that off how are they aligning pre- snap did they have a safety over Luke mus graen it just it gives you a lot of different ways to to fudge the matchups to play with the matchups to get okay now you've got a a linebacker running with a corner or you've gotta you've got to make these quick decisions on the back end absolutely absolutely and that's the great thing about Green Bay this year is I think that there's just unlimited different combinations that you can do all with about equal Effectiveness because you've got six players who are all a pretty similar pretty similar caliber I'd say but yeah with no weaknesses what ultimately decides this game in Brazil on Friday night I think it's I think it's going to be the secondary I I think we've been asking can they handle man coverage and we will see if if they can tackle and if they can be disruptive I think the Packers will win but if it's a horror show and and AJ Brown goes for 200 yards then we're going to be in trouble I think that I think I think I'm very confident in the offense to move the ball on a on a team who's pretty weak at the linebacker spot um I think that that's something laflor can kind of feast on I don't they they ranked in the bottom five in defensive dvoa last year so the offense I think will be able to move the ball but it's it's the defense where I have all the questions yeah and score touchdowns in the Red Zone if you if you can make sure you're you're not settling for field goals even if Braden Aron the new kicker that everyone loves is making them you need to be able to score touchdowns because you know when when the Eagles get down there they they're really good at this um especially in close Theo appreciate the time man and uh hopefully we'll get a chance to do it again of course of course go pack go all right Packers and Eagles tonight we will be live after the game on our YouTube page go follow us over there on YouTube follow me on Twitter so you get the alert that I'm going live over there wherever you find the podcast um you'll find us also on social media on Instagram on Tik Tok so you can stay locked on Packers