Current Commanders fits with Daronte Jones' new system

Breaking down how the current Commanders roster could fit with Jones and where there could be issues

With the Commanders hiring a new defensive coordinator, we can finally start looking ahead to the offseason and figuring out which players on the roster are good fits for the new scheme and what might need changing. I broke down the general scheme that we’re expecting new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones to bring in previously, so be sure to read that post first for an idea of what type of schemes the Commanders will be running. But now it’s time to focus on the current roster and see which players could benefit from this hire and which players might struggle.

Fits with shift to 3-4 front

One of the first changes we could see from Jones is a shift from a base 4-3 defense to a base 3-4. Typically, this isn’t as big a deal as it once was, because most defenses play live in nickel packages now anyway. Even when they aren’t in nickel, most defenses in the NFL are hybrids that use both 4-3 and 3-4 looks. But the Vikings under Flores and Jones stuck to their 3-4 principles, so I think we can expect to see that shift.

The Commanders used plenty of 3-4 looks last season, so there’s some natural fits in the current personnel for that front already, especially on the interior defensive line.

This play shows an example of how the Commanders are already somewhat familiar with a 3-4 front. The Commanders go with Eddie Goldman at nose tackle and Daron Payne and Javon Kinlaw either side of him here. Goldman is a free agent and at 32 the Commanders could look to go younger, but with a potential switch to a 3-4 coming, Goldman could be a nice fit as a big run-stuffing nose tackle option. But both Payne and Kinlaw are capable of playing the nose tackle spot too, so it might not be necessary to have Goldman back.

Bobby Wagner and Jordan Magee fill the roles of the inside linebackers, while Frankie Luvu and Jacob Martin are the edge defenders, which are known as outside linebackers in a 3-4. This is a position we’ll come back to later on in this post, because I’m not certain the Commanders have the right profile of player for this role on the roster right now.

The Cowboys look to run a basic duo scheme here to try and get themselves out of the end zone. Duo is a run scheme that tries to generate as many double teams up front as possible to drive the defensive line off the ball and give the running back some space to work with. However, because of the front that the Commanders use, the Cowboys get some bad matchups.

The center and right guard have to combine to double team Goldman as the nose tackle, which means the right tackle and tight end have to double up on Payne. But with Bobby Wagner behind Payne, the right tackle feels the need to work off of Payne quickly and get up to Wagner to prevent one of the best run defenders in the league from making a stop.

With the right tackle leaving Payne to go block Wagner, the tight end is left with an impossible task, trying to block Daron Payne one-on-one. Now if the Commanders had been in their base 4-3 front, then the tight end would be working against a smaller defensive end like Jacob Martin, but because of the 3-4 front, he has to try and block Payne. That goes about as well as you would expect for the Cowboys. Payne blows up the tight end, penetrating into the backfield and makes the tackle before the running back can get out of the end zone, resulting in a safety.

The Commanders generally had more success defending the run in a 3-4 front throughout this past season. Players like Kinlaw and Payne are big but versatile defensive lineman that can line up across the front and be effective. What we saw from the Vikings defense led by Flores and Jones was that they preferred to keep their three defensive tackles on the field as often as possible in order to remain stout against the run.

They weren’t looking for a great deal of pass rush from those big bodies, because the pass rush would come from the blitz packages. But what they needed was stout run defenders from those three defensive lineman to provide the flexibility from a coverage perspective to keep two safeties back deep and use two-deep safety coverage schemes like quarters. If you’re going to be effective defending the run from a two-deep safety structure, then you need a few stout bodies up front, which is what makes that 3-4 look so appealing to this defensive scheme.

So the profile of defensive lineman needed for this scheme is typically bigger guys like Payne, Kinlaw and Goldman. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any room for a slightly undersized defensive tackle like Johnny Newton. There’s potential for this new scheme to be very beneficial for Newton. With two other defensive tackles on the field, Newton can be placed in slightly wider alignments than he saw for large parts of last season. As we saw against the Cowboys at the end of the season, he’s much more effective in those positions.

On this play, the Commanders use what is essentially a 3-4 front as we saw before. It’s technically a 4-3 defense, but the defensive line slides across and linebacker Frankie Luvu lines up on the edge to replicate a 3-4 look. As a result, the Commanders have a defensive tackle lined up as a nose tackle directly over the center, while Newton gets shifted wider outside of the left guard, putting him in what’s known as a three-technique position.

This is a much better spot for someone like Newton. He has struggled when working inside to fight off double teams, but here the nose tackle inside can take on the double teams while Newton can be more disruptive with this alignment.

The Commanders run a stunt here, which is something you can expect to see a lot from Jones in the run game. Newton stunts inside, across the face of the left guard, while linebacker Jordan Magee attacks the B gap outside of him. Newton’s quickness helps him get the better of the left guard almost immediately. The only reason he doesn’t instantly penetrate is because the nose tackle stands up the center inside and closes off his path. But the nose tackle does a nice job working off a double team from the right guard and center, creating disruption inside.

With the interior lineman all occupied and struggling, Jordan Magee is able to run freely through the B gap and into the backfield. All of that disruption on the left side of the line causes the back to try and bounce his run to the right, but there’s not really anywhere for him to go out there. Newton does well fighting through the traffic and ends up assisting the tackle for the stop.

It’s not just run defense that this 3-4 look could benefit Newton either. As a pass rusher, that wider alignment can make him a real threat.

Here, Newton takes another wide alignment as part of the three-man front. This time, he lines up almost head up on the left tackle, rather than on the outside shoulder of the guard. This alignment would normally suggest he’s looking to get the best pass rush angle against the guard, but he’s actually working with linebacker Bobby Wagner as part of a blitz.

At the snap, Newton stunts inside towards the A gap between the left guard and center, while Wagner loops around him into the B gap between the left guard and left tackle. These kinds of stunts and blitzes are perfect for Newton’s game. He’s a slightly undersized defensive tackle that plays with good bend and quickness. By lining him up wide and stunting him, he can be very disruptive, as we see here. That’s something Jones will likely look to do with Newton in these fronts as part of the aggressive blitz packages we saw him use with the Vikings.

At the snap, the left guard quickly works outside to try and cut off the threat of Newton bursting up the field. However, that creates a gap inside which Newton is stunting into as part of the blitz. He uses his quickness to make the most of that gap, forcing the left guard to quickly redirect back inside. Wagner loops around him tightly, which causes the running back trying to block Wagner to run into the back of the left guard.

The pair get their feet caught, which enables Newton and Wagner to break free of their blocks and penetrate into the backfield. Newton is the first one through and his pressure causes Prescott to panic. Prescott attempts an ill-advised throw over the middle and that provides linebacker Jordan Magee with a great opportunity for an interception. Unfortunately, Magee drops the interception chance, but it was still a good play for the Commanders and specifically Newton.

That type of alignment really suits Newton’s skillset. His quickness from those wider alignments can really trouble guards, but he’s also very aware of what his teammates are doing and the blitz schemes he’s involved in. He does a good job working with his teammates on those blitzes to create pressure. It’s no surprise then that when the Commanders kept using him there, he continued to find success.

Just like we saw previously, Newton takes a wide alignment on this snap. He’s working wider as part of a blitz, but a different blitz scheme to the one we saw previously. This time, he works up the field and looks to occupy the right guard in order to create space for Bobby Wagner to blitz from the second level and get matched up on the running back.

At the snap, you can see how Newton deliberately widens to drag the guard outside and create the lane for Wagner. Newton attempts a chop move but the guard manages to withstand it and get his outside hand on Newton’s chest to stall his initial rush. However, at this point Newton shows good awareness again.

He spots Wagner creating issues for the running back in pass protection, so opts to try and work back inside to create more problems for the Cowboys. As he loops inside, the guard gets tripped up by the running back, who was turning to try and stay with Wagner. Wagner breaks free for the initial pressure, but Newton is quickly in there as well to make sure the quarterback can’t escape. Both get to the quarterback at about the same time so they split the sack between them.

Issues at outside linebacker?

I think the switch to a 3-4 front can be beneficial for the Commanders current personnel, at least from an interior defensive line perspective. Where they will struggle is on the edge. Now, this was going to be the case regardless of the scheme because the Commanders have a desperate need for an overhaul of the edge rusher group. But this system has very different demands of those edge defenders compared to what the Commanders were looking for from them previously.

In their 4-3 defense last year, the edge rushers were 4-3 defensive ends. That typically meant putting their hands in the dirt and either setting an edge in the run game or rushing the quarterback on a passing play. In the 3-4, the edge defenders become outside linebackers. In many defenses, the only difference between a 4-3 defensive end and a 3-4 outside linebacker is the name and if the defender stands up or puts his hand in the dirt pre-snap. But in this system, they need at least one outside linebacker that is just as capable dropping back into coverage as they are going forward and rushing the passer.

For the Vikings, this player was Andrew Van Ginkel. Van Ginkel is a slightly undersized edge rusher, but that lighter frame helps him be able to drop back into coverage effectively. When the Vikings don’t blitz. Van Ginkel is the outside linebacker that typically drops into coverage, while the other outside linebacker joins the three defensive lineman to create the four-man rush. Even on a lot of blitzes, the Vikings will blitz a safety or inside linebacker and trust Van Ginkel to drop off and replace them in coverage.

The Commanders don’t currently have a player on the roster that I would regularly trust in this role. They have a few contenders but I don’t think either will work. The first contender would be Dorance Armstrong. Armstrong plays bigger than he is and is often asked to shift inside, but he’s athletic enough to handle the occasional task of dropping into coverage, as we have seen a few times since he arrived in Washington.