Vic Fangio's second year defenses and beyond

Just a quick look, but his Carolina teams had Billy Davis as a LB coach and three LBs made the probowl in 1996, along with Eric Davis as a DB. Zero probowlers in 97 and one in 98--K Greene. Greg Roman was the Quality Control and Strength Coach.

Originally posted by SportsFan:
I expect Fangios defense to kill 2 or 3 opposing players this year.

I'm putting a 100.00 on the first knock out

Valid concerns and this has been talked about a lot in Official Defense thread.

That said, I will need to see some scheme growth this year now that we have every player back from last year's record setting defense. VF played a Nolan/Manusky vanilla defense all year...essentially, straight up and won with individual talent and dominance. This year, the opposition will have a full year's tape on our D so it's time to up the ante and install more scheme. Last year, there were a few things that concerned me:
1. Had a tendency to play his S's VERY deep (sometimes 30 yards deep)
2. Had a tendency to play his CB's way off WR's on 3rd and shorts resulting in easy pitch-n-catches
3. We saw in the NFCCG, when Brown went down, he left a cold CB off the bench in single coverage with zero S help. The CB actually had good outside coverage but with no inside S help, the result was an easy TD. People forget this but THIS was the turning point of the game.
4. He didn't sub much last year unless there were injuries (McDonald, Willis, Brown, etc.)
5. Our S's have very poor range from sideline to sideline and I honestly can not remember one time either S provided help over the top on the sidelines. They were solid in the middle of the field and esp. playing down hill and around the LOS. But better scheme will need to be utilized to ensure our CB's don't continue to get beat down the sidelines and this starts and ends with the front 7

2012:
I'd like to see VF improve upon the aforemetioned. In addition, I'd like to see him expand the playbook and utilize the talent of the front 7 better (which as we all know, benefits the back end more than anything). For that, you have Ahmad Brooks and Aldon Smith who can line up anywhere along the front 7. I'd like to see better game planning and using these guys to attack weaknesses better along the OL. Any "gaps" left by their pass rush will easily be picked up on by Willis/Bowman and the S's and CB help in run support. To add, Bowman and Willis need to be utilized more in the pass rush and playing off Brooks/Smith. I'd like to see a better rotation along the DL as well. More CB and S blitzes. Both Whitner and Goldson are technically, the same SS player and play best as another LB in the box. Teach these guys how to time delayed blitzes and play more up at the LOS blitzing like some of the best in the game have been used. Both Brooks/Smith are athletic enough to drop back and provide underneath/outside coverage on any of these blitzes. They just need to have ensure the CB's are providing over-the-top and inside coverage at the same time. The best D's exploit weaknesses and never stop attacking them until the game is over (see Ravens against us last year).

So here is to VF for adding these new wrinkles to a record setting D in 2012. With a full team of returning starters and better, more experienced depth (save for S for now), his work is CLEARLY cut out for him.

I'd recommend watching these key points to see if he is addressing this next level or if we employ the same strategy and as a result, start to fall off some as the opposition starts to exploit the holes better for 2012.

I expect the defense to get better this year with off season workouts. I expect very few if any teams to score over 20 pts on us. Like last year I expect teams to pass on us because they cant run, but they will also have to pass because we will be scoring more points ourselves. When the stats show we cant defend the pass its probably going to mean they are passing a heck of a lot against us. Hence pass stats against us wont tell the whole story.

Originally posted by SportsFan:
I expect Fangios defense to kill 2 or 3 opposing players this year.

THIS