Brandon Staley is Defensive Coordinator
What current players fit Staley’s defensive philosophy and which do not?
I think our DL, especially the EDGE rushers across the board are borderline fits at best. Foskey & Granderson could be rush LBs, & Cam & Turner could possibly bulk up & be 5T/DEs in the odd front. Bresee could fit at both DE & DT. I think Saunders, Shepard & Boyd are serviceable DTs, but the position will hopefully be addressed in either FA, the draft or Both. Yeah…the Dline needs a major overhaul.
But the dude who i believe best fits Staley’s system is Alontae Taylor in the slot. Taylor has legit All Pro potential as a NB/Slot SAF. The dude is an average CB. I never really understood the hype about him playing outside. I mean, Adebo out played him the year they were competing to start opposite Lattimore, & last year went to doodoo for Alontae when Lattimore got dealt. But before that, Taylor was best guy we had on D.
Im pretty certain, at least i hope, Staley will recognize how disruptive & gamebreaking Alontae was in the slot. Alontae fits that Jalen Ramsey, Taylor Rapp, Derwin James role where he’s basically a Safetybacker, or STAR, where he’s both the extra man in coverage, & the extra force player vs the run. Super excited to see how they use Alontae next season, cause that dude has some elite traits for Staley to build around.