Bears Blitz

Published by Andrew Garda on August 31, 2012
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

On each team there are a few potential impact rookies and on the Chicago Bears, wide receiver Alshon Jeffery is going to be one of them.

Yes, Shea McClellin is vital to the defense, but across from Brandon Marshall, Jeffery could be the Offensive Rookie of the Year. 

A while ago, B/R’s own Matt Miller said that and I gave him crap because, well, it’s fun and he sounded like he was going overboard.

Everything I’ve seen the last few weeks makes me think I owe Miller a beer. And not one of those fruity beers either—a good solid one.

To show you what I am excited about, I broke down his three-catch performance against the Washington Redskins. Now, I know you’re thinking “meh, Redskins,” but they actually play good defense and so were a decent test for him.

Here’s the somewhat exhaustive breakdown of Jeffery’s three catches.

To start with, we look at his first catch of the game. As you look at the screen cap, note that he and Marshall are the only receivers wide and that Marshall is up top (partially obscured by the chiron with the score).

It’s important to note where Marshall is because he will get the better corner, the more intense coverage and more attention in general.

Jeffery, lined up at the bottom of the screen, is also in single coverage, which the corner plays tight until just before the snap, where he begins to drop back.

A move mirrored, interestingly enough, by the corner covering Marshall.

As the play starts, the corners covering Jeffery and Marshall leave that cushion as they drop back. Note that the defenders in the center of the field—a linebacker and a safety—are focused on the play in front of them, and stepping forward. The other safety is off the screen, playing deep.

This leaves a nice space in between the defenders, across the middle of the field, and it is for that space which Jeffery runs.

As the ball is thrown, Jeffery is totally clear to make an easy catch. The defender in the center of the field is out of position and cannot make a play on the ball, and Jeffery has cut in to take the angle away from his coverage. 

You should also note that the other defender in the area is still facing Marshall—had he been aware of where the ball was going, perhaps he might have come over to assist, though one assumes it would also be too late.

Jeffery makes a nice catch in stride and turns upfield to add a few yards and put the team in a position for a short Michael Bush touchdown run.

Jeffery’s solid route-running continues on this next play, but that’s not all. He also shows a willingness to be physical as well as an ability to force a corner into some bad decisions.

On this play, Jeffery lines up inside, with Marshall up top next to the sideline.

As the ball is snapped, a defender steps up to cover Jeffery, who is clearly going on a short-to-intermediate route.

As he reaches the cornerback, Jeffery cuts out toward the sideline very sharply, boxing out the defender with his body as the ball is released.

The defender cannot make a clean play on the ball and opts to try to knock Jeffery off the ball, hoping to disrupt the play while perhaps getting away with some not-quite-kosher contact.

Jeffery catches the ball anyway, and draws a flag to boot. It’s a double whammy as the corner just could not handle Jeffery’s route-running as well as his size.

On his final catch of the evening, Jeffery looks to take a short slant off the line, again keeping himself between the cornerback and his quarterback.

As you can see by this next sequence of pictures, he gets that inside position and his coverage quickly falls behind.

The next two moves just make the corner look silly. First, Jeffery makes a hard plant, stopping and pivoting toward the sideline. The cornerback is just too slow to react and too far behind. 

As Jeffery cuts out, the ball is released and the cornerback is wildly out of position.

The final screen cap is a a collage of embarrassing defender moments. Jeffery gets the ball and accelerates toward the sideline (1), then turns upfield (2), accelerates again (3) and heads up the sideline (4) leaving three defenders grasping at air (5). 

I thought he was gone but the deep safety comes over and knocks him out of bounds—the only nice defensive play during this down.

Jeffery isn’t perfect—he was baited into a foolish personal foul by Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall—and there were times he struggled to get free of coverage.

However, the good far outweighs the rough edges for Jeffery, and with Marshall across from him he will see the single coverage he got from the Redskins more often than not.

It’s then just a matter of focusing and taking advantage of it.

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