Keep your hands to yourself, young man
The Seattle Seahawks’ Legion of Boom pass defenders must be on their best behavior in the upcoming 2014 campaign. The NFL, according to former VP of officiating and current Fox Sports analyst Mike Pereira, has announced a renewed emphasis on defensive holding and illegal contact. The intention, apparently, is to not allow defenders guarding receivers running pass patterns the same ability to disrupt as they had been allowed as recently as last season.
The Legion of Boom must now learn to play defense using “first date” behavior. Defensive holding and illegal contact will be looked at with more scrutiny in 2014.
To be clear, this is not a new rule. Rather, the news is that NFL officials will be more rigorously enforcing the already existing rules that prevent defenders from aggressively disrupting receivers with contact five yards beyond the line of scrimmage. The expected result is that physical, aggressive defenses will suffer. Chalk up another win for NFL offenses.
Is this the end of the Legion of Boom? Hardly. The Seahawks, despite their reputation for handsy, aggressive, a-little-over-the-edge physicality in the defensive backfield are still well-stocked with some of the finest and smartest defensive athletes the NFL can offer.
Despite earning the nickname of the “Legion of Boom rule,” courtesy of ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, The Seahawks are not being singled out. There are at least 31 other cornerback squads and coaches that are perhaps not-so-quietly swearing under their breath at the new state of officiating.
King size
The Seahawks’ cornerbacks run big, and that’s not just a reference to Richard Sherman’s mouth. Sherman himself is easily one of the tallest cornerbacks in the NFL at 6’ 3”. Not so coincidentally, one of the NFL’s other few cornerbacks of that height is promising second-year player Tharold Simon, who outweighs Sherman by seven pounds, if you’re not factoring in Sherman’s overweight wallet.
Despite losing another king-sized cornerback in free agency — erstwhile Seahawks starter Brandon Browner (6’ 4”) — to the New England Patriots, the Seahawks may have overreached in their efforts to land another super-sized cornerback in 220-lb., 6’3” rookie free agent Eric Pinkins. Pinkins may be a long shot to make the 53-man roster but don’t count him out — the Seahawks love linebacker-sized corners.
Yes, the Seahawks like their corners extra-large. While they typically play a very aggressive, yet simple, man coverage scheme most of the time, they are long, athletic, and fast enough to capably play within the newly emphasized contact rules of 2014. The Seahawks will have plenty of opportunities to adjust their tone to meet the watchful eyes of the zebras before kickoff on September 4 against the high-flying Green Bay Packers.
How ironic is it that the visiting Packers, who last left Seattle embittered by a sideline official’s call, will be the first opponent to test both the Seahawks and the new defensive contact emphasis? As both teams know, the game can hinge on one fateful call.
Jumbo shrimps
On the other hand, the new rule emphasis may ultimately have a positive effect for the Seahawks. In stark contrast to the size of the team’s cornerbacks, the Seahawks receivers fall on the opposite end of the size spectrum. Seattle’s projected top four receivers, Percy Harvin (5’ 11”), Doug Baldwin (5’ 10”), Jermaine Kearse (6’ 1”) and rookie Paul Richardson (6’ 0”) intimidate exactly no one with their size. They earn their catches in other ways. Those ways are now augmented by the new rules emphasis.
Score one for the beleaguered 26th-ranked Seahawks passing offense. Expect Seattle’s undersized receiver corps to operate a little more freely in the coming season. That should translate to more productivity in the passing game, despite the lack of size.
Welcome to the Boomtown
One side effect of a more hands-free defense could see the resurgence of more big-time collisions. If defenses, such as the Seahawks’ Legion of Boom, are persuaded to play more zone coverage instead of their preferred bump-and-run-and-manhandle-and-grab-and-provoke-and-generally-maliciously-harass coverage, the extra space created between offensive target and crashing defender could mean more violent collisions.
For offenses, at least, dealing with a handsy coverage at least means the guy is running with you. Against a zone defense, defenders are running toward you as you receive or are about to receive the football. Angry defenders rapidly closing gaps = booms of legion-like proportions. Ironically, the new rules emphasis may actually be a factor in more debilitating collisions and may not be the offensive free pass it is suspected to be.
How it will work out for Seattle remains to be seen. The Seahawks kick off their defense of their first NFL title now. It’s up to them to try to stay ahead of the other 31 teams and whatever new rules enforcement may come their way.
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