Alright boys and girls, today I’m going to talk about the importance of safeties in the Raiders’ defense against the opponent’s rushing attack. As most of you know, the Raiders like their defense to have a single deep safety, as recently played by free safety Michael Huff. Almost everyone else on the field is responsible for an individual. Typically the linebackers will cover the fullback, halfback, tight end, or a spy on the quarterback. The corners are of course responsible for the wide receivers and the strong safety will either play a third wide receiver or a modern era tight end who is more athletically gifted than your run of the mill tight end. So what does this have to do with the opponent’s rushing attack? Let’s investigate.
In the particular defense the Raiders run, the safeties are of utmost importance. Aside from a free roaming linebacker who could almost instantly have a blocker in his face, the two safeties are the only guys who can have eyes in the backfield at the snap of the ball. Everyone else is either being blocked or watching an individual player. And while the strong safety has an assigned player as well, he typically lines up ten to fifteen yards away from the line of scrimmage, which means he has a moment to decipher whether the play is a run or a pass before having to account for his assignment.
Two particular plays that stand out to me from last season are the following:
- Tyvon Branch steps into the gaping hole to stop Titans running back, Chris Johnson. Branch misses and that leads to a 76 yard score that accounted for over half of Johnsons’ yardage the first game of the season.
- Frank Gore makes Michael Huff miss and goes for a 74-yard score in week 6.
For those who are keeping track, that is 150 yards in just two plays squarely on the shoulders of the safeties. And that’s certainly not the only two runs that lay on their shoulders – it’s just two of the biggest from 2010, two runs that will be ingrained in the minds of fans when they think about the negatives of Tyvon Branch and Michael Huff.
The 76 yard run that Branch could have stuffed ended up being the longest of the year against the Raiders, who for the most part contained Johnson all day long. It the longest run of the season against the Raiders, but more importantly it happened early on and set a bad tone for the rest of the season. Furthermore, whenever a run goes for that distance, it can typically be blamed on the safeties as they are literally the last line of defense.
Some say that Tyvon Branch could be on the hot seat after a lackluster performance last season against the run and pass. Others, myself included, think he is simply out of position. You see, I think Michael Huff is the weak link in the Raiders’ safety combination. That’s another thing about the safeties in this Raiders defense — they have to be able to rely on each other.
Unlike Nnamdi Asomugha, who played safety in college, Tyvon Branch was a collegiate cornerback who the Raiders moved to safety. They believed he had great hitting ability and – of course – speed. Both of those things are true; however, the killer instinct seems a bit lacking for Branch. He is a solid tackling machine, but not a killer.
His ability to cover and break up passes makes him the ideal centerfielder for the Raiders. His experience already obtained in the Raiders’ defense and in the NFL makes him the ideal signal caller for the secondary. That job belonged to Michael Huff, who by most accounts appears to be headed out the door. But perhaps the biggest difference between Huff and Branch is that Branch is a prototypical technique tackler. In other words, if he gets a bead on you (and your name isn’t CJ2K), you are probably done for.
In my opinion, the perfect way to counter the absence of Branch in the strong safety position is with 2009 second rounder, Mike Mitchell. Mitchell, unlike Branch, does possess that killer instinct as a tackler. He wants to remove running backs’ helmets. He wants to crush people and he does so with reckless abandon. Additionally, he virtually made one of the most gifted tight ends in the league, Antonio Gates, disappear in one-on-one coverage in the two Chargers games in 2010.
Mitchell also has significant speed and his range is outstanding. What do I mean by range?
This is something you can see all the way back in Mitchell’s college tape at THE Ohio University. It’s one of the first things I remember learning about Mike Mitchell and part of why he earned the nickname, “The Missile.” It has a lot to do with play recognition and a lot to do with acceleration. What it really means is that if a play is about to happen on the left side of the football field while Mitchell is lined up on the right, it does not take very long for him to get across the 52-yard wide field and be in position to make a tackle. This is something that you can’t really teach and it’s a special characteristic shared by some of the most gifted safeties in the league.
Brian Dawkins in his prime comes to mind. Dawkins played most of his career as a Philadelphia Eagles free safety, but that scheme is far different from the Raiders’. It requires that range from their free safety and, if you’ve noticed, the Eagles have yet to find a suitable replacement for Dawkins. Late in his career he moved to strong safety for the Broncos and actually went to a Pro Bowl as a starter in his 16th season.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say that Mitchell is a first ballot Hall of Famer. I’m just saying he shares that specific characteristic of one. It’s very Troy Polamolu-esque. Although I will say that Polamolu has virtually unmatched raw instincts – I mean the guy is like an eagle who can spot his prey from 1,000 feet above. Mitchell has yet to show me that.
Bottom line in all of this is that the Raiders need to do better against the run. They have that great defensive line in place. They have that middle linebacker who is going to lead the team in tackles year in and year out. But it all gels with getting that safety combination correct. Some will point to Stevie Brown and say, start him over one of these guys. But Brown needs to show me more before I can commit to any such thing. I think the Branch and Mitchell combination deserves a chance to show how good it can be first. Those two guys have earned their stripes.
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