Oakland Raiders: What If This Team Played in a 5-2 Defense

Before you light your torches and sharpen your pitchforks, read the article. 

A 5-2 defense is one that is no longer used in the NFL on a normal basis.  Teams prefer the 4-3 and 3-4 schemes.  Both have their flaws and strengths.

The 5-2's biggest strength is obviously playing the against the run.  With five down linemen, teams think twice about trying to run down the middle where there are three big defensive tackles bunched together.  

The Raiders had an atrocious season in 2011.  They were 27th against the run and allowed 5.1 yards a carry, good for dead last in the NFL.  

Passing wise, the Raiders were not too bad, coming in at 11th overall against the pass.  A switch to the 5-2 could hurt the passing game, but not to such an extent that calls for worry.  

The Raiders are all about man coverage with corners playing one on one.  It's a new regime, but that's the Raider mystique and I don't see that much of a change when it comes to zone or man.  The defensive backs will remained unaffected by the 5-2 defense.

Well, not entirely unaffected.  They might even benefit from the change.  Think about the great defenses of the past, like the 1985 Bears or the Grits Blitz Falcons.  

Both brought unique blitzing packages that overloaded the line of scrimmage.  The Raiders have one of the better defensive lines in the NFL, despite their underachieving 2011 campaign, and can wreak havoc on any offense. 

In this article, I'm focusing on a tight 5-2 defense where the five down linemen are closely packed together rather than spread about in a 3-4 manner.  We'll start by seeing who would play what position and its overall effects.  

Right Defensive End: Matt Shaughnessy

Last season, Matt Shaughnessy was supposed to explode and burst onto the scene as one of the premiere defensive ends.  While that didn't exactly happen, Raider Nation has no reason to think this season will be any different.

Shaughnessy is built like your prototypical defensive end.  At 6'5" and 270 lbs., Shaughnessy has the ideal size to anchor the right side of the defensive line.  With 4.88 speed, he can run down quarterbacks when necessary.

We all know that Shaughnessy is a good pass rusher.  He has played in 35 games, but only started thirteen total.  In limited playing time, Shaughnessy has gotten to the quarterback twelve times, which calculates to little under one per start.  

Stats are one thing, but actually watching the games is another.  Shaughnessy is surprisingly tough against the run game.  There are plenty of times where I see Shaughnessy get past his blocker with ease and hit the ball carrier in the backfield, hard.

In a 5-2 defense: Shaughnessy is the ideal right end who will rush when you need to, but stay at home and find the ball carrier as well. 

Right Defensive Tackle: Tommy Kelly

Tommy Kelly has been one of the most under-appreciated players on the entire team.  

An undrafted free agent with unlimited potential, Kelly achieved notoriety when Al Davis handed him the largest contract for a defensive tackle in NFL history.  

He was quite undeserving at the time, because Kelly had just started to get into the swing of things.

Today, that kind of contract would not be so hard to believe.  At times, Kelly looks like Albert Haynesworth, where he's lazy and doesn't exactly want to play.  

But more often than not, I see Kelly bursting through the line as if he was John Randle in his prime.  

Kelly is one of the best pass-rushing defensive tackles in the league.  When he wants to, he can accelerate off the line before guards and centers even know what's going on.  He is strong and can wear down blockers over the course of the game.

Obviously, being motivated is the problem.  With Dennis Allen as head coach, Kelly will have to play lights out or he will face the chopping block.

In a 5-2 defense:  Kelly would flourish in the 5-2 defense.  The problem many see with Kelly is that when he's double-teamed, he is easy to take down.  But when it's mano-a-mano, Kelly has no problem.  

Ever since Richard Seymour started taking the majority of the double teams, Kelly has sacked the quarterback 14.5 times.  

Nose Tackle: Richard Seymour

First off, let me say that I know Richard Seymour is not a nose tackle.  

However, he is, hands down, our best defensive lineman and can very well play nose tackle in a 5-2 defense.  

The term nose tackle is usually talked about in a 3-4 and, in that formation, the nose tackle has to take up two defenders. 

He is one of the best interior pass-rushers in the entire league.  Playing a 3-4 defensive end and 4-3 defensive tackle, Seymour brings the best of both worlds.  He is a stout run defender with an arsenal of pass-rushing abilities.  

His acceleration off the ball is tremendous and he looks offsides half the time.  

He has good strength to take on any center.  The only problem with Seymour is he is so big that centers can get under him.  

But with over ten years of experience, Big Rich will have no problem adapting and it won't take him long to start overpowering centers on a weekly basis.  

In a 5-2 defense:  Playing in a 5-2 defense for Richard Seymour is like dunking a basketball on a basketball hoop that is four feet high.  

Since moving to defensive tackle for the Raiders, Seymour has had 11.5 sacks.  Keep in mind, that is while facing double teams a majority of the time.

In a tight 5-2 where every lineman is faced with another lineman, Richard Seymour will get the chance to play directly over the center every time.  That, my friends, is heaven for a guy like Seymour.  

Left Defensive Tackle: Lamarr Houston

Ever since Lamarr Houston's name was called on draft day, I have been a huge fan of the guy.  

A strong and physical defensive tackle capable of playing defensive end?  He was the second coming of Richard Seymour.  And when the two started working together, I died and went to heaven.

Houston's second year in the NFL was not as successful as he had wanted, but it was still a very good season.  

Anyone who has watched the Raiders this past season knows that, while Houston did not record the sacks, he was constantly hitting ball carriers and putting tremendous amounts of pressure on quarterbacks.

Houston has the tenacity of an undrafted free agent, but the skills of a high draft pick.  His motor is non-stop and he is always wanting more.  He makes the perfect defensive lineman for the Raiders.

In a 5-2 defense:  In a 5-2 defense, Houston would be very much like Tommy Kelly.  Unlike Kelly however, Houston is always working and is not as easy to eliminate from the game.  

He is very good against the run and that is most likely a big reason the Raiders play him at defensive end.  They have that burning desire to have all three great defensive tackles on the field at once.

The good thing for Houston is that he played defensive end for two years, meaning he has gone up to pass rush against the best of the right tackles in the NFL.  

Using what he's learned from defensive end, Houston could take that and bully offensive guards, who are seen as better run blockers than pass blockers.  

Houston is the ideal right left defensive tackle in a 5-2. 

Left Defensive End: Trevor Scott

This one is a little bit more tricky than the others.  Initially, I had Kamerion Wimbley as the right piece for this position.  But after what has transpired over the last week, I'm a firm supporter of the fact that Wimbley needs to take a hike.  

His play against the running game and his shoulder dip is not good enough to play left defensive end either.  

This position, in my eyes, is much like a 3-4 strong-side outside linebacker.  Someone who can rush the passer like a defensive end, but drop back into coverage like a linebacker.  

The Raiders don't have many of those kinds of players, and it's possible to find some through the draft.  But for the sake of this article, we're going to go with what we already have.  It comes down Jarvis Moss and Trevor Scott.

If you can read the article and look at pictures, you'll know how I picked.

In a 5-2 defense:  At first, Trevor Scott will undoubtedly struggle.  He had a very impressive season as a rookie, but fell off after an injury.  Since then, he was replaced by Shaughnessy and Houston, and has struggled to come back.

But before he was injured, he had temporarily played at outside linebacker.  That means he has some experience dropping back in coverage, more than the other linemen on our team at least.  

He has the outside linebacker build that makes you drool.  He comes in at 6'5", weighs 255 lbs., and ran a 4.54 40.  

In a 5-2 defense, Scott will rush more than he drops into coverage.  He has the speed to stay with tight ends on plays where he needs to cover, but most of the time, I would see him against an offensive tackle.  

Left Inside Linebacker: Aaron Curry

Recently, I wrote an article about Aaron Curry and how well he would adapt to a 3-4 defensive scheme.  In a 5-2, the inside linebackers almost have the same responsibilities.  They have to play on the line, hard against the run and can drop back into coverage.

Left inside linebackers are usually guys who are more exceptional against the run.  They play on the strong side of the offense because often times, that's where the tight end lines up.  They have to be strong, quick and smart.

Aaron Curry is the best run defending linebacker the Raiders have, without a doubt.  He is fierce when attacking the ball carrier, works hard and hits with the force of a speeding truck.  

In a 5-2 defense:  With all of the offensive linemen too occupied with their own man to block, Curry's job of getting the ball carrier becomes that much more simple.  He doesn't have to take on blocks as often and can roam the field to hunt.  

In a 5-2 defense, Curry would probably be the leading tackler.  With a defensive line that handles the offensive line, Curry would not face many obstacles on his way to the carrier.  

Right Inside Linebacker: Rolando McClain

Season three is a make or break season for McClain.  Hopefully, McClain will have the same epiphany that Darren McFadden and Darrius Heyward-Bey had, and take the step to become a great linebacker.

As a rookie, McClain had flashes and his future looked bright.  As a sophomore, he regressed and the fire he played with seemed to burn out.  

With Dennis Allen as the head coach, he will be sure to jump on McClain if he senses anything less than 100% from the former first-round pick.  

In a 5-2 defense:  I believe McClain can really excel in a 5-2 defense.  We all know about how well he played in Alabama's 3-4 defense.  With practically the same linebacker set up, McClain may have a chance to replicate his college success in a 5-2 defense.  

Typically, the right inside linebacker is a guy who plays well against the pass.  McClain showed that he can play well against the run in college, but regressed as a professional.  

If he could grasp what he did right and consistently put it together, his run defense will be very tough to play against.

In pass defense, it's no question that McClain can play.  An incredibly intelligent player, McClain is the best pass-defending linebacker.  The former coaching staff knew he was so good they played him on Calvin Johnson!  Just a bit of humor there.  

But, the fact is, he can play against the pass and needs to improve against the run.  That will surely be easy for him as offensive linemen will be too occupied to block him in a 5-2.  

Cornerbacks

Since the 5-2 defense really matters to the front seven, I don't need to go into all that much detail here.

When Hue Jackson was still running things, Michael Huff was rumored to play at cornerback full time.  Dennis Allen may just keep that idea himself and follow through with what the old regime had planned.

Huff can be a good cornerback.  He has good cover skills and can be a ball hawk.  At safety, he was not as consistent as he had hoped, but got into the swing of things as he matured.  Unfortunately, he could not take the next step after getting injured last season.

Of course, all players have their weaknesses.  Huff's weakness was his tackling skills, but fear not!  At corner, Huff will not be expected to tackle as much.  Sure, it'll be great to have a hard-hitting cornerback, but as long as he can cover, I'm fine with that.

Opposing Huff can go either way.  Both Chimdi Chekwa and DeMarcus Van Dyke played well last season as rookies.  Based on what I saw, I have to give Chimdi Chekwa the slight nod over Van Dyke.

Don't get me wrong, Van Dyke is a terrific player, but his ball skills worry me.  There were times where I watched him and he played with shut down coverage, but the guy could not play the ball to save his life.  

I don't know how well developed he is at this point, but if he continues to work on that, he and Chekwa could be the next Haynes and Hayes.  

Safeties

With Michael Huff moving to cornerback, Tyvon Branch will slide over to free safety and Mike Mitchell will step up to play strong safety full time.

While I have been harsh on the two in the past, deep down, I am very excited.  We all know what Branch can do.  His ball skills are improving and I think this upcoming season will be his best yet.  

For Mitchell, it is a mystery.  There are times where he plays great, like his interception against Green Bay.  But there are times where he messes up in coverage and allows a touchdown, like the pivotal game against the Chargers, allowing Antonio Gates to get the touchdown.

But once he gets more playing time, he will start to get the full swing of things.  These two are both heavy hitters with potentially great ball skills.  

It kind of reminds me of the duo of Jack Tatum and George Atkinson.  Mitchell is notorious for his hard-hitting style, like Jack Tatum himself.  

Branch is also a hard hitter, but is working hard on his ball skills.  George Atkinson finished his career with 30 interceptions, tied for fifth on the Raiders all-time interception list.  

Run Defense

The Raiders run defense will improve, without a doubt.  With five down linemen, teams will not find running lanes as easily as they did this past year.  

With players like Richard Seymour, Tommy Kelly and Lamarr Houston, offensive lines will have nightmares every Saturday night.  

All three of these players are so quick and strong that they will all be in the backfield before the quarterback can even hand the ball off.

The linebackers' play will improve drastically as well.  With blockers all occupied, this allows Aaron Curry and Rolando McClain to run to the ball-carrier as they please without having to really face a blocker.  

For McClain, this would be a boost of confidence while for Curry, it's just another day of work.

In a more realistic sense, the defensive backs changing around also helps the run game.  

With Huff at corner, this allows a safety who is better in run support to be on the field.  Branch is already a good run defender, but once you add Mitchell into the mix, things really get interesting.  

Both players have enough speed to get to the ball carrier after a minimal gain, but can also run down defenders if the front seven bends.  

Pass Defense

Many are probably thinking that the 5-2 would be a terrible defense in this day and age with three quarterbacks passing for over 5,000 yards and a fourth less than 100 yards away.

But, like I said in the first slide, pressure is a very important part of a good passing defense.  If you want a modern example, take the 2009 New York Jets.  They brought heavy pressure consistently and always had quarterbacks rattled.  A rattled quarterback leads to errant throws, disrupted timing and the fear of getting hit.

With the five defensive linemen I named as starters in this article, all are capable of getting to the quarterback quickly and with a lot of force.  

A front four of Shaughnessy, Seymour, Kelly and Houston were already one of the best in 2010.  Add another pass-rusher like Trevor Scott and quarterbacks will be begging their coaches to forfeit.

The 2012 Raiders will not have the two cornerbacks they did in 2010 however, and that may hurt.  But Huff can play against the number one receiver and Chekwa will do well at the number two.  

In Closing

There you have it, folks.  Now, if you still think I'm crazy, that's fine.  I like to think outside the box once in a while and see the interesting aspects of what ifs in football.  

The Raiders have a lot of work on defense in 2012 and it's fun to see in what ways we, as writers, can improve that defense.  

This writer believes that a change in their base defense is what is needed.  Not necessarily the 5-2, but the scheme would make it much more interesting.

Whatever the Raiders do, I know their defense will be much better with the addition of Dennis Allen.  He will have the defense ready, smart, strong, fast and playing the best that they possibly can.