The Steelers didn’t bring Patrick Graham in to lead their defense and reinvent the wheel. But he’ll have some ideas about the money downs. On Friday, he spoke about his philosophy, keeping things simple on early downs, exotic on possession downs. The idea is to force the offense into adverse situations with consistent execution and then throw them for a loop.
“I’m not big on having a lot of different schemes for early down. And we’ll find ways to be multiple within it, but I try to keep it in five buckets for them there”, Graham explained about the concepts he is bringing to the Steelers’ defense. “Then we’ll get to second-and-long and third down, and that’s when we get to the fun stuff. The fun stuff, that’s where the imagination goes wild”.
Graham said that he jokes with his players that they may forget something about an early-down install on the first day, but “if we come up with some funky third-down blitz package or whatever that you might get a sack, they’re not going to forget that”.
Every player, of course, loves the opportunity to make plays. The Steelers’ defense under Patrick Graham will have their broccoli on first and second down to earn dessert on third. That’s obviously a simplistic way of putting it, but it conveys the general idea. In any adverse circumstance, the opposing offense should be on edge for what they might send their way.
With that said, as Mike McCarthy previously conveyed, Patrick Graham understands what a Steelers defense looks like. While he doesn’t necessarily inherit the prior coaching tree Mike Tomlin developed, the principles will remain in place.
“I’m not going to try to venture too far off from what this city, what you guys have been known for”, Graham said, talking about earning his place within the tradition of the Steelers’ defense. “We’ve got to play hard-nosed, physical football. We have to have an intimidating play style”.
Through two weeks of the offseason program, Graham admits he has spent far more time talking about disposition and an overall vision than he has building the actual Xs and Os that will characterize the Steelers’ defense under his coordination.
Obviously, the Steelers’ defense evolved under Tomlin, at least within the confines of the broader tradition. Arguably, the biggest change was opening up the defensive line, allowing them to attack more often rather than consistently play two-gap. Under Graham, the Steelers’ defense up front will still play a vital role in keeping the second level clear, however.
Elsewhere, he has at his disposal pieces about which he has time to contemplate deploying. Unsurprisingly, Steelers reporters asked Graham about how he viewed Jalen Ramsey in the defense. While he acknowledged that he was a chess piece, he also pointed out that it’s April. In other words, there is plenty of time to figure that all out. Right now, they are installing the philosophy of the defense more than anything else.