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Film Room: Wilkerson, Richardson bring precision and power to Jets defensive line

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Sheldon Richardson stood over the center and showed blitz, while his teammates swirled near the line of scrimmage to confuse the blockers. 

Muhammad Wilkerson had come up to Richardson and stood with him over the center. Richardson moved to his left, over the right tackle, and showed blitz again. The center looked up and saw Wilkerson for the first time and looked to his right to find Richardson. 

Suddenly the center yelled, looked around at his teammates and into the backfield, waving his left hand to change the pass protection. Then Richardson walked back to stand with Wilkerson over the center before he left again. The center dropped his head and, finally, snapped the ball.

Rex Ryan’s defenses are complex. His playbook has multiple fronts and blitzes in it. It’s unsurprising considering his father is Buddy Ryan, the legendary 46 defense architect. Buddy’s 46 defense had six defenders on the line. And now here was his son, the head coach of the New York Jets, with no one on the line. He called it the amoeba front. Others called it confusion. That’s what Ryan’s fronts do. They confuse blockers, creating one-on-one matchups that let his pass rushers dominate.

Ryan’s best pass rushers are Wilkerson and Richardson. They’re both defensive ends in the base 3-4 defense but play various techniques, including zero, one, three, four and five. They can beat blockers on their own, but every now and then Ryan shows blitz to give them isolated matchups against puny guards like he did in Week 3 against the Chicago Bears.

Wilkerson was crouched at the zero-technique. It was third-and-4, and the Bears were in shotgun, clearly passing. The Jets were meaty up front, particularly to the strong-side. Richardson was at the three-technique to that side, as were a defensive end and a cornerback, who showed blitz. In addition to the center and Wilkerson, the Bears had three blockers against the Jets’ four rushers.

Wilkerson took one step forward at the snap and bounced back, waited and spied on the quarterback. The center was still watching him until Richardson burst to the center's left. He was late sliding over with the rest of the line because of the attention he paid to Wilkerson.

By the time he slid over, Richardson was shooting into the backfield at full speed. He couldn’t slow him down, which forced the quarterback to scramble up the pocket. When he climbed it, Wilkerson came forward, too, and sacked him.

Wilkerson’s a silent killer. Sometimes you forget he’s playing until he comes up with a sack. He leads the Jets with four sacks this season and is second on the team with nine quarterback hurries, according to Pro Football Focus. He does it with grace and discipline, stacking and shedding blocks with those elbow-to-wrist half-sleeves, eyeing the quarterback and then bursting to him. When he combines his 35 1/4-inch arms with proper technique, he’s nearly unstoppable, like he was on this play against the Denver Broncos in Week 6.

It was third-and-15 for the Broncos, from their own 18. To make matters worse, Wilkerson was lined up directly over the center at the zero-technique. He was closer to the quarterback than any other defender.

Wilkerson’s first step was outside to bait the center into sliding left. He shook his shoulders and turned his hips left, which convinced the center to slightly slide over. Wilkerson capitalized and extended his right arm to punch the center. He then moved his feet forward and raised his left arm to bring it over the center.

The arm-over turned the center sideways, opening him up, which allowed Wilkerson to burst through the A-gap, square his hips and sack the quarterback.

Wilkerson’s length is too much to handle for interior blockers. They have neither the length nor the quickness to combat his rush. That’s why Ryan’s smart to use him all over the defensive line, letting him pick his battles and dominate from wherever he wants.

Ryan does the same with Richardson, who is a different kind of player. He dominates with speed and power. He has three sacks this season and leads the team with 12 quarterback hurries, fourth-most at his position, according to Pro Football Focus.

Despite the numbers, he’s not as technically sound as Wilkerson. He also has a different mentality. Instead of gliding by you, he pounds you until you break. And when you break, sometimes he lands on top of you because that’s just how he is. He’s mean, physical and likes attention. In some ways, he plays like he’s breaking free of captivity and making people pay for it. In Week 4, the Detroit Lions paid up.

They had first-and-10 from their own 31 when the Jets were in a four-man front. Richardson was at the three-technique, over the right guard on the strong-side. The Lions called for play action and slid their entire offensive line to his side. The right guard and center blocked Richardson together before the center slid away. For a brief moment, it looked like he was going to have an isolated matchup, but then the right guard jumped in.

The double team didn’t slow Richardson down, as he moved his feet and kept his eyes up. His head was on a swivel. Eventually he located the quarterback and lowered his pad level while he extended both arms out. His left arm fended off the right guard. His right arm fended off the left guard.

He propelled himself forward and accelerated through the backfield. He sunk his hips and planted off of his left leg to burst right and drive his right shoulder through the quarterback for a 9-yard loss.

Together, Richardson and Wilkerson have been dominant in Ryan’s scheme. They have seven of the Jets’ 19 sacks, which are second-most in the NFL. 

The two complement each other well. Whereas Richardson is dramatic, yet physical, Wilkerson quietly wreaks havoc with technique. With their ability to apply pressure from anywhere, Ryan can use them at various techniques on the defensive line to confuse blockers and create mismatches.

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