Falcons’ Foyesade Oluokun exemplifies Jets’ vision for rookie LBs (Film)

Falcons linebacker Foyesade Oluokun encapsulates the role that the New York Jets are looking to fill with Jamien Sherwood and Hamsah Nasirildeen. One of Robert Saleh's most appealing traits as a head coaching candidate was his open-mindedness. Over the course of his four years in San Francisco, Saleh constantly molded the makeup and core philosophies of the 49ers' defense, willingly making adjustments based on input from his defensive staff. Rather than forcefully impose his own vision, Saleh listened to those around him, ensuring that the construction of San Francisco's defense was a full-on group effort. For example, take the 49ers' well-known emphasis on utilizing their defensive ends in a wide-nine alignment over the past two years. San Francisco was not doing that over Saleh's first two years with the team. The wide-nine was implemented by Kris Kocurek when he was hired as the team's defensive line coach in 2019. A pupil of Jim Washburn - one of the early populizers of the wide-nine concept - Kocurek was given Saleh's blessing to change up the 49ers' philosophies on the defensive line. The wide-nine helped Nick Bosa, Dee Ford, and Arik Armstead lead a dominant pass rush that was the primary driving force behind a second-ranked defense that ran all the way to the Super Bowl. Saleh's willingness to alter his defense based on the suggestions of a newly-hired position coach ended up leading the 49ers to within one win of a championship. Just a few months into Saleh's tenure as the head coach of the New York Jets, we are already seeing his open-mindedness come into play. With the core of the Jets' 2021 roster nearly complete (save for any late free agent additions or trades), the defense does not look like it is being constructed to completely mimic Saleh's 49ers units. Rather, it is beginning to look like the defensive roster features a healthy blend of ideas from both Saleh and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, an early sign that Saleh is going to avoid being too hands-on and instead focus on giving his staff the chance to play a major role in the formation of the team's identity. One part of the defense where it seems clear that Ulbrich's ideas are at the forefront is the linebacker position. The Jets spent a pair of Day 3 draft selections on two very similar linebacker prospects, Jamien Sherwood and Hamsah Nasirildeen, a pair of safety/linebacker hybrids who each played a wide variety of defensive roles in college and project as small, athletic, and versatile WILL linebackers in the Jets' scheme. Of all the linebackers in the NFL right now, the one that most closely resembles what the Jets appear to be going for with Nasirildeen and Sherwood is Foyesade Oluokun, the Atlanta Falcons' starting WILL linebacker. Ulbrich was Oluokun's linebackers coach throughout the past three seasons, helping the sixth-round pick out of Yale become a key rotational piece as a rookie and develop into a starter by his third season. In terms of his background, build, and utilization, Oluokun is the exact player that the Jets appear to be trying to get in Nasirildeen and Sherwood. Oluokun weighed in at 215 pounds last season, making him the lightest inside linebacker to appear in a game in the entire league. That's directly in line with Nasirildeen (215 pounds) and Sherwood (216 pounds). Like the two Jets draft picks, Oluokun has a background at the safety position, playing the position in high school before transitioning in college. Taking advantage of Oluokun's tweener size and athletic advantage, the Falcons deployed him all over the field, utilizing him as one of the most versatile linebackers in the league. Oluokun lined up outside of the tackle box on 41.8% of his defensive snaps in 2020, the fourth-highest rate among 73 qualified linebackers. He lined up either in the slot, at free safety, or at outside cornerback on 18.0% of his snaps, the fifth-highest rate. Here is a breakdown of Oluokun's snap counts by alignment and where they ranked among linebackers: Box: 521 snaps (46th) Edge: 213 snaps (5th) Slot: 110 snaps (8th) Outside CB: 37 snaps (1st) Free safety: 14 snaps (5th) In total, Oluokun played 374 snaps outside of the tackle box, third among all linebackers behind only Kyle Van Noy and K.J. Wright. Oluokun was an every-down player in 2020, taking part in 96% of Atlanta's defensive plays on average (counting out a game that he left early due to injury). And that is what the Jets are looking for - not a rotational chess piece, but a starter who has the versatility to sufficiently take on numerous assignments in coverage, allowing the team to remain in its 4-3 base package when the opponent throws out 11 personnel. https://twitter.com/RobbySabo/status/1390318838072418309 If you have a linebacker with the size, athleticism, and coverage skills of a safety, he doesn't have to come off the field when the offense adds more speed to its lineup. Let's take a look at some examples of Oluokun in action to get an idea of the responsibilities that the Jets will likely be placing upon Nasirildeen and Sherwood. The Chargers send out 11 personnel on this play, placing their tight end (Hunter Henry) in the slot. Oluokun takes Henry in off-man coverage, giving about four yards of cushion. Henry releases outside and gets Oluokun to turn his hips toward the sideline before cutting back inside. Oluokun makes an excellent speed turn to recover, flipping his hips inside and getting back on top of the route to erase some of the separation and contest the throw. That play is a great example of the maneuverability a defense is afforded by having a starting linebacker who is athletic enough to do more than merely handle the most basic coverage assignments of the position. Most linebackers would never be asked to take on that assignment, but if you have one who can, it's a huge boost. Having versatile players who can be trusted to do things beyond the general requirements of their position gives the defensive coordinator more options with how he can move his chess pieces around, increasing the unpredictability factor for the opposition. This next play from Oluokun is another excellent showcase of a responsibility that teams could only ask of a linebacker with this type of unique skillset, a la Nasirildeen and Sherwood. Here, the Falcons trust Oluokun's mobility enough that they ask him to sprint back and cover the hole in Tampa-2 after lining up over the A-gap pre-snap - and he gets the job done pretty effectively. Oluokun opens his hips to the left before flipping right to cover the tight end, but then passes him off as he crosses into the next zone. Oluokun notices the quarterback initiating a scramble drill and locates a man to cover. He finds Jerry Jeudy, flipping his hips back toward the sideline and sprinting upfield to get on top of Jeudy as he attempts to separate downfield. With undersized and athletic linebackers like Oluokun, Nasirildeen, and Sherwood, you can afford to do creative things like that, because they have speed that larger linebackers do not. Like the first play above, Los Angeles again uses 11 personnel and asks Henry to align in the slot, placing him on the line of scrimmage in a stack formation. Oluokun takes Henry in man coverage, this time lining up in a soft press technique about 2-3 yards off the line. The Chargers toss a screen to the running back to Oluokun's side with Henry as the lead blocker. Oluokun is able to wade his way through the traffic and make the stop for a three-yard gain. Lined up on the edge, Oluokun takes the back in man coverage and mirrors him into the flat. Check out the speed here. At MIKE linebacker, Oluokun turns and runs all the way up the field with Mecole Hardman, sticking with him. Oluokun lines up at MIKE linebacker and is tasked with covering the hole in Tampa-2. He opens his hips to the outside to cover anything deep from the tight end. Once the tight end sits down, Oluokun turns his attention to the #2 weapon on that side, picking up the post route and getting underneath it to shut it down. The instincts are what pop out the most on that play. Safety-to-linebacker converts do not only boast improved athleticism for the position, but they offer improved coverage instincts as well. On the play above, Oluokun was able to quickly find another threat to defuse after his first read sat down. In many similar scenarios over the past few seasons, you would see burlier Jets linebackers like Neville Hewitt and James Burgess let that post route fly straight by them for a huge gain, keeping their eyes fixated in the backfield and never showing the ability to feel out the threats in their area. When you have someone with a safety background playing linebacker, those things will happen less often. Oluokun is the perfect model for what the Jets are hoping Nasirildeen and Sherwood will become, showcasing what a team can do with a linebacker who has superior mobility and coverage ability thanks to his undersized frame and safety background. Both Saleh and Ulbrich have excellent backgrounds in developing linebackers. In San Francisco, Saleh helped third-round pick Fred Warner to become a star and fifth-round pick Dre Greenlaw to become a good starter. In Atlanta, Ulbrich developed Oluokun and oversaw Deion Jones' ascension to star status. None of those four players were first-round picks. With such good track records in developing linebackers, it makes sense that Saleh and Ulbrich would feel comfortable about waiting until late in the draft to attack the position. They feel good about their ability to develop anybody they bring in at the position and do not feel they need to make a premium investment to be successful there. Can the dynamic linebacker-coaching duo of Saleh and Ulbrich keep its success going with Nasirildeen and Sherwood? If so, the Jets will reap the benefits of some high-level coverage impact at the linebacker position, something they have not enjoyed in a very, very long time.