Redskins fullback Darrel Young provides his scouting report on the Giants’ and Patriots’ defenses, both of whom the Redskins played this season. On the Giants
“I thought they were a physical team. The average height on defense is like 6-foot-3. Those guys are huge. You look what they do to quarterbacks in terms of their defensive line in particular. And Mathias Kiwanuka playing linebacker, but he’s really a defensive end. When he blitzes, he’s tough coming off the end. And when they go to their nickel or dime and have [Justin] Tuck and Dave Tollefson go to [tackle] and put Osi Umenyiora and Jason Pierre-Paul on the edges, that’s four guys who can get after the quarterback. …
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“I like Jacquian Williams in their nickel package. He brings speed to the linebacker position, and you look at Michael Boley, he’s their coordinator out there. When he’s not on the field, they’re suffering and you see a difference. Boley is underrated, but there’s so much talent on that team you can’t give everyone props. …
“JPP has the longest arms I’ve ever seen in my life. He could probably touch his knees standing up straight. It’s very hard to block [Pierre-Paul] because they can use their arms to shed you and you probably won’t get your hands on him. And he’s so smart, so he can switch it up, too.”
On the Patriots
“They’re just huge. Vince Wilfork is an amazing athlete to be that big and move like that. But their outside linebackers have come in and played well. They got Patrick Chung back in, and those guys are playing exceptional. You see a different defense in the playoffs than they were in the regular season. …
“You have to know where Wilfork is. He plays nose tackle. He’s at end in a 3-4. He can stunt. He plays in nickel packages, so he’s not just a run stopper. He’s 350 pounds and an amazing athlete. He gets off the ball fast. It looks like he studies film and studies snap counts and guys’ technique. You can hear him talk throughout the game, and he knew what we were doing by the stuff he was saying. …
“[Linebacker Rob] Ninkovich, when you think about that defense you don’t think about him. I don’t know if he’s the most athletic defensive player, but he’s one of the smartest and most intelligent. He makes plays, and he does his job. He’s playing outside contain to allow someone to make plays inside, like what Ryan Kerrigan and Brian Orakpo do for us.”
