Establish the Fun: How Utah turned Sione Vaki from safety to running back

Plus, the New York Jets play some angry defense.

Welcome back to Establish the Fun, where football is fun and I’m establishing that harder than Air Force football any given week. This week is a fun one, with big games happening all over the schedule in both college and NFL ball, and players stepping up in both games to help their teams succeed.

Here at Establish the Fun, we want to highlight that as much as possible. So, without further ado, let’s get down to business, to Establish some Fun!

Sione Vaki goes full Myles Jack

Utah has been through what most people would call “the 7th layer of hell” to open this season. Despite being 5-1 and still ranked in the AP top-25, they’ve dealt with injuries across the board, but especially to their offense. Head coach Kyle Wittingham has continued to get creative with their personnel to keep the team afloat. That includes playing guys like safety Sione Vaki … at running back!

Vaki’s first collegiate game at running back resulted in 158 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, a whopping 10.5 yards per carry. Surprisingly, Vaki looked pretty good in his first action as a ballcarrier, displaying flashes of vision and patience that most other backs don’t have. Most of Vaki’s runs came in the Wildcat when he was the QB, but when he was lined up as a true back, he did some nice things.

On this play, Utah brings a man in jet motion and runs inside zone away from the jet motion. This pulls a smaller player into the box, and helps aid the angles for the offensive line to get to the second level and take on the linebackers. What Vaki does here is set up the linebackers into the blocks so he can get a positive gain out of this play. It’s subtle, but it’s really good for someone who probably hasn’t taken RB snaps since high school. Watch from the end zone how he sets up the linebacker to overrun the play, then cuts back. Pretty solid, for a safety.

He does the same thing here, setting up the cutback and then you can see a bit of the breakaway speed that stunned me a little bit. He’s a nice changeup to the other ballcarriers that the Utes have on the roster. You also see how the jet motion influences the backside linebacker, who now is in the perfect position for the backside guard to climb up to him after passing off the defensive lineman. Really well blocked up front.

Vaki tacked on a 72-yard touchdown onto his performance as well, one where the play was both a nice counter to their Wildcat runs and a great job by Vaki of setting his blocks up. When Utah would go into Wildcat, with Vaki in the backfield as the QB, they would run power to the strength side and Cal had it stopped up rather quickly. On the Vaki TD, they don’t pull anyone and use the RB next to Vaki as the lead blocker going to the strength. Because the tight end is the only receiving threat to that side, the corner is now down involved in the run fit. What this does is give the Utes the mismatch with the back blocking the CB, and then it’s up to Vaki. Vaki sets up the linebacker with a nasty hesitation, then hits the edge. Once he’s there, nobody is catching him, and he’s home free.

Vaki’s sensational day earned him the Paul Hornung Player of the Week, and for good reason. Wittingham and the Utes have already said that Vaki will continue to play both ways, and with a primetime matchup against USC up next for the Utes, keep your eye out on this Ute of all trades.

Devon Witherspoon causes HAVOC

Seahawks rookie DB Devon Witherspoon can only be described with one word: chaos. He’s a ball of boundless energy and havoc for a Seahawks defense that has slowly been turning the corner this year. What’s been fun about his game is that he’s been doing this primarily from the slot, when he was an outside corner at Illinois. The transition not only has been smooth, but it’s a highlight for the Seahawks defense. According to Sports Information Solutions, Witherspoon is allowing the second-lowest EPA per target among DBs with at least seven targets lined up as the slot defender. His aggression triggering downhill and sticky play in coverage has allowed the Seahawks to get creative with their personnel, and play all of their talented DBs at the same time.

You might remember Witherspoon for this hit at Illinois:

Well, Witherspoon is still doing that for Seattle, just in a different alignment. The Seahawks have utilitzed his speed and timing as a blitzer from the slot, and it’s been extremely cool to see. As a pass rusher, Witherspoon has a 50% Pressure Rate, which is 13th among all DBs. If you filter for a minimum of three pressures to be counted, Witherspoon is second. His timing as a blitzer, combined with his speed, make him extremely effective. Here, the Bengals try and run a play action concept with WR Ja’Marr Chase running an underneath route. How Witherspoon attacked this is simple, via Don Brown: “Solve your problems with aggression.” He times up this blitz perfectly and gets a pass breakup as a blitzer.

His timing also shows up in the underneath areas of the passing game, where he treats every pass like it’s his when the ball is in the air. Witherspoon leads the Seahawks in pass breakups with five so far this season, and in the slot he’s being maximized. The Seahawks show and bring a blitz, with Witherspoon lined up as the slot on the weak side initially over Tyler Boyd. Boyd goes in motion and Witherspoon lines up like he’s blitzing. The Seahawks send LB Bobby Wagner and Witherspoon initially drops to the weak hook area. However, WR Ja’Marr Chase is running an underneath route and Witherspoon notices immediately. He drives on the ball and closes in an instant, getting a pass breakup. He’s real good, folks.

Witherspoon is extremely talented, and versatile enough to cover different varieties of receivers for the Seahawks. Because Witherspoon is in the slot, he saw a lot of WR Tyler Boyd on Sunday, but was also lined up on Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins at times. Witherspoon’s aggression at the line of scrimmage can cause other receivers to alter their plans at the line and take them out the play. On this rep, Witherspoon uses a two hand press and forces Boyd to go all the way inside and with that, Witherspoon keeps the inside hip. With the safety over the top, Witherspoon and the Seahawks take Boyd out the route.

Witherspoon and the Seahawks take on the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, and their defensive performance will be something to watch. Especially with Witherspoon being the arrow on the head of the Seahawks defensive spear.

The Jets defense cancels Philly’s flight

One of the highlights of the last week is the New York Jets defense shutting down the Philadelphia Eagles in their win. The Jets shut the Eagles down to -0.13 EPA per play and a 41% Success Rate, and how they did it was very interesting. Up front, the Jets matched physicality and intensity, which is the M.O. for a Jets DL that is considered one of the best in the NFL. Yes, RT Lane Johnson did get hurt and didn’t return to the game, but for most of the game the Jets thoroughly dominated most of the game, especially on early downs:

The Jets play their defensive front much like the 49ers—the Robert Saleh connection is real—and they were in attack mode for a large majority of the game. Through six games, the Jets have the second highest snaps of runs defended with light boxes (6 or fewer people in the box). Their EPA per attempt is middling—no I’m serious, 16th in the NFL, the literal middle—but against the Eagles, they made it work. 17 of the 22 carries against Philly were defended with a light box, and the Jets were strong in the run game. This requires a fine balance between gap penetration and gap control, with second and third level defenders being willing to occupy gaps as well. The Eagles motion into weakside zone and WR AJ Brown comes to block the safety coming downhill. This is supposed to bring the backside corner into the run fit, and corners don’t get paid to tackle.

The Jets stop this play for a minimal gain due to the work up front by DT Solomon Thomas first. He’s able to occupy the center and the left guard, letting LB Quincy Williams get to his backside gap without too much of an issue. S Tony Adams fills this gap with aggression, slipping the block and CB Bryce Hall is coming in and willing to stick his nose in the muck. Run defense is a team effort, and the Jets’ effort on this play stood out.

Sometimes, effort can also be maximized by simply being bigger and stronger than the other team, and that happened on this run stop by Jets EDGE John Franklin-Myers. Trying to block an EDGE with a TE is a fools’ errand. He completely creates a new gap by simply bowling over the Eagles’ TE and is rewarded with a big tackle.

Against the pass, the Jets adjusted to what the Eagles were hurting them with in the first half. The Eagles were hurting New York with a healthy dose of WR AJ Brown, especially on the backside of plays where he would run a dig or curl route against an isolated corner. In the second half, the Jets adjusted to playing their safeties really low pre-snap, and would rotate to Cover 3. What this does is keeps a safety in that backside lane to prevent any throws to Brown, while they also carry anything vertical by the number three receiver on the front side. The backside linebacker then becomes the backside help player, but by that time, the pass rush should be on Hurts.

Speaking of that pass rush, the Jets EDGE group played phenomenally on Sunday. Among all pass rushers with a minimum of 15 pressures (per SIS), only two defensive linemen have a pressure rate at 20% or above: Cowboys EDGE Micah Parsons is third, Browns EDGE Myles Garrett is second, and first is Jets EDGE Bryce Huff. Huff has been on a tear to start the season, becoming arguably the best designated pass rusher in the NFL. He dominated on Sunday, winning with power, but often using what got him to the dance: burst and speed. On his first sack against Eagles’ RT Jack Driscoll, Huff jabs inside, which forces Driscoll to open his stance wider to try and accommodate for the inside move. Once Driscoll does this, Huff bursts pass him using a swipe and violent rip through to combine for the sack.

On his second sack, it’s a combination of coverage and retracing his steps. He goes into LT Jordan Mailata with power, but is able to cut back as soon as QB Jalen Hurts looks to take off. He has the power move in the bag as well, and that adds to his already dangerous repertoire.

A pleasant surprise this season has been the emergence of second year EDGE Jermaine Johnson. Unlike Huff, he wins more with power and violence, your normal Jets DL. His 10.1% pressure rate is 48th among 49 qualified defensive linemen, but his style is such a nice complement to Huff and it allows the Jets to really get into what they want up front on pass rush downs. One of my favorite reps by Johnson this year came in this game, and he didn’t even get the sack. Look at the power and knockback he generates on Driscoll here, real deal bullyball by Johnson, who forces Hurts out of the pocket and he throws an incompletion.

The Jets have a bye week this week, but their defensive performance in the win was one of the best I’ve seen this season. The defense remains capable of winning games—for the Jets, it just comes down to if a certain QB returns from injury in ti—nah I’m just playing. This Jets defense is really good, though, and the intensity they play with starts up front.