Froholdt went from Denmark to Ohio to Arkansas

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Draft CoverageHjalte Froholdt’s past prepared him for his future with the
PatriotsNew Isaiah Wynn Jersey ,15commentsRead more: 2 reasons why the Patriots drafted Arkansas OL Hjalte FroholdtEDTShareTweetShareShareHjalte Froholdt’s past
prepared him for his future with the PatriotsTrevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY
SportsWhen the New England Patriots selected offensive lineman Hjalte Froholdt
in the fourth round of this year’s draft, they picked one of the most unique
players available: Froholdt’s football career did start 3,600 miles east of
Boston, after all, in the small Danish town of Svendborg. From there, the
22-year-old launched a career that first led him to the United States and now
the reigning Super Bowl champions.Shortly after hearing his name — which is
pronounced ‘YELL-de FRO-holt’ — called on the third day of the draft, Froholdt
spoke to the New England media about his experience and how his football career
came to be. “I started playing football back in Denmark when I was 12. It
started blowing up when I came to the States as an exchange student when I was a
sophomore in high school,” he said during his introductory conference call.“It
was awesome being introduced to the game of football over here, and you guys are
pretty good in what you do. It was a tough transition but it ended up going
pretty well,” continued Froholdt — using a key word to describe his career up
until that point: transition. Over the last ten years, the 6-foot-4, 306-pound
interior offensive lineman had to undergo major transitions on his way towards
the NFL.Now, they should help him adapt to life in New England and under
legendary offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia. “You know, my first two years
I started at left guard all of the games, and I played at some center and some
right guard last year,” said Froholdt. “But I feel pretty comfortable with all
of them. It doesn’t really matter — I’ll play wherever Coach Scar will put me
and I’m excited to get to work with him and see where this goes.”His experience
of playing numerous positions along the line should help his long-term outlook
in the NFL Womens Danny Etling Jersey , especially considering that the team might have to plug him into a starting spot one year from now: starting left guard Joe
Thuney is scheduled to hit free agency next year. 2020 is of course a long way
down the road, especially for a player whose professional career is only a week
old.For Froholdt, the first step is therefore getting acclimated to the big
league — a process that will start see its next major step pretty soon, with New
England scheduled to kick off its rookie minicamp later this week. The
transition from playing at the college level to the NFL is just the latest for
the Dane, however, and the past ones he underwent over the last few years should
have him at least somewhat prepared for what lies ahead.“You know, going from
Denmark to Ohio in high school was a really, really tough transition. And going
from high school to college moving back to O-line was an even tougher
transition, so I feel like I’m ready for it,” Froholdt said. “I need to get
there to really figure out what’s going on before I can really say anything
about how I’ll fit in. But I’m just excited to come in and get to know everybody
and try to earn some respect in that organization.”As for the Patriots, they are
getting a player “that really cares,” according to the man himself. “I love the
game of football.” he said when speaking about his attributes. “I always played
it just because I loved it. There was never really claims to come to this point,
but I’m excited to be a Patriot — and I literally can’t stress enough how
excited I am. It’s going to be amazing to be up there and get out to Boston and
be a part of that community.”When judged by his statements shortly after
becoming a member of the Patriots, Froholdt already seems to be fitting in quite
well with the club. And maybe this will help him slow down his fast-paced
journey after moving from Denmark to Ohio to Arkansas to New England in a span
of just a few years — at least in a geographical sense. Other than that, the fun
and all the work that comes with it is just getting starting. You know all about
the Chiefs.You know about their offense and its place atop the lists of every
major team metric — total offense, DVOA Youth Isaiah Wynn Jerseys , expected points, etc. You know all about phenom Patrick Mahomes and his 50-touchdown, 5,000-yard season, replete with a unique
repertoire of no-look passes and side-armed seeds. You know about the
MVP-favorite’s supporting cast of elite weapons like Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce,
and Sammy Watkins. You know about the star-studded offensive line in front of
him. And you know all about the cunning, imaginative scheme with which Andy Reid
deploys this potent stable of personnel.What you may not know is, the Patriots
defense has already unlocked the formula for slowing Kansas City’s ceaseless
attack — and it comes down to one almost-too-simple-to-believe concept that, if
executed, will send the Patriots to their ninth Super Bowl in 18 years.Put a pin
in that for a moment. First, after charting each and every play from the
Patriots and Chiefs’ week-six match up, there were a few specific approaches New
England’s defense took which led to short stints of success.(1). The Patriots
threw out their traditional base defense altogether. Although Malcom Brown being
sidelined with an injury from the prior week led to increased snaps and less
rest for the three active interior defensive lineman — Lawrence Guy, Danny
Shelton, and Adam Butler — it became clear from the onset that the Patriots were
never going to match any of Kansas City’s heavy personnel groupings with four-DL
looks anyways. Instead, the Patriots opted for mobility up front Isaiah Wynn Jerseys Stitched , using three linebackers on just 45.3% of plays, and never using a personnel grouping heavier than 3-3-5 Big Nickel the entire game —
even on the goal line.(2.) The defense held up against Kansas City’s vaunted
RPOs pretty well. The Chiefs used them 13 times — nine running plays and four
passing plays. However, sound assignment integrity and tackling work by the
Patriots’ linebackers and secondary held these typically lethal plays to a total
of 86 yards (6.6 yards per play), and just two first downs.(3.) Brian Flores
dialed up well-timed, key blitzes. The Patriots brought more than four rushers
on eight different occasions in the contest and consistently changed where the
additional rushers came from:Elandon Roberts | “green dog”, A-gapKyle Van Noy |
left B-gapDuron Harmon | right B-gapDont’a Hightower | left edgeDont’a Hightower
& Kyle Van Noy | right edge & left A-gapDont’a Hightower | right
edgeDont’a Hightower | right edgePatrick Chung | left slotPatrick Mahomes went
four for eight against these blitzes for 26 yards and one touchdown, which came
from the New England one yard line in the fourth quarter. In total, the Patriots
forced three field goal tries in their own territory with these blitzes. (4).
The Patriots constantly showed Mahomes pre-snap blitz looks throughout the game,
and would often have each “blitzer” engage blockers post-snap, only to have a
few — or all — of them fall back underneath into coverage. Not only did this
have the desired effect of disguising where the pressure would be coming from,
but it helped to obfuscate potential lanes of escape from the pocket for
Mahomes. This concept led directly to Dont’a Hightower’s first quarter
interception.All of these approaches helped to stall drives and slow down the
league’s most dynamic attack. However, there was one effective aspect of New
England’s defensive game plan that gave Kansas City’s offense more issues than
any other — the one almost-too-simple-to-believe component that, if harnessed
and fully-utilized on Sunday in Kansas City, will send the Patriots to
Atlanta.Man coverage.Seriously. Man coverage. It’s that simple. The Patriots
defensive scheme is often referred to as a “press-man heavy”, but in actuality,
they’ve used man coverage on around 57% of passing plays in 2018. In week six
against the Chiefs they used it 56.76% of the time — and when they
didn’t Youth Duke Dawson Jerseys , they paid the price.Yes, that’s real. Of Patrick Mahomes’ 352 passing yards in week six, 279 came against zone coverage, including Kareem
Hunt’s 67-yard third quarter touchdown, and Tyreek Hill’s 75-yard game-tying
touchdown in the fourth quarter. Seven of the 13 completions against the
Patriots’ zone coverage went for first downs, and all seven went for over 17
yards.Against Man coverage, the Patriots allowed five first downs on five more
pass attempts, but Mahomes failed to complete a pass over 15 yards, and both of
New England’s interceptions came against their man scheme.The disparity also
extends to the Chiefs usage of play action (not to be confused with RPO).
Mahomes and company used play action six times — twice against man, and four
times against zone. Against man, the Patriots had an interception and allowed a
15-yard completion. Against zone, Mahomes went three for four and notched 119
yards and a touchdown.So why was man coverage so effective against the Chiefs
while zone coverage was not? The biggest factor was YAC — yards after the catch.
Against zone, Kansas City averaged 10.31 air yards per catch, but after the
catch, they racked up 168 yards. That’s an additional 12.92 yards tacked onto
each reception. Against man coverage, the Chiefs we’re held to just 28 yards
after the catch (2.8 avg. YAC).The second major factor is the nature of zone
coverage itself. It allows free releases off of the line of scrimmage which can
allow the offense’s timing to remain on schedule through the initial stage of
the play design. It can lead to disadvantageous personnel match ups for the
defense. Creases naturally occur on the backside of RPOs. And Duke Dawson Jerseys Stitched , often times, there is no defender trailing the intended passing target in coverage. Andy Reid’s scheme is the kryptonite for each of
these shortcomings — particularly with regard to taking advantage of a zone’s
reactionary flow resulting from an RPO or biting on a play action fake. And he
uses formation, motion, spacing, and angles perfectly to get his skill position
players in position to inflict the most damage. In week six, Patrick Mahomes
consistently threw well-placed footballs to allow his guys to slice through
seams of the Patriots zones (see: Tyreek Hill’s 75-yard touchdown). And, as the
second-year stud kept initially well-defended plays alive by escaping the
pocket, the integrity of those zones became stressed and began to break down,
leading to big plays.Are there risks to playing man coverage against the kind of
weapons that the Chiefs have? Sure. But by playing man-to-man, you limit yards
after the catch, you decrease the size of the windows Mahomes has to throw into,
and you force their play-makers to continuously make more difficult
plays.Perhaps more importantly, it would force a young quarterback venturing
into the high-pressure environment of an AFC Championship Game for the first
time to play near-perfect football — a tall order. Follow Brian Phillips on
Twitter — @BPhillips_SB
Posted 16 May 2019

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