Ian Boyd has a post up about the Ash defense, here is some of it (he was looking at the Steelers last g vs. Kyler Murray)
Scoop Q&A - 12/16/19 - Inside Texas
" .... This kind of "buzz" coverage with a safety playing down sorta like a linebacker while the "linebacker" plays man coverage on a receiver out wide is pretty common at the next level and is a useful distinction for figuring out what to do with Texas' 2020 personnel. I'm not totally sure if Chris Ash will stick with the quarters coverages he's played in the past (probably yes) but even if he does, the sort of personnel packaging you see above could still work for the 2020 Longhorns if they did something like this:
Before everyone comes in telling me I need to move this player here and that player there, let me explain the set-up and thinking here:
D'Shawn Jamison as nickel
The nickel in this D is usually covered up more, although it should be noted that Ash has experimented with the tite front and 4i-techniques at strongside end. He probably shouldn't do that save for against trips sets so that he can use a true corner at nickel and be able to press up and deny easy throws to that position.
Jamison is fantastic playing in run support and matching quick breaks underneath with help over the top, both of which are easily leveraged in a 4-down at nickel. Sterns is finally moved to his natural position as a field safety here, although at either spot I'm sure his role will primarily consist of playing deep in support or else taking on coverage assignments you don't want to go to box safeties like Foster or Overshown. Speaking of those guys...
BJ Foster at middle linebacker, Overshown at boundary safety
The middle linebacker in the Under gets put into space a ton at the college level and ruthlessly attacked with run/pass conflicts. Ideally you help him out at times with techniques like the 4i or a heavy 5-technique strongside end that plays the B-gap rather than setting the edge. At any rate, you want at least one of your ILBs to be capable of keeping up with a good flex TE or slot receiver underneath in coverage, playing sideline to sideline, and fitting inside runs from the hash mark. That's often the middle linebacker that has to do that in this scheme, so that's where you want your converted safety.
Why Foster rather than Overshown? For one, Foster has shown a lot more willingness to play in this sort of role than Overshown, for another he's actually probably better at it. Foster's specialty is generating insane explosiveness and power over a short area, Overshown's specialty is covering a ton of ground quickly and arriving with pop. Foster can handle playing up in the box both in terms of dealing with the conflicts in space and also in blowing up blockers and generating the necessary power within a few steps. Overshown is exactly the kind of guy you want lining up back at safety like Chancellor or Edmunds only to appear in position to make plays like a linebacker unexpectedly and after the snap.
The defensive line
I think Ta'Quon Graham could play strongside end or 3-technique defensive tackle and I'm not sure which he'd be better at. It might depend on whether the better fourth DL is Marqez Bimage, who's a pretty prototypical strongside end, or Moro Ojomo who's probably more of a 3-technique. If Ojomo is next best, Graham can play strongside end. If it's Bimage in 2020, then Graham can probably play at 3-technique. Joseph Ossai is your weakside DE/OLB hybrid, full stop. It's hard to imagine Texas hiring Chris Ash and using Ossai as anything other than an edge rusher who can drop into zone at times rather than a zone dropper who can rush the edge at times. This is the way to do it. If Ash tries to play Overshown or Foster at nickel and that's the talk of the spring, you'll know that there's likely to be some issues in 2020.
Good stuff here.
For a 4 man D front with our personnel, and with the need for maximum pass rush capability in the Big 12, I like:
NT -- 1. Coburn; 2. Sweat
DT -- 1. Graham; 2. Ojomo
SDE -- 1. Bimage; 2. Jacoby Jones
WDE (rush end) -- 1. Ossai; 2. Vaughans or Dorbah (if he's ready)
That leaves our LB corps a bit thin, but we may be 4-2-5 most of the time.
I also like this idea above of spinning down BJ Foster and/or Overshown to an LB. That equates to an improvement in team speed without sacrificing too much in the power/run stopping department.
