A Breakdown of Kwon Alexander vs. the Bengals

Run Defense

1-10-CIN 38 (Q1, 10:26) (Shotgun) 32-J.Hill left guard to CIN 42 for 4 yards (94-G.Johnson).

On this play, Alexander does a pretty good job of diagnosing run and quickly getting to the line of scrimmage. His responsibility is the left A gap (between the C and LG), which he takes care of. The run is to the B gap, so he’s not really in position to be in on the play. Gap integrity is important and Alexander leaving his gap to try to make a play would be much, much worse than what he did here.

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2-6-CIN 42 (Q1, 9:48) 32-J.Hill left tackle to CIN 43 for 1 yard (58-K.Alexander, 94-G.Johnson).

This might not be the prettiest play by Alexander, but it gets the job done. He immediately recognizes run and he sees reaches his gap quickly. Nobody gets a solid block on him and he’s able to get in on the play. He didn’t make an open field tackle or anything but he stuffed the hole and prevented a gain.

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3-5-CIN 43 (Q1, 9:06) (Shotgun) 14-A.Dalton scrambles right end to CIN 44 for 1 yard (58-K.Alexander). Penalty on CIN-73-E.Winston, Offensive Holding, declined.

On this play it appears that Alexander’s responsibility is to spy on the QB, because as soon as Dalton starts to move Alexander moves as well. He does a good job of moving towards the sideline and meets Dalton in the open field well short of the first down. He makes the open field tackle and gets a stop on third down.

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1-10-CIN 39 (Q1, 3:40) 32-J.Hill right guard to CIN 39 for no gain (51-D.Lansanah, 98-C.McDonald).

Alexander technically wasn’t needed on this play. McDonald and Lansanah took Hill down before Alexander could touch him. But, had they not been able to do that, Alexander was in perfect position to make the play. Lansanah actually abandoned his gap to make this play, and the hole was Alexander’s responsibility. The Bengals had H-Back Will Hewlett as a lead blocker on this play, and Alexander met him in the hole and blew him up. Alexander clogged the hole, and that’s exactly what his job was on this play.

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1-10-CIN 26 (Q2, 11:08) 25-G.Bernard right tackle to CIN 27 for 1 yard (92-W.Gholston).

This play shows a strong ability to move through traffic on Alexander’s part. He’s able to move towards the sideline and end up untouched by anyone on the offense. If Gio had continued the original trajectory of his run, Alexander would have been in exactly the correct place. However, Bernard spun back inside and was met by a defensive lineman instead.

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2-10-CIN 20 (Q2, 8:39) 32-J.Hill up the middle to CIN 31 for 11 yards (24-M.Jenkins). FUMBLES (24-M.Jenkins), RECOVERED by TB-50-B.Carter at CIN 31. 50-B.Carter to CIN 31 for no gain (89-R.Hewitt).

Before he fumbles, Hill makes a big gain on this play. It is not, however, Alexander’s fault. Kwon is responsible for the right side B gap. That is also the gap the play is supposed to go through. However, Alexander and (I think) Bruce Carter do a good job of blocking the hole and creating a wall of bodies. The culprit on the play is #49 Keyes, who got overzealous in his pursuit and lost gap integrity. He was blocked into the wall of bodies and a wide cutback lane opened for Hill. That’s why maintaining gap integrity is very important for LBs.

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2-3-CIN 36 (Q2, 5:17) 25-G.Bernard up the middle to CIN 38 for 2 yards (57-L.English).

To this point, we really haven’t seen Alexander take on clean, direct blocks. “Stacking and shedding” is very important for LBs to do in the run game. On this play, Alexander is disruptive just by initially winning against the offensive lineman blocking him. The angle means we can’t see his technique, but he forces LG Clint Boling to bend backwards. Bernard runs into the back of Boling and falls down. Boling did eventually get the better of Alexander, but that’s going to happen every time because he’s about 80 pounds heavier. All Alexander needed to do on this play was get that initial knockback to be disruptive. LBs don’t win by plowing over blockers; they win by stopping them for just enough time to throw the RB off.

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3-1-CIN 38 (Q2, 4:40) 89-R.Hewitt up the middle to CIN 39 for 1 yard (92-W.Gholston, 49-J.Keyes).

On this play, the Bengals barely have any distance to cover. Alexander becomes part of a massive pile of bodies right around the first down marker, but Hewitt was able to get just enough to make the first down.

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2-10-TB 24 (Q2, 3:42) 25-G.Bernard left end to TB 19 for 5 yards (71-D.Bowers).

On this pitch to Bernard, a lineman releases and immediately goes to block Alexander at the second level. Alexander was not prepared to take on the block and gets driven far back into the second level. This is not a good play at all by Alexander. He’s light for a LB, and there are going to be times where he’s driven back like this simply because of his size. He needs to be able to see the linemen in front of him and recognize that he’s about to be blocked, so he can prepare for it and knock the lineman’s hands off of him. On this play, he is engaged while trying to turn and therefore has absolutely no leverage to work with. His feet end up getting crossed and he’s driven far backwards.

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Pass Rushing

3-10-CIN 22 (Q1, 5:32) (Shotgun) 14-A.Dalton sacked at CIN 15 for -7 yards (94-G.Johnson).

On this play, Alexander comes on a late blitz and the protection for the Bengals just totally breaks down. Giovanni Bernard is assigned to pick up Alexander, but just totally whiffs on his block. Alexander didn’t even really have to do anything to avoid him. Edge pressure caused Dalton to move up in the pocket and then he met Johnson and Alexander. He went to Johnson’s side, so George got the sack, but Alexander would have if Dalton had chosen the right instead of the left.

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1-10-CIN 39 (Q2, 3:57) (Shotgun) 14-A.Dalton pass incomplete deep right to 82-M.Jones. PENALTY on TB-24-M.Jenkins, Defensive Pass Interference, 37 yards, enforced at CIN 39 - No Play.

On this play, Alexander is coming on a delayed blitz. Center Russell Bodine is helping double team Daquan Bowers, and tries to disengage to stop Alexander but only succeeds in smacking him with an arm. Alexander does a pretty good job of kind of sliding under it, but by that time the pass is already thrown.

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Kwon Alexander wasn’t perfect in his second preseason game, but it would be wrong to ask for perfection from him at this stage in his career. I think he played really well against the Bengals. I like his aggressiveness in run defense, and he took care of the gaps he was assigned to on every play (except his last one). I would say his play in that aspect was overwhelmingly positive, besides getting outmuscled once. He wasn’t quite as stellar in pass coverage, but he also didn’t really have all that many plays where he needed to do things. I think he can be a serviecable player in the middle. As for pass rushing, well, the two plays where he went after Dalton really don’t show anything because they were on a delayed blitz. That’s probably all he’ll ever be asked to do for the Bucs, so he’s fine in that category.

All things considered, Alexander looks like he’s shaping up to be a bit of a steal for the Bucs. You don’t expect a LB you drafted in the 4th round to start for your team right away, and if he has to then it’s probably not going to end too well. However, Alexander looks like he has the ability to be a positive contributor on the Bucs’ defense once the regular season begins. That will be a huge boon to the team.

Oh, and by the way, one last thing. The Bucs’ first team defense as a whole looked good in this game. With all of the turnovers, it definitely reminded me of some of the teams Lovie had with the Bears and the old Bucs’ defense when Smith was on that staff. Once again, it’s just preseason, but analysts should really stop talking about Jameis and give some attention to a defense that has the potential to be excellent next season.