The Three 5-0 Pressure Patterns That Generate the Most Pressures

By Mike Kuchar with Chris Lorenti
Defensive Coordinator
University of Rhode Island
@ChrisLorenti

“We use so many twists from Bear fronts, we don’t get kick slides, we get short sets. So, the process becomes which lineman we can pick on with Up and Under movements. And that’s the fun part.” - Chris Lorenti, defensive coordinator, University of Rhode Island

All defensive coordinators are trying to find the “fish,” or weakest link in protection, and Chris Lorenti is no different. But what makes the Rhode Island defensive coordinator unique is how he devises his movement patterns in Bear presentations to not only find but also exploit inherent weaknesses along the offensive front. The Rams were among the best at doing so this season, and they are at the top of the CAA rankings in several defensive categories this season.

The “5-0” Presentation Mindset:

Quite simply, Bear presentations force the five offensive linemen to declare their protection rules. It basically eliminates any potential slide from the Center as he is forced to hold on the Nose, at least pre-snap. For Coach Lorenti, it’s not entirely about generating pressures or getting sacks. It’s about moving the quarterback off his spot. It’s something that the Rams did on 39% of drop-back snaps this season. “If we can move him off his spot, it’s a win,” he said. “Now it becomes the process of whether we are moving him to the non-dominant throwing hand? Or, are we moving him to the short side of the field? Or, are we moving him to the passing weakness so that he is cutting the field off? All of this goes into our game planning procedures.

And because Rhode Island uses so many twists from Bear looks, they don’t get kick slides; they get quick sets. “When we see that, we have to make the straight rush real,” said Coach Lorenti. “They short set us, so we use up and under movements. As long as the QB is moving, we are affecting him. Then the process becomes knowing which linemen we want to go up and under on. That’s the fun part.”

In this report, Coach Lorenti details exactly how Rhode Island's defensive staff builds and sequences their Bear front pressure patterns — and why it led to a 54% hurry rate and a top defensive ranking in the CAA two years running:

• The 3 core rush techniques Lorenti teaches every pressure defender — and which ones he assigns to which personnel
• The exact thought process Rhode Island uses to identify the "fish" in protection and design rush patterns around him
• How Lorenti sequences his five 5-0 presentation pressure patterns — and why each one sets up the next
• The field-side and boundary-side patterns that force the QB to flush exactly where Rhode Island wants him
• The Cross Dog patterns that generated a 41% hurry rate — and the "read out" option that made them just as effective against the run
• How Rhode Island pairs man-free coverage with these Bear looks to take away the QB's first read and turn every play into backyard football
• Raw and narrated game film of every pressure pattern in this report
• Plus: The new X&O Labs self-scout tool called, The Pressure Audit, that lets you run the same pressure analysis Lorenti does on his own defense — but you can do it faster, and with nothing but your play-by-play data file