Teicher:DeVito, an addition to the Chiefs’ defensive line, can’t wait to get started
 

DeVito, an addition to the Chiefs’ defensive line, can’t wait to get started
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
Mike DeVito won’t be on the field for the plays that fans pay good money to see, the ones featured on highlight shows.

He won’t play much for his new team, the Chiefs, on passing plays. But DeVito, a veteran defensive lineman, signed recently after six seasons with the New York Jets, wouldn’t have it any other way.

He prefers the dirty work of playing on running downs.

“There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing,” DeVito said. “I want to hit and be physical every play. If I don’t hit somebody, I know something is wrong. That first- and second-down run game, that’s where I live. That’s what I enjoy. I want to continue to try to get better at that and improve my craft.”

With the Jets, DeVito was good enough against the run that the Chiefs signed him on the day the free-agent market opened. One of New York’s coaches last season was Bob Sutton, the new Chiefs’ defensive coordinator.

“He played a big part in me coming here,” DeVito said. “I played for Bob for six years, and he’s somebody I have a ton of respect for. He’s a guy you want to give your all for.

“He’s a guy who really helped me progress. He took an interest in me even though he was a defensive coordinator, and then a linebackers coach, and I was a defensive lineman, and he helped me get better. He’s make sure I was keeping up on my techniques and my habits.”

The Chiefs relied on Sutton’s recommendation in signing DeVito.

“DeVito is one of those blue-collar guys,” general manager John Dorsey said. “He lines up. He plays. He gives you everything he’s got. He’s tenacious. Football is very important for him.”

DeVito can play all the defensive-line positions. He will most likely wind up at end in the starting spot vacated when Glenn Dorsey signed as a free agent with the San Francisco 49ers.

DeVito’s football background is about as far from Glenn Dorsey’s as can be. Dorsey was drafted by the Chiefs with the fifth overall pick in 2008; DeVito joined the Jets the previous season as an undrafted free agent.

Dorsey played in college at LSU, where he was a member of a national championship team.

DeVito played at Maine, a Division I-AA school.

“I remember when I first came into the league, it was like, ‘Lord, just let me just make practice squad for one year,’ ” DeVito said. “Then it was, ‘Lord, let me just make the team this year.’ Then it was, ‘Lord, let me just sign this new contract.’ To hit this point in my career, to get this contract and to be a part of this organization, I can’t speak enough about how blessed I am.”

The Chiefs will ask DeVito to help improve a weak run defense. They were among the weakest teams in the NFL last season in yards allowed per opponent’s rushing attempt.

DeVito will usually come out of the lineup on obvious passing downs. But he will be asked to rush the quarterback when the opponent throws on early downs, and that’s where he wants to show improvement.

DeVito had just 2½ sacks in six seasons with New York.

“I want to continue to bring an aspect of the pass rush, as well,” DeVito said. “I have some things set up to help me grow as a pass rusher, as well. I’ve got a lot of great pass-rush tape. Sometimes the best way to work on the pass rush is to watch guys do it. I’ve got some tape of guys going out there making plays and rushing the passer and just see what guys are using and what’s working.”

The Chiefs begin their offseason conditioning program April 1, with practices beginning later in the month.

They can’t start soon enough for DeVito.

“I’m going to continue to work out and be ready to hit the ground running when I get here,” DeVito said. “I want to be in great shape. I’m going to go back and study some of that pass-rush stuff. I think it’s really important to go back and grade myself from the film from last year, see where I went wrong, see what I can improve on.

“Trust me, I’m ready to roll today. If they opened this thing up today, I’m ready to go. I’m excited about it. I’m going to be on the edge of my seat every night.”

lot to live up to, considering we have Jackson. he'll have his hands full

don't you mean Meat Hooks Jackson :)

srsly tho, I was hoping those two would switch end positions and maybe Jackson would become a somewhat formidable pass rush presence from that RDE position. fook mi.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr...hewbo1_500.png

:LOL: if that gif doesnt completely encompass my thoughts, i dont know what would.

Shaddup and get busy, johnny lunchpail...

LMAO LMAO


where the hell is that from?

I'm nearly in tears.

lol at the first two sentences of this article. sorry i cant get excited for a part time player who is utterly useless in the most important part of the game today. AND HES SELF AWARE OF IT

KC Star is writing the same articles over and over again.

(Insert name) can't wait to get started.

Blah Blah Blah Blah.

How about something more substantive... such as why won't the Chiefs buck a 30 year trend of not drafting a QB in the first round.

I miss Blabb.

"Chiefs Looking Forward To Trying To Win in 2013"

Someone should come out with a parody blog where they write fake Chiefs new that's the exact OPPOSITE of what the KC Star shits out.

exactly. the interviews are completely, ****ing useless.

as if they're going to give anything other than canned, cliche answers.

like, why even ****ing bother to even conduct an 'interview'.

this is a great idea .

"Chiefs Plan on Using Helmets This Year"

It is interesting that Sutton didn't want to resign Ropapatuti, or whatever his name was, since he played for him in NY.

That's not from the article, of course, I just suddenly thought of it.

"Chiefs to play home games at Arrowhead". Adam Teicher

2 1/2 sacks in 6 years. But he's got a plan to watch tape and figure out how to be an awesome pass rusher., :doh!:

you might be on to something here.

post the original article, and then the fake one, just so you don't get bant. or whatever.

As has been pointed out here numerous times, teams are passing the ball on first and second down as much as they are running it.

There is simply no such thing as a running down anymore.

A one dimensional run stuffer in today's NFL on the D-Line is a useless relic.

Actually, they haven't. This is a puff piece and I hate puff pieces, but they're important and Pioli would NEVER let players be anything more than robots. I've said for a while that we need more homer fans. As much as they drive me crazy, they all make Arrowhead a great place to play. Something Pioli was too stupid to realize.

Devito isn't a good pass defender, but he's not really a liability either. Keep in mind that the Rex Ryan defense is fairly similar to 2-gap in that you have DEs who play more 2-gap, except that it relies on a TON of blitz pressure and mixtures of alignments. I agree that D-linemen need versatility in the new age of no huddle offenses. Keep in mind that DeVito can play lots of different techniques.

Ryan used a lot of blitz because the Jets lacked any semblence of a pass rush threat.

In a 3-4 deffense how many sacks should a decent to good DE make a year?


Is more than 3 too much to ask? Or is one a year if that like T Jack makes good enough? I'm asking because it would be nice to get sack production out of our DEs. How many should they be getting a year?

at least we buildin a team .. back-ups and two-down players are part of it ....

I'm sorry, but this is the shit that gets me hard.

I am a ****ing addict of the dirty work of the defensive line.

I may have a new favorite player.

Romeo is probably one of the few guys who nearly always uses an odd front, which requires both DEs to play 2gap tech.

Ryan and Sutton both will play 2 gap from the odd but also use a variety of fronts out of their base 3-4 alignment (over ed, under reduce, etc) which will usually involve 1 DE playing 2gap principles whilst the NT and other DE playing upfield techs/principles.

LET'S GET IT STARTED IN HEAH

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ll...39ewo1_500.gif

The Bruce Smiths and JJ Watts are not the norm.

Getting pressure and penetration from your defensive line to create opportunities for your pass rushing LBS is what you hope for.

The Steelers line through the years haven't recorded a bunch of sacks, but we know the names of James Harrison and Lamar Woodly due in large part because of thde work along the line.

This can't be stated enough.

I don't agree with that. That implies that Ryan only ran the defense because of the talent available. I think Ryan would have run a similar defense regardless of who he coached. And a curious question to ask is whether Ryan's defense would have been much more successful if he had true pass rushers like Hali and Houston.

In Ryan's defense, DeVito plays a nice role because he is versatile in a different way than we're used to. We're used to versatility meaning the ability to flex between playing DE and OLB. In this case, DeVito has tremendous versatility to play in lots of different interior alignments. He can play either 4-3 DT position or he can play 5-technique or nose tackle. And all 4 of those positions are very highly used in a Ryan defense because Ryan likes to flex between 3/4 and 4/3 fronts, which is a staple of the Ryan defense.

It's not a sexy pick. But I don't think we should get too hung up on the idea that he's not a penetration or pass rush guy. We can't look at him like a Romeo or a 1-gap defense. In a Rex Ryan scheme, he has a very valuable role.

i just want a guy that can push the pocket

like every other 34 defense has in the league. at least one player that will generate pressure on a passing down.

Yup, and Ryan runs a lot more 4-3 alignments than a traditional 3-4 coach does. In Baltimore, he often trotted out Ngata and Gregg on the same line, two mammoths. At other times, it was Gregg/Bannon or Gregg/Kemoeatu. In New York, he liked to trot out DeVito and Pouha, also two big meaty guys. In other words, Ryan's defense likes two meaty guys on his line at all times, and he wants the versatility to change alignments with the guys on the field. One of the reasons I really like the DeVito signing (assuming, that is, that Sutton's defense is going to work)

This is not a traditional 3-4 defense. If Ryan's defense works, having a guy like DeVito is a very good thing to have.

you are going to be really sad when they are running the same 2 gap in the 34 sets.

You are going to be sad when you realize you're wrong.

It seems unbelievably clear that sutton wants to run Rex Ryan's defense. It is not anything close to Romeo's 2-gap. Sutton has already said he is going to blitz like crazy.

Plagerism

That's why they drafted Poe and it's something he has the potential to do well. Patience instead of bitching.

Wonder if he bought a bangmaid with that new contract money?