(SportsRadio 610) - When defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins signed a one-year deal with the Houston Texans in March, it wasn’t the first time DeMeco Ryans tried to get the interior lineman’s services.
Rankins became the second lineman with ties to the type of scheme Ryans coaches. Hassan Ridgeway, an eight-year veteran himself, signed just days prior, following his former coach to Houston from San Francisco.
Ryans, who spent six seasons in San Francisco, including the last two as one of the top defensive coordinators in the NFL, tried at least twice before to land Rankins and jumped on the opportunity to get him to anchor the interior when he had the chance this offseason.
“Sheldon has been in this system for a while, so he does a really good job of leading and teaching our younger guys, teaching them the nuances of the technique and how it works for him,” Ryans said. “So, he’s been an excellent acquisition for us, and I’m very pleased with adding him to our team. He’s going to be a big-time help for us.”
Rankins is a plus interior pass rusher but made his impact felt last season in stuffing the run in a starting role with the Jets, who allowed just 3.82 yards per rush when he was in the game.
The eighth-year pro had 43 tackles, three sacks, seven quarterback hits, and four tackles for loss last season.
“Veteran guys coming in still have a lot to prove,” Ryans said. “He still has a chip on his shoulder to show that he’s one of the best interior defensive linemen in this league, but he’s also unselfish enough to help the other men in that room to come along as quickly as possible.”
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Rankins echoes Ryans’ sentiments in that he believes he’s joining up with the former 49ers defensive coordinator at the right time because of who Ryans and Caserio assembled on the staff and roster to teach and execute the scheme.
“I know a lot of people who know DeMeco personally and vouch for the type of person he is, the leader he is,” Rankins said. “So, to be able to come down here and be a part of something special, it was a no-brainer.”
One of the biggest takeaways from camp thus far has been how fast the defense is playing, and one of the reasons for that is DeMeco encouraging his guys to just play, trust their instincts and not think so much.
Jerry Hughes said last week that a lot of emphasis on the defenders this camp has been on technique and fundamentals.
When everything else fails, they have the basics to fall back on.
The fact that Ryans has been in their shoes before and is an accomplished teacher at the NFL level - it’s given his team, particularly the younger players, a lot of confidence in their head coach and the scheme thus far.
“When you have a players head coach, he’s able to break it down for us and make it easy for us to understand it,” Hughes said. “You can just see it from (Jalen) Pitre, all the way down to Will (Anderson Jr.). Just how quick guys are picking it up and they’re not afraid to be vocal because they’re confident. When you kind of build up a young players confidence early on, then you really start to unlock them at an early age and that’s just great that he’s able to tap into that.”
As far as the scheme goes, Rankins kept it pretty simple, which seems on par with how Ryans and Burke are imparting their defensive philosophy to the team.
“The way we do things in the scheme is a bit different,” Rankins said. “Sometimes, it looks like guys are just out there kind of running into brick walls and different things like that.”
It’s always interesting to hear how players and coaches try to find creative ways to describe a particular scheme or just what they’re doing on the field without giving too much away.
However, it’s never that simple.
There’s always a method to the madness.
“In this scheme, it’s pretty much, ‘If you see this, do this no matter what. If you see this, do this no matter what,” Rankins said. “You’re getting off the ball no matter what, so just kind of explaining certain nuances and getting guys to understand how people are going to attack this scheme and different things like that, and it’s been fun to see.”
What’s been especially fun for Rankins to this point - has been the opportunity to play alongside a guy in Maliek Collins.
The two have kept an eye on each other's development and career for years now.
“Me and Maliek, we were drafted in the same year(2016), built similarly, move similarly, rush similarly,” Rankins said. “So, we’ve always kind of watched each other from afar.
“With him being newer to this scheme, getting him well-acquainted with some nuances that kind of go into it and then just kind of feeding off each other, bouncing ideas off each other. So, it’s been great so far. The marriage of us two inside along with the rest of the guys, I think, can be special.”
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