Diving into the safety’s game
Las Vegas Raiders safety Marcus Epps was a solid free-agent signing last year as Epps played from several different alignments and posted a decent 65.4 grade from Pro Football Focus. During the Raiders’ OTAs and minicamp practices, he also drew strong reviews from the coaching staff with senior defensive assistant Rob Ryan stating that losing the safety was part of why the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense regressed in 2023.
With the 2024 season slowly approaching, let’s dive into the tape and see what the 28-year-old brings to Las Vegas’ defense.
Quick read by Marcus Epps and nice job crashing downhill to fill the gap and make the tackle #Raiders pic.twitter.com/dgQXWcPI86
— Matt Holder (@MHolder95) June 25, 2024
Epps is best as a run defender as he posted a 69.7 run defense grade from PFF last year. He has good instincts to know when to crash downhill and make tackles near the line of scrimmage despite playing from depth pre-snap, and this clip is a good example of that.
The Raiders are rotating their safeties where Epps initially lines up deep but ends up playing closer to the box while Tre’von Moehrig bails to the backend of the defense post-snap. Meanwhile, the Broncos are running lead power to Epps’ side of the formation.
The safety does a good job of quickly recognizing the play design to trigger downhill and meet the running back in the hole. To finish, he gets his pads down and wraps up the running back’s legs to limit this to a two-yard gain, setting the defense up with a third-down situation.
Marcus Epps recognizes draw and makes a nice open-field tackle to force the FG attempt #Raiders pic.twitter.com/WAVXcQXTOb
— Matt Holder (@MHolder95) June 25, 2024
Here’s a different situation that shows off the veteran’s instincts versus the run as the Steelers have a third and long and are in field goal range.
Given the down and distance, Las Vegas has its pass rush unit in the game with three defensive linemen on the right and Maxx Crosby by himself on the left lined up outside the tight end. Especially with the middle linebacker playing inside the hash mark and cheating to the right side of the center, the defense is giving the offense room to run the ball to the defense’s left.
So, Pittsburgh calls a draw and Epps is quick to recognize it and crash downhill. He also influences the running back to cut inside and into the teeth of the defense by stemming slightly outside and toward the tight ends’ block.
To finish, the safety recognizes the situation and knows he doesn’t need to deliver a big hit and can sacrifice a few yards after contact by breaking down to make a sure tackle, ensuring the field goal unit comes on the field.
If Epps isn’t there, that running back has a chance to pick up the first down since Robert Spillane’s momentum is going backward after getting off the right guard’s block.
Goal line, Marcus Epps avoids the trash, comes downhill and helps make the stop to set up a 3rd down situation #Raiders pic.twitter.com/cmh423TJna
— Matt Holder (@MHolder95) June 25, 2024
It’s a goal-line situation in this next rep where Epps will start much closer to the line of scrimmage. At just 6-foot-0 and 191 pounds, it’s important for him to avoid taking on blocks from offensive linemen as that’s a losing proposition. So, against another power lead run from Denver, he does a good job of staying patient to avoid the trash and let the defensive linemen and linebackers take on the blocks.
That allows Epps to remain unblocked and he does a good job of picking his spot to meet the running back about a yard past the line of scrimmage. Now, I would like to see him drop his pads on the tackle attempt to avoid giving up those extra yards after contact, but he at least holds the back up enough to give his teammates enough time to come clean it up.
That sets up a third-down situation and gives the defense a chance to force a field goal attempt or keep points off the board.
Marcus Epps lines up in the box and blitzes to get a TFL, setting up 3rd & 5 #Raiders pic.twitter.com/sKTgfzHdnF
— Matt Holder (@MHolder95) June 25, 2024
This time, Epps lines up in the box and wraps around the strong-side linebacker to blitz into the A-gap. The play-call is perfect as the Steelers run inside split zone and the safety times up the blitz well to come unblocked and help make a tackle for loss. It was second and four, so this sets up third and medium for the defense as Epps logs another impact play.
Also, a shoutout to John Jenkins (the nose tackle) for dominating the center and helping bring down the running back.
Nice read by Marcus Epps to come off his man and make the stop near the goal line #Raiders pic.twitter.com/e2I0zuGqVr
— Matt Holder (@MHolder95) June 25, 2024
As a whole, Epps’ coverage skills could use some fine-tuning but he did make a handful of plays in man coverage last season like the one above.
The Raiders are playing man-to-man here and when the Broncos’ slot receiver motions across the formation, Nate Hobbs passes the receiver off to Epps — notice Hobbs pointing toward Epps as the receiver crosses the center.
The safety seems to know what play is coming as he works downhill and takes away the wideout in the flat which is the quarterback’s first read. Meanwhile, the middle linebacker (Spillane) takes a couple of steps downhill with the play-action fake in the backfield, causing him to be a little late to pick up the running back who also is in the flat.
However, Epps makes a good read to come off his man once the ball is thrown and crashes downhill. He drops his pads this time and makes a nice open-field tackle — with Spillane’s help — right at the line of scrimmage to keep Denver out of the endzone for another impact play.