The Arizona Cardinals had rookie linebacker Cody Simon starting and wearing the green dot last Sunday.
Now the rookie is preparing to make his second straight start. After facing the Seattle Seahawks offense in Week 10, he’ll take on the San Francisco 49ers’ complex offense in Week 11.
After Thursday’s practice, Cardinals safety Budda Baker graded Simon’s first NFL start and broke down the motion-heavy 49ers offense.
What Does Budda Baker Think Of the 49ers Offense?
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is widely respected across the NFL for his ability to call an offense and design one for success.
Shanahan uses extensive pre-snap motion to help his quarterback identify defensive schemes and get the team into the right play to beat the defense. That is something Baker greatly respects, and it makes him look forward to their two meetings each year.
“Their offense is a real great scheme. I love playing against this scheme because I can appreciate good offensive schemes and good things that they do,” Baker said on Thursday. “I have tremendous respect for those guys and coach Shanahan.”
With Shanahan leading the 49ers offense, Baker explained what the Cardinals defense must do to keep San Francisco from thriving.
“You just got to have laser focus. There’s a lot of motions, a lot of things that, you know, get guys thinking various other things,” Baker said. “But, just be ready to have a call within the call, which means you have one call, they get the motion in, you change that call, they might motion again, you have to change it again.
“So, just always being on the lookout for who’s motioning, formations, and just executing our job, whatever the details of the play is — one play at a time — because it changes almost every play.”
The 49ers offense is ranked No. 9 in the NFL, according to PFSN’s Offense Impact metric, and they have operated efficiently no matter who has been at quarterback.
Mac Jones has started eight games for the 49ers this season, including six in a row. However, Brock Purdy has been named the starter for Sunday against the Cardinals.
But for Baker and the Cardinals, it does not matter who is at quarterback; it is about executing their defensive plan.
“For me, it’s just do your job mentality. Be detailed in your calls, each player, one at a time. If one player is not detailed enough, doesn’t execute their call, that can lead to an explosive,” Baker said. “That can lead to a big gap in the run game. Just do your job mentality. Be detailed.
“Align with urgency, especially with the way that their offense motions. A big thing for us is stopping the run game.”
Being aligned, doing their job and stopping the run all start with rookie linebacker Cody Simon doing his part. The Ohio State product is preparing to start his second straight game while wearing the green dot.
“I felt like he did good,” Baker said of Simon. “He’s only going to continue to get better. He does a great job of getting us in line; now it’s his job to shoot some of those gaps sometimes. I always talk to him, you know, if you see that thing, shoot it. That’s only going to get better with time.
“That was his first start, especially having the green dot – that’s a big privilege to have, but also a big responsibility to get everybody the call, and he’s only going to continue to get better.”
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The rookie linebacker was drafted out of Ohio State in this year’s draft, a program he said prepared him for these moments.
The Seahawks offense was a challenging first start, but things only get more complex with Shanahan and the 49ers offense coming to town on Sunday.