Derwin James was admittedly skeptical when Florida State defensive coaches approached him about playing defensive end last season.

James, a safety, was accustomed to blitzing in high school. He was even used as a nose tackle in some sub-packages at Haines City High. In those instances, James was allowed to be sneaky. Sometimes he was a blitzer as a safety, but usually he was dropping back into coverage.

But when James was sent over to work with defensive ends coach Brad Lawing early on in his freshman season, he was “shocked.”

“ ‘Y’all want me to go to D-End?’ ” James thought to himself. “I used to blitz off the edge at safety, but it wasn't anything like lining up down there and they know you're coming. It was different.”

FSU’s coaching staff knew what it was doing, as it turned out.

James emerged as one of FSU’s most prolific defenders in 2015, recording 91 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss despite starting just half the year. With a staggering blend of athleticism, strength and instincts, James routinely made plays all over the field. But his role in FSU’s most frequently-used sub package, the 3-1-7 formation, proved to be especially devastating to opposing offenses.

“It was just a different way to create pressure in certain situations,” FSU defensive coordinator Charles Kelly said. “Being able to move him around where they [the opposition] don't know where he's at felt like it gave us an advantage, especially on third down."



Explaining the 3-1-7

FSU used James in a variety of ways in this 3-1-7 formation.

Before delving into the usage rates and trends, here is a visual of the formation.





FSU used the 3-7-1 formation with James in the box 86 times last season.*

Typically, the Seminoles had two defensive ends -- DeMarcus Walker and Josh Sweat -- up front along with defensive tackle Giorgio Newberry. The team fielded one linebacker, two cornerbacks, two safeties, the Star (nickel cornerback) and the Money (safety/linebacker hybrid). James was essentially the seventh defensive back in this formation, but his role is varied as he lines up close to the line of scrimmage.

FSU slowly incorporated this wrinkle into its scheme, first using James as a safety/linebacker/end in the third game of the season versus Boston College.

As you can see from the chart below, FSU drastically increased James’ usage as an in-the-box defender in the final three games of the season (not including vs. FCS opponent Chattanooga), running the formation a combined 67 times in that span.





As Kelly mentioned, this formation was primarily used on third down. The 3-1-7 with James in the box was used 86 times last season, and 73 percent of the time it was dialed up on third down.

Typically, FSU used it when a team was in an obvious passing situation. The Seminoles put their best athletes on the field, with James being the ultimate chess piece in Kelly’s attempt to neutralize dual-threat quarterbacks.





Controlled Chaos

James is the most versatile player Kelly has ever been around, at least at such a young age.

The Seminoles knew they had something special in the physical freak before he got to campus. James was a five-star recruit and the No. 1 safety in the 2015 recruiting class, according to 247Sports’ composite ratings. The expectation was always to find a place for James early in his career, but the question was how to best utilize him.

James was still learning the defense early last season and FSU asks a lot out of its safeties. Typically the Seminoles have a veteran defender on the back end of the defense to make sure everyone else lines up correctly, and that was senior Lamarcus Brutus’ role. James was eventually incorporated into the other safety position, but it was evident that his athleticism made him well equipped to be a neutralizer versus spread offenses.

Usually James blitzes when FSU moves him to the hybrid edge position, either coming off the edge as a true defensive end or stunting into the middle of the defense. He can also show that he’s blitzing and drop into coverage in order to create an extra sense of chaos.

He’s been tasked to spy mobile quarterbacks as well.

“Wherever he goes,” James said. “Coach told me if he goes to the sideline to go to the bathroom, I go with him. He made it very simple for me to learn. Wherever he goes, I go."

The chart below shows James’ responsibilities in the 3-1-7 when opponents pass the ball (74 times last season):



“We ask him to do a lot,” Kelly said. “...That is our jobs as coaches. Find out where they [players] can be more productive and put them in those situations and let them play. For us, as a team, we needed that at that point when we moved him around. We felt like...guys being more versatile and being able to do different things that helps you adjust, give you the ability to adjust.”

Why it works

All the scheming and planning in the world doesn’t mean much if you do not have the players to properly execute what you’re asking them to do.

In James’ case, he can do a little bit of everything and FSU took full advantage of that last season.

"People see D.J., see he's a freshman, and they really don't know how strong he is,” FSU safety Nate Andrews said. “He's probably one of the strongest people I've seen in my whole life. He's very fast and physical. It's scary. A lot of guys can't block him because he's so quick when he comes off the edge. It's a great package that Coach put in."

James blitzed 46 times while in the box last season. He recorded 11 QB pressures and three sacks from the hybrid edge spot in the 3-1-7, meaning he had an impressive success rate of 30 percent when was a rusher.

These are the attributes that make James so dangerous as an edge defender:

Instincts

The play below displays James’ impressive coordination and football IQ. Houston’s Greg Ward Jr. was arguably the best running quarterback in football last year, and James does an excellent job keeping outside contain and then attacking once he sees he has Ward cornered. His ability to fluidly start and stop in order to defend Ward’s juke move is a rare trait.

Athleticism

The great ones make it look easy. Here James spies the opposing QB while also managing to apply pressure simultaneously. He keeps the athletic Treon Harris in check and records a QB hurry as well by utilizing his length and top-end twitchiness.

Strength

This is probably the most important attribute for James, at least when he’s playing close to the line of scrimmage. He can hold his own against offensive linemen when teams run the ball and is a nightmare for running backs to block one-on-one. He terrorized Florida last year -- remember his play where he blew up a hapless right tackle? -- with his brute strength. Watch how James explodes into the running back, throws him aside and then makes the tackle.

James has worked on his pass-rush skills occasionally in preseason camp and could be asked to continue his role as the team’s third-down blitz specialist.

Of course, FSU showed last season that it is comfortable changing the scheme weekly based on how it felt about potential matchups. That means we should still see James blitzing and wreaking havoc, but the way in which he does so could be different.

"I just get to the quarterback,” James said. “That's one thing Coach Lawing tells me, get to the quarterback. No matter how you get there, get to the quarterback."



*Stats are from a database compiled by Noles247. We reviewed and logged more than 700 defensive plays from 2015 sans games versus Georgia Tech (flexbone offense) and Chattanooga (FCS).