TwistedHusky":6hb3x98q said:
Even then, we still miss that 330lb NT everyone seems to think grows on trees. Danny Shelton was expensive to get and he wasn't even that great.
Who are you thinking?
Last year we had two of these massive NTs:
Al Woods 6-4 331
Brian Mone 6-3 345
Neither of them cost much at all, and I expect both of them to be back. They are actually fairly cheap to acquire because they aren't much use against the pass. Poona doesn't fit the mold at 310 pounds but even he can hold up due to his combo of a low center of gravity and long arms.[/quote]
TwistedHusky":6hb3x98q said:
And how does this shut down the pass?
That's a fair question. My thoughts (after reading a lot of Matty F. Brown stuff):
1) You now have two (hypothetically) top edge rushers for providing outside pressure rather than one in your typical 4-3 Under where you the Leo but then on the other side you have a Red Bryant type with a KJ Wright type behind him. This means the potential for a much more dangerous pass rush.
2) You now have one extra guy who is competent at dropping in to coverage, because both edge players will drop a significant amount of the time.
3) As a result of the above, you have more blitzing options because there's one more guy who can (potentially) replace the blitzer in coverage.
4) Deception. The offense doesn't know who is dropping, if a player is showing blitz you have to respect it, but you can't respect it too much either. It's easier to disguise your pass rushers and it's also easier to disguise your coverages.
5) Because the A and B gaps are always covered, the MIKE and WILL linebackers don't have to bite hard against play action, which allows them to get back in to their zone responsibilities more quickly. They can also flow to the ball quickly against screens. In general you don't need or even want huge ILBs - they aren't going to be filling A and B gaps a ton and you want them to be fast (which helps in coverage).
6) Quick inside throws are better covered by nature of the alignment. (I don't have a great grasp of why exactly this is, but it's one of the things I got from Brown)
7) The EDGE players are not put in to conflict against Zone Read or RPO plays, important against mobile QBs (like the above, I don't have a great grasp of why this is)
TwistedHusky":6hb3x98q said:
This is as close to a sign that Pete is out of ideas as any. But if his new DC wants a 3-4 and thinks he can excel with it? sure. The only way this works is if we become heavy blitzers, and since blitzes are high reward, high risk (because they give up big plays) I don't see Pete greenlighting a blitz heavy 3-4.
And passive 3-4s get eaten alive. Which is the danger.
It's not really a new idea, I see it more as a total commitment to the idea. I don't think it will be passive at all - not just because Pete and Clint have been talking it up as aggressive and attacking, and wanting to play more man coverage, but due to the fact that your biggest investment on defense - Jamal Adams - needs to be playing in a blitzing defense in order to play to his strengths. With a 3-4 you are in a way always blitzing even if you are only rushing four, because the offense will never know which four rushers are coming (unless KJ Wright is one of your edge players).
Yes there are some personnel needs in order to pull this off - primarily a stud OLB to play opposite Darrell Taylor - so I'm eager to see what happens in free agency.