Running the 3-4

They may add an LB but they have a lot of candidates already. They have a dozen on the roster, if you count possible DE to LB conversions.

There’s of course Quinn who you’d think would be going outside.

Then maybe between and among Sims, Longacre, and Fox they have a 3/4 LB or 2.

There’s last years LBs, Barron and Tree of course.

And who knows about the recently added LBs: Forrest, Grigsby, Hager, Littleton. Maybe there’s a player in there too. I know Littleton has gotten some buzz.

They also have 2 practice squad LBs: Cassanova McKinzy (6-3 253) & Reggie Northrup (6-1 237)

So that’s

Barron Ogletree Quinn Forrest Sims Longacre Fox Littleton Hager Grigsby Northrup McKinzy

A good guess right now would be that it could look something like this (at this point):

3-tech: Donald, Easley (they’ve already said Donald will be a 3-tech and not a standard 3/4 DE)
NT: Brockers
LDE: Hayes, Westbrooks

ROLB: Quinn
RILB: Ogletree
LILB: Barron (in the Rams version of the Deone Bucannon role in the Arizona D…DB plays at 216)
LOLB: ? … up to 9 candidates on the roster, some of whom played 3/4 LB in college

Ozoneranger wrote:

Barron inside? He’ll get mauled. Sorry, but I’m dubious. He’s undersized. Quinn? He can be a Aldon Smith with the right guy inside of him on the line.

Shit. How do the Patriots do it? System Plug N Play…

Bucannon works inside for Arizona. He’s basically the same guy as Barron. According to Football Outsiders, the Arizona D is ranked 3rd in yards per carry allowed running from guard to guard, and 11th in yards per carry allowed running to the right tackle. If Bucannon were a problem, that’;s where it would show up.

This is a 1-gap attack D, not a grab blockers and read and react D. So Barron could work.

Quinn you figure will be a stand-up LB on the right side, with Ogletree inside him and Donald on the line.

Forrest was playing well till he got hurt , a rookie no less.

I thought the video posted in this forum, where Wade discussed his 3-4 was one of the most informative pieces I have viewed in a long time.

He stated he doesn’t need the ILB’s to both be of the 250 lb variety because he doesn’t have them taking on OG’s anymore because they are just too big and strong.

He likes his Mike to be a tad bigger around 240-250 but that’s not set in stone. He also called the other ILBer the MOE and he said he’s usually a little smaller and he runs around chasing down the guy with the ball and is usually the leading tackler.

That said…the key thing he said was the LBers responsibilities were predicated on the guys in front of him…example would be if the guy in front had outside shoulder responsibility of the guard the LBer might have inside shoulder responsibility…it all starts at the line and what they can and can’t do. I know it’s a 1 gap concept but he has also had players that could control both gaps at the line and still penetrate so he allowed that to happen. The key is….it’s what the players can and can not do.

InvaderRam wrote:

sanbagger wrote:

The key is….it’s what the players can and can not do.

yeah. he’s going to make adjustments here and there, so it won’t be exactly like the denver d, but he’s had so much experience converting defenses that he’ll find a way to get it done.

still i expect them to make some additions to the front seven either through free agency or the draft.

That’s what excited me the most, I think.

I have always been a 4-3 guy but after reading and watching some stuff on Wade and his philosophy…well, I really liked all of it and it really is close to a 4-3 in a lot of respects.

I also think he will bring in some LBer help and perhaps some line help…but the biggest concern is gonna be the backfield IMO. He just can’t fix everything in 1 offseason, but the good news is the team is young across the board.