Tipster19 Posted April 19, 2009 Posted April 19, 2009 http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/articl...1/90418067/1058
PushthePile Posted April 19, 2009 Posted April 19, 2009 I brought this point up a few months ago and got flamed. As we sit here one week away from the draft, I'll ask again. How many solid options do we see at the 4-3 end position? Any real playmakers? How many 3-4 OLB playmakers are available in the draft? How many 3-4 DE's are available outside of the first round? It's not even close, IMO.
dave mcbride Posted April 19, 2009 Posted April 19, 2009 http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/articl...1/90418067/1058 One does get the sense that finding guys for the 3-4 is first and foremost about finding football players with a first step and a burst while finding guys for the 4-3 is inherently restricted by height/weight measurables. That said, Dallas under Jimmy Johnson, Tampa under Dungy, and the Giants of the last couple of years have run some awesome defenses.
Justice Posted April 20, 2009 Posted April 20, 2009 Now that the Bills are the only team running the "Tampa 2", defense shouldn't there be plenty of players available for the Bills for that particular scheme as well? BTW. That statement wasn't an endorsement of the Tampa 2 Defense. I hate it.
Leonidas Posted April 20, 2009 Posted April 20, 2009 Perhaps. But 3-4 defensive linemen can be difficult to find. You need that big nose at 340+ lbs., and you need two solid 290 lb. DE's. Tyson Jacksons, Richard Seymours, and Ted Washingtons don't grow on trees.
SuperKillerRobots Posted April 20, 2009 Posted April 20, 2009 I brought this point up a few months ago and got flamed. As we sit here one week away from the draft, I'll ask again. How many solid options do we see at the 4-3 end position? Any real playmakers? How many 3-4 OLB playmakers are available in the draft? How many 3-4 DE's are available outside of the first round? It's not even close, IMO. I think the problem with that thinking is that you are just talking about the raw number of players and not how good they will be. There are a lot of undersized DEs in college who everyone wants to play OLB in the 3-4, but that doesn't mean they are going to be very good at it. In these cases it always seems like you are picking a player who has a lot of potential, but will also have to learn a new position. As far as the linemen go, I think Buffalo fans are biased because of seeing NEs DL play. They have 3 first rounders on their DL. Other teams struggle to find DLs to play int hat scheme because they need to be so big. If they aren't big and able to hold, then your defense falls apart really quick. I do like the 3-4 better than our defense, but I don't think that it's that much easier to get those players. You have SF, GB, Denver, Cleveland all looking for 3-4 defensive players. They all pick before us or could get ahead of us, so that could be 4 premier players for that defense gone before we even pick.
Haven Moses Posted April 20, 2009 Posted April 20, 2009 We only have 2 decent LB's on our team. Where would we find the other 2?
Ramius Posted April 20, 2009 Posted April 20, 2009 I brought this point up a few months ago and got flamed. As we sit here one week away from the draft, I'll ask again. How many solid options do we see at the 4-3 end position? Any real playmakers? How many 3-4 OLB playmakers are available in the draft? How many 3-4 DE's are available outside of the first round? It's not even close, IMO. Out of all these "3-4 OLB playmakers," how many of them have actually played OLB before? A 3-point stance DE rushing the passer is a lot different than playing OLB and having to cover routes, etc. Not all of these guys will successfully convert. Just because some of the best teams run the 3-4 doesn't mean that the defense is fool-proof. I bet Pittsburgh could take any defensive alignment and make it successful within a couple of years, be it 3-4, 4-3, 46, or Tampa-2. Drafting good players makes the defense go, not switching to some magic "scheme."
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