3-4 Under Front (Position Analysis)
So as you all heard via SP we will make the transition to the 3-4 using under concepts. What you see above is an illustration of the under front.
The front 3 consist of your End, Nose, Tackles
LB's are your Jack Will Mike and Sam
On the 3-4 Switch and Multiple Fronts - Shakin The Southland
A few interesting quotes i took from this
The above shows why Vilma is being kept around. Its that simple. He is still our best bet@ that WLB position.
The main reason Cam Jordan is projected to make a seamless transition.
Because its not a true TNT front and its more of a ENT front Cam(by my guess) will be moved to the Right side. Which is the strong side of the front. He will continue to play 5tech @ RDE which as i pointed out above is essentially the same thing as SDE in the 4-3
Which has been my cry for a 3-4 for the longest. It just flat out gives guys better angles.
Now using the above illustration im going to take a direct stab@ where guys fit and possible wholes we need to fill. This should give us a realistic view into FA/Draft
NT - Bunkley and Hicks have this on lock. I remember reading that someone said we were interested in Datone Jones(more on that later)and that we felt like we had our Nose Tackles in house already. If thats so then it points@ the above. Your 1/2 punch @ NT are those two guys. Hicks can play it by himself but now you have depth.
RDE - Cam Jordan ?? This position is the only position that 2gaps while everyone else 1 gaps. Hicks could back up this position as well since another 2 gapper isn't really on the roster yet.
LDT(3tech`) Tyrunn Walker/Tom Johnson/Will Smith to an extent. To an extent this guy isn't on the roster. Had Ellis ever been an adequate 3tech we could have penciled him in there. This is where i think we should go 1st in the draft as there are several guys who can fill this role and could be available
*Shariff Floyd
*Datone Jone
*Sheldon Richardson
ROLB(Jack) Junior G, ???? Outside of Galette we have no one here. This must be addressed. Id much rather go to FA here to give us some leeway with the draft. So Victor Butler would be my choice. HE knows Ryans scheme and could play either OLB position.
RILB(Will) Jon Vilma/Chris Chamberlain - As of right now. This is why i think the saints were seen eyeing Zavier Gooden. You generally want to have 3 guys here so i think this position gets addressed in the Draft.
LILB(Mike) Curtis Lofton/Will Herriing - Lofton is basically locked in as the starter so i don't think there is a need to address this position via the draft. If herring isn't kept then u could probably insert a veteran here.
LOLB(Sam) Hawthorne/Martez Wilson - This could change if Hawthorne isn't retained. However the SOLB position in the 3-4 under front is similar to the SOLB position in the 4-3 front. Similar to what Wilson was asked to do his first year. Its probably just me but Tez is capable of dropping in coverage. I don't see why he shouldn't be able to start here but if not and he was relegated to 3rd down duties then Hawthorne would get the two down nod.
Thats basically it.
Either way our two main needs in the front 7 are LDT and OLB but i think LDT is the bigger need right now. Much like if we would have stayed in a 4-3 front the 3tech would have been a position of need going into the draft. Especially with Ellis most likely walking.
One of the main points of switching to a 3-4 is because u can find rush LB's later in the draft..thus making them more easy to replace and cheaper to retain.
Just to take a shot@ what our draft board should look like as far as defense
DT
OLB
CB
S
That could shift depending on various factors but as of right now I think thats where we "should" stand.
My main point is though the OLB's in a 3-4 get all the attention..the front 3 are still your most important pieces. In fact they become that much more important since its only 3 of them. This is one of the reasons Houston went the JJ Watt first rather than OLB. So don't be surprised if we draft a tackle first then bounce back to OLB.
So as you all heard via SP we will make the transition to the 3-4 using under concepts. What you see above is an illustration of the under front.
The front 3 consist of your End, Nose, Tackles
LB's are your Jack Will Mike and Sam
On the 3-4 Switch and Multiple Fronts - Shakin The Southland
A few interesting quotes i took from this
The above shows why Vilma is being kept around. Its that simple. He is still our best bet@ that WLB position.
The main reason Cam Jordan is projected to make a seamless transition.
Because its not a true TNT front and its more of a ENT front Cam(by my guess) will be moved to the Right side. Which is the strong side of the front. He will continue to play 5tech @ RDE which as i pointed out above is essentially the same thing as SDE in the 4-3
Which has been my cry for a 3-4 for the longest. It just flat out gives guys better angles.
Now using the above illustration im going to take a direct stab@ where guys fit and possible wholes we need to fill. This should give us a realistic view into FA/Draft
NT - Bunkley and Hicks have this on lock. I remember reading that someone said we were interested in Datone Jones(more on that later)and that we felt like we had our Nose Tackles in house already. If thats so then it points@ the above. Your 1/2 punch @ NT are those two guys. Hicks can play it by himself but now you have depth.
RDE - Cam Jordan ?? This position is the only position that 2gaps while everyone else 1 gaps. Hicks could back up this position as well since another 2 gapper isn't really on the roster yet.
LDT(3tech`) Tyrunn Walker/Tom Johnson/Will Smith to an extent. To an extent this guy isn't on the roster. Had Ellis ever been an adequate 3tech we could have penciled him in there. This is where i think we should go 1st in the draft as there are several guys who can fill this role and could be available
*Shariff Floyd
*Datone Jone
*Sheldon Richardson
ROLB(Jack) Junior G, ???? Outside of Galette we have no one here. This must be addressed. Id much rather go to FA here to give us some leeway with the draft. So Victor Butler would be my choice. HE knows Ryans scheme and could play either OLB position.
RILB(Will) Jon Vilma/Chris Chamberlain - As of right now. This is why i think the saints were seen eyeing Zavier Gooden. You generally want to have 3 guys here so i think this position gets addressed in the Draft.
LILB(Mike) Curtis Lofton/Will Herriing - Lofton is basically locked in as the starter so i don't think there is a need to address this position via the draft. If herring isn't kept then u could probably insert a veteran here.
LOLB(Sam) Hawthorne/Martez Wilson - This could change if Hawthorne isn't retained. However the SOLB position in the 3-4 under front is similar to the SOLB position in the 4-3 front. Similar to what Wilson was asked to do his first year. Its probably just me but Tez is capable of dropping in coverage. I don't see why he shouldn't be able to start here but if not and he was relegated to 3rd down duties then Hawthorne would get the two down nod.
Thats basically it.
Either way our two main needs in the front 7 are LDT and OLB but i think LDT is the bigger need right now. Much like if we would have stayed in a 4-3 front the 3tech would have been a position of need going into the draft. Especially with Ellis most likely walking.
One of the main points of switching to a 3-4 is because u can find rush LB's later in the draft..thus making them more easy to replace and cheaper to retain.
Just to take a shot@ what our draft board should look like as far as defense
DT
OLB
CB
S
That could shift depending on various factors but as of right now I think thats where we "should" stand.
My main point is though the OLB's in a 3-4 get all the attention..the front 3 are still your most important pieces. In fact they become that much more important since its only 3 of them. This is one of the reasons Houston went the JJ Watt first rather than OLB. So don't be surprised if we draft a tackle first then bounce back to OLB.