Build the Saints' 3-4 Defense

ELLIASJWILLIAMS said

Learned something new today doing research on our potential DC.

They don’t 2 gap or 1 gap. They gap and a 1/2. This is what allows the safeties in the scheme to “get there” in the words of Brandon Staley.

So they aren’t just reading like a two gap and neither are they just flat out penetrating a single gap at the snap. It’s somewhat of a mixture

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I think you still need prototypical two-gap players to play that gap and a half scheme, particularly tall defensive ends with long arms. The gap and a half structure just allows you to play with a lighter box because the DL will clog the middle and buy time for the second and third level defenders to tackle the runner when they are forced outside. Staley picked up the system from working with Fangio in Chicago and Denver.