Question for the experts on the Board
- Thread starter GI Cat
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This has been hard to suss out. A few factors:
- The high number of DL may be as much affected by the poor performance last year and the cubbard being bare
- The high number of DL, especially edges is also driven in part by the fact that NU is getting commits from a glut of extremely talented guys, guys that are talented enough that you just take them to get them on the team, go over your intended class allotments for the position, and adjust what you need to elsewhere. I personally doubt they intended to take 7 linemen, but these guys are so good and we're getting like ALL the guys we love, so we just gotta keep taking em.
Beyond that, it's been hard to figure out what sort of front exactly they're intending to use. THere have been enough little comments that it seems to me they are NOT going to a "traditional" 3-4 this year a la Wisconsin. However, I think their 4 man fronts are likely to be very hybrid. That means a lot of these athletic edge/DE guys are likely to be in sort of a hybrid/bandit/JACK role that has both 2 and 3 point stances, moves a lot, and resembles both a OLB and a DE at times while still technically being a 4 man front. On top of this, they definitely seem to be using the base heavy nickel, so a traditional LB spot on the field is going to be eaten up by some of the heavy safety/STAR type guys we've been recruiting, so I suspect we need fewer traditional LBs as a result of that.
Tl;dr a lot of factors are at play, but it seems increasingly obvious that the traditional hard line between DE and OLB and safety and backer on our roster are increasingly blurry.
Interesting stuff. This also seems to be the direction a number of NFL teams are taking - the athletic hybrid edge rushers and hybrid hard hitting safeties. Recruits probably like to see themselves in these roles. Following the Bengals as I do, this last draft was heavy on defense and heavy on guys who could be described as versatile.
Wouldn't that suggest a 4-3 defense? God, please not the dreaded 3-4 again. Or, are you suggesting the DL studs basically play LB, and lose a step or 2 getting to the QB, or don't even attempt that? What I saw last year was a very chaotic front 7, allowing teams to run at us at will and QBs to do whatever the heck they wanted. You post makes me very concerned we have a great recruiter in JON, but not a strategist.
Theoretically, yes. But one of the LBs in a 3-4 is really a standup rush end who moves around for schematic advantage. This LB is called a “joker” or “jack” LB and mainly rushes the passer, but can also handle some coverage responsibilities. The fourth LB acts more like a strong safety than a traditional run-focused LB.
But then the number of LBs needed would remain the same with the need for a hybrid. And number of DL would remain the same or be reduced, right?
Thanks. Would it be fair to say that we might look like we are in a 4-2-5 at times? One DL and one safety are hybrid LBs.
Eh, this is true and not true. When I use the term Jack/Bandit, etc, and when a lot of teams use it, its USUALLY in the context of a 4 man based front with the Jack being a DE with some hybrid LB ability. However, they’re USUALLY going to be moving around to still rush and behave as a DE, they aren’t going to have true coverage responsibilities as often, etc. A lot of 3-4s do not utilize the bandit/Jack concept and have oversized LBs who are more like LBs who are really good at rushing but also do lots of traditional LB things so you aren’t sure which one of them is the fourth rusher any given play. With a 4 down Jack concept, you’re pretty sure that guy is the 4th rusher most of the time, but he’s going to do lots of different things and give different looks.
But again, at some point these become really fuzzy lines. Based on the cometary we’ve seen and the idea that they’re still talking to DTs about 3 techs and that sort of thing, I expect more of what I would call a 4 down scheme with a bandit/Jack DE alongside 3 more traditional linemen (a 1, a 3, and a strong side DE), 2-3 LBs and a Star as opposed to a 5-1-5 with 3-4 LB look. But… we might see ALL of this at times, and these are just guesses.
I think it’ll look like this a lot except one of the DEs is going to be moving all over the place and in different stances. So, basically… sometimes yes.
This hopefully will be, at very least, fun to watch and learn about. These hybrid schemes have a lot more to armchair analyze from play to play compared to a more traditional 4-3 setup where the roles are well defined.