Quote:<p class="">The Elephant front turned into it's own position, with Carroll eventually changing the name to "Leo." The Leo isn't particularly unique in and of itself. Most defenses have some kind of unique name for their weakside edge player (Buck/Whip/Jack), but Carroll plays him in a particularly loose alignment, and he's the one player along the front who isn't concerned with getting one-yard upfield and anchoring in this defense. He can line up standing up or with his hand in the ground, and sole focus is to be the primary pass rusher and wreak havoc in the backfield. Ultimately, what makes Carroll's defense unique is how the huge gap between the Leo and the next defensive lineman along the scrimmage is defended.

<p class="">Like Brewer says, one could "write five 1,500-word pieces on this defense." Seattle has three main defensive fronts that all of their other formations build off of: the Under front, the Over front, and the Bear front. Carroll and Bradley based out of the Under in year one, but have gradually gone to prefer the Over alignment. Each front has it's unique strengths and weaknesses in a vacuum - the Under is generally better against two-backfield sets, the Over is generally better against one-back sets, and the Bear front covers up the three interior offensive linemen, preventing pulling/trapping/second level blocks.