The truest defining characteristic of the leo position is the ability to penetrate off the edge and affect the passer.  Arm length is a part of that equation, but if the choice is between a short arm guy dragging down the QB or a long armed guy who can't get around the tackle then you take the guy who can finish a rush. 

 

I think that with both otto and leo we are trying to create two more rigid boxes, and I don't think that's the point.  The point of a more hybridized defense is to find a way to get dynamic athletes who CAN affect the passer on the field and create a system that shields their weaknesses as opposed to creating a rigid exclusionary defensive ideology.

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