I'll write a little more on this later, but the 46 was really designed to stop the run but to do it in a much more aggressive manner than Landry's Flex Defense.


The 46 covered both of the Offensive Guards and the Center so that Offenses would be less likely to pull Linemen to gain a numbers advantage when running the ball. This technique stresses the Defense however because now you need another player on the Defensive front in order to set the edge of the Defense. The OTTO spot in the current defense always reminds me of this. Due to a linebacker now being on the line, the Strong Safety comes down "into the box" leaving the Free by himself in the backfield.


With Bradley's version of the 4-3, each defensive lineman is assigned to a gap, although occasionally the Nose Guard seems to "two gap" from time to time. This is in contrast to the traditional form of the 46.


There's a LOT of really good material out there to read if folks are interested.

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