Quote:1.  I don't think our personnel fits a 3-4 just fine.  I don't think we have the LBs for it.  Telvin Smith and Jack would have to be replaced right off the bat.  Poz did not work well in the 3-4 when he was up in Buffalo and he had a stud NT in front of him-something we wouldn't have here this year, barring a signing of Dontari Poe.  The best case scenario would be a blitzing 3-4 scheme that would utilize Ngakoue and Fowler as OLBs, but that still wouldn't address the middle of the defense.

 

2.  I think historically, the most dominant defenses in NFL history have been 4-3 schemes.

 

3.  3-4 defenses are typically size dependent, and historically have not fared well without a huge DLs (NTs in particular) and big LBs.

 

1. I firmly disagree on Jack fitting a 3-4 defense. He's a freak of nature in terms of physique and I believe he can play any linebacker spot in a 4-3 and inside just fine in a 3-4. Telvin is interesting one, but I think he could make the transition to an inside backer mainly due to your last sentence in your first point. We'd likely use Fowler and Ngakoue as OLBs, so we could be blitz heavily and shade Telvin more towards the weak side.

 

2. That's a fair point, though to be fair the 3-4 is a more modern approach, so it doesn't have the same history. Of the more recent historically good defenses, I'd say it's fairly even with current Denver as well as the late 90s-early 2000s Baltimore and Pittsburgh defenses running 34 schemes.

 

3. We have a lot of capable big guys currently on the roster (Jackson, Odrick, Marks, Miller, Jones, Day, Alualu) though we do lack a giant nose tackle. I do think Miller (325lbs) and Jones (320lbs) can hold up as NTs in a 3-4 though since they're by no means small. Odrick and Jackson have both played as DEs in the 3-4 scheme too. Not to mention the decent possibility of adding another one in Alabama's Jonathan Allen though the draft.

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