4-3 or 3-4?

[MichaelWinicki]

Are you suggesting more cornerbacks?

Get down with the sickness, bro.

 

[dasander]

I used to like the 3-4 better because it seemed that you could find OLB pass rushers easier than 4-3 defensive ends and I remember Jerry Jones & Wade Phillips/ Parcells saying you could find them in the mid/later rounds of the draft. I'm looking at the draft prospects coming out this year and the productive undersized college defensive ends that project well to a 3-4 OLB seem to grow on trees!!! However, when have the Cowboys found a good mid/ late round 3-4 OLB when they were running a 3-4 scheme?? Kevin Burnett(originally Parcells envisioned him as the next Carl Banks), Victor Butler, Brandon Williams, & Eric Walden weren't exactly world beaters or didn't stay with the team for very long and Bobby Carpenter was a colossal 1st round bust. In addition 3-4 DE & NT's classically don't offer much in the way of pass rush and if you want an impact player at those positions you're going to have to spend premium picks(see the Jets D or JJ Watt).

At the end of the day, no matter what scheme you're running you're going to need talented players(something the Cowboys lack right now) and I like the philosophy that it's easier for college players to transition to a 4-3 defense in the pros. Additionally in today's NFL you're going to be in Nickle defense most of the time anyways, so might as well have a base defensive scheme that features a 4 man line.

 

[TheRomoSexual]

4-3 with some REAL, NFL-quality defensive linemen.

 

[NickZepp]

We need to draft and acquire defensive talent. Particularly at the lines and DB spots. We may even need someone to compete with Lee because Lee can't even play half a season. We talk about how Murray is injury prone and some even say we shouldn't sign him to a big deal becasue of that. Lee is more injury prone than Murray. I'm not sure we should look at him as a long term LB solution.

 

[StarBoyz83]

I prefer 3-4. Honestly this team doesn't have the talent to run either so it doesnt matter. We have like 3 maybe 4 players on d that are starting caliber.

 

[TheFinisher]

We didn't have the personal to make the switch. Tackles weren't good enough and Ware isn't a 4-3 DE.

We don't really have the personnel to run the 3-4 either. No NT, Hatcher will walk so no 5-techs, Spencer will walk no Sam and Ware is a shell of himself.

We have to rebuild the D regardless of what scheme we run.

 

[CF74]

Do you prefer the 4-3 or 3-4?

I prefer the 4-3 for 3 reasons:

1) Look at the dominant defenses the last few years, Seattle and Carolina along with Baltimore which has been a hybrid of 4-3 and 3-4. My favrorite defense the last 10 years was the Carolina team that went to the Super Bowl that had the line of Buckner, Peppers, Jenkins and Rucker. Also don't forget the NASCAR line that the Giants had to beat the Patriots the last 5 years.

2) 4-3 collapses the pocked easier and really helps against the run. The 3-4 relies on edge pressure.

3) A lot of colleges, except for Saban at Alabama run 4-3 so it's easier to know how the college guys will translate to the pros. Same scheme in front 7 allows them to react more instead of thinking about coverage responsibilities.

Depends on your personnel but I'd lean towards the 4-3 and run variations of both when it called for it assuming I had the bodies to pull it off...

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

4-3 with better coaching and players
or
3-4 with better coaching and players.

 

[FLCowboyFan]

Let's go with the 5-2. Maybe that way we can get pressure on the QB

 

[durrrr]

Not sure one is inherently better than the other. Both are proven/successful.

 

[TrailBlazer]

People that say this never give details.

What details do you need? Its pretty obvious. If we wouldnt have made the switch to 4-3, we wouldnt have a historically bad defense. We were much better last year in the 3-4, even with injuries. Bruce Carter is much better in 3-4. Ware is better in 3-4. Sean lee is better in 3-4.

 

[jday]

Do you prefer the 4-3 or 3-4?

I prefer the 4-3 for 3 reasons:

1) Look at the dominant defenses the last few years, Seattle and Carolina along with Baltimore which has been a hybrid of 4-3 and 3-4. My favrorite defense the last 10 years was the Carolina team that went to the Super Bowl that had the line of Buckner, Peppers, Jenkins and Rucker. Also don't forget the NASCAR line that the Giants had to beat the Patriots the last 5 years.

2) 4-3 collapses the pocked easier and really helps against the run. The 3-4 relies on edge pressure.

3) A lot of colleges, except for Saban at Alabama run 4-3 so it's easier to know how the college guys will translate to the pros. Same scheme in front 7 allows them to react more instead of thinking about coverage responsibilities.

The Cowboys need a substantial injection of youth and speed on defense. The 4-3 relies heavily on the front 4 at the very least creating pressure. The Cowboys have not been able to do that consistently. Considering that they have had 20 different players man the Dl that is somewhat understandable, but at least part of the reason reason for the high turnover is due to the overall age of the Dl.

Personally, I don't care which scheme you go with so long as you are fitting the scheme to the players and not the other way around.

 

[wileedog]

I don't care about the front that much. With Ware done, Hatcher and Spencer gone and Lee fragile, we are pretty much looking at a complete rebuild on the front 7 no matter what we do. 3-4. 4-3, whatever. Find me some pass rushers.

I do care that we have press corners and very, very subpar cover safeties playing in a Cover 2. Obviously improving the front 7 will help with the secondary play, but I would prefer a blitzing defense with a capable man to man coverage scheme than putting Mo and Carr into zone and depending on good safety play.

 

[xwalker]

What details do you need? Its pretty obvious. If we wouldnt have made the switch to 4-3, we wouldnt have a historically bad defense. We were much better last year in the 3-4, even with injuries. Bruce Carter is much better in 3-4. Ware is better in 3-4. Sean lee is better in 3-4.

Ware's issues are not the defensive scheme. He has a bad back, 2 bad elbows and a neck/shoulder issue. He rushed from a 4-man line as a DE in the 3-4 on obvious passing downs.

Lee was good in both when he is on the field.

Carter, maybe, but he seems to have issues that go beyond the scheme. He is struggling to get off blocks which is normally is bigger issue in the 3-4.

They have nobody to play NT with Ratliff and Josh Brent gone.

They have nobody to play Strong-Side OLB in the 3-4 with Spencer out.

The DBs are not specific to 3-4 or 4-3.

Wilber has found his best spot as a 4-3 SLB.

Selvie wouldn't fit in a 3-4.

 

[TrailBlazer]

Ware's issues are not the defensive scheme. He has a bad back, 2 bad elbows and a neck/shoulder issue. He rushed from a 4-man line as a DE in the 3-4 on obvious passing downs.

Lee was good in both when he is on the field.

Carter, maybe, but he seems to have issues that go beyond the scheme. He is struggling to get off blocks which is normally is bigger issue in the 3-4.

They have nobody to play NT with Ratliff and Josh Brent gone.

They have nobody to play Strong-Side OLB in the 3-4 with Spencer out.

The DBs are not specific to 3-4 or 4-3.

Wilber has found his best spot as a 4-3 SLB.

Selvie wouldn't fit in a 3-4.

If you need proof that our personnel is best suited for 3-4; just look at the past two seasons. The switch to 4-3 was a flop. Idc what we run, as long as we put the resources into finding guys that fit that particular scheme.

Ware has fallen off a cliff. But he's still better in the 3-4 IMO. Sean lee is a 3-4 LB. We shouldn't be dropping him into coverage as much as we do in this 4-3. Carter is obviously better in 3-4. Don't know why, but he is. I agree he struggles getting off blocks. Selvie is a backup, not hard to replace if we wanted to run a 3-4. Wilber isn't starter material IMO either. We need upgrades from Wilber and selvie regardless of scheme. We don't have anybody to play DT in this 4-3 either. So your argument that bc Ratliff and Brent are gone we don't have anyone to play NT in 3-4 doesn't hold any water. We need to draft DT no matter what scheme we run.