Do we have the biggest defense in the NFL?

[TruBlueCowboy]

Canty and Spears are freaking monsters. Huge physical specimens.

Greg Ellis and DeMarcus Ware are linebackers, and they could start at DE on any 4-3 team.

We have the tallest free safety in the league, and a strong safety who is as Bill puts it: "one biscuit short of a linebacker."

I don't think we have a single defensive lineman under 300 pounds, nor a linebacker under 250 pounds.

Anthony Henry is big and physical enough that he could easily move to safety on any team.

All that size, and we still have good speed too. Boy.... that defense is gonna give some teams nightmares this year.

 

[zrinkill]

Wow ....

We have not seen them in a real game yet ..... but its getting hard not to get really excited.

 

[Baileyneverfailey]

I believe Kevin Burnett is only about 240, but yes, we have a huge fast insane defense. It's going to be ridiculous. Even Burnett plays bigger than he is.

 

[ravidubey]

Ellis as an OLB does make us as physically imposing as any 4-3. I worry though about his pass coverage responsibilities, normally a 4-3 DE would only cover on a zone-blitz, and we know how that got exploited by offenses in the late 1990's.

Ellis being back with his hand off the ground doesn't change much, he still can't cover and is a bad matchup vs. a receiver.

Also, against runs to his side a back has an advantage to his side they wouldn't have in the 4-3. In the 4-3 Ellis would be on the line and already at the point of attack without having to accelerate his body towards the LOS. A good back can juke a committed, lumbering Ellis and then hit the secondary.

Teams don't play prototype 4-3 DE's at OLB for a reason!

 

[Yakuza Rich]

We may overall. The only team that may be bigger at this point is the Chargers or maybe the Patriots.



YAKUZA

 

[bobtheflob]

I don't know about that. In a 3-4, defensive linemen and linebackers are bigger, but you do substitute a lineman for a linebacker, so it may even out somewhat. With Ellis in as a linebacker it may be close though.

 

[TruBlueCowboy]

Ellis as an OLB does make us as physically imposing as any 4-3. I worry though about his pass coverage responsibilities, normally a 4-3 DE would only cover on a zone-blitz, and we know how that got exploited by offenses in the late 1990's.

Ellis being back with his hand off the ground doesn't change much, he still can't cover and is a bad matchup vs. a receiver.

Also, against runs to his side a back has an advantage to his side they wouldn't have in the 4-3. In the 4-3 Ellis would be on the line and already at the point of attack without having to accelerate his body towards the LOS. A good back can juke a committed, lumbering Ellis and then hit the secondary.

Teams don't do this for a reason!

Pre-injury Greg might have done it. I agree, there will be some mistakes, but I don't think the Cowboys plan on playing him full-time. I've always assumed Singleton and him would split duties.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I don't know about that. In a 3-4, defensive linemen and linebackers are bigger, but you do substitute a lineman for a linebacker, so it may even out somewhat. With Ellis in as a linebacker it may be close though.

3-4 defenses are usually bigger since you're pretty much installing 3 guys on the line that are the size of normal 4-3 DT's.

So for example, a team that runs the 4-3 may look like this:

RE - 265 pounds
DT - 295 pounds
DT - 300 pounds
LE - 270 pounds

But a 3-4 team may look like this

ROLB - 255 pounds
RE - 300 pounds
NG - 310 pounds
LE - 300 pounds

The 3-4 defense outweighs the 4-3 defense by 35 pounds with just these 4 guys.

But, the 3-4 defense generally has bigger ILB's and bigger LOLB.

So in general, the 3-4 defense should weigh more than a 4-3 scheme. And in our case, since Ellis probably weighs about 20 pounds more than your average 3-4 LOLB, this defense is essentially huge up front.


YAKUZA

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Ellis being back with his hand off the ground doesn't change much, he still can't cover and is a bad matchup vs. a receiver.

According to all reports, he's been good in coverage so far. And he was near excellent against the Saints.

I see him playing in coverage much like Willie McGinest who mostly plays RB's in coverage and just tries to take away their screen passes and passes in the flats.

McGinest is incredibly underrated in this aspect and according to Prospectus, he finished 1st in pass stop rate for LB's in 2005.

And that doesn't surprise me.

I think people are getting in their mind that Ellis is going to be playing a lot of deep or intermediate coverage and face some receivers. Chances are he'll see almost none of that and his main responsibilities when facing a WR will be to bump them off their route and let them go.


YAKUZA

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

think about it, with ellis and spears on one side and ware and canty on the other. rushing the QB is getting a lot easier and defending it a lot harder. when dallas decides to take a chance and rush Ware and Ellis at the same time and then throw Roy for good measure, its a scary sight for opposing QBs.

 

[redskins1]

you might have a defense that is bigger in size,but the Commanders has the better defense..just thought i would throw that in there..

 

[dougonthebench]

I believe Kevin Burnett is only about 240, but yes, we have a huge fast insane defense. It's going to be ridiculous. Even Burnett plays bigger than he is.

you know its bad when we can say our smallest LB is 240!

 

[TruBlueCowboy]

you might have a defense that is bigger in size,but the Commanders has the better defense..just thought i would throw that in there..

:skins: :skins:

Back! Back I say! Back to your Joe Gibbs love fest!