I was never a fan of either Ryan or Kiffin, frankly. I liked Ryan's concepts better, though. I prefer the 4-3 to the 3-4, but only for the sake of tradition. I don't like that, with everything else we've had going on on this roster, we've dithered back and forth over the DC position and the defensive scheme. And I still have huge concerns about Monte Kiffin just fielding a defense that's already had its impact on the league.
That said, I don't think we really saw a lot of what was intended defensively this year. With the DL rotation, Claiborne out and Webb unready, we were playing zone too often when we should not have been. That couldn't have been the plan. We started the year playing more single high, and I think with adequate pressure, we'd have been playing more press all along and have been more successful with it. I'm still up in the air about the overall direction.
But then again, when you look at how patchwork the snaps were last season, you can see how easy it should be to add consistency and talent to the defense in the offseason. Just adding 3-4 regular starters at the obvious positions would go a long way in that regard. That, with an infusion of more young talent, should bode well. We're talking about going from worst-to-middling here, and not worst-to-first. I think it's doable, I just wish I had more faith, overall, in the current defensive staff.
