Moving to a 3-4?

You sort of already are in packages. The 5 man fronts we keep talking about is basically the modern version of the 3-4. The old school versions of the 3-4 we had under Parcells and even Phillips are pretty much dead. If you're going to keep Clark for 2026 then the Cowboys are basically committing to running a hybrid 3-4 defense next year. For the front 7 the big things to look for this offseason is going to be an upgrade at off ball LB, as well as a true hybrid edge player.
 
Teague31 said:
How hard could it be? You play a 3 man front with all 3 DT. Eze and Sam can be your edges. Agent Zero and James can handle ILB
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EZE, #53 and Sam Williams have all dropped into coverage.

QW and Osa have played snaps at the 5-tech position.
 
Teague31 said:
How hard could it be? You play a 3 man front with all 3 DT. Eze and Sam can be your edges. Agent Zero and James can handle ILB
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A lot easier now considering the only DEs under contract for next season are Ez and Houston. David Bailey or Cassius Howell would make a nice starting combo at OLB with Ez.
That said, Sam Williams having coverage abilities is terrifying. Houston has never played ILB. He's a pass rush specialist who's a major liability vs the run. Playing a position that he's never played with the major responsibility that is his weakness and the reason he's bounced around the league probably isn't too good an idea!
 
The Parcells style 3-4 is dead. It doesn't offer enough pass rush, and the DL players you need are hard to find.

In particular, 3-4 DEs who could line head-up on a tackle and go right through him to pressure the QBs were basically unicorns. A HOF level monster like Richard Seymour and Aaron Smith would get like 5 or 6 sacks a season in a traditional 3-4 scheme. Your garden-variety Marcus Spears type starter would get like 2 sacks. It was just hard for 3-4 DEs to create pressure, and as the league became more slanted towards the pass, you really needed a second rusher who could create pressure.

The popular "3-4" look now is basically a 4-3 weak front, where your best speed rusher gets a little wider outside, and your strong-side DE shades inside. Then you overhang an LB to cover the wide part of the strong side. It looks at first blush like a 3-4, but there's a subtle difference in alignment. Everyone's lined up in a gap, and is attacking that one gap, rather than lining up head-up on an OL and trying to control him.

You can make that strong-side end shaded inside into a 3rd DT, like say Osa, if he's a pretty good pass rusher. Playing 5 DLs is a little limiting though, because if that extra DL isn't a credible coverage player, you're basically declaring a blitz from the word go.
 
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beware_d-ware said:
The Parcells style 3-4 is dead. It doesn't offer enough pass rush, and the DL players you need are hard to find. In particular, 3-4 DEs who could line head-up on a tackle and go right through him to pressure the QBs were basically unicorns.

The popular "3-4" look now is basically a 4-3 weak front, where your best speed rusher gets a little wider outside, and your strong-side DE shades inside. Then you overhang an LB to cover the wide part of the strong side. It looks at first blush like a 3-4, but there's subtle differences in alignment. Everyone's lined up in a gap, and is attacking that one gap, rather than lining up head-up on an OL and trying to control him.

You can make that strong-side end shaded inside into 3rd DT, like say Osa, if he's a pretty good pass rusher. Playing 5 DLs is a little limiting though, because if that extra DL isn't a credible coverage player, you're basically declaring a blitz from the word go.
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This is spot on. A lot of teams basically run hybrids of the traditional 3-4, 4-3 schemes anyway. Let’s be real the only difference nowadays is whether the edge rushers have their hand on the ground or not when the ball is snapped.
 
TheMarathonContinues said:
How hard could it be? 3-4 is built on having good linebackers and our weakest unit is linebacker right now.
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Edge LB is completely different than off-ball LB.

We are in the era of the stand-up DE which allows those DEs to drop into coverage like a 3-4 LB.

EZE' Sam Williams and #53 have all dropped into coverage this season.
- They all did ir better than Kenneth Murray...
- Having said that, the punter and kicker would likely be better LBs than Kenneth Murray...
 
how many good 3-4 schemes are still here in the NFL ?

Pittsburgh and who else ? Just curious. ..
 
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