The 3-4 solution

[waldoputty]

We are all hoping Taco plays like Hardy or Bosa.
His physical traits are pretty much equal or in some ways little better.

However, if he does not pan out, what do we do.
I think the 3-4 may be the solution.
I would say let marinelli and garrett go (keep the offense/coordinator the same) and go to a blitzing 3-4 and a head coach who is good at game management.

Key advantages:
1. we have most of the players for a 3-4.
2. it is probably easier to draft a Watt OLB type than a top DE.

The transition after the season is surprisingly painless as most of the players are inhouse already:
DT - thornton, Collins, 2nd pick/FA (big 330lb type)
DE - Taco, Irving, Collins, Tcrawford
LOLB - Tapper
ROLB - Jaylon, 1st pick/FA (watt type), Nzeocha
ILB - Jaylon, Lee, Wilson, Nzeocha
DBs - no change

We then draft a LG 3rd round and use the rest of the draft to draft more OLB types.

 

[Nightman]

NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOO

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Not only no but hell no.

Taco would need to put on 20 lbs to play the 5 technique.

Watt would have been the pick.

We have no OLB or NT prospects.

There is a fine line between thinking outside the box and a harebrained scheme.

 

[Beats_By_Zeke]

Come off a 13-3 season and draft all 4-3 zone scheme D players... and you want to blow it all up and draft for 3-4 again?

 

[waldoputty]

Not only no but hell no.

Taco would need to put on 20 lbs to play the 5 technique.

Watt would have been the pick.

We have no OLB or NT prospects.

There is a fine line between thinking outside the box and a harebrained scheme.

the most difficult piece in a 4-3 is the RDE.
the most difficult piece in a 3-4 is the OLB

would you not agree it is much easier to get a good passrush OLB than RDE?

if the most difficult pieces to get is filled by pick #1 and FA, then all you have left is NT and the DEs.
thornton could be NT or DE.
tcrawford could be DE
taco can gain the weight/muscle, but i believe ratliff played NT at 300lb.
taco is already 280lb so he is not far from 300lb for the NT.

we have most of the pieces already.
i think it would be much easier and lower-risk to fill OLB/NT in a single draft than trying to get a dominant RDE for a 4-3.

 

[waldoputty]

Come off a 13-3 season and draft all 4-3 zone scheme D players... and you want to blow it all up and draft for 3-4 again?

i said 3-4 IF taco bombs and no one steps up.

 

[Proximo]

What a horrible thread. Just an absolutely wretched, terrible thing.

 

[waldoputty]

What a horrible thread. Just an absolutely wretched, terrible thing.

this assumes if taco bombs and no one steps up.

 

[Setackin]

This is the kind of thinking JJ used when he fired Jimmy... Dallas was 13-3 last year...

 

[waldoputty]

This is the kind of thinking JJ used when he fired Jimmy... Dallas was 13-3 last year...

ah, this is IF taco bombs and no one stepped up - so 2017 would have been a failed season. hello...

 

[Proximo]

this assumes if taco bombs and no one steps up.

Get a hold of yourself. Even if "Tac bombs and no one steps up", your premise is ridiculous. There are other options.

 

[Hardline]

We shouldn't even be discussing Taco because he shouldn't have been the pick.
Huge reach
We will be lucky if he turns out to be another Anthony Spencer or at best a Greg Ellis.

 

[waldoputty]

Get a hold of yourself. Even if "Tac bombs and no one steps up", your premise is ridiculous. There are other options.

how is it ridiculous?
we have most of the players needed for a 3-4
it is easier to get the most difficult piece in the 3-4 than the 4-3.

we could trade our entire draft to move up in the 1st to try to get a rde
or get the 3-4 players that would be available later on in the draft.
nt's are available in round 2 or later, and less expensive FAs.
we already have players big enough to play in the DL
thornton used to be a 3-4 NT - right?

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

the most difficult piece in a 4-3 is the RDE.
the most difficult piece in a 3-4 is the OLB

would you not agree it is much easier to get a good passrush OLB than RDE?

if the most difficult pieces to get is filled by pick #1 and FA, then all you have left is NT and the DEs.
thornton could be NT or DE.
tcrawford could be DE
taco can gain the weight/muscle, but i believe ratliff played NT at 300lb.
taco is already 280lb so he is not far from 300lb for the NT.

we have most of the pieces already.
i think it would be much easier and lower-risk to fill OLB/NT in a single draft than trying to get a dominant RDE for a 4-3.

Thornton cannot play NT. He played the 5 at PHI.

We have at least prospects 2 deep at all 4-3 spots. We are missing prospects at both OLB and the 315+ lbs NT. 3 out of 7 spots absolutely bare and razor thin at DE. About all we have are inside linebacker spots.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

We shouldn't even be discussing Taco because he shouldn't have been the pick.
Huge reach
We will be lucky if he turns out to be another Anthony Spencer or at best a Greg Ellis.

Taco was rated anywhere from the teens to the early second-round pretty much universally. He was not a reach-in any sense.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Come off a 13-3 season and draft all 4-3 zone scheme D players... and you want to blow it all up and draft for 3-4 again?

I would give you a hundred likes if I could.

 

[Hardline]

Taco was rated anywhere from the teens to the early second-round pretty much universally. He was not a reach-in any sense.

He was when there were better players on the board.
If I was going to reach I would've taken Jordan Willis from Kansas St.

 

[waldoputty]

Thornton cannot play NT. He played the 5 at PHI.

We have at least prospects 2 deep at all 4-3 spots. We are missing prospects at both OLB and the 315+ lbs NT. 3 out of 7 spots absolutely bare and razor thin at DE. About all we have are inside linebacker spots.

dont agree.
after the season, paea, mayowa and dlaw are gone.
you have left - taco, crawford, irving, collins - all of which can be 5
you just said thornton can be a 5.
so we have plenty of 5, and taco is 280 and has frame to bulk up.

tapper can play OLB on the strong side.
you can put jaylon on the other OLB until you draft someone and/or sign someone.
you have plenty of ILBs.

you would need NT who can be had after round 1 and remember ratliff played at ~300lb?
you would use round 1 on OLB on the weak side and perhaps sign a FA.
after which you could have tapper, jaylon and the #1 pick/FA blitz from LB positions.
much more unpredictable than what we have.
never should have fired ryan.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

He was when there were better players on the board.

Watt is comparable as was King but Foster has to be the most overrated player I've seen in the last decade.

None of them deserve the tag huge reach.

 

[big dog cowboy]

However, if he does not pan out, what do we do.

Seriously? 3 1/2 months after the draft?