It's all cyclical and defenses are usually playing catch-up to offenses. The last decade or 2 has seen the league really go full speed ahead on rules to benefit the passing game so offenses have evolved to feature high flying passing attacks while getting away from feature backs and ground and pound style of offense. Now you're starting to see defenses catching up to that and instead of having a few fatties up front clogging lanes they have the Jay Ratliff type DT's that can get to the QB quickly. Makes sense that offenses will now start swinging back the other way to take advantage of that.
Absolutely. Smaller/quicker defensive linemen, fewer LBs on the field for more DBs, etc.
the teams that have invested in a past practice of having very good running backs will reap the rewards.
And quarterbacks who can run. That's the trend I'll be keeping a close eye on. As run heavy QBs become more of the norm in the league I would be a decent amount of money that becomes a heavier study point for defensive coaches in the offseason.
I could see in a couple more seasons, some teams will focus more on stopping the run, but that will not be us.
