The Lions are discarding the Patricia system, thank god, but I’ve read where Glenn’s will still be a hybrid 3-3-5 just emphasizing different gaps. Many of these coaches come from the Bill Parcels coaching tree or played for him which featured a 34, but NO ran a 43 even though Peyton is a Parcells disciple.
Personally, I’ve always love the Lions as a 43 and I hope we go back that way. But the best bet is to play to your players strengths and not force a square peg into a round hole.
I would be curious to read y’alls thoughts on where you think this D is heading and why.
I think the quickest way to improvement may be adopting a blitz heavy 3-4 and relying on the young CB’s to take a step forward. Flowers, penisini, onward, Collins, etc all seem to fit better in that sort of front.
With aaron glenn and the hiring of Dom capers, base alignment wise it may not look that different. We ran a lot of multiple 3-3-5 and 4-2-5 looks. The main difference though is that we will 1 gap. The saints ran an attacking 4-3. Capers mostly ran a zone blitz attacking 3-4… some years a 4-3. We will be focusing on penetration up front rather than holding ground and shedding. In the backfield, a lot more 2 deep safeties. More cover 2 man and quarters / pattern match coverage.
It’s been mixed there under Dennis Allen. Here’s what I think I’m hearing from the guys they’ve hired:
“Play fast”: That means they will attack, not read-n-react.
“Keep the opponent guessing”: That means they will mix different sub packages while attacking and/or blitzing from different positions. That also means, then, that some attack-first players will have to drop into coverage. If you have an edge rusher who can also drop into coverage, you’re essentially building the roster with 3-4 type players.
“Create mismatch”: This is what Dan described as putting his best on your worst. This is done both on offense and defense. If they plan to make those type of adjustments from week to week, then, once again, that suggests a scheme flexibility that says they’re not a strict 4-man front (as most 4-3 teams are).
I’ll also add that most teams, no matter the scheme, typically rush 4. With 4-3 teams, you pretty well know who they are. Those teams rely on stunts, twists and blitzing to mix things up. With 3-4 teams you have the flexibility of rushing different players. So, it’s not just the stunts and twists that pressure the OL, but having to adjust to who/where the 4 rushers are. (We were supposed to see some of this with Patricia as well, but things obviously didn’t work out with him and/or the personnel.)
I’ll continue to expect a hybrid/multiple/3-4 attacking type defense until they show something else. I’ll also add that Holmes had drafted for a Wade Phillips defense which could be considered similar as above.
I am apprehensive about the speed of our CB’s Okudah and A.O. Heavy blitz-man scheme would put these guys on an island and expose their speed weakness. Both are physical corners that have attributes more suited to play an over-the-top cover 3 base scheme, similar to the Seahawks. I take the words of Dan Campbell literally when he says it’s about the players and not the scheme. These coaches are going to build the scheme around the players and not the other way around.
Justin Rogers posted this article (free) after his conversation with MCDC today.
Sounds like their building off of the 3-4 front, having a similar front 7 scheme to what the Rams did, and mixing in coverage concepts from the Saints Defense.
This may be where the idea is to “retool.”
MCDC mentioned that the defense looked “slow” and the players played “timid” and “lacked confidence.”
I think they mix in press man and zone, I don’t believe that you need to always run mand behind the blitz as you can have athletes that retreat into a zone concept while others blitz, steelers did it for years…