4-3 vs 3-4 Which Defense is Best for Titans?

That is horrible.

We would get ran all over.

Babin is too small to be a DE in a 3-4 as is Jones for the NT. McRath is too small for OLB.

3-4 DE play 2 gaps. We only ask our DL to play 1 gap and penetrate. It is a completely different scheme for the DL and we have no DL that fit it.

 

Um...

No, they ARE athletic enough. They aren't BIG enough.

Since the Steelers have been running the 3-4 longer than all the other prominent 3-4 D's currently in the league...aren't THEY the rule?

And Hampton is over 325 (more like 340). Their DE's arent always big, but they are good - which is the point. But even if you wanted 2 BIG guys out of the 3 DL, it can be accomplished this season. But one BIG guy is sufficient at NT.

Gut

 

Well...

People seem to forget 1 thing when talking about our defenses in recent memory. We did not have a great or even a 'good' coordinator running the show. Haynesworth made our scheme work in his walk years...but other than that, we were consistently outcoached which is the BIGGEST reason playoff spread passing attacks light us up.

So the first question is, is Gray better at coordinating a 3-4 or a 4-3? But let's say for arguments sake it's even.

How would you switch this year?

DL
Say goodbye to Babin, Ford, and Ball. That's 2 players at starting money and a backup.

Sign - Ideally sign Kris Jenkins (cheap), Cullen Jenkins, Pat Williams, and Howard Green. Only CJ and Green would be signed for longer than a year. All are big and capable of 2 gapping. Would NOT play them all together...perhaps 2 at a time on run downs, and 1 or none on passing downs.

Ideal
DE CJenkins/Green
NT KJenkins/PWilliams
DE Tony Brown

If unable to sign Kris Jenkins...

normal down
DE Jenkins/Green
NT Pat Williams/Jenkins
DE Tony Brown/Marks

passing downs
DE Morgan
NT Brown
DE Jones

LB - Thornton and Tulloch would leave. Sign Takeo Spikes and Burnett to play ILB. Hayes and Witherspoon would be our OLBS. To better stop the run, have Hayes play over the TE and Spoon on the weakside. For better coverage - the opposite with Hayes blitzing.

Now, we've fielded a starting 3-4 D and begun a successful switch. Notice many of these signings would be short term and stop gaps while people we'd start to draft this year and beyond grow into their roles.

We wouldn't have to 'waste' our talent as player like Shaun Ellis are VERY big players in 3-4 D's and are not even close to 300lbs.

Players that could be drafted to start building a future 3-4 D....Dareus, Fairley, Bowers, Quinn, Von Miller, Jordan, Watt, Kerrigan, Taylor, ect and some of the big LB's.

It certainly can be done and if you're truly thinking about drafting a QB at 8 and starting him, it makes to transition the defense in a turnaround year.

The biggest problem is, a lot of our focus would be on changing defensive personnel and drafting depth without giving a lot for the offense. Plus, I'd rather sign some BIG impact free agents that help us WIN now rather than transition now.

I'm sick of the Colts winning this division! But I digress...

Gut

 

Ellis is 290 lbs. How do you figure that isn't even close to 300 lbs?

And Tony Brown at DE as a 2 gapper? Yeah right. He is strictly a 1 gap under tackle. He does not fit the 3-4 at all.

 

Lol let's not dispute the minor details, no matter how you look at it our LBs won't work in a 3-4.

I actually saw an article no ESPN about how undersized the Steelers defense is as a 3-4. You could argue they are the rule except that no one else has been able to run a successful scheme with personnel of the Steelers size.

 

I don't think you make all those moves work even on Madden.

 

I'm not going to read the rest of this thread because I've read all these arguments over and over.

The fact remains that, of all the teams in the league, the Titans might have the absolute worst personnel for running a 3-4 defense. All the defensive linemen and most of the linebackers are exclusively 4-3 guys and almost none of them could switch to a 3-4 position without a lot of difficulty. You can't just expect 4-3 DEs to become 3-4 OLBs or 4-3 DTs to become 3-4 DEs. It doesn't work that way. The positions are too different.

If people really want the Titans to run a 3-4, they better be willing to wait it out for 2 to 3 years years while the Titans draft an entirely new front 7.

 

Go peep the Cleveland Browns roster. They actually try running a 3-4, and their personnel is trash!

I know for a fact we'd transition better to a 3-4 than what's going on in Cleveland right now.

 

Basically DEs in a 3-4 are similar to DTs in a 4-3 and the NG is huge. Any penetration you get from those three guys is gravy because their primary function is to gobble up blockers so the LBs are free. We are basically three guys short just on the DL and Morgan would have to be traded off because he doesn't fit.

As OLBs a guy like Ford is more of a fit because at least one or both need to be essentially outside pass rushers. Spoon could function in this role but really we would have two guys playing positions they have never played in their career. Obviously a guy like Miller in the draft would help make the transition.

At ILB Tully might be one of the few guys that would fit. He is a decent run stuffer and occasionally blitzer. We would want one of our ILBs to be a little more athletic and able to play in space like Timmons for the Steelers. That guy is not on the roster either unless Sppon played there.

Eitehr way we are talking about a major overhaul with only a couple of existing players fitting the scheme. Brown, Marks, JJ and probably Morgan are all bad fits on the DL. We have nothing close to a NG. None of our LBs are a good fit except Tully who is a FA.

 

I really hope you're not implying Jacob Ford can be as good as Hali. Sacks can be one of the most overrated stats you can think of. If given the option, would you really not swap Babin (12.5 sacks) for a Terrell Suggs (11) or Julius Peppers (8)?

But I do agree about Ford being a pass rush specialist. But Hali? Not a chance, lol. Jacob Ford's ceiling is pretty much a washed up Jason Taylor. Which isn't a knock on either Ford or Taylor. He just is what Taylor is now, a solid guy to have in your rotation, not an every down player, who's mainly useful at blitzing the QB every time when in the game.