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4-3 with Deontre

Diaco has used both 3 and 4 person fronts.
 
Diaco has used both 3 and 4 person fronts.
I do think we will see more even front throughout the season, but probably not this week. I would like to see Carlos and Deontre at DT with Freedom and Alex Davis at DE that would be an athletic group that can get after the QB. Let Mick rest up and come back in when we are back in the odd front.
 
I do think we will see more even front throughout the season, but probably not this week. I would like to see Carlos and Deontre at DT with Freedom and Alex Davis at DE that would be an athletic group that can get after the QB. Let Mick rest up and come back in when we are back in the odd front.
Interesting thought. Not one dominant guy, but four athletic guys.
 
Not to be rude, but the fundamental problem is Newby can't play in space in a 3-4 very well...and you want to make him the nickel in a 4-3 and expect overall defensive improvement? This magical alignment fixes that how?

Edit: For comparison...someone like Bookie would be a good Nickel.
 
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Not to be rude, but the fundamental problem is Newby can't play in space in a 3-4 very well...and you want to make him the nickel in a 4-3 and expect overall defensive improvement? This magical alignment fixes that how?

Edit: For comparison...someone like Bookie would be a good Nickel.
I think he was saying to take Newby out in Nickel.
 
Not to be rude, but the fundamental problem is Newby can't play in space in a 3-4 very well...and you want to make him the nickel in a 4-3 and expect overall defensive improvement? This magical alignment fixes that how?

Edit: For comparison...someone like Bookie would be a good Nickel.
I doubt Newby is starting by the time we get to B1G play. He couldn't cover anyone last week and is a big reason we gave up so many points.
 
Diaco has said we will play both 3-4 and 4-3 sets. So it is not idle speculation to wonder if we won't see some 4-3 this week


I think the distinction is that with Diaco's 4-3,he just moves boundary OLB to a down lineman position. He doesn't sub someone out to bring in a DE. Which is why you saw Gifford at DE on occasion Saturday.
 
I think the distinction is that with Diaco's 4-3,he just moves boundary OLB to a down lineman position. He doesn't sub someone out to bring in a DE. Which is why you saw Gifford at DE on occasion Saturday.
We have lots of LBs, but it seems only Gifford is at present is solid at OLB. On the Dline, we have the Davis twins, Mick, Freedom and now the youngster Thomas. The DBs will shake out OK as the season progresses. But some type of fix might be in order to mitigate the OLB situation.
 
I think the distinction is that with Diaco's 4-3,he just moves boundary OLB to a down lineman position. He doesn't sub someone out to bring in a DE. Which is why you saw Gifford at DE on occasion Saturday.
I think that is why they like Alex Davis there, but man is he a liability in space.
 
I think that is why they like Alex Davis there, but man is he a liability in space.

There was obviously a plan, and the coaches have forgot more football than I know, but I would have switched Newby and Gifford. Newby was on the field side and had to cover more space. Gifford was on the boundary side and had less space and was lining up at DE when they went 4-3. Seems a role reversal would have benefited both players, but again there must have been something that I didn't see that caused them to reach that decision
 
I think you are going to see a lot more nickel, and different sets used. I imagine Gifford is going to play a hell of a lot more and take over for Davis after watching Davis last weekend. We will look better. No sure it's enough to win, but we will definitely look better.
 
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There was obviously a plan, and the coaches have forgot more football than I know, but I would have switched Newby and Gifford. Newby was on the field side and had to cover more space. Gifford was on the boundary side and had less space and was lining up at DE when they went 4-3. Seems a role reversal would have benefited both players, but again there must have been something that I didn't see that caused them to reach that decision
+1. If they are going to play them together, that makes the most sense. BTW, I thought Ferguson looked pretty athletic too, he could factor in before long. Were you surprised Avery Roberts didn't get any PT at LB?
 
+1. If they are going to play them together, that makes the most sense. BTW, I thought Ferguson looked pretty athletic too, he could factor in before long. Were you surprised Avery Roberts didn't get any PT at LB?

Not really, it's one thing to stick a guy at NT and say your job is to occupy this guy, this guy and this guy. In this defense, the NT doesn't really need to or shouldn't pay attention to who has the ball unless the QB still has it. The role of the NT is simple but not easy. I think the ILB role has a lot more reads, more indicators and triggers that can create a whole lot of conflict, especially in a game where the other team isn't going to run a bunch. I could see Roberts having a bigger role this week, since he appears to be more of a down hill player, which is more effective against the run. my opinion,
 
I think the distinction is that with Diaco's 4-3,he just moves boundary OLB to a down lineman position. He doesn't sub someone out to bring in a DE. Which is why you saw Gifford at DE on occasion Saturday.

I think it was still a 3-4 alignment, but with the OLB attacking from the edge. We did run some true 4-3 during the game though, attacking with what appeared to be 1-gap responsibility.
 
I think it was still a 3-4 alignment, but with the OLB attacking from the edge. We did run some true 4-3 during the game though, attacking with what appeared to be 1-gap responsibility.

I'll have to watch again but I don't recall a 4 man front with anyone but Gifford at DE. You may be right as I am going off memory.
 
There was obviously a plan, and the coaches have forgot more football than I know, but I would have switched Newby and Gifford. Newby was on the field side and had to cover more space. Gifford was on the boundary side and had less space and was lining up at DE when they went 4-3. Seems a role reversal would have benefited both players, but again there must have been something that I didn't see that caused them to reach that decision

Newby had a pretty good game in space against Wisconsin last year if I recall. He certainly didn't on Saturday, and they may not have been expecting him to be that bad on Saturday night. But 70 throws is a lot of chances to screw up.
 
I'll have to watch again but I don't recall a 4 man front with anyone but Gifford at DE. You may be right as I am going off memory.

Most of the time it was one of our OLBs lining up on the LOS, but there were still 3 other LBs on the field as well, so technically it would still be a 3-4, with one of the OLBs moved in closer to the box, playing a 6-technique. I think I saw 2 DTs and 2 true DEs maybe just a few times was all, making it a true 4-man front. Not sure if we were playing 2 or 3 LBs though. May have been playing nickel.
 
Most of the time it was one of our OLBs lining up on the LOS, but there were still 3 other LBs on the field as well, so technically it would still be a 3-4, with one of the OLBs moved in closer to the box, playing a 6-technique. I think I saw 2 DTs and 2 true DEs maybe just a few times was all, making it a true 4-man front. Not sure if we were playing 2 or 3 LBs though. May have been playing nickel.


I could be mistaken but I believe Diaco counts moving the boundary side OLB to a 3pt or 4pt stance as a 4 man front. So while technically having 4 LB on the field as determined by position, they are in a 4-3 as determined by alignment.
 
I do think we will see more even front throughout the season, but probably not this week. I would like to see Carlos and Deontre at DT with Freedom and Alex Davis at DE that would be an athletic group that can get after the QB. Let Mick rest up and come back in when we are back in the odd front.


I cant see Freedom getting to the QB much at all in a 4-3 DE position anymore. Not that he was some kind of sack demon before but IMO he is much to big and not nearly explosive enough to get to QBs as a DE.

They put a bit of weight on him and i think it will help him as a run defender in the 3-4. But my eyes tell me his days of being a 4-3 pass rusher are over.

From what I seen Deontre MAY be our most explosive DL. Thats saying a lot because the Davis twins are very explosive guys.


holla
 
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I cant see Freedom getting to the QB much at all in a 4-3 DE position anymore. Not that he was some kind of sack demon before but IMO he is much to big and not nearly explosive enough to get to QBs as a DE.

They put a bit of weight on him and i think it will help him as a run defender in the 3-4. But my eyes tell me his days of being a 4-3 pass rusher are over.

From what I seen Deontre MAY be our most explosive DL. Thats saying a lot because the Davis twins are very explosive guys.


holla
Thomas and the Davis twins as a true frosh and 3 year sophs is a really nice thing.
 
I could be mistaken but I believe Diaco counts moving the boundary side OLB to a 3pt or 4pt stance as a 4 man front. So while technically having 4 LB on the field as determined by position, they are in a 4-3 as determined by alignment.

It's a 4-man front, but the responsibilities are different than a true 4-3. The SS may come down and take the spot of the SAM, covering the flat on the strong side, with the FS rotating to take the middle third. But there are so many different versions of the 3-4; I'm still trying to figure out what Diaco's version is.

I'm pretty sure we generally are a 2-gap 3-4, but I also saw us bring 4 without regard to 2-gap responsibility. But that goes with not staying in a base 3-4 all of the time, which all 3-4s will do. I think they should be IDed as a 2-gap or 1-gap based on which they play more, because I don't believe many 3-4s stay in one or the other all the time.
 
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