I think the Redskins should Go to A 3-4 Defense.

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by freddyg12

That's similar to what I said earlier, most notably the Skins have passed on a lot of 3-4 OLB/DEs in years when we drafted defense high, e.g. Merriman & Ware in 05. I know that those guys didn't fit the mold of our 4-3, neither did guys like Woodley, who was rated high at one point, then dropped to the 2nd round.

Teams that play the 3-4 well seem to be getting great production from these tweener guys. I think they're as much or more key to it than the nose tackle. btw, J. Ratcliff of Dallas isn't that big but he's quick & strong. Maybe he's not a good example of a 3-4 NT but he's the only smaller one I can think of that's any good.

Not sure whether that has been noted here before but that seems very insightful to me. Not to say these "tweeners" don't/can't make great LBs in the 4-3 system but I think they're passed up as OLBs in the 4-3 system cause maybe they're seen as being a little too big to be effective in coverage or something. That's just a guess.