The 4-3 vs. the 3-4 -- Why the Steelers Should Make the Switch in 2008 -- Post 1 of 2

This is a GREAT article...money quote:

Part of the problem is 3-4 teams have more competition for players who exclusively fit the scheme. A quarter of the league’s teams are expected to run the 3-4 this season, including the Browns under second-year Coach Romeo Crennel — who helped make the 3-4 so popular with his success as defensive coordinator in New England.

More teams are using it now than it any point since the mid-’80s. Just three years ago, only four teams used the 3-4.

“There was a time there when you could look at certain guys (who fit the 3-4) and say nobody else in the league is going to have this guy rated very high because he’s not a 4-3 end and he’s not a 4-3 ’backer,” Patriots Coach Bill Belichick says. “That’s not the case now.”

The other issue is unless a 3-4 team is scouting a player at Virginia or Texas A&M, it can’t see that player use the techniques required in a 3-4 defense. As NFL teams have warmed to the 3-4, colleges have cooled to it. That means almost every outside linebacker a 3-4 NFL team looks at is a projection

The way the Steelers do the 3-4, they draft a guy at DE or OLB and groom him for years—Aaron Smith, Brett Kiesel, Joey Porter, Clark Haggans, James Harrison. Do the Steelers have the people to replace these guys? At DL, definitely not. At LB, probably not, but you never know.

An advantage of the 4-3, is that many college teams run it, so you can get a DT or DE or LB “out of the box”, that is, you can plug and play the guy without having to sit him for 3 years so he can learn the complex schemes of the Steeler 3-4.

Another distinct advantage of the 4-3 is that the most dominant players from a defensive perspective end up being pass rushing DEs (Dwight Freeney, Jevon Kearse, Mark Anderson, Alex Brown, Terrell Suggs, etc.) who don’t have the bulk to play 3-4 DE and don’t have the linebacking skills to play OLB. That means you take a player (or more typically you pass on the player) who can have an outsized impact on the game relative to his position, and then try to make him into something he is not, which means that you may diminish his pass rushing skills just so he can drop into coverage, or you have to wait 2 years for him to master those skills and then have an impact on the game.

For example: Mark Anderson, DE Chicago. Had 12 sacks as a rookie last year. Picked in the 5th round. Why couldn’t the Steelers take a flyer on him as a situational pass rusher? Oh, right, because he can’t cover the TE. But how is that different from the other Steelers LBs?

Caveat: Granted, Terrell Suggs is considered an OLB in the Ravens 34, but for his first few seasons he rushed the passer almost exclusively and had a huge impact...believe me, Suggs won't sign a rich FA contract in the offseason because he is good at covering in the flat.