3-4 or 4-3 defense next season???

What do you guys think??...With a few bodies needed on the D-Line will Matty utilize some speed with ALL the LB's we have???...I think we could be in for a few suprises with what this defense might be able to accomplish...Thoughts?

Yeah, it's too early to tell but with our current lack of linement and our possible glut of linebackers the 3-4 seems obvious.

Obvious to this neophyte! lol

4-3 I doub'r you see a 3-4 for awhile . I for 1 don't think it really works in the big 10 . Think the good teams havr to stout a running game for it and , the spread offense needs more people to contain which would widen your LB in a 3-4

3-4 won't work in the B1G, but it works in the NFL? Hmm, I think that is kind of funny. Anyway, I think you will see multiple sets, as GM has shown he will bring pressure from different looks.

It works in the NFL because of the Atheletes the have, very fast quick LB That cover alot of ground also they have NG that are aninmals it take a special kind of player to play Nose in The 3-4 , I just don't think you can recruit enough of those guys to play a 3-4

Great points. But really in a 3-4 you need fast LB's and a huge NT. The NT doesn't need to make plays, just take up a lot of space. See Casey Hampton for the Steelers. He rarely is in on the tackle, but he is a key cog to the 3-4 because he is huge.

I have to say we are set up fairly well to go 3-4 next year given or current personnel. We have a pretty good and deep LB group. Our DL; not so much. Regardless of what system we use we need Campbell to finally show why he was so highly rated out of HS.

Other than a 3-4 I would like a 4-2-5 have 4 down lineman 2 animal LB in the middle, Then 2 outside combo backers guys who are to big to be a saftey but small compare to most backers 2 CB and 2 speed safties.

Your count comes to 12. There is only one true safety in a 4-2-5.

Dah sorry about that you are corect but that would be a tough defense , Just illegal.

Yeah, wonder how many plays they could run it before the refs figured it out! But I get your point, I like the 4-2-5 Defense. Those 2 hybrid guys have to be the best players on the field, as the scheme really is designed to spill everything to those guys

and with all the spread offense in the NCAA . they could cover well and protect the edges it would be easier withthe speed guys to both cover and react to runs.

I'd have to go with the 4-3. I recall the 4-2-5 from Bo's days (he got away from the 5-2-4 once Pac-10 teams passed on him too much in his first several Rose Bowls), and the 4-2-5 has merits, but to the untrained eye/mind, TWO seems too few linebackers to have on the field, given the plethora of players we'll have at that position in '12. I'm thinking the most common will be 4-3-4...but that's my uneducated take; I have all the confidence in the world (esp. after seeing our 360-degree turnaround last serason) in Matty and Co. to put the most effective defense on the field at the right time, most ALL of the time.

And I COULD NOT AGREE MORE with WillieMfan--- the biggest factor in whatever success our "D" has in '12 (and like everyone I have pretty high expectations for it) will be how well Big Will does. Crap, we all know it all starts up front...witness the effects a great season from Mike Martin, a vastly-improved season from Ryan VB, and the improving play of Black and Clark had on last year's defense. And of course those big two in the middle aren't going to be around in '12...

True if that front 4 can eat up blockers it won't matter much what "D" were in, and I would like to see them have to double the inside gueards so that the LB can run free. that why I hate the 3-4 it takes less guys to handle the front line, leaving blockers to get on the LB's.

4-3, unless we have a better nose tackle than we realize.

umls96 wrote:

4-3, unless we have a better nose tackle than we realize.

Have to agree with this. If PeeWee turns out to be a manimal, we may be able to pull off the 3-4 one day. But, we still play in the Big Ten. And despite the trend towards spread offenses these days even in this conference, the teams that are winning are the teams that run the football.

Wisconsin
Michigan State
Ohio always has a good ground game
etc.

Hell, look at what we were able to accomplish this year once we developed a true RB to shoulder some of the load.

That said, unless we have a freak at the nose, I don't think the 3-4 holds up too well in the Big Ten.

BUT....haha....Matty seems to be a genius, and whatever the hell he decides to do, I'll trust in his judgement.

That's a guy who deserves every penny of a $750,000 salary.