I was watching a Pats game on NFL Gamepass the other day and I noticed that Vince Wilfork lined up at defensive end most of the game, back when they still played a 3-4 front. I also remember Green Bay doing this with BJ Raji. Can anybody explain why coaches do this?
Posted Apr 26, 2014, 11:04 PM UTC
We did it on our strong side this season. We would line our nose head up on the tackle and if the tackle stayed low and attacked(run play) he would have the inside gap. Pass plays he was free. It mainly gave power to the outside against weaker players. If they down blocked and he missed the gap, his job was to push the pile of lineman down inside and not allow them to the second level.
BJ Raji has actually been a DE the past couple of years. Ryan Pickett has been playing NT. Raji's production has been very disappointing lately, so Dom Capers is going to switch him back to primarily NT.
You'll sometimes see large defensive linemen line up as tackles/ends. Think of a 3-4 DE as the equivalent to a 5-2 defensive tackle. Many offenses love to run off tackle, or to the B-gap for their base play. By putting a massive player there, you can potentially clog the gap he is assigned to, and/or he will require/take a double team every play and hopefully free up a linebacker. Basically, whenever you see a "fat" defensive lineman line up, he is there for one main reason: to occupy blockers and free up linebackers. By moving Wilfork or these guys outside, they can occupy the tackles and TE's.
It's also pretty much the same thing as the 3-tech DT in a 4-3 defense. You put your biggest and best DT at the 3-tech, so that he'll require a double team from the guard and tackle on almost every play, and now, the only remaining blockers to the 3-tech's side are a TE and RB's.
I guess, maybe in a passing situation, they could be used to potentially overpower a supposedly weak O-lineman, but the DT out there is likely too slow anyways. I think it's mostly a run-defense tactic.
My understanding is that you put the bigger, stronger DT at 1 Tech to occupy two blockers while you put the more athletic pass rushing DT at 3 Tech so he can hitt the gaps quickly/have one on one matchups. Why do you do it differently?
Not always. You want your best overall D-lineman as a 3-tech in a 4-3 to help protect your MLB from the strong side. A 1-tech could be your biggest guy, but in the 4-3, his main job is to make the center block back on him every play. Also, like the 3-tech, one of the 1-tech's jobs is to make the guard and center double team him. This takes away one blocker from the strong side. Yes, that 3-tech should also be a good pass rusher as well. The goal in the pass rush is to isolate that guard. The center has to block back on the 1-tech, and the tackle has to block the DE, so that leaves the guard 1-on-1 with the best D-lineman on the field. The only alternative is to keep the TE in to block the DE so the tackle can help with the 3-tech, but now the offense has one less (and very dangerous) receiver.
Again, your best D-lineman goes to the 3-tech. If that 1-tech can get the center to block back, and that 3-tech can occupy the guard and tackle, you now only have the TE on the line to block the MLB or SLB. If they want to get the MLB, they have to double team the 3-tech and get a guy off the double team to block the MLB. Another reason why you may want the 3-tech to be your strongest and/or best guy is to protect the C-gap bubble from pullers. If the 3-tech and stone the guard-tackle double team, or blow it backwards, he can knock off any backside pullers from getting to the hole.
The 3-tech doesn't always have to be your biggest guy, but he has to be your best and preferably strongest guy. In some teams, like the NE Pats, their best defensive lineman is their nose guard in their 3-4. By moving him out to DE, he can do all the said things above a 4-3 3-tech can do, but instead of working the guard/tackle, he works the tackle/TE.
Everyone does things differently. This is just the method of the 4-3 that I have been brought up with. This is how we coached it, this is how Michigan State plays it, and this is how most NFL teams, especially the Detroit Lions (Suh is the textbook 4-3 3-tech DT) play it.
There are UNLIMITED ways to play defense and to use personnel. There are no universals in this game, and there is no one way or set of laws to play a defensive front. I am a nose guard and I am 5'2 and 140 lbs (college club). The only common rule I share with the bigger 1-techs is that I need the center to block back on me every play/make him block me. After that, my goal is to simply shoot the A-gap as low to the ground as possible, and if I don't get through, I need to simply create a pile at the line of scrimmage.
Some defenses use big guys at the 1-tech or nose. Some use small guys. Some put their biggest guy as a 3-tech, some don't...it goes on and on. It all depends on what the individual coaches want.