01-05-2017, 08:36 AM
I like the occasional 3-4 look, but there are simply not enough players on the roster who can both rush and cover for it to make sense as much more than just a wrinkle. How many times did we witness MJ or Dunlap surrendering easy yards because they are not linebackers and can't really cover people this past season? About the only player in the front 7 who has shown any ability to both rush and cover at a quality level is Burfict, and his success at getting to the QB may be due in part to how seldom he does it. It's pretty obvious that this roster does not have a set of 3-4 OLBs on it. When you look at the down linemen it looks even less appealing. Dunlap is very good at his role of 4-3 DE because he can use his speed around the edge at times. In a 3-4 you do not see the down linemen bend around the edge - they are too busy trying to maintain their gap and push the pocket. You then have the rest of the DEs who are not going to fool anyone into thinking that they are going to drop into coverage. It would make more sense to me for them to employ DB blitzes or rush 5 with a LBer than to try to install a ton of 3-4 type of stuff. FWIW I'm quite biased due to remembering how Buffalo kept trying to switch back and forth in seasons past - it seemed like every offseason they would try to reel fans back in with a super exciting "we're switching to a brand new defense!" line, and each time it was a total shit show.
