@tiamat63 said:

And I think therein lies a good deal of the barrier when we discuss 3-4 vs. 4-3 vs. ...

When I speak of it I am referring to personnel, 3 DL - 4 LB, or vice versa, regardless of their distance from the neutral zone. When others do, e.g., you, they tend to refer to alignment irrespective of roster designation.

I referred to Bum Phillips in another thread yesterday. There was no greater devotee to the 3-4 than Bum. Yet from an alignment standpoint he showed more 4 and 5 man fronts than he did three. Robert Brazile, probably the most physically imposing OLB to wear the Columbia Blue and the Oilers' version of Clay Mathews when it comes to HoF snubs, was a fixture on the LOS.

@clevfan4life said:

Look at Houston's defense this year. They run mostly 4 man fronts now and Clowneys becoming a beast. When they get Watt back omg. Watt and clowney on the edges? If watt comes back right this could be a historic defense next year.

It's potential boggles the mind. But looking at their 2nd level it just doesn't quit.

ILB Cushing when healthy flies to the ball. Mercilus is the best OLB the average fan has never heard of. And McKinney at the opposite ILB has developed into a more well-rounded player than I saw coming.

And then there's the 2ndary...

Romeo has a beast of a lineup to play with...

@the-cysko-kid said:

Exactly. Mr. Ghools look up the records (and defensive stats) of the teams he's been coordinator on- he sucks worse than Hue.

@tiamat63 said:

Good points T. Wade actually used a lot of different fronts. Once upon a time it was thought by many draft enthusiasts on many of those draft sites we read today that JJ Watt was best wired for a 3-4, which Houston was using before he was drafted. I read after Watt's rookie season, Phillips actually used a 4 man front about 85% of the time that year. I'm guessing there wasn't any reason to change that frequency shortly thereafter.

In saying all that, the benefit of having an experienced DC is he's able to adapt to the personnel he has.

@nickers said:

Not exactly. His base is old school, Bud Wilkinson 52/34 - still one gap principles the vast majority of the time.

Coach Wade usually doesn't have a massive NT that you would traditionally see in your 'classic' 2 gapping 34 base with a 0tech and heads up on the tackles.

The differences in scheme are negligible aside from how your OLB's align in your base defense (for the most part). Both Wade and Williams believe in blitzing especially early down 5 man pressures and heavy man coverage. I'd expect our draft targets to be similar for either coach.

@the-cysko-kid said:

Good. He sucked the first time he was in town.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1999358-nfl-101-the-basics-of-the-4-3-defensive-front

Written in 2014 you can see why I think we are favoring drafting Garrett, near clone of Clowney in size, speed & athleticism.

From the article:

—"Open-side" defensive end

The majority of NFL offenses are right handed in terms of formation and alignment, so I look to the open-side end (or right end) as a key factor in the 4-3 front.

You want size, length and true athletic ability on the edge of the defense that can hold the point, turn the corner versus an offensive tackle and play the cutback against the run game. That’s the Rams’ Robert Quinn or the Giants’ Jason Pierre-Paul with Jadeveon Clowney up next in this year’s draft class.

@tour2ma said:

Offered to 4-3 Williams and contacted 3-4 Phillips?

I am actually good either way, although have a preference for Wade.

Phillips runs a 4-3 1 gap defense.. I'm good either way...

@darren15 said:

At first I thought you meant running the 3-4, but it's bringing 3-4 assistants with him. Cleaning the defensive house out.

@unsympathetic said:

getting 3 out of 4 of these teams to play any kind of defense in top 5..Welcome aboard Gregg Williams!!

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/browns-make-wholesale-changes-on-d-hire-gregg-williams-and-3-4-assistants/

Dawgs By Nature@DawgsByNature

Gregg Williams has reportedly accepted offer to become the #Browns’ defensive coordinator dawgsbynature.com/2017/1/7/14202…

Jan 7, 2017 17 1View on X

http://nfltraderumors.co/breaking-browns-hiring-gregg-williams-defensive-coordinator/

Jason La Canfora ‏@JasonLaCanfora 17m17 minutes ago

Jason La Canfora@JasonLaCanfora

The Browns have secured Gregg Williams to be their next defensive coordinator. Done deal. Wholesale changes coming to defensive staff

Jan 7, 2017 422 63View on X

or now...

or...

@tour2ma said:

Clearing the record above... my memory is not that good.

Also did not flesh out the meteoric bit... was going for "rose too fast too soon with little breathe of experience" when a damn squirrel ran through my peripheral vision.

@flugel said:

True; and if memory serves me right they did pretty well at forcing turnovers which is every bit as important. They've always scored a lot of points with Brees there; but he's often had to feel like Dan Fouts with do I need to QB us to 35-40 points in order to win every week? That changes when your defense forces turnovers and either shortens the field or scores.

I remember a very aggressive D in NOLA... one that used it to compensate for a lack of talent effectively. Not that they were talent-less, but did not include the household names of other contemporary Ds. Mr. Bountygate, Vilma was there... also Will Smith (R.I.P.)... with Sharper anchoring their 2ndary. Plus my old fav from the too-short, Mangenius era, Scott Fujita...

Just looked and NO posted 35 sacks and 39 TOs in '09... and needed the latter to eek out a +11 differential.

Maybe Brees is a gunslinger after all...

@wargograw said:

4-3 DE in 2009. 3-4 OLB in 2010.

Ehhh u might be right i think i was mixing up him and mack there

@clevfan4life said:

4-3 DE in 2009. 3-4 OLB in 2010.

@tour2ma said:

True; and if memory serves me right they did pretty well at forcing turnovers which is every bit as important. They've always scored a lot of points with Brees there; but he's often had to feel like Dan Fouts with do I need to QB us to 35-40 points in order to win every week? That changes when your defense forces turnovers and either shortens the field or scores.

@clevfan4life said:

You haven't heard of Aaron Donald? And Michael Brockers is good in his own right as the other DT. Also, Robert Quinn had 19 sacks.. naturally, the year before Williams took over.

FYI, all 3 of those were 1st-rd picks.

Rams DL was this year and will be for the foreseeable future the #1 DL in football.. perhaps not in production due to Williams but definitely in individual talent and payroll..

Note that Browns.com is reporting Hue did the firing of Horton -- leads me to think Hue pushed for that change.. So, it's not him losing control at all, rather him getting frustrated and making a move..

As well, apparently Williams was DC for 5 top-5 D's.. Tennessee (No. 1 in total defense in 2000), Buffalo (No. 3 in 2001 and No. 2 in 2003), Washington (No. 3 in 2005), and New Orleans (No. 4 in 2010)