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A lot of teams play one if the versions of the 3-4. The advantage is that it is geared to todays open O schemes. Our D has a number of issues.
Tackling.
Rewatching game it is clear that a significant portion of rush yards occured after first contact. We do not finish tackles with any consistency.
Youth and inexperience everywhere. Not a formula for consistency.
The key components of a 3-4 D are a good NG and a Rover with the size of a LB and athletic ability of a DB. We had neither. Our NG is a very good DT and pass rusher. He is not a space eater who can occupy the inside of the LOS. For most of the season we had a 175 lb S playing Rov. A fair cover guy and a good tackler but iverwhelmed by runs directly at him. Evdenced by yesterday.
All of the above are factors in D performance this year.
To me,the major issue is that we dont use the system as it should be. The stack is hyped as an aggressive D. Early season we were aggressive. As the season progressed,we morphed into a reactive D. Injuries certainly had a part in this. Even so,we showed very little cability to adjust to game situations staying in the same base D almost exclusively.
Fix? Not sure but someting has to be done.
Players. We have lots of very good athletes,most underclassmen.Will maturity and experience be enough to bolster D.
Staff
Two seasons in with this group with very little improvement overall. I dont know enough to say how all these factors impact on our continuing poor performance. I do know it cannot contnue.
Many have compared our D of the last 3 yrs to the Small yrs. However,if you look at the numbers the current is substantially worse.
How long does it take for a new staff with young players to be adequate? No idea but two years should show some bottom line gains. We haven’i.
