Rams would be unwise to switch to 4-3 defense under new coordinator

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oldnotdead

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This defense was built specifically to play the 3-4 hybrid, with press man coverage on the boundary and a cover 1 deep safety. Just look at Fowler and AD and how Littleton is played. Now, look at the guys they traded for and drafted.

1. Young was traded for and fits the role of a coverage ILB in a 3-4 hybrid system.
2. Fowler they traded for and is an excellent fit for the "rush LB" in a 3-4 hybrid system. That position is designated as an OLB but is played 85%+ of the snaps as a DE. In this system, he had a breakout year.
3. Rapp was drafted and has shown he's an excellent SS in coverage and in run support. This will allow Johnson to play cover 1 where he is probably most effective.
4. They traded for Ramsey, an elite press man coverage boundary CB.
5. The drafted Long to mirror Ramsey on the opposite side as a press man coverage boundary CB. Hill can't play that style of defense. He's strictly off man or zone just like Peters.
6. They drafted Johnson who is well suited to play cover 1 deep safety.

This defense was built to get quick pressure and to take away early QB reads. I simply don't see them hiring a DC who will want to change that. It's one of the reasons why Wade got fired. He knew with Hill he had to play zone so he did, not playing Long who is a far better match for the scheme McVay wants to play. Wade played to the strengths of his weakest CB to the detriment of Ramsey his strongest CB. In the same way, he continued to play Mathews when it was obvious that Ebukam was the better player, and Weddle over Rapp when Rapp outplayed the old man.

I think they have a very clear idea of what kind of defense they want. It's why I think they already know who they want as their DC and I have to believe it's an outside hire. If it was going to be Barry I think his promotion would have been announced right after Wade's firing.

I also think Pete got fired because of how poorly the RB's adapted when they finally went to gap blocking on run plays. I pointed out in another post how they obviously didn't know where to expect the holes to be early on. It wasn't until later that they began to see the holes, which is indicative of poor RB coaching. Ultimately it's also Kromer's fault in the same way as Dickerson's failure in coaching the o-line is ultimately Kromer's fault as well.
 

Riverumbbq

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Exactly, we have ZERO great LBs, and no good ones either under contract.

Perhaps no great ones, but on the outside we do have a stable full of guys that either Snead or Wade thought were worth investing in, and a few of them looked pretty promising at camp last season. Ebukam, OBO, Polite, Patrick, Carraway, Matthews, Durham & Holland in the mix at OLB. Fox, Copeland & Lawler at DE. Howard, Patrick, Reeder, Young & Kiser at ILB. It could be a lot worse imo.

And best yet, we still have free agency and the draft ahead of us.
 
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TheTackle

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Why wouldn’t we bring at least 2 starters back? There are not many markets, teams or stadium better than ours and most will probably prefer to stay with McVay if possible. CL on a full contract and Fowler tagged make the most sense. I would try to bring Brockers back too
 

den-the-coach

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FWIW I prefer the 4-3, IMO, it holds up far better against the run, but I do believe with the 3-4 you get more pressure on the QB's and there are more OLB's to choose from in college because less and less DE's putting their hands on the ground, but again I'm more of a fan of the 4-3 against the run.

Now I do believe you can adapt your schemes based on personnel as Gregg Williams is doing in New York with the Jets. Williams a 4-3 guy is running a 3-4 in New York as they transition. Again, if the Rams hire Kris Richard for example, I'm not concerned, I want an elite DC I don't care what scheme he's been running, I'm confident he'll adapt to the Rams personnel.
 

thirteen28

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We don't have the cap space or the draft capital to switch to a 4-3 right now. When we went to Wade's 3-4 we at least had some cap space to bring guys in, and a couple of guys who could somewhat make the transition. I just don't see us in as good of a spot to make the transition back to a 4-3 right now, both personnel-wise and cap-wise. It's best just to stick with the base scheme and build it around what we have and augment it with what we can.
 

Ram65

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Why wouldn’t we bring at least 2 starters back? There are not many markets, teams or stadium better than ours and most will probably prefer to stay with McVay if possible. CL on a full contract and Fowler tagged make the most sense. I would try to bring Brockers back too

Cap Space.
 

Corbin

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It would be a HUGE mistake and set us back many years switching back to a 4-3. The 3-4 hybrid defense has many many more advantages and flexibility with the right personal.

Getting rid of Brockers this off season will be huge to complete this transition as he is a 4-3 DT.
 

Ram65

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I don't have a preference for either the 3-4 or 4-3. I do think the Rams depth chart has been set up for the 3-4. Losing Brockers, Fowler, Littleton and Mathews which many expect will make the backups starters. It would be nice if they could keep Fowler or Littleton but, cap space will be tight. Ebu, Obo, Polite and Lawler are all smaller OLBers. Not many alternatives at 4-3 DE either. If they change make it a gradual one.
 

Merlin

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When it comes to a standard 4-3 like we ran under Fish (with a 3T position for Donald) it is extremely similar to Wade's 3-4 under alignment. Both are one-gap schemes. Both have a big body shaded over the Center at 1T and a quicker lineman who plays the 3T spot. So in the front as it pertains to the big fellas it's not really a big deal.

Not to mention the Rams have a need at the 5T position regardless, because Brock is gonna leave in FA.

So IMO really any conversation re: a conversion to 4-3 begins with the edges. This is why I don't want to see a conversion to 4-3 this offseason, because we have reasonable depth on the edges and lack the draft capital to go get 4-3 ends.

Off ball LB changes a bit too of course, and the responsibilities change. Both of which favor sticking with the Rams' 3-4 base scheme where bringing in a new coach to run the show would be more about adjustments in his flavor of preference vice alignments being completely different.

Lastly we need to remember this whole DC change probably has a lot to do with what Belichick did to McVay in the Super Bowl, which had a profound impact on our young HC. Which means he probably wants to have that capability to be varied and insinuates he'll want a coordinator who is steeped in and knowledgeable of both, not to mention willing to be creative. So in the end and particularly if he goes with a young hire that presumably will do that for him... maybe it's not all that important what his background is. Just a thought.
 

Adi

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I honestly dont have a preference. But running a 3-4 requires 2 strong olb that can pass rush and stop the run, those guys are very hard to find.