Jene Bramel
Footballguy
You'll find some of this detailed in the third installment of the Guide to NFL Defenses series here, but I think there's going to be a lot of discussion early this season about whether the Seahawks are running a 3-4 defense on a lot of their snaps and how that will impact the IDP value of their players. I thought it might be worth a pre-emptive thread of sorts while still in the preseason.
The confusion is going to stem from Pete Carroll's Elephant package, which uses a roving pass rusher in a two point stance. There were conflicting reports this offseason about how often Carroll might use the Elephant package and who would fill the role. With Chris Clemons apparently stepping up in OTAs and early in camp, it looks like Carroll might use it liberally. At the very least, Carroll is taking a long look at it -- in their first preseason game, many of the Seattle base defensive snaps were in the Elephant formation.
Here's a screencap of what it looked like.
At first glance, that looks very much like a 3-4 front. Three down linemen and what look to be four linebackers, two on the line. A closer look at the linemen, however, shows that they aren't aligned as a 3-4 line would. There's one lineman almost head up on the RT and another shaded to the TE side of the center, but the DL on the open end is in a 3-technique on the LG. That 3-technique is the key to this picture. Though there are just three down linemen, the LT isn't covered and there's only one interior bubble covered by a linebacker.
Chris Clemons is in a two point stance in this frame, but put him down in a three point stance and the Elephant formation looks exactly like a 4-3 Under (with the SLB on the line in a Eagle alignment), Pete Carroll's preferred defensive front.
Lots of semantics in play, but I'd argue that this front is more like a 4-3 than a 3-4 and should be considered a hybrid of the 4-3 family rather than a 3-4.
What does that mean for IDP values? If Carroll uses a lot of 4-3 Under (and he very likely will), the WLB could be very valuable. With the SLB up on the line, we'll often see the SS cheating into the box (as Lawyer Milloy is doing in the screencap) and seeing more tackle opportunity. This isn't an under front with Cover-2 behind, it's closer to an 8-man front with lots of bump-and-run outside. The 3-technique tackle should be more valuable as well.
Bump David Hawthorne (when it's absolutely confirmed he's an every-down backer), Milloy and Brandon Mebane. Clemons' value is going to be dependent on whether or not he can consistently get to the passer and change gears quickly to run pursuit on non-pass plays. He's essentially a standup Dwight Freeney type player in this scenario.
The confusion is going to stem from Pete Carroll's Elephant package, which uses a roving pass rusher in a two point stance. There were conflicting reports this offseason about how often Carroll might use the Elephant package and who would fill the role. With Chris Clemons apparently stepping up in OTAs and early in camp, it looks like Carroll might use it liberally. At the very least, Carroll is taking a long look at it -- in their first preseason game, many of the Seattle base defensive snaps were in the Elephant formation.
Here's a screencap of what it looked like.
At first glance, that looks very much like a 3-4 front. Three down linemen and what look to be four linebackers, two on the line. A closer look at the linemen, however, shows that they aren't aligned as a 3-4 line would. There's one lineman almost head up on the RT and another shaded to the TE side of the center, but the DL on the open end is in a 3-technique on the LG. That 3-technique is the key to this picture. Though there are just three down linemen, the LT isn't covered and there's only one interior bubble covered by a linebacker.
Chris Clemons is in a two point stance in this frame, but put him down in a three point stance and the Elephant formation looks exactly like a 4-3 Under (with the SLB on the line in a Eagle alignment), Pete Carroll's preferred defensive front.
Lots of semantics in play, but I'd argue that this front is more like a 4-3 than a 3-4 and should be considered a hybrid of the 4-3 family rather than a 3-4.
What does that mean for IDP values? If Carroll uses a lot of 4-3 Under (and he very likely will), the WLB could be very valuable. With the SLB up on the line, we'll often see the SS cheating into the box (as Lawyer Milloy is doing in the screencap) and seeing more tackle opportunity. This isn't an under front with Cover-2 behind, it's closer to an 8-man front with lots of bump-and-run outside. The 3-technique tackle should be more valuable as well.
Bump David Hawthorne (when it's absolutely confirmed he's an every-down backer), Milloy and Brandon Mebane. Clemons' value is going to be dependent on whether or not he can consistently get to the passer and change gears quickly to run pursuit on non-pass plays. He's essentially a standup Dwight Freeney type player in this scenario.
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That website has been up and down over the past three or four seasons, but it's often a very good place to find playbook based discussions on both sides of the ball.
