Feedback requested.

BUF 46
MIA 4-3?
NEP 3-4
NYJ 4-3 Cover-2

TEN 4-3
IND 4-3 Cover-2
JAC 4-3
HOU 3-4

CIN 4-3
CLE 3-4
PIT 3-4
BAL 46

SDC 3-4?
OAK 4-3?
DEN 4-3
KCC 4-3

PHI 4-3
NYG 4-3
WAS 46
DAL 3-4

CHI 4-3 Cover-2
MIN 4-3
GBP 4-3
DET 4-3

CAR 4-3
NOS 4-3
TBB 4-3 Cover-2
ATL 4-3

SEA 4-3
STL 4-3 Cover-2
SFO 3-4
ARI 4-3

The 46 defense is an attacking style of defense that crowds the line of scrimmage. There are many different flavors but the traditional look as 6 men (the 4 DL and the SLB and WLB) all lined up on the line of scrimmage. The 2 CBs are in press coverage and the SS and MLB are only about 2 yards off the line of scrimmage. The FS is the only true "secondary" player in the 46.

Buffalo and Washington both give 46 looks from time to time due to their influence of Gregg Williams. Williams also ran a modified 46 D in his time in Tennessee, but I think they have since shifted away from that.

Thanks - I always hear it called an attacking defense, but nobody seems to explain how that manifests itself on the field.

The attacking comes in that there are so many people close to the line of scrimmage and is meant to stop the run or put quick pressure on QB in passing situations.

It is very hard to tell where the blitz is coming from in the 46 and invariably 2-3 players blitz with the 46.

Teams starting running multiple wide sets against the 46 and eventually "figured it out."

The 46 is the inspiration for the zone blizting schemes that are prevelant today and are meant to be unpredictable.

Does anyone know where the 46 defense got its name?

"The defense got its name from the "46" jersey number of Chicago Bears safety Doug Plank, who was a starter when Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan developed the defense in the first half of the 1980s. It is also known as the "Bear" defense because Ryan popularized it with the Bears, and took it with him to future NFL head coaching positions. "

Ourlads has San Diego listed as a 3-4

This is a little tricky, because so many teams use both 3-4 and 4-3 looks these days. Last year, the Jets were considered a 4-3, but they would move Abraham around for a 3-4 look. It appears as though Dallas will do the same sort of thing this year. It's also why so many of these so-called "tweeners" are a hot commodity in the draft, a guy who can line up as a DE, or move around , like a sort of roving LB. Moving safeties up, and safety blitzes seem to be more common now, too. That's why CB's who can man cover are also a hot commodity. The most popular , or successful way to attack these kind of D alignments seems to be the multiple wide out set, as grady said (he's a smart guy, sure knows more than I do) . Good coaches know how to attack it.... remember Belechik passing every down, all the way down the field, with Dillon on the sidelines?

Here's an article, from the blogger, giving a little more info on the Dolphin's new defensive scheme.

Not exactly sure what to make of it, other than that it will include some 3-4 looks and won't exactly be a 4-3. I think.

Yeah, I expect some 3-4, but I don't see where Taylor fits in that scheme, and I think it'd be silly for the Dolphins to force an alignment that excludes a player as good as Taylor or moves him to a spot where he's not going to be his usual dominant self.

A thread in the Shark Pool suggesting Taylor will play OLB in 3-4 sets, but a 4-3 will still be their base set.

Here's a good article that was on the blogger. It talks about Baltimore going to primarily a 46 defense under Rex Ryan (Buddy's son).

Bump up the Baltimore DB's in your IDP rankings then.

Thanks for the link. Sounds like it's going to be very hard to characterize the Ravens defensive alignment this season. It sounds like they're not even sure if they're lining up 5-2, 4-3, or 6-2 with the SS up.

If Suggs gets relisted as a DE, which is really what he'll be playing this year, he could be a monster on that Ravens D.

I believe MFL goes by the team site, though, and that article implied that they're calling him a "Rush LB" - if that's the case, a lot of people who took Suggs really early in dynasty startups this offseason assuming he'd shift to DE are going to be upset.

I took him late as my sixth LB. And that is behind Vilma, Hartwell, Cowart, M Washington and Quarles. We start 3, so I'm covered. Suggs will play Dent's position. My starter there is S Ellis, DE, Jets, so if they do relist him, I am golden. If not, it was worth a flyer. I wonder how Manning will do against this D? He could look like he's playing N.E., or he could really burn them with deep throws. Should be fun to watch!

bump

It might make sense to put another classification in here.. "HYBRID". That's what I'd call the Belichick/Ryan/Crennell style of defense. Parcells, too.

The Pats, Browns, Raiders, Cowboys and even the Dolphins will use a lot of different looks. It's a copy cat league. Just like the trend for teams to use a lot of 3 WR sets or the West Coast offense, teams are moving to a hybrid defense that mixes up their looks between a 3-4 and 4-3 a lot more now than in the past. Why? Simple. It works. The Patriots have been incredibly successful doing it. Not all those teams will have the coaching or players to pull it off nearly as well, but that won't stop them from trying.

The Chargers, 49ers and Jets use a lot of different looks and to a lesser degree do this as well. One thing to look for is a 'tweener DE/OLB like Taylor, McGinest, Peterson, Merriman? kind of guy who can line up at DE and give the team a 4-3 look.. then when the offense lines up they switch or move so that the player drops back as a LB, but could still have the same assignments/role for the play called. It just creates confusion for the QB and helps a coordinator mask their coverages and type of defensive play they've called.

The Rams do some funky things, too, with Archuleta where they run a defense that is effectively more of a nickel defense with Archuleta effectively being an extra LB. I keep hearing about him switching to FS and I just don't know how that is going work quite honestly. I have the same concerns for Robert Griffith and Sammy Knight, who both appear to be much better suited as a SS at this point in their careers.

The Broncs have been talking about incorporating a little 3-4 in their 4-3

Hybrid is a dangerous 'scheme'. Not only does it encompass a whole lot of different philiosphies (impacting the relative importance between the positions) but it also places uncertainty about the playing time fir various types of players, such as OLB, DE, NT etc.

My understanding on the Rams was that they did that a couple of years ago due to injuries, but didn't do it much last season after Lovie left. Is that incorrect?

Oakland is another team that seems to be talking about mixing things up. I think that for now, I'll leave things the way they are, since the listings are for the base defense for each team. I think once the preseason and regular season games start, we'll see how often teams switch things up. If they switch on a game-by-game basis, it's worth listing. If it's just third downs, I don't think the effect will be that strong.

Shall we update this?

My current database...

A little incomplete on DC and years coaching for current team, but here it is.

4-3 CIN, HOU, JAX, TEN, DEN, OAK, NYG, PHI, WAS, GB, ARI, SEA. KC, ATL, NO, CAR
4-3/Cover-2 BUF, IND, CHI, DET, MIN, TAM
4-3/3-4 hybrid MIA, STL
3-4 NE, NYJ, CLE, PIT, SD, DAL, SF
46 BAL


AFC East
BUF #### Jauron (1)/Perry Fewell (1) 4-3, Cover-2
MIA Nick Saban (2) 3-4 hybrid
NE Bill Belichick ( )/Dean Pees (1) 3-4 hybrid
NYJ Eric Mangini (1)/Bob Sutton 3-4 hybrid/(trans)

AFC North
BAL Brian Billick ( )/Rex Ryan (2) 46 variation
CIN Marvin Lewis (3)/Chuck Breshnahan (2) 4-3/rare 3-4
CLE Romeo Crennel (2)/ 3-4 hybrid
PIT Bill Cowher ( )/ 3-4 ZBtz

AFC South
HOU Gary Kubiak (1)/Richard Smith (1) 4-3 (trans)
IND Tony Dungy (6)/Ron Meeks (6) 4-3/Tampa2/1 gap
JAX Jack Del Rio ( )/ 4-3/zone coverage
TEN Jeff Fisher ( )/ 4-3

AFC West
DEN Mike Shanahan (12)/Larry Coyer (4) 4-3
KC Herman Edwards (1)/Gunt Cunningham 4-3/?future trans Tampa-2
OAK Art Shell (1)/Rob Ryan (2) 4-3
SD Marty Schottenhemier ( )/Wade Phillips 3-4

NFC East
DAL Bill Parcells (3)/Mike Zimmer 3-4
NYG Tom Coughlin (2)/Tim Lewis 4-3
PHI Andy Reid ( )/Jim Johnson 4-3
WAS Joe Gibbs (2)/Gregg Williams 4-3

NFC North
CHI Lovie Smith (4)/Ron Rivera 4-3/Cover-2
DET Rod Marinelli (1)/Donnie Henderson (1) 4-3/Cover-2
GB Mike McCarthy (1)/Bob Sanders (1) 4-3
MIN Brad Childress (1)/Mike Tomlin (1) 4-3/Cover-2

NFC South
ATL Jim Mora, Jr ( )/ 4-3
CAR John Fox ( )/ 4-3
NO Sean Payton (1)/Gary Gibbs (1) 4-3
TAM Jon Gruden ( )/Monte Kiffin (11) 4-3/Cover-2

NFC West
ARI Denny Green (3)/Clancy Pendergast (3) 4-3
STL Scott Linehan (1)/Jim Haslett (1) 4-3
SF Mike Nolan (2)/Billy Davis 3-4
SEA Mike Holmgren ( )/Ray Rhodes 4-3

Impressive. Dang, this must have taken some time. Great job!

I had no idea the Rams were periodically going to run a 3-4. On a team with Witherspoon, Tino and a group of hot air (Chillar, Faulk, Coakley, R Smith, etc) at LB, I would love being the opposing OC facing their four "best" LB's. Plus, Little and Hargrove would get gobbled-up as a 3-4 ends, and Glover would have no business playing NT.

Jene, do you have any links detailing this situation?? I would love to see how their personnel will be used.

Washington (as is the fashion now) will also occasionally switch into the 3-4 based upon game situation, and will remove Salave'a and have Wynn essentially playing a DT or 3-4 RDE role.

The alignment would look like this, from left (strong) to right (weak):

D-line: Wynn/Daniels, Griffin, Carter

LB's: Washington, Marshall, ?, Clemons

Clemons would be the additional rusher most often (the "?" indicates the starting WLB, which is up in the air right now; McIntosh appears to have been drafted to be the player there in the long term).

Also, while he's not nearly as talented doing this, Carter was also asked to play as a pass rusher standing up in SF's 3-4 scheme, so that's a possiblity too, in which case I assume that Wynn and Daniels would be the 3-4 DE's.

This is going to be, as I understand it, very situational at best, and will not be the "typical" scheme. However, it's worth noting.

ETA: Also, I'd include Washington as a 46-defense team because that's precisely the school that Gregg Williams came from.

If true, wouldnt Little play 3-4 OLB when they go to 4 LB?

Detroit plans on converting to a cover 2 defense.

I've heard the same thing.

Jene, I launched into a discussion about Washington, but great job on the list and thank you for posting it!

No link, just recollections from interviews I've seen with Jim Haslett.

Haslett and Marvin Lewis are from the same Steeler school. Both seem to prefer the 3-4 front, but neither are willing to tear down a current team quickly to run it. Haslett didn't push in his years in New Orleans, and has said he won't push it in St. Louis either. If it happens, it happens.

By all means, I appreciate every homer insight I can get. I've got more detailed notes on most of these defenses, but I'd love to get more information on some.

ETA: I'm not aware that the Skins use any traditional 46 alignments despite Williams' background. Do they?

And, yes, Detroit will be running a Cover-2 scheme.

Very nice post Jean!

I can't see St. Louis running much if any 3-4.

I agree. Just a reminder for my notes to keep an eye on Haslett. I don't honestly think that schizophrenic goofball Herm Edwards will ever commit to one defense either, but it's worth noting.

Think I'll remove those from my original post so as not to confuse anybody.

no biggie but you forgot to add ATL , NO and CAR in the break down

I'll edit the original, thanks.