John Black
Footballguy
I know they are listed as a 3-4 defense but will they ever line up in a 4-3 and if so in what situation?
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Miami Dolphins (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter John Black
- Start date
Jene Bramel
Footballguy
Unless Capers starts lining things up differently, the recent Miami 3-4 may as well be considered a 4-3. It's mostly one gap technique throughout the entire front seven, and the value Holliday, Thomas, Crowder and Taylor should continue to mirror their 4-3 counterparts.
John Black
Footballguy
What about Roth?
Jene Bramel
Footballguy
Yeah, he's the wildcard. The left end and nose tackle are the positions most like the 3-4 in this defense. They still function more like Wade Phillips one gap than the traditional 2-gap 3-4 though. Roth and Kevin Carter produced well as a team out of that spot last year. While it's not perfectly valid as they were on field together at times, the two totaled 52 solos and 9 sacks between them in 2006. Roth should get the vast majority of those snaps this year and he compares very favorably to Phil Hansen and Luis Castillo, guys who have produced well with similar responsibilities in the past. That reminds me...I'm low on him at 51 since I think the scheme is unlikely to change much right now. I need to adjust his ranking.
Finatic
Footballguy
Rodrique Wright, injured all of last year, has pretty much changed his body configuration. He's leaner, stronger, seemingly quicker than he was last year when he got only a few weeks of work following shoulder surgery. I'm told he might have been a first-day draft pick had he not been injured before the draft. He went in the seventh round. Now playing outside rather than DT, he might actually push for playing time.http://dolphinsindepth.blogspot.com/2007/0...ining-camp.html
I am not that familiar with the Miami D. Can you explain a little more and label the players. I know Thomas is the MLB. Is Crowder the WSL? Can you explain Roth's position a little more too. Thanks. Do you project Crowder to replace Thomas at MLB in a few years?
Jene Bramel
Footballguy
It's a different kind of hybrid -- somewhere between what Wade Phillips does with his 3-4 (aggressive one gap) and Belichick does with his (read and react two gap) -- at least that's the way I think of it.The left side of the line will sometimes have two gap responsibility (Roth and Traylor) while the right side always has one gap responsibility (Holliday and Taylor). Saban's scheme was referred to as a "3-4" at times because Taylor will back up in a two point stance and the left side may have two gap roles, but it's probably just as correct to call the same alignment a 4-3.The projected lineup this year should be:LE RothNT TraylorUT HollidayRE TaylorSLB PorterMLB ThomasWLB CrowderI'm assuming that Roth will have more one gap responsibility than Kevin Carter did last year, but it's hard to know without seeing it on the field. This week's preseason game was probably useless to scout with Porter, Taylor, Traylor and Thomas all sitting. Miami played all traditional 4-3 that I could tell. And, yes, I'd expect that Crowder would replace Thomas as the MLB at some point although there could be a new defensive coaching staff by that time.
Thanks for your input Jene. One more thing, How many more years do you think Zach Thomas has left in the tank?
Jene Bramel
Footballguy
Hard to say. The best defensive players are often effective into their mid-30s. Thomas has had some nagging injury issues over the past two seasons, though, which often signals the beginning of the end, and he's due a big roster bonus in 2008. He may re-structure and could have 2-3 more seasons in him but I'd consider Thomas a year-to-year player at this point, albeit a very good one.
