Personnel for a 4-3?

[preproman]

I would go:

DE - Worlds (Former DE)

DT - Mclendon / Alameda

DT - Hood / Draft pick

DE - Woodly (Former DE)

OL - Timmons

ML - Spence / Stevens

OL - Carter / Stevens

Haywood can go..

[defence]

Originally Posted by tony hipchest

is this a rhetorical question?

our former OC is their HC. our former secondary coach is their DC. our former CB is now their secondary coach and our latest CB to leave is now their starting CB.

up until game one of this season, their starting OLB's were our 05 SB starters.

i dont even watch all their games though, let alone rewatch or study their game film.

there are some differences in personnel though. kerry rhodes and adrian wilson havent missed a start. their #1 pick from last year patrick peterson is about as dynamic as they come. they definitely have some studs playing in their front 7.



can you name a single team that has four 300+ lb guys starting on the DL? are you suggesting the way every other team in the NFL has been running it for years is wrong, and that your way could be very effective?

you do know that a majority of our OLB's were former DE's in college, right?

teh transition you suggest just isnt that easy. i wish people would quit making line up changes on paper and thinking its as simple as baseball.

Tony; with all due respect it isn't as hard to do as you think. Teams do it all the time. The Steelers just have never done it that's why some of us have a problem thinking about the transition. all I am saying is; the Steelers have invested first round picks in guys who are better suited playing in a 4 3. Is it a coincidence; I don't know. I do know this; there d sucks right now and people can say whatever they want about personnel. When I read articles about how Carson Palmer says it's the same d over the last 7 years; that's emabarassing. I don't care what we play; but Tomlin needs to step in and get control of this d because as long as I remember; Steeler football is about defence!!! 3 4 or 4 3!!

[SteelHaven]

For those who think we don't have the personnel to run a 4-3:

All if not 90 percent of our 1st round defensive players played a 4-3 in college, Don't forget that we will be losing Kiesel, Hampton, possibly letting Ike Taylor go to free up cap space and this will help in being able to then later sign to fill whatever we need to run a 4-3 next year.

I don't think you draft 4-3 if you don't intend on using it eventually. The 3-4 defense isn't Tomlins preferred scheme and I'm sure he's been wanting to make his own imprint on this team. He started it by drafting a 4-3 linebacker in Timmons.

Edit: Losing James Harrison will also free up cap space to fill in positions.

[PhantomJB93]

Won't happen but Keisel, Heyward, Hood, and Woodley could form a 4-3 DLine and Timmons and Foote could play LB. I guess you could keep Harrison at LB too. Truthfully that would only get a "pass" as a 4-3, we have noone truly in the mold of a 4-3 DE on this team which is the most crucial position in that scheme. Woodley and Keisel or Woodley and Harrison could get the job done but their talents would not be maximized playing there.

[SteelHaven]

Originally Posted by PhantomJB93

Won't happen but Keisel, Heyward, Hood, and Woodley could form a 4-3 DLine and Timmons and Foote could play LB. I guess you could keep Harrison at LB too. Truthfully that would only get a "pass" as a 4-3, we have noone truly in the mold of a 4-3 DE on this team which is the most crucial position in that scheme. Woodley and Keisel or Woodley and Harrison could get the job done but their talents would not be maximized playing there.

I'm not sure what you mean by not having a true 4-3 DE in the mold.. You forgot Woirlds who also played 4-3 DE in college. I agree we won't see a switch this year but as I stated above. With Harrison, Hampton, Kiesel retiring/or just going in a different direction this opens up cap space. We may just have the money to fill what we need for next year to fully turn into a 4-3 via the draft and free agency.

[steelfury02]

would have loved to been a fly on the wall in first coaches meeting after loss to Raiders, and then subsequent meetings after learning Harrison had another setback.

The constant shifting in approach has got to be maddening at times.

[casteeler]

I like the wide 9 look but that requires very speedy defensive ends. This Sunday against the Eagles should answer a couple questions if Troy and Harrison are playing,the front 7 of the Steeler D need to play smart with Vick and McCoy being dangerous on the run and hopefully Clark and Troy can help the CBs cover

[tony hipchest]

Originally Posted by SteelHaven

I'm not sure what you mean by not having a true 4-3 DE in the mold.. You forgot Woirlds who also played 4-3 DE in college. I agree we won't see a switch this year but as I stated above. With Harrison, Hampton, Kiesel retiring/or just going in a different direction this opens up cap space. We may just have the money to fill what we need for next year to fully turn into a 4-3 via the draft and free agency.

worilds was a defensive end in college considered to be TOO SMALL to make the transition to DE in the pros. just like porter, just like haggans, gildon, hell, even lamaar woodley was considered to small and slow to transition well.

thats why many of these stud atheletes fall in the draft. that is why steelers found so many good ones, because back in the day they were one of the few teams transitioning these guys to 3-4 OLB's.

since then, many teams copy us.

a prototypical 4-3 DE looks like julius peppers, jarod allen, mario williams (all considered too smal to be 3-4 DE's).

you just dont swap them for the sake of swapping them and think its gonna work.

hell there were many who though #1 overall pick wouldnt be able to play OLB in the texans new 3-4.

know what? after 1 year, he is not an OLB with the texans no more.

[Dodens Grav]

Switching to a 4-3 is nowhere visible on the horizon. For people saying "so-and-so played in a 4-3 in college" - most college teams run 4-3s. But college 4-3 and pro 4-3 is not the same thing either. That's why many college DTs become DEs and DEs become OLBs. It's also presumptuous to claim to know things like Heyward and Timmons being better suited for the 3-4. So many people said Colon wold take to playing guard like a fish in water, but he's still struggling with the transition. Never trust internet forum strategerists.

[Fire Arians]

you can't switch from a 3-4 to 4-3 during the season, there's just so many changes that it's challenging for even the best DC's to pull it off in one offseason