Question: 3 Down linemen or 4 down linemen

TAKEPRIDE22

2nd Team
Jul 21, 2011
315
6
37
Birmingham, AL
I understand the issues at LB hurting the D, but with this being an issue, would changing by going to 4 down linemen help for now. The D line hasn't been getting much of a push and adding one more may help keep O linemen and some pressure off the LB's.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
1,351
232
Tuscaloosa
Well, the key difference is that odd and even front defenses have completely different responsibilities and personnel needs. Without going into great detail, it is theoretically possible that we'd be worse off in an even front defense than odd front because our personnel may not be able to properly execute the different responsibilities in even front.


WITH ALL THAT SAID, we are a mixed front defense at this juncture under Saban. We may be a base odd front defense, but we play a bunch of even front single-gap looks and even sometimes play split fronts where the strong side is two-gapping like an odd front and the weak side is single-gapping like an even front.
 

RT27

All-American
Aug 13, 2017
2,301
130
82
Line all 11 up on a man, close and play player for player. Shove receivers at line and push all others towards back field.Simple man on man and see who wins LOL I have no clue what is best, I am sure Saban and Pruitt wil get us lined up in the formations that give us the best shot at wins. These guys been doing this stuff for years. Who better to figure it out? I would bet they know more than anyone here. There are some smart folks here, but lets be honest the staff are highly paid pros for a reason.
 

Tideflyer

Hall of Fame
Dec 14, 2011
7,829
3,908
187
Savannah, GA
If any staff can figure out and coach up a LB group in a situation such as our current one, it`s this one. I`m personally sure of that. I have absolutely no doubt that they have accurately " illuminated the terrain in which we currently find ourselves deployed ". IF our guys can execute it, they`ll have a plan, no doubt.
 

gtgilbert

All-American
Aug 12, 2011
3,168
4,046
187
it wouldn't be hard to have someone like Ray play as the 4th on line player instead of Jennings but it wouldn't help us much since it's not like Jennings could drop back and play an ILB spot and we'd lose some flexibility in what Jennings can do that ray can't.
 

rolltide_21

Hall of Fame
Dec 9, 2007
11,463
7,528
187
NW AL
Well, yes we are a 3-4 base D but we’ll run a 4-2-5 and a 4-3 regularly. Especially vs. spread teams. So it’s really a moot point as to what we should run. As Saban puts it, we are a “multiple” look.

To get a better understanding of Saban’s D I recommend both of Chris Brown’s books. He has a chapter on Saban’s D in each of them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

JustNeedMe81

Hall of Fame
Sep 30, 2011
14,906
6,190
187
42
Huntsville, Al

bamaga

Hall of Fame
Apr 29, 2002
13,379
8,238
282
JAWJA
Nick uses about as many 4 man fronts as he does 3 man fronts today. Especially against spreadteams with the theory of getting penetration to blow it up is more important than eating space and funneling to the backers. Also, Bama’s defense is so evolved and next level , especially hybrid fronts and exotic coverages that it is hard for coordinators to understand what is going on, much less us message board Joe’s.
 

Ole Man Dan

Hall of Fame
Apr 21, 2008
8,982
3,421
187
Gadsden, Al.
Well, the key difference is that odd and even front defenses have completely different responsibilities and personnel needs. Without going into great detail, it is theoretically possible that we'd be worse off in an even front defense than odd front because our personnel may not be able to properly execute the different responsibilities in even front.


WITH ALL THAT SAID, we are a mixed front defense at this juncture under Saban. We may be a base odd front defense, but we play a bunch of even front single-gap looks and even sometimes play split fronts where the strong side is two-gapping like an odd front and the weak side is single-gapping like an even front.
I love it when yall talk dirty... While I understand what you are saying, I have to think about it to understand the looks we can present.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
1,351
232
Tuscaloosa
I realize I got a bit mumbo-jumbo-ish there at the end so I'll clarify:

single-gap responsibility means the defensive linemen is only responsible for occupying one potential run gap. This allows you to more easily attack a hole or specific offensive blocker.

two-gap responsibility means the defensive linemen is responsible for two gaps thus often trying to encourage a double team from the offensive blockers to free up a linebacker at the second level.


Obviously, it would not be wise to go with 4 or more linemen and two-gap responsibility in most situations. Goal line and short yardage are obvious exceptions. So when we go into a conventional even front defense, we're either splitting the responsibilities depending on the strong and weak side alignment of the offense OR playing one-gap responsibilities. When in one gap, you typically need the DL to make more attacking pressure at the tailback or quarterback because the linebackers are not going to be as "clean" from blockers to make plays. I think we lack the quick-twitch at OLB and DL right now to make single-gap even front work as a big piece of the strategy.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
1,351
232
Tuscaloosa
Well he's been a "quick twitch" guy for us in spots and hoped he'd develop some more down the stretch. So yes it affects things.
 

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