The Coaches

I don't want to talk about Lombardi.

...but damn, the coaches are HERE!  Chud can just step back and look for leaks, because he has two elite coordinators.

Horton is a chip of La Beau's block!

People need to calm down about him coming in here and doing the square peg in the round hole stuff.  You act as if a 3-4 guy can't comprehend the complexities of the 4-3 defense.  The fact is that any 3-4 guy can run a 4-3, like any computer programmer can save a web page to favorites.  It's just hard for them to stay awake.

Grossi mentioned Taylor as a possible defensive end, which is smart.  But he skipped Winn, who is also a candidate.  No, not Rubin, or Hughes, or the other guys--just those two who have decent height and speed/range.  This roster has all the nose tackles it can use, but the potential DE's are these two and Frostee Rucker.

Winn and Sheard are at risk.  While Horton won't blow the whole thing up instantly, and will probably indeed run a hybrid while phasing in the 3-4, eventually EVENTUALLY DO YOU UNDERSTAND these two will need to master new positions or be traded.

But people don't seem to understand what a 3-4 DE does.  They normally line up a little (sometimes a lot) INSIDE the tackles, specificly to get inside leverage on them.  They engage the tackles and try to remain in the guard-tackle ("B") gap til they diagnose the play.

They do need to be able to pursue laterally or penetrate verticly, so they need pretty good wheels, but more importantly they need to be pretty big, as they get double-teamed themselves a lot.  Height/reach is important, because the tackles tend to be 6'4" and taller, and they need to keep those guys off them.

Sheard is a good example of a 4-3 DE.  He lines up outside the tackle and is responsible for containment.  He's 6'2", but much quicker and faster than the other guys.

Anyway, this is why Winn and Taylor might well be able to play DE in the 3-4.  I may be hammering this too hard, but I keep reading some of the dumbest analysis and opinions about this being unthinkable.

In fact, Taylor in particular might be exceptional in this role.  He can overpower some offensive tackles; bull-rush, penetrate after engagement, etc.  Winn doesn't have the same explosive start, but has better game speed than any of the other guys except Rucker.

Scott Paxson could also surprise.  A former linebacker, he played well as a rotational DT.  He's 6'4", 292, and has an explosive first step.  He might do better as a 3-4 DE.

In short, a 3-4 defensive line, 4-deep, may already be here.  Nose tackle is covered.

Linebacker is more complicated.  Grossi made another assumption about the acquisition of two outside linebackers being mandatory.  He even mentions Gocong in the same article!

Chris Gocong was a passrushing defensive END in college.  He was drafted by the Eagles into a 4-3 system and turned into a 4-3 linebacker.  He came here never having played in a 3-4, and the personnel dictated that he be used mainly inside.

The knock on Gocong as an outside linebacker is mostly a 4-3 knock: He's weak in coverage.  He can do everything else, including blitze the quarterback.  Horton will probably find a way to make the most of him.

Just because you never heard of Auston English doesn't mean he sucks.  He is another defensive end, converted to linebacker in the NFL.  He was kicking butt in the 4-3 when he got injured, but he's a much better prospect for the 3-4!!!

I'm not saying that he's another (human) James Harrison...but he might be, and for Grossi to ignore him and Gocong is pretty shallow.

Grossi also said that Jackson wasn't nearly as effective in a 3-4 as he is in a 4-3, and that's patently wrong.  Naturally, he didn't get the same number of tackles, but jeez what do you expect?

To go next to him, there are many candidates: Robertson, Acho, Fort, and (especially) Johnson, who has a little more size.

Sheard is the biggest question mark.  He was tried at OLB by 3-4 teams at his combine, as he has enough speed to do it.  But here's another guy Grossi dismissed, but at least he said why:

Tony said he was getting too big.  Well, he was strong side defensive end and was no doubt deliberately bulking up to stand up to 320 lb. right tackles.  He might or might not be able to play linebacker.

And there you go: While outside linebacker is way more iffy than defensive line, the components of a La Beau 3-4 may already be here--or at least good depth at the position.

But like Horton said, he'll see what he has before he knows what he'll do with it.

And then the Browns have a ton of cap space, and the draft...

Oh yeah, Lombardi...nevermind.