Williams likes to run a Tampa 2 defensive scheme a fair amount, so Lee is perfectly suited to be the middle line backer who drops back. The problem they have with a 4-3 defense is that the other linebackers on the team don't have enough speed to play the system with a middle linebacker who's frequently going to drop into a deep zone and leaving the middle of the field short wide open. Keeping it a 3-4 means you've got a spot for Williamson to still clog up the middle or blitz. A lot of the speculation around the Jets flipping to a 4-3 have Lee moving to weak side linebacker, but that doesn't leave anyone to play MLB who can drop into a tampa 2 zone. I think the Jets will be playing more of a one-gap system even when they're playing 3-4, so Leonard Williams may still do very well under Williams defense. They've said that they're not looking for the big bodies in the middle and that would also be consistent with using a one-gap system rather than a 2 gap system that is typically used in a 3-4 defense.
Agreed. Stephen A Smith just rants to hear himself rant. His recent one about how Lebron is the biggest problem with the Lakers and that he will suddenly begin succumbing to tons of injuries now that he's older. I had to laugh and change the channel. He thrives on that controversial stuff.
*gasp* Now I'm reading that Gase said the Jets will mostly play in a nickel defense anyway. OMG!! None of the reasons given for sticking with this tired scheme make any sense at all. Minimize roster turnover. 5-11, 5-11, 4-12 the past three seasons. How many double digits leads did this defense blow last year? One would think that a organization would welcome much needed change. And with $100 million in cap space a golden opportunity to bring about that change but noooooo. These incompetents are making Bowles look and sound good. Can we bring Todd Bowels back?
Yeah, I hate this right away. The 4-3 is a much better defense and generates much more pressure on the QB. The lightweights the Jets have now will need tons of protection in the 3-4 and currently, we have no studs in the 3-4 anywhere. I was hoping Greg Williams would have changed the look of the Jets defense. Looks like there will be more receivers running free in the secondary because the Jets can't get a sniff of the QB.
I agree with all you said except making Bowles look good. Nobody can do that. He sucked royally. But I get your frustration. I feel the same way was looking forward to the 4-3 defense. Never liked the 3-4.
Williams is not a 3-4 guy never has been and never will be. His play has gone down since his rookie year. He is also not an end in the 3-4 but if he were in the 4-3 he would have better match ups. Much harder to handle him one on one instead of two people chipping and hitting him in the 3-4.
Several articles have mentioned that the Jets will be looking at lighter, faster players to run this version of the 3-4. That they're no longer looking at players to clog the middle of the defense. I thought Pennel was a decent player. Watch the Patriots snatch him up. You do realize that traditionally teams running the 3-4 look for BIGGER front line players to run the scheme? Mammoth NT, big ends, big 'backers right? So for there to be any mention at all of the Jets looking at smaller, lighter players to fit into this 3-4 goes against conventional NFL wisdom and is a red flag. It's like reading that someone is making a automobile with square tires.
At least Bowles defense was based on conventional NFL wisdom. I don't know what these guys are doing. Do they know what they are doing? It almost sounds like they're planning to have a smaller, lighter, faster, quicker defense like those awful defenses the Colts used to have when Manning was there BUT in a 3-4.
I think you are reading too much into that. The Jets are still going to run many 4-3 fronts. It sounds like they are looking for players that can fit both schemes so they can slowly transition to more 4-3 fronts over time. It's inevitable, especially if they end up with Bosa in the draft. Base defense doesn't really mean that much in the long run. I trust Greg Williams to play the guys to their strengths and to know what types players best fit his schemes. He's been there and done that.
I think they are setting Greg Williams up for failure. His defenses have been good in the 4-3 and you hire him knowing that. So why hamstring him running a 3-4 with inferior talent. Easier finding 4 competent DL than 4 competent linebackers.
Why slowly transition to anything when they have $100 million in cap space? They can make over this defense this offseason IF THEY WANT TO. There's a ton of good pass rushers on the open market a rarity. If what you're saying is the plan they're wasting time. And anyway you slice it from the reports that are coming out this front is gonna be undersized for any scheme 3-4, 4-3. I 'd trust Gregg Williams if he were running his scheme but he's not. There's a difference between giving teams 3-4 looks here and there while running a 4-3 base and running a 3-4 base. This idea that scheme doesn't matter is nonsense. That's not the way football works. All of a sudden it's like people are saying football is like baseball where a team can plug a bat into the lineup or a player in centerfield and he'll do his thing. Yeeeeaah right.
There are so many good pass rushers available in free agency this offseason too. They could sign two or three if they wanted to instead they're sticking with the same tired scheme, they get rid of our biggest lineman Pennel and now even if they sign a pass rusher or two we KNOW they'll put them at LB and have them drop back into coverage or some other cockamamie responsibility that 3-4 defenders have that doesn't allow them to get many sacks instead of just letting them go after the QB.
100m sounds like a lot of cap space, but they do have a lot of players to resign and holes to fill. They don't have unlimited resources. And again, base D means next to nothing these days. It's smarter to use the money to strengthen the oline and surround Darnold with weapons, rather than revamp the defense and limit what else they can do. They can't just wave a magic wand and poof it into 4-3.
Just a hunch, but maybe the "base" 3-4 decision is based not only on current Jets players but those the team thinks it can get in FA and/or the draft. But as others have said, including Gase, the D spends most of its time in nickel anyway so the base is largely (bigly?) irrelevant.
