Sounds good to me. We are thin at linebacker, so having one fewer of them on the field makes a lot of sense to me.
Coples-Pouha-Devito-Wilkerson (1st/2nd) Maybin-Wilkerson-Coples-Pace (3rd downs) Scott-Harris-Davis Cro-Landry/Smith-Bell/Bush-Revis Somethin like that. This, in addition to the 3-4 and 46 looks we can run gives us a pretty versatile D.
Really excited to see what kind of havoc Wilkerson and Coples can generate this season. I cant remember the last time we had this much pass rush potential, with Maybin hopefully able to keep his weight in the 240-250 area. I like the switch to 4-3 because of our lack of linebacker depth and increased d line presence.
3-4 without a dominant LB was what held the Jets back in the end in the last couple of seasons. 4-3 is going to be better if they're able to find a dominant end in the process. Otherwise it's going to be the same as the 3-4, strong on scheme and eventually breaking down at the end because there's no game-breaker in the front 7.
Jets are banking on Coples to provide the spark on this one. (With Maybin rushing from the other end.) It remains to be seen whether they can materialize into a real threat - but I like how at least they acknowledge their defense lacked claws and fangs during the past few seasons.
Spark, shmark. Somebody on that side of the ball is going to have to step it up and get double digits sacks for next year to be any different than last year or 2010. Either that or the Jets are going to have to go back to being blitzing maniacs again coming from on all angles on most passing plays.
That 3rd down d-line has the potential to be dominant. I'm not saying it will be, but man it sounds good on paper.
No. But he's played it before and could put his hand in the dirt occasionally. His career so far tells us he's better in the 3-4, for whatever reason. His experience at 4-3DE will add yet another option on 3rd downs or other downs. We have a bunch of guys on this D that can play multiple positions.
Im expecting a very good defense next season. If we can finally get a pass rush, this D will be great.
I think our defense is prepped for a monster season. Our offense just needs to be steady and productive, a la 2009 and 2010, and we should be a playoff team.
I may be wrong, or may have misunderstood the article in the way I view it but when I first read this I can't help but have thought this is an attempt to counter the no huddle that NE likes to utilize so much. By simplifying the defense, it's easier for the on the field players to adapt without the huddle. I'm also kind of skeptical, wasn't one of the strengths that no one knew what we were doing? I remember Brady saying in an interview during the playoff game, that he had no idea what to expect, because we were so complex and hid everything so well, he was almost paranoid because he couldn't get a finger on what was going on. This led to anxiety, and so forth. We've prided ourselves on complex blitzing schemes, I'm not sure simplfying everything is the right route to go, our weakness on defense wasn't due to over-complexity, it was due to lack of speed and talent in either our safeties (*ahem*, Eric Smith) or linebackers to block against the run on the outside. If we were talking about the offensive side of the ball -- I'd be glad to hear that, because everyone knew Schotty was overly complex, but I never once got the feeling that the defense was over it's head in trying to understand the plays.
Anything that maintains the maximum number of two-way players on the field is the best antidote to the Brady no-huddle. If the Jets are playing 4 down linemen who can play both the run and the pass, as in Wilkerson, Coples, Ellis (hopefully) and Pace and backing them up with 3 linebackers who can play both ways as in Thomas, Harris and Davis (hopefully), then they're ahead of the game. It's getting caught with Pouha, Devito and Scott on the field when Brady suddenly decides to spread it wide that is deadly. It's having Maybin and 5 or 6 DB's on the field when Brady decides to go strong. It's the fact that once the no-huddle is running Brady gets to do whatever is most effective against the Jets front. Putting 7 guys on the field that prevent Brady from beating the personnel by a simple scheme adjustment is the best defense against the no-huddle.
It would seem that the idea this year is to somewhat make up for the lack of foot speed at the linebacker position by speeding their decision making process. i.e. If they take their first step a second earlier, it doesn't matter that the steps are a second slower than they should be? Will that work? Who knows. Every team has to mask weakness at some position or another. I say it doesn't matter if our D plays a second faster if the simpler D means the opposing QB can make his decision a second quicker.
G-girls used a good 4-man front to beat the Pats in the SB twice in a row....can't be all bad if you got the men to pull it off.
