The 3-4 is trickling down more and more from the NFL game into college because of the field/boundary offensive philosophy and, in my opinion, is the defensive formation of the future. We saw how Indiana was able to adjust during the middle quarters to shut down our perimeter rushing attack and swing passing game. Also against offenses that use no-huddle up tempo, less big men equals less fatigue. Saban uses the formation for this reason, also to put more of those talented LBs closer to the line of scrimmage with added ability to disguise coverage. An athletic 3-4 can put 7 bodies on the LOS.
Josh Perry at boundary-side OLB, Grant at boundary side ILB, McMillan at field side ILB, Darron Lee at the walkout. Think about that look. I believe that Josh Perry's potential would be maximized if he were closer to the line and the edge (sidenote: could any two blockers in the nation stop Bosa/Perry coupled in pass rush?). Curtis Grant would be asked to move less laterally and be more of the hammer in the middle. Raekwon would have less responsibility in zone and about the same amount of space to play in. Finally, Darron Lee's job really wouldn't change at all - slot coverage/run support.
I think that very little of this defense's problems are due to our interior line, rather the angles that the LBs and Safeties are taking on a few big plays. I would be worried about Bennett's is size - but Washington and Bosa make up for that by being slightly oversized and Grant/Perry are really good between the tackles. Spreading the LBs creates more of a downhill angle for everyone. We also don't have the athleticism at Viper that we've had in years past, that position needs to do less.
Do you really need a dominant NG to run this? Do the assignments not fit into Ash's scheme? You would really think that this kind of wrinkle would give us an awesome edge for a series or two, could confuse the OL on their assignments with 7 bodies on the line. The defensive line depth issues would also show up less. Thoughts?
