I’ve always wanted to put together the advantages of the Odd Front and the advantages of the Even Front defenses. They both have great points. Its not a secret that I prefer the 4 down linemen, but I’ve also talked a lot in the past about the 3-5-3. Every sound defensive structure has its place, no doubt. The question is how much of that can you install, teach technique, and run effectively in a given season.My ideal is to have a 3, 4, and 5 man front without making any personnel changes. To do this, we’re going to need to base out of a 3 down front. That doesn’t mean we’re going to run it more than anything else, just that this is what we’ll build off of. If you start out with 4 down linemen, one of those guys that you need to drop off to play an Outside Linebacker position in your 3-man front is going to consider himself a lineman. Linemen don’t drop into coverage (mind you, this is all a mental game, because it could be the exact same player going either way), but Linebackers rush the passer and stop the run. So making a Linebacker into a Defensive End is natural, while making a Defensive End into a Linebacker is not. Maybe it only makes sense to me, but it that’s good enough. [Read more...]