Switch to 3-4 Defense a Failure

After watching my alma mater SDSU take down Boise State this weekend I really think we should switch to the 3-3-5 defense and use our awesome secondary depth to shut teams down. On a more serious note I wouldn't mind the Redskins drafting Leon McFadden.

The team made the switch to the 3-4, the defense is a good defense with the right players/coach we just need to keep working on it, and hope that Rak Daddy can go through 2013 with no injuries. Safe to say a majority of us including myself underestimated how good/important he was to our D.

Shanahans never been know for having good defenses.

I don't care what type of front we run, until we upgrade the secondary & pass rushing depth, this D isn't going anywhere.

Oh sweet Mother of Pearl no!!!!!! I was a big football fan in 97-98 and i thought his D was terrible. Never forget being up 35-14 on the Boys and getting beat. Ill never forgive that one.


that was in 99 I believe

i'm not sure the switch would fix our issues right now. but the switch to the 3-4 did hurt our D personnel wise. now i think we'd be equally bad under either, but i've always been a fan of matching scheme to personnel on hand and not the other way around (since it really seems to set you back by getting rid of good players like andre carter).

I've always hated the three four. I always felt more confident with more bodies on the line.
And to echo what Matty said, without a secondary either will not be effective.

that was in 99 I believe

Yeah it was i meant 97-99. Cowboys swept the SKins that year but that was the last time we won the Division!

Oh sweet Mother of Pearl no!!!!!! I was a big football fan in 97-98 and i thought his D was terrible. Never forget being up 35-14 on the Boys and getting beat. Ill never forgive that one.

It would be better than whats here now. But its a moot point because there is no way Nolan would ever work for Snyder again. And also he wont have any talent to work with on top of his bad experience here.

Regardless of the defensive scheme, this team needs to desperately to fix its secondary starting with both safeties. That said, I think we have the makings of an excellent 4-3 D-line with Orakpo and Kerrigan as DEs and a combination of Cofield, Carriker, Bowen, and Jenkins as DTs. I think the challenge with our current personnel would be the LBs. We would need a SLB, WLB, and a MLB (to replace Fletcher). I don't know how well our current crop of LBs would fit in that scheme. Still, I think it may be easier to find 4-3 LBs than to find a true 3-4 NT that this team has never found.

Yes, I agree that the 3-4 switch was a colossal mistake from the beginning. Too many resources were wasted trying to convert when defense wasn't the primary problem.

Switching back to a 4-3 shouldn't be too complicated, but the team now has to think about replacing the entire secondary and getting another linebacker or 2 to make it work.
The secondary is just a mess, so that has to be priority number 1 this offseason. They would also need to release Carriker to free up salary space as he would be the odd man out.

At this point, I would be fine with going to a 4-3 after the bye and letting Robinson and Riley play on the outside with Fletch in the middle. Alexander can also play, but he isn't really starting caliber for the long term. Fletch will need to be replaced next year in my opinion as he is rapidly slowing down due to age and wear-n-tear.

I do not however believe Shanahan will make the switch back because it will be an open admission of failure. I also don't believe he will replace Haslett until the season ends because I think he blames injuries and lack of quality personnel more than coaching.

Snyder will probably have to bring a hammer down to force a change, and Haslett and D.Smith will then take the fall. It's just too hard to reasonably fathom how bad this defense is after all the resources spent on it. Mind numbing really.