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re: If bama goes to a 4-2-5 defense
Posted on 2/21/24 at 4:25 pm to Diego Ricardo
Posted on 2/21/24 at 4:25 pm to Diego Ricardo
quote:
A few times this year - against the better offenses - Alabama essentially had to drop the 3-down nickel mid-game because these opponents were really hounding the mismatch of a good H (TE or slot body) on OLB who really is a pass rusher. Teams would basically just go trips against Alabama, run a wheel or something similar (so the OLB matches), then torch him vertically. Notably, Alabama basically just had to default to 4 down, split safety and try to stop the run with 6 against Tenn and UGA...they were getting killed with 3-3-5.
Interesting.
UGA tends to use the 3-3-5, but will sometimes act like a 4-2-5 in terms of coverages from the LB position (with the rush OLB not covering the slot and just rushing the passer). Sometimes they will have the rush OLB cover the slot. They don't let the formation give away the coverage. We never sub in a DE for the OLB as that would let the offense know what we're doing.
In general I think Smart's belief is that having a LB rather than a DE lets the defense be more flexible and unpredictable, even if he does rush the passer the majority of the time.
3
Posted on 2/21/24 at 4:29 pm to DawginSC
quote:
UGA tends to use the 3-3-5
In today's CFB, finding a true nose-guard to play the A gap(s) is a very difficult thing to do. Has to be big, 300+ lbs so he can't be pushed around, and strong enough to defeat double teams but also very quick latterly. Those three things usually don't go together (pick any two). Usually guys don't emerge as true nose-guards util they get to the NFL and develop a little more physically.
That's where UGA's being able to recruit the way they do helps them run that formation that many other teams can't pull off because they can't find the guys to run it properly. It's why many (most) CFB teams revert to some form of 4 down linemen on defense.
This post was edited on 2/21/24 at 4:33 pm
Posted on 2/21/24 at 4:31 pm to DawginSC
Imagine how great someone like Jevon Kearse would have been in a 4-2-5.
Posted on 2/21/24 at 5:00 pm to DawginSC
quote:
In general I think Smart's belief is that having a LB rather than a DE lets the defense be more flexible and unpredictable, even if he does rush the passer the majority of the time.
In general, I think Smart and Saban are right to prefer the 3-3-5 with a hybrid LB/DE type HOWEVER if your hybrid type is really more DE than LB like Turner or Braswell then you may get better mileage just putting their hand in the dirt and lean on your backend to cover the gaps in coverage.
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