DL/LB play style, coaching style, recruiting focus

NFL high pay DL can create penetration chaos, plug and hold with strength and elite hand useage, or penetrate with elite first step explosion. Those guys are hard to find and very expensive when you do find them.

If you do identify one, getting him to play in your system depends on what that system is, how it is coached, and how the coach is viewed with reguard to putting guys in the NFL in early draft rounds. All of those things are money decisions that now include up front money but also the NFL preceived draft payoff 1 to 4 years later.

Bo Davis/Saban system - plug and anchor at nose. Engage two guys, lock them up and drop to a knee to create a wall of bodies that kill inside drive and zone blocking. This allows LB's to fill and scrape behind the Nose tackle. Top end DL candidates want no part in this system. It does not give them the attention that translates to big money draft positioning. It also beats them down physically over time.

Strong DE is a two gap defender. Control the OL guy with elite hands and power. Shut down the run gap on either side of that OL guy. The combination of a plug and anchor nose and a SDE closes off running lanes from head up weak OG to inside shoulder of Strong side OT with only two defenders. The two d-line guys get few statistic credits but make the run-stop D work. LB's and WDE get all of the credit. The nose and SDE also get very little pass rush notice as they are never in a penetrate mode to get to the QB.

WDE and the walk-up edge LB get all of the potential glory from the pro potential attention. TFL and sacks. Every once in a while you will get a SDE with physical and mental ability to make everyone sit up and take notice. Those guys end up being high 1st round draft choices. The down side, it usually takes two full years of learning and working before they break out in the third year. Today's NIL/protal work, those guys want big money and attention before year 3 ever arrives.

Freddie Roach was a vertical attack LB in his playing days. He has learned to coach IDL and WDE from the LB world view. His skill is NOT the Saban style of IDL play. He is pretty good and had his best success with the type of guys CKD appears to be attempting to bring in. IDL that use brute force and quick feet rather than boat anchor feet. His best IDL guys will likely use slants, twists, and gap shot penetration to create chaos. The down side is that the Mike or Mack LB best be an alpha that can take on an OG and rattle his teeth.

Roaches DL would work best with a 4-3 flex or a 3-3 flex alignment. The Flex being a OLB that can put his hand in the dirt and blow shite up or back off the LoS a little and become the twist bomb to come after the QB from any angle.

Clear passing downs, shift to 2 ILD and 2 flex LB (DE) to light the QB up with max penetration and speed. This does open you up to rush lane concerns with a quick escape artist at QB. The Mack LB needs to have the speed and agility to run that QB down as a spy.

When the flex LB is activated, your strong safety or dime backer becomes the edge run enforcer.