3-4 Defense Tips

[Microsoft_Works]

What do you look for in each position, like player size, and what are some of the more important attributes for each position?

[cdiddy71323]

I saw this in my Sporting News, Dick LeBeau, Steelers D coordinator put what he loooks for at the front 7:

Right and Left End: We almost never ask the left end to do something different from the right end. You want a player with size. You've only got three anchor spots, so those guys have to be able to hold their ground against double-teams and yet have enough athleticism to cover space up and down the line.

Nose Tackle: He must eat up space in the middle and still have very gifted athletic balance to move laterally and penetrate if he needs to.

Weakside and Strongside linebacker: They have to be able to contain the ball. You want a good pass rusher on the right side; he's coming from the blindside of most quarterbacks. Normally, you would want maybe a little bit bigger guy on the left because that's where most opponents put their tight end and run to. Other than that, they're mirror positions.

Inside linebackers: They're going to make the calls and make sure everybody is on the same page. They've got to be smart run stoppers. We've really gotten to where they're interchangeable. I try to put my bigger guy on the tight end (strong) side and my faster guy on the open (weak) side

[1GATORFAN4EVA]

I never liked the 3-4 in NCAA... It was good for pass coverage because it could confuse human opponents because you never know who's dropping back in coverage. But against the run you could always seem to get at least 2 yards because the linebacker are already backed up

[CM Hooe]

Having played with the 3-4 for many years (my college team, Virginia, ran it exclusively under Al Groh, and my pro team, the Dallas Cowboys, still run it), here's what I can offer.

Foremost, everyone on the DL has to be strong at the point of attack. Given that you only have three down linemen, every one of them has to be able to hold his ground and open space for the linebackers to attack. At nose tackle, while typically this guy is just a clogger (a la Jamal Williams), you could benefit from having a faster and more-capable pass-rushing lineman there, a la Jay Ratliff of the Cowboys, as he can be a problem for centers and/or guards to contain due to his unusual quickness.

With the linebackers, your outside guys have to be fast and able to cover plays quickly. It also helps if at least the weakside backers are capable pass rushers, a la Demarcus Ware of the Cowboys or Clint Sintim of the 2008 Virginia Cavaliers. The inside guys are going to be asked to clean up on a lot of plays, so they need to be smart players who can read the play well and sure tacklers.

As far as playcalling is concerned, you're going to want to blitz at least one linebacker on any play you call. The defensive line alone, given that their role is to open up attacking space for the linebackers, isn't going to get much pressure on the offense on their own, so there's a ton of pressure on the linebackers to perform and perform well. Mix up your blitzes so the offense isn't always sure where that fourth rusher is going to come from.

Hope this helps.