Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyHorse
I hear what you're saying to an extent, and agree with you.
However, hiring a 43/34 coaching staff would say that we could go either way. It's hardly what I would call a commitment to the 34 defense. Or a staff that knows only 34 defense building.
Also, I'm not so sure I agree with your assessment on the DT/DE availability. It seems that the good pass rushers are just that. Good pass rushers. Not DEs that drop into coverage. I cant think of one 43 rush end that is good in coverage. The teams that are good at rushing the passer generally have good tackles. There are less good DTs in this league than there are good DEs. I feel like if you can find good tackles then you will have good DEs. Just like if you have good tackles, you'll have good LBs.
Yet we dont really talk much about replacing our tackles. I feel like they may be good tackles given time to develop. I feel like McBride might be a decent end. Problem is, none of them have been given enough time to see what we have. D line almost always takes 2-3 years to develop.
In the end, if everyone else switches to a 34, then it will be tough finding players to build a 34. If everyone switches to a 34, maybe it's time to consider looking for players to fit a 43. There will be more of them available. We have the coaches for either scheme.
For the record, I'm not against a 34 defense. Just looking at both sides of the coin.
I just got to thinking this morning that, in the past, the good coaches were those that could adjust the scheme to the talent. Not the other way around. My biggest concern is not the defense we run, buit the coaches we have running it.
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Sorry, to clarify on the rush end, you're absolutely right--the pass coverage thing is more a luxury than anything. Jason Taylor and Julius Peppers are two guys who do it well, but you're absolutely right, it's not even close to a top priority for a DE.
As for the 3-4, I still can't help but think that our current coaching staff is just a stopgap because the process started so late. I have a hard time believing that this time next year, Pendergast is still the coordinator. I hope I'm right on that, because I think Pendergast would be an outstanding assistant, but doesn't inspire a lot of confidence for me.
To your last point, you're right about switching to a 3-4. But the defense has been around forever and yet only a quarter of the teams run it. Why? I think you point out a lot of reasons why teams don't run it--it requires a massive commitment to build it. You're absolutely right that getting good Ends will be a transition and will probably create growing pains as well as put a few guys out of place. The defense is not going to be good in 2009. It's probably not going to be that good in 2010. But it looks good if you want to build beyond that. It sucks as Chiefs fans that we have to go through another 2 years of this shit, but I think we'll be real happy in the long-run. Y'see, most teams have a 2-3 year orientation and coaches know this. GMs don't want to put up with bitching fans who hate watching their transitioning defense struggle. Coaches don't want to run a 3-4 because they don't want to get fired because the defense struggles the first two seasons.