Thread: 3-4 or 4-3 (or 4-2-5)?

Something the arm chair coach in me always like to study and so forth, the 4-3s, 3-4s, among other defenses. How they work, the different strategies, and so forth. The question I pose to you is pretty simple, and the answer can be as simple or detailed as you want it to be. What base defense (believe that is the correct word) do you prefer, and why?

3-4. I prefer speed on the field. Stud DT to stuff the middle, and fast OLBs to kill the QB.


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We run the 4-3 where I play but that's because at my level it's more running than passing. The 3-4 is more passing defense. Also the numbers are how many lineman to linebackers.


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I like the 4-3. 4 solid D lineman can dominate the line of scrimmage and the 3 linebackers should be athletic enough to stop the run and cover the pass as well.

Originally Posted by DuDDy

I like the 4-3. 4 solid D lineman can dominate the line of scrimmage and the 3 linebackers should be athletic enough to stop the run and cover the pass as well.

Also to stop the sweep

I think it depends on what level you are playing at.
In high school, I would say a 4-3 because the offenses tend to be more basic
In college, I would say 4-2-5 because it is very good against the very popular spread option
In Pro (NFL) I would say 3-4 because you will need the extra speed and you should have enough LB/DE types to make it work.

For today's NFL it is obvious to me that the 3-4 defense is most logical.

Lets first examine the current pass rush advantages of the 3-4 in today's NFL.

3-4 defenses allow for maximum utilization of their athletes on the field. During a passing down, In many cases, the Linebackers are as fast as the TE, RB, or WR they are up against. This allows the team to avoid switching from their base defense. this helps keep the opposing offense honest. If the linebackers posess enough power and awareness then they can be just as effective against the run. Look at pittsburgh for example. outside 3-4 LB's are quicker on their feet than lumbering 4-3 DE's making them useful in stunts and zone blitzes to fool the offense. 4-3 fronts dont seem to allow the same amount of preplay flexibility. Just watch the defenses of the Steelers, Jets, or Packers pre-snap to see what i mean. The players move around, fake blitzes, stunt, drop, motion all in the name trying to create an overload of people on one side.

Prototypical 4-3 defensive ends are about 6'4-6-7 tall and weigh about 270-300lbs.
Prototypical 3-4 outside linebackers are probably about 6'1-6-4 and 230-260lbs.

This distinction in height and weight makes outside backers for a 3-4 easier to find. There are a million LB's, but there are very few Julius peppers or mario williams. There is a good reason they are so highly coveted. There just aren't very many big 4-3 defensive ends that can dominate any more. many of the dominant ends become LB's in the process of turning pro. There are also outside linebackers from college so the pool of LB's gets larger after the jump to the NFL while the DE pool gets significantly decreased because of the size limitations of the position. For a long time, although the trend is changing, 3-4 defenses were only run by a small minority of NFL teams. this means that an undersized dominant college DE(ex. terell Suggs, Demarcus Ware, etc) that is basically useless to a 4-3 team slips farther in the draft for less money and rishk to a 3-4 team.

Salary: Quality pass rushing LB's are more readily availible than marquee 4-3 defensive ends their salraires are less as well. julius peppers made more than 16 million last season. Line backers are never paid like that.

Notice last years 2 top picks,Ndamakung Suh and Gerald mccoy, both Dt's for a 4-3 front signed to huge rookie contracts. they are not the same build as a power pig nose tackle. Power pig DT's usually get drafted later and cost less money than pass rushing DT's in salary as well.

In summary every thing points to 3-4 having the advantge over 4-3 right now. Athleticism at outside line backer, ease of roster building, and the flexibility of the 3-4 scheme makes it the obvious choice for todays NFL.