VT Dolphan
Pro Bowler
A lot of people have been calling for Pasqualoni's head this season, I'm kind of apathetic about it. Yes, the defense was awful at times, but he really didn't have a whole lot of talent to work with either.
It's starting to make me wonder whether or not we should just scrap the 3-4 in general. The two necessary components of a 3-4 are obviously having a massive, two-gap nose tackle and a stable of talented linebackers. When healthy,
Ferguson is a good nose tackle, but certainly not elite like Ngata or Wilfork. But the guy can never stay healthy and has to be getting close to retirement. Paul Soliai is a serviceable player, but should not depended upon as the anchor to our defense. In the past there wasn't as great a demand for defensive linemen who fit the prototypical nose tackle build, but now it seems like at least half the league uses some form of the 3-4.
Last year the only elite NT prospect was BJ Raji. This year? Suh could likely play nose but seems better suited for a 4-3, and he'll be a top 3 pick anyway. Terrence Cody is an elite one-down run stuffer, but also a cardiac arrest waiting to happen. Dan Williams is garnering first round attention and could be a solution, but I'm not sold on him yet. What I'm trying to say is, unless we strike gold in the later rounds, we're probably not walking out of the draft with or future NT.
What is the strength of this defense? Clearly it's the defensive line. Randy Starks has truly blossomed as a playmaker in the 3-4. When he came to Miami he was kind of a tweener in that we weren't sure whether he was better suited at end, or to bulk up some and slide over to nose tackle on passing downs. But, I'd say it's worked pretty well so far. Kendall Langford is a prototypical 3-4 end, and Phillip Merling has been beefed up to try to look the part as well.
What is weakness of this defense? Probably Gibril Wilson, but the linebacking corp as a whole was pretty wretched. It is clearly a weak spot, and forcing 4 linebackers to be out there at all times only magnifies this problem. Joey Porter has likely played his way out of Miami and is getting too old to be effective. Jason Taylor likely will be gone as well. What does that leave us with? A potential pass rushing machine in Cameron Wake, and nothing else really. Ayodele and Torbor are not starting caliber players. Crowder is the king of racking up tackles 5+ yards past the line of scrimmage and has really never made a game changing play (any one of us could have made that pick in the Pats game). Keep Wake, keep Crowder only because we just gave him the extension. Scrap the rest.
I'm beginning to think we'd be better off switching to a 4-3. We could move Starks and Langford inside to defensive tackles. Merling could then be moved back to his more natural 4-3 end spot that he played so well at Clemson. Whether or not Cam Wake is capable of stepping in full-time as the other end seems doubtful, but we could always draft a rush end.
Our linebacking corp would still be pathetic without help from free agency or the draft, but at least there will be one less of them to worry about.
It's starting to make me wonder whether or not we should just scrap the 3-4 in general. The two necessary components of a 3-4 are obviously having a massive, two-gap nose tackle and a stable of talented linebackers. When healthy,
Ferguson is a good nose tackle, but certainly not elite like Ngata or Wilfork. But the guy can never stay healthy and has to be getting close to retirement. Paul Soliai is a serviceable player, but should not depended upon as the anchor to our defense. In the past there wasn't as great a demand for defensive linemen who fit the prototypical nose tackle build, but now it seems like at least half the league uses some form of the 3-4.
Last year the only elite NT prospect was BJ Raji. This year? Suh could likely play nose but seems better suited for a 4-3, and he'll be a top 3 pick anyway. Terrence Cody is an elite one-down run stuffer, but also a cardiac arrest waiting to happen. Dan Williams is garnering first round attention and could be a solution, but I'm not sold on him yet. What I'm trying to say is, unless we strike gold in the later rounds, we're probably not walking out of the draft with or future NT.
What is the strength of this defense? Clearly it's the defensive line. Randy Starks has truly blossomed as a playmaker in the 3-4. When he came to Miami he was kind of a tweener in that we weren't sure whether he was better suited at end, or to bulk up some and slide over to nose tackle on passing downs. But, I'd say it's worked pretty well so far. Kendall Langford is a prototypical 3-4 end, and Phillip Merling has been beefed up to try to look the part as well.
What is weakness of this defense? Probably Gibril Wilson, but the linebacking corp as a whole was pretty wretched. It is clearly a weak spot, and forcing 4 linebackers to be out there at all times only magnifies this problem. Joey Porter has likely played his way out of Miami and is getting too old to be effective. Jason Taylor likely will be gone as well. What does that leave us with? A potential pass rushing machine in Cameron Wake, and nothing else really. Ayodele and Torbor are not starting caliber players. Crowder is the king of racking up tackles 5+ yards past the line of scrimmage and has really never made a game changing play (any one of us could have made that pick in the Pats game). Keep Wake, keep Crowder only because we just gave him the extension. Scrap the rest.
I'm beginning to think we'd be better off switching to a 4-3. We could move Starks and Langford inside to defensive tackles. Merling could then be moved back to his more natural 4-3 end spot that he played so well at Clemson. Whether or not Cam Wake is capable of stepping in full-time as the other end seems doubtful, but we could always draft a rush end.
Our linebacking corp would still be pathetic without help from free agency or the draft, but at least there will be one less of them to worry about.
