Jake S. from Gainesville, Ga.
Arthur and Dean have mentioned several times about not opening the playbook all the way yet. So my question is this… We got a lot of new players on our D this year. How many are coming from a 3-4? And how important is that?
Here’s a little secret about the playbook: You hardly ever install an entire playbook in the span of a single season. That’s actually something I talked about with Dean Pees recently. He’s been coaching for almost 50 years now. That playbook is massive. You’re never getting to 100 percent. But I digress…
To answer your actual question, I don’t know the exact number of players coming from a 3-4 system but I can tell you this: It’s not that important. Let’s use Grady Jarrett as an example. When Pees came in and brought his scheme with him, there were many who didn’t think Jarrett would fit it at all. He just doesn’t have the build of a 3-4 interior lineman, or so people thought.
A year later, ask Pees how he feels about Jarrett and he’ll tell you: That guy is a player he wants on his defense regardless of how much he does or doesn’t fit the traditional mold of a 3-4 tackle.
And let’s be honest, Pees has never rigidly stuck to the 3-4 front. If you’re able to, come to a Falcons open practice when training camp gets here. I bet you’ll see that defense lining up in a 3-4, 4-3, 4-2-5, etc. Jarrett could line up inside or Pees may swing him to the outside just to give the offense a weird look once. When it comes to defenses I tend to think the alignment of the front changes so often that it’s not as important as some may think when finding players. Pees has said for a long time that he doesn’t fit the player to the scheme. He fits the scheme to the player. If that’s the case, a player coming from a true 3-4 front wouldn’t matter all that much.
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