the "it's been a couple hours since a mock draft was posted" mock draft....but seriously....

by ephram on Feb 3, 2012 8:31 PM EST

I just want to throw out an idea that may be great, or may be asinine, but regardless is worth chewing on - what if we select a stud 3-4 DT (like Dontari Poe) in the draft and switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4.

So my mock draft consists of this:

#17) somebody

#21) Dontari Poe

round 2) somebody

round 3) I Peed - to appease the UC fans :-)

round 4) somebody

To do well in a 4-3, you really need a Ray Lewis type of stud MLB. A lost of posts lately have been filled with the thought that Maualuga isn't that man.

To do well in a 3-4, you really need a huge, stud NT to clog up 2 linemen in the middle, and generate a push up the middle like a Vince Wilfork type.

I think a lot of our guys would do well in a 3-4:

Maualuga - 3-4 ILB - Is an ideal inside backer, but may not have what it takes to be the 4-3 MLB leader on the defense.

Michael Johnson & Manny Lawson - could be good 3-4 OLB's

Our present DT's could be good 3-4 DE's.

It may be a silly idea, but i think that we could possibly be a good 3-4 defense? When Zimmer first came to Cincy he said that he wanted to run a 3-4 and a 4-3 hybrid, playing both about 1/2 of the time, but we've been pretty much 4-3 ever since he arrived. If we got a true 3-4 DT perhaps we could play both 3-4 and 4-3, playing them to give us an edge in various matchups?

Poll

What do you think about switching to, or incorporating a 3-4 into the Bengals' defense?

We are a 4-3 and switching w/our personnel is stuipd

27 votes

We could be a 3-4 and i like the idea of playing both 3-4 and 4-3

19 votes

We could be a 3-4 and we should move to 3-4 full time

6 votes

Hey, what a lousy mock draft, you only listed 1 player drafted!

8 votes

3 months until the draft....how many mocks can i find befor then...must find....

1 votes

61 votes | Poll has closed

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors.

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Comments

lawson was a 3-4 backer

And was better here as a 4-3. And what would happen with one of the best 4-3 ends in dunlap? And zimmer likes 4-3 and has had better defenses with 4-3.

by JCompton41 on Feb 3, 2012 9:02 PM EST via mobile reply actions

Stand him up

I don’t like the idea. Personally I like the 4-3 and it usually takes a yr or two before you see success. Although with the right personnel the 3-4 is better, you can disguise your intentions better, and it gives you better intermediate pass coverage. If we did switch this is how I would do it with last yrs roster. NT Simms, DT/NT Peko, DT Rucker, Fanene, Atkins OLB Dunlap, Lawson, Moch, Johnson MLB Rey, Rivers, Howard, Muck,.Skuta the DB’s would stay the same although you could bring Mays down to play LB and get away with it. Mathews isn’t that much bigger than Mays. Now that I think about this more if we had a little bit bigger guys on the line we could pull this off. Atkins might be better at NT so he works 1 on 1 with the center.

by Bigcatdaddy on Feb 4, 2012 12:02 AM EST via Android app up reply actions

i dont think hes athletic enough

He’s not a dend in the mold of Mario Williams, or demarcus ware, I don’t see him getting to the qb near as much as a olb.

by JCompton41 on Feb 4, 2012 10:10 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

Switching to the 3-4 would make no sense for us.

There’s nothing inherently better about it at all. Our personnel is built for the 4-3, and that includes coaching; Zimmer is rumored to HATE the 3-4. Even forgetting that, though, other guys get thrust out. Dunlap has no place in a 3-4. Geno MIGHT be a 3-4 DE, but that would be a stretch because he doesn’t have the length to be one. There goes our two best front seven players. Arguably our third best front seven guy, Peko, is also screwed in a 3-4; he isn’t a 3-4 NT and he wouldn’t transition well to DE. And in the linebacking corps, what happens to Lawson? He played in the 3-4 in SF, and the fans were glad to see him go because he couldn’t rush the passer like a LB. Rivers might (big might) be able to go inside next to Rey in the 3-4, but there’s still no good leader of the defense. So ILB would be messed up too.

There’s just no reason to go to the 3-4 at all. It would require entirely rebuilding the defense and also probably getting rid of the DC we wanted to keep so badly.

Cincy Jungle: Where the Rocky Mountains are in the Pacific Ocean

by sexsalad on Feb 3, 2012 11:57 PM EST reply actions

I think Dunlap tould be good in a 3-4.

Since he’s big and has moved inside in some situations, he’s a 3-4 DE if he wants to be. So is Geno, and Fanene for that matter. Rucker too, maybe. We have a lot of tweeners on the D line, and frankly, I think it’s a problem. A 3-4 would suit the defensive line well. MJ could move to 3-4 OLB, but only if it’s a permanent change. Obviously Zimmer tried it in the 4-3, and while he showed flashes of brilliance, it was a bad overall fit.

I like Howard, Maualuga and Rivers rotating at ILB, and Lawson, MJ, Geathers (yes, Robert Geathers who was serviceable as an emergency OLB in the disaster that was 2008), and B. Johnson would fit as 3-4 OLB.

As ephram said, it’s just an idea. I think it might be a good one, but for all the reasons he stated, this would be a disaster without a legit nose tackle.

I'm throwin' rocks tonight! Mark it, Dude.

by Pardon_My_French on Feb 4, 2012 12:56 AM EST up reply actions

I disagree.

Dunlap’s phenomenal as a 4-3 DE. Geno is a phenomenal 4-3 DT. Why the hell would fix what isn’t broken? That DLine is great, let’s not screw it up now.

This is why I have no idea why What the ****alo changed their defensive front this past offseason, considering Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus were two fantastic 3-4 players.

"It’s time people started realizing just how good a player Carlos Dunlap already is, and that starts with the Bengals. They gave him a season-high 58 snaps and what was the result? Carnage on the right side of the Seattle line." -Pro Football Focus

by Doc Scratch on Feb 4, 2012 1:00 AM EST up reply actions

we don't play Atkins or Dunlap on every defensive play

so if they don’t fit well in a 3-4, we we could play them on our 4-3 plays, and play the others on the 3-4 plays.

just like the offense; different formations for different downs/teams/situations.
imagine an offense trying to stop our 4-3, and then all of a sudden getting a 3-4 thrown at them. maybe it works to our advantage. or maybe it’s a stupid idea.

I hate it when Ephram uses data & facts to refute my unfounded opinions....No chocolate chip cookies for him!!!

by ephram on Feb 4, 2012 8:14 AM EST up reply actions

I'm siding with the latter.

I don’t mind the 3-4 looks, but we’d need a good 3-4 package to throw at them and I just don’t know if that fits our guys.

I can think of at least one 3-4 package with Michael Johnson and Moch as the edge rushers while Brandon Johnson and Maualuga man the middle and a dline of Peko, Sims, and maybe Fanene, but that’s about it, and it’s taking our best pass rushers off the field to do it. I don’t think Dunlap has the skillset to be an effective edge rusher standing up and Geno’s too short and stocky to work as a NT or a DE while too big to be an edge rusher.

by Doc Scratch on Feb 4, 2012 11:28 AM EST up reply actions

(tweeners) are to small to play on the line in a 3-4

It’s a LB’er ran defense. Since there are only 3 d linemen they need to be big to take up space and draw double teams so the LB’s can run free. 4-3 DE’s usually only have the T to deal with unless the use a T, TE or have a RB chip block to help the T. Dunlap and MJ would be better suited as an OLB with are really just stand up DE anyway. They just need to be athletic enough to pass cover and 99% of that is zone coverage. I don’t like the idea but I’m just thinking how it would work. We definitely have the LB core for it just not the line and it would destroy Atkins to play him in a 3-4.

by Bigcatdaddy on Feb 4, 2012 2:03 AM EST via Android app up reply actions