Washington Redskins' New 3-4 Under Defense

Washington Redskins New 3-4 Under Defense
Sep 7, 2015
Samuel Gold
This article featured on RedskinsCapitalConnection.com.
Joe Barry was hired by the Redskins on January 20, 2015 to replace five year
Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. Little is officially known on the
actual scheme changes that the Redskins will make, but head coach Jay
Gruden did give us some clues on the new defense the Redskins will run in an
interview to the Washington Post:
You know, were gonna mess with the way we do the 3-4, you know? There will
be some different ideas that we have, as far as its not a two-gap 3-4. It might be
more of a shoot-the-gap-type of 3-4, a get-up-the-field-and-rush-them 3-4, you
know what I mean? Theres going to be some variety involved in that. In this day
and age, with as much nickel as you see, theres a lot of 4-3 elements anyway,
but the way we do our base defense, it will be a 3-4 starting point. Once the ball
is snapped, what were going to do is going to be different.
A shoot-the-gap-type of 3-4 defense is mainly seen a one-gap defense, but

there are multiple types of one-gap defenses. This is very different than the 3-
4 Okie Two-Gap defense the Redskins were running under Jim Haslett. Here
are a few examples of the Redskins defense under Jim Haslett in a 3-4 Okie
defense:
34 Under 1.mp4
34 Under 2.mp4
As you can see in these GIFs, a two gap defense is very stout in run defense
due to the defenders reading the play before acting, but it takes away from
potential pass rush penetration. Based on Grudens clues the Redskins
defense will look something similar to what the Chargers ran last year.
Joe Barry
Barry worked under San Diego defensive coordinator John Pagano as his
linebackers coach from 2012-2014. John Pagano actually worked under Wade
Phillips as his linebackers coach in 2004-2006 when Wade Phillips was the
defensive coordinator with the Chargers. During this time, Wade Phillips
taught John Pagano the 3-4 Under defense, who consequently ran it with the
Chargers when he became the defensive coordinator in 2012. Pagano then
taught it to Redskins new defensive coordinator Joe Barry who will realistically
install it as the base defense. This is also evidenced by the acquisitions the
Redskins made and the current player personnel the Redskins have on their
roster.
Next we will look at the specific player personnel and how they currently fit in
this new defense. Here is a schematic overview of the 3-4 Under Defense:
Image courtesy of BleacherReports Matt Bowen.
Defensive Line
The defensive line changes the most between the 3-4 Okie defense (Haslett)
and the new 3-4 Under defense (Barry).
First, the nose tackle needs to be a player that is responsible for only the
strongside A-gap (1-technique) and has quick burst off of the line of
scrimmage to penetrate into the backfield. Quickness is more important than
pure strength which is why a traditional bulky 330 lb nose tackle is not
necessary. The Redskins have Chris Baker that can fill this spot, with Stephen
Paea in the mix on 3rd downs. Additionally the Redskins signed Terrance
Pot Roast Knighton to their defense on a one year prove-it
contact who should split snaps with Baker. Even though he is much more of a
traditional two-gap bulky nose tackle, he has very underrated quickness which
should make him valuable in 1 gap situations as well as give them interesting
sub packages where he plays more like a traditional 2-gap nose tackle.
The strongside defensive end position is your pure defensive line pass rusher
that rushes from the 5-technique through the strongside C-gap. The Redskins
have Jason Hatcher who ranked #3 overall in pass rush productivity by
ProFootballFocus so they should continue to rely on his expertise. Although
he is aging and should get less snaps, the Redskins have veteran Frank
Kearse behind him to rotate in. The Redskins should also look to draft
Hatchers replacement in this draft or next year as this is a very important
position in the new 3-4 Under defense.
The weakside defensive end position is your only two-gap defensive end
position who rushes from the 3/4i-tech position. He is responsible for the
weakside A-gap and the weakside B-gap on the defensive line. Corey Liuget
played this role for the Chargers and Stephen Paea has the skill-set to play
it for the Redskins going forward. Ricky Jean-Francois and Chris Baker will
probably back-up Stephen Paea as they are much better run defenders than
pass rushers.
Inside Linebackers
In the 3-4 Okie defense both of the inside linebackers Jack and Mike are
responsible for the A- and B-gaps depending on which gap the respective
defensive lineman take. They read-and-react on running plays and fill the gap.
Currently the Redskins have Keenan Robinson and Perry Riley on the roster
as the starters for inside linebacker. Robinson who played incredibly last year
in his first full season since entering the league in 2012 as a 4th round pick
should remain a starter. Perry Riley played poorly and showed multiple times
throughout the season why he cant be trusted in pass coverage duties
especially on athletic tight ends like New York Giants Larry Donnell.
In the 3-4 Under, the weakside inside linebacker or Mo/Jack linebacker is
responsible for flowing around the defense to make plays. He is a protected in
this scheme and has the coverage specialty role of the 4-3 weakside
linebacker where you usually have a smaller, speedier linebacker. Keenan
Robinson fits this description perfectly.
The strongside inside linebacker or the Mike inside linebacker is typically a

bulkier, two-down run thumping linebacker that needs to take on offensive
lineman regularly. This role is similar to the Redskins thumper role that Perry
Riley plays currently and should play it for the Redskins next season unless
they draft Rileys replacement. Additionally, this player is often used to blitz the
strongside B-gap which Riley actually excels at.
Outside Linebackers
In Hasletts defense the 3-4 outside linebackers were used to generate most
of the pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Redskins let Brian Orakpo
walk to the Titans due to his injury-concerns and lack of production during his
franchise tag season. The Redskins have Ryan Kerrigan and Trent Murphy on
the roster and many believe the Redskins will draft an edge rusher to pair with
them later this month in the 2015 NFL Draft.
The weakside outside linebacker Will is your pure pass rusher whose goal is
to blitz freely around the edge. Ryan Kerrigan should fill this spot due to
his great ability at getting to the quarterback.He showed countless times
last season generating 13.5 sacks, 9 QB hits, and 51 QB hurries that he can
be trusted to rush the passer.
The strongside outside linebacker Sam is responsible for edge contain

outside of the tight end. He then rushes the quarterback second.Trent
Murphy showed occasional potential in pass rushing his rookie
season but showed great run defending skills and surprising fluidity in space
in pass coverage to earn him the nod at this position. Brian Orakpo would
have played the same position which he would have excelled at if he was to
be retained by the Redskins.
As said above, the Redskins should look to add another outside linebacker to
pair with these two going into next season to shore up their defense.
Secondary
In the 2014 season, the Redskins played a lot of off-man coverage and Cover
3 defense with their cornerbacks and safeties under Jim Haslett.
Unfortunately, the Redskins never had the personnel to properly run it as they
were always lacking safeties with free safety Ryan Clark being too slow in
deep coverage and cornerback David Amerson getting burned as well. In
the new defense the cornerbacks would be required to play more press
coverage and trail technique. This is the reason why the Redskins
signed cornerback Chris Culliver who excels at this. Bashaud Breeland
who showed promise during last season should earn the starting spot
opposite of Culliver while struggling David Amerson and recovering veteran
DeAngelo Hall should compete for nickle packages.
As far as safeties, Wade Phillips played a lot of Cover 1 Robber defense

where he used his strong safety to shift over the middle of the field to cover
the inside linebackers role if he was used as a blitzer. If the mike linebacker
didnt blitz, Wade Phillips used the strong safety to play in a Cover 2 shell.
Last years starting safeties Ryan Clark and Brandon Merriweather are no
longer with the team and the Redskins signed Jeron Johnson and aquired
veteran free safety Dashon Goldson from Tampa Bay to help shore up the
backfield.
Examples of the 3-4 Under Defense in San Diego

Here are a couple of examples of the 3-4 Under in action. These are both from
last season with the first example against the Kansas City Chiefs and the
second example against the Arizona Cardinals:
34 Under 3.mp4
34 Under 4.mp4
Here are a couple of examples in run defense versus the New York Jets in
Week 5:
34 Under 5.mp4
34 Under 6.mp4
As said before, the main difference between the two defenses is the two gap
versus one gap responsibility change between the 3-4 Okie and the 3-4 Under
defense. This change affects the entire mentality of the front seven. A two gap
requires you to read the offensive movement up front before you can
penetrate which takes valuable time away from an intial burst off of the line of
scrimmage to shore up the run defense. This change also forces you to have
larger defensive lineman rather than one gap defensive lineman who are
quicker, and more athletic that penetrate off the snap. Based on the Redskins
personnel this new defense fits them much better than the previous 3-4 Okie
defense which should improve them from last years abysmal results. Even
though Joe Barry wasnt my first choice at defensive coordinator I personally
wanted Vic Fangio or Wade Phillips he should still be given the chance to
succeed with Scot McCloughan at general manager for the Redskins. This
defense is very aggressive and Im excited to see it pay dividends next
season to lift the Redskins.

Washington Redskins' New 3-4 Under Defense

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Washington Redskins' New 3-4 Under Defense

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Washington Redskins New 3-4 Under Defense

This article featured on RedskinsCapitalConnection.com.

A shoot-the-gap-type of 3-4 defense is mainly seen a one-gap defense, but

The strongside inside linebacker or the Mike inside linebacker is typically a

The strongside outside linebacker Sam is responsible for edge contain

As far as safeties, Wade Phillips played a lot of Cover 1 Robber defense

Examples of the 3-4 Under Defense in San Diego

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