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Article when Ryan arrived in Cleveland....
http://www.waitingfornextyear.com/2009/06/rob-ryan-we-definitely-run-some-4-6-defense/
Rob Ryan: “We Definitely Run Some 46 Defense”
A lot of the scrutiny for the upcoming football season will be placed on the offense that has question marks across the board – save for Joe Thomas. This is understandable given the lack of scoring that the team endured over the second half of the season and the fact that the team still claims to have made no decision on the starting quarterback.
But to be fair, there is still a lot of work that has to be done on the defensive side of things. At least the offense was good two years ago; the D has been brutal more often than not. Given this, newly crowned defensive coordinator Rob Ryan sat down with the media yesterday to discuss a few things. One of which was the 46 defense.
As mentioned, Rob’s father (Buddy) is the man that is usually credited with creating the 46. Essentially, the formation starts out as a 4-3 defense, but frequently places the strong safety (#46 was former Bears safety Doug Plank) as a fourth linebacker. It features a lot of shifting, and players in different locations – perhaps why Eric Mangini and company are stressing the importance of having multiple players being able to play multiple positions.
From the offensive side of the ball, the 46 is supposed to make blocking assignments more difficult as players whom you were not responsible for could wind up lined up directly on top of you. While having eight in the box seems like it is a run-stopping defense on the outside, it in fact makes pass protection that much more difficult given the potential for blocking gaffes.
Something that fans may actually enjoy as well is the fact that this formation frequently finds both outside linebackers – in this case, Kamerion Wimbley and David Bowens – on the same side of the formation. When it is all said and done, fans should find at least five players (as many as eight) blitzing the passer and shooting the lanes every play.
The big issue is obviously placed on the personnel. D’Qwell Jackson, Wimbley and company are not exactly Mike Singletary, Dan Hampton and Richard Dent. The Browns do have potential to have a very disruptive defensive line assuming that all involved are fully healthy. Getting the linebackers on the same page appears to be the biggest hurdle at this point.
Ryan gave glowing reviews for both Jackson and Wimbley, continuing to make fans long for the potential that we saw during the OLB’s rookie campaign. He also feels that our cornerbacks are strong enough to play man-on-man when called upon; the addition of Rod Hood definitely does not hurt them in this situation.
The only way we’ll find out if this new defensive scheme will work or not will be when the games are decided on the field. Given the repetitive failures we have seen over the last few years (or even just last year with Denver, Baltimore, etc) the realization that things needed to be changed to fit the personnel is a plus. Now, if the new schemes still don’t fit the personnel, we may be in some trouble.
http://www.waitingfornextyear.com/2009/06/rob-ryan-we-definitely-run-some-4-6-defense/
Rob Ryan: “We Definitely Run Some 46 Defense”
A lot of the scrutiny for the upcoming football season will be placed on the offense that has question marks across the board – save for Joe Thomas. This is understandable given the lack of scoring that the team endured over the second half of the season and the fact that the team still claims to have made no decision on the starting quarterback.
But to be fair, there is still a lot of work that has to be done on the defensive side of things. At least the offense was good two years ago; the D has been brutal more often than not. Given this, newly crowned defensive coordinator Rob Ryan sat down with the media yesterday to discuss a few things. One of which was the 46 defense.
- “You’ll see that on Sundays. Really, the 46 was designed as a nickel defense. It wasn’t really the base of my father either. It just started stopping everything so it became a base. We definitely run some 46 defense. Eric is a huge fan of the 46. That’s something he has always said, ‘Hey, let’s get this in, let’s go’ In fact, in New England, we worked together a lot and he was so smart. You would be tired after working two-a-days and you are ready to go to bed, and he would be like, ‘No, put those tapes on for an hour and let’s watch it.’ He is the one who eventually got it into New England and we had so much success with it there. It’s something that is definitely going to be a part of this package.”
As mentioned, Rob’s father (Buddy) is the man that is usually credited with creating the 46. Essentially, the formation starts out as a 4-3 defense, but frequently places the strong safety (#46 was former Bears safety Doug Plank) as a fourth linebacker. It features a lot of shifting, and players in different locations – perhaps why Eric Mangini and company are stressing the importance of having multiple players being able to play multiple positions.
From the offensive side of the ball, the 46 is supposed to make blocking assignments more difficult as players whom you were not responsible for could wind up lined up directly on top of you. While having eight in the box seems like it is a run-stopping defense on the outside, it in fact makes pass protection that much more difficult given the potential for blocking gaffes.
Something that fans may actually enjoy as well is the fact that this formation frequently finds both outside linebackers – in this case, Kamerion Wimbley and David Bowens – on the same side of the formation. When it is all said and done, fans should find at least five players (as many as eight) blitzing the passer and shooting the lanes every play.
The big issue is obviously placed on the personnel. D’Qwell Jackson, Wimbley and company are not exactly Mike Singletary, Dan Hampton and Richard Dent. The Browns do have potential to have a very disruptive defensive line assuming that all involved are fully healthy. Getting the linebackers on the same page appears to be the biggest hurdle at this point.
Ryan gave glowing reviews for both Jackson and Wimbley, continuing to make fans long for the potential that we saw during the OLB’s rookie campaign. He also feels that our cornerbacks are strong enough to play man-on-man when called upon; the addition of Rod Hood definitely does not hurt them in this situation.
The only way we’ll find out if this new defensive scheme will work or not will be when the games are decided on the field. Given the repetitive failures we have seen over the last few years (or even just last year with Denver, Baltimore, etc) the realization that things needed to be changed to fit the personnel is a plus. Now, if the new schemes still don’t fit the personnel, we may be in some trouble.