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zn
Well, if you had a 4/3 D and had the chance to trade for Donald, would you not do it because your system would have to change?
Or would you change your system?
I would do the latter.
Just as if I had the chance to trade for Lawrence Taylor in his prime I would convert to a 3/4, if that made sense given the personnel I had.
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Changing from a @#$%& 4-3 to a flop 4-3 is easy, it happens quickly...however there is some more to it, it cam be done, but will it suit the players that were already there. Just an example, say you had a great 4-3 tackle like Bryant Young and the other DT is Junior Bryant. And you had a chance to get Aaron Donald.
Sure it's a huge upgrade over Junior Bryant.... but to maximize Aaron Donald's skills you need to have him switch sides when you over- or undershift (flop 4-3) that means Bryant Young would have to play the shade tackle all the time, essentially having him play Michael Brocker's position.
Sure, Bryant Young could play shade and do it very well. He did it well when he was require to shift over, but he was also good as a 3-tech when he was asked to to that. So, you've maximized Donald and limited Bryant Young.
The LT example is harder because in mid 1980s 25 of 28 teams were 3-4 teams and the 3 left had a reason to stay with the 4-3
But imagine the 1970s Rams in the 1980s and they could trade for a LT player.
Sure, get rid of Isiah. . . but it would be tough to convert that mid-1970s defense to a 3-4. It ccould be done, but at what cost?
Now if your'e a cruddy 4-3 and you can get LT, sure, switch to a 3-4 and you'll be a cruddy 3-4 until you can draft the right players for a 3-4.
DTs can be a little like point guards and shooting guards. A shade tackle is like the point guard. Donald and Sapp and Short and McCoy are like shooting guards.
You can go that route, a point and 2 guard.
Or you could have 2 guards with somewhat similar skills and sometimes one is the point and sometimes he's the 2...like Jerry west and Gail Goodrich. Or Clyde and Pearl...I am not al all a hoops expert... so I am going by memory but I do remember in the later 1970s point guards like Slick Watts and DOn Buse and Ron Lee came around...and teams started to dothe 1 and 2 guard system
Well, IMO, DTs can be similar