to be the pig you needed in the old 3-4 defenses. Even the ones that are fairley recent. It's nice to have a Vince Wilfolk as long as he's quick but you can have someone who is not a rare specimen, physically.
Haloti Ngata was probably my favorite, but finding a 6-4 335 pound guy who was that quick is hard.
In 2002-03 Wade used a 6-2 295-pound guy on the nose. Before that, he was blessed with a monster, Ted Washington. Maybe 350 pounds or more
in SD he had Jamall Williams, another monster.
In Dallas, he used a guy with DE size, but great quickness, 6-4 293 Jay Ratliff, who maybe could have played 3-tech or even some DE, maybe
In Houston, he used a couple of different guys as starters, Shaun Cody was 6-4 or so and 295 or so... again the "smaller" type
In Denver, he used Sylvester Williams, who was 6-3 313, a guy right in between the "DE types" as I call them and the "pigs"
So there is no pattern. He uses, I suppose, what is available.
With us, he used Brockers who was 6-5 maybe 320, then went to Smart who was maybe 6-2 290, then ended up starting Ethan who was 6-4 maybe 290. I think it's possible Wade thought Tanzel Smart would be Jay Ratliff so that led to Brockers going to 5-tech. Westbrooks was more like Cody or Jasper, maybe that is what Wade saw in a 6-4 285-290 guy on the nose
So, in my opinion it is always good to have strength first, then size, and if you can get a monster, wonderful, it's a benefit. But, if you guy is smaller but has overall body strength, base, leverage you can have a good defense with a 6-4 295 guy.
My personal opinion is I like something in between, Sly Williams-type because if he's 6-3 320 or so, but still quick, maybe you can get some pass rush out of him. Maybe he can be good enough to play on passing downs. With the "pigs" they will not be much help on 1st down when the opponent throws. Which is why I liked Ngata, he could push the pocket.
My opinion also is we don't "need" a monster, but if there is one, take him, but the main thing is to have a guy who has some base to him, who plays low, and can find the ball carrier and shed blocks.
Truth be told, I'd rather Brockers go back to nose if we can find a good 5-tech.
Final thought you need a good NT backup and maybe even 2, it's a tough position. But when you take your NT out for a reast you have to have one really good backup so you don't ruin the flow of the game by getting gashed.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2018 11:11PM by Blue and Gold.
