Cardinals moving towards a 3-4 defense?

Whisenhunt: Defense will have look of 3-4 alignment
Darren Urban, Tribune
April 11, 2007

After saying recently the Cardinals will remain in a 4-3 defensive alignment, coach Ken Whisenhunt acknowledged Wednesday his defense will have many elements of a 3-4 look -- including using former Pro Bowl defensive end Bertrand Berry at linebacker, using outside linebacker Karlos Dansby inside and putting one-time defensive tackle Darnell Dockett at end.

"The defense is going to be a little bit different scheme-wise from what they were doing," Whisenhunt said. "Certainly there were things I was comfortable with in Pittsburgh that I want to incorporate and (defensive coordinator) Clancy (Pendergast) has been good at that, and the process of blending those things in with what he likes will be like a merger."

The Cardinals will hold their first minicamp this weekend, beginning Friday.

Whisenhunt said it was hard to categorize positions at this point because of the many different packages the Cards will use. But he said both Berry and fellow end Chike Okeafor will be "quasi-end/linebackers" who may rush from a three-point stance one play and stand up on another.

Calvin Pace will take a similar role, while Dansby will play inside with middle linebacker Gerald Hayes.

Whisenhunt also said the work will be "experimental." The minicamp this weekend will not be as intense as the one held two weeks after the draft with the filled-out roster.

Guard Milford Brown, who is getting married this weekend, is the only player Whisenhunt isn't expecting to be here. Whisenhunt said running back Edgerrin James, who had minor knee surgery to drain fluid on his knee after the season, could be limited in his work. Quarterback Matt Leinart, who had to rehab after hurting his shoulder in the next-to-last game of 2006, should be OK to participate but the Cardinals will monitor his progress.

This bothers me, cause it could work, dansby and pace and berry could work better than i want but we can take them.

They need to do something to improve their "D".

NFC WEST TOTAL DEFENSE RANKINGS:

Seahawks--#19 - (330.3 yds per game allowed)
RAMS------#23 - (335.1 ypga)
Whiners----#26 - (344.2 ypga)
Tards------#29 - (349.4 ypga)

There not the only ones though.:x

The Cards may find themselves in the same position as the Rams.......talking about a 3-4, but not having the personnel.

When a team considers this kind of move, the very first question they have to answer is not "Do we have pass rush 'tweener LBs?" nor is it "Do we have a pair of two-gap DEs?", but it is "Do we have a NT who can take on multiple blockers every down?"

So do they? Kendrick Clancy? Maybe, but I'd be surprised.
Gabe Watson? Has the size, but is he ready for this?
Jonathen Lewis? More of a 3-technique who will find himself at an End in this alignment.

So what is their answer?

Wow, I heard rumor about this and thought it was fans just making some nonsense up. I'll reserve judgement on this one, but at first glance it definitely seems like a bad idea.

Like the Rams, they don't have the personnel to do it full time, but could probably make good use of it as a situational package.

Personally, I hope they spend all training camp trying to implement it but fail, leaving the team stuck between trying to implement 2 defensive schemes but being unable to successfully run either of them. But that's a given. :)

AHAHA the Tards are "attempting" something to better their D.... hahah makes me laugh.

I still think that if they get their OL and D straightened away they will have an amazing team. Fitz and Boldin, Leinhart and James I think are a damn good starting point. Its the rest that missing... which is a lot!

good.

Jackson will run all over the quicker LBs they are hoping to put in there. Dansby is really good, but gets hurt real easily. Pace was OK when at LB some last year.

So with the Cardinals trading up to acquire Alan Branch last weekend, I thought it would be interesting to reexamine this story and see what their personnel would probably look like. If there are Cardinals fans here (or anywhere for that matter :)) that would like to correct me, jump on in.

Code:

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                  DE        NT        DE
                Dockett    Branch    Bailey
                Smith      Watson    Cooper
 
             
            OLB        ILB        ILB        OLB
          Okeafor    Dansby    Hayes      Berry
            Pace      Davis      Beisel    Blackstock

  CB                                                    CB
 Rolle                                                  Hood
 Ware                                                  Green
             
                    FS              SS
                  Holt            Wilson
                Francisco        Milligan

---

Certainly looks like an interesting line-up. You have to think that their willingness to trade up for Branch means they'd like to make this more than a simple experiment.

Interesting talk yesterday on Satellite radio (NFL KICK)
The Cardinals had Branch listed in their top 5 for the draft. They feel like getting Branch was a steal.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by laram0

Interesting talk yesterday on Satellite radio (NFL KICK)
The Cardinals had Branch listed in their top 5 for the draft. They feel like getting Branch was a steal.

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According to a Phoenix-area newspaper, Cardinals vice president of football operations Rod Graves has no medical concerns about Branch. We'll see if he was right or not.

2 observations:

1. They are putting a lot of stock in Branch's ability to come in and play the NT spot. We'll see how that works out, but there has to be a reason why he fell so far.

2. Moving Karlos Dansby inside seems like a mistake to me. He is a very good edge rusher, and putting him in a ILB spot takes away that role.

Actually. On paper that defense looks pretty dang good.