Defensive shift

It's much too early to judge Patriots' switch to 3-4

FOXBORO, Mass. -- It's easy and even a bit fun to get all caught up in the buzz about New England's shift to the 3-4 defense this season. But it's much ado about very little. The drama, say the Patriots, is not in the change of formation. The real excitement comes from the faces -- some old and some new -- who will be representing those reconfigured X's on the chalkboard.

Forget the hype. The digit that really matters in New England this season is 7. The Patriots' defensive front seven is far better off than it was last year at this time, whether it lines up in a 3-4 or a 4-3 look. As always in the NFL, personnel trumps scheme. No matter how you stack the numbers.

As one Patriots training camp observer said succinctly this weekend: "The only thing that [head coach] Bill Belichick cares about is getting good players in here. He'll find a way to use them once they're here. No matter how he lines them up."

The reality in New England is this: By Belichick's own estimation, his defenses have been playing a combination of the 4-3 and 3-4 since 1996, the final season he served as Bill Parcells' defensive coordinator with the Patriots. That includes his three seasons with Parcells and the Jets, and the past three years as New England's head coach.

If he has the kind of talent better suited to the 3-4, Belichick will use those players accordingly. If he doesn't, he won't, sticking instead to a 4-3 as his primary defense. Simply put, this year, Belichick has the pieces to make the 3-4 work.

Seven easy pieces, as it were.

The Patriots player who made the new look possible was, of course, outside linebacker Rosevelt Colvin. When New England nabbed the NFL's premier defensive free agent, it set the wheels in motion for the Patriots to make other necessary upgrades to their 23rd ranked defense of 2002. Suddenly, the Patriots had more quality linebackers than linemen, and, most important, in Colvin a player whose pass-rushing, ball-chasing skills are ideally suited to the 3-4's glamour position.

With Colvin on board, two-time Pro Bowl safety Rodney Harrison basically replaced starting free safety Tebucky Jones, who was traded to New Orleans. Then the draft brought another big piece of the puzzle in run-stuffing Texas A&M defensive lineman Ty Warren, the team's first-round pick. Nose tackle candidate Dan Klecko, who could play a potentially pivotal role, came in the fourth round.

Now the 3-4 possibilities were all in place, with enough interchangeable front-seven parts to keep opponents guessing which formation they'll have to be ready for against New England. Which is exactly how Belichick has built his well-earned reputation for being the NFL's most creative defensive game-planner.

"People do overdramatize the switch from the 4-3 to the 3-4, absolutely," Belichick said. "But it does depend upon the team. If you were strictly a 4-3 team and then the next year you went to a 3-4 defense, then you're talking about some pretty significant changes. But we've played combinations for years now.

"We're doing it because Colvin's probably a little better in the 3-4, because he's a pass-rushing linebacker. To make the 3-4 work, you need two outside linebackers who can get pressure. What we wanted to do was get quicker, better on the pass rush and a little younger on defense."

The Patriots' defense last year was too slow, a bit too old, and got killed against the run (ranking 31st). New England looks improved on all three fronts.

"We're stacked," said Colvin, who led the Bears in sacks in each of the past two years with back-to-back 10 1/2-sack seasons. "It's ridiculous. Just ridiculous. You have two of the best safeties in the league. Two of the best cornerbacks. Two of the best inside linebackers. A Pro Bowl lineman. The guys who aren't even the starters here can still play. We're running like a Nebraska program here."

Colvin's enthusiasm is understandable, but overstated. The Patriots' defense has upgraded, but it's still early. In the opening stages of training camp, here's what the Patriots have in mind with their new-look defense: At the key pass-rushing right end spot, Pro Bowl defensive tackle Richard Seymour is making the move outside. While some question moving him from his comfort zone, he'll wind up playing inside at least 50 percent of the time, Patriots observers say, because Belichick employs so many different fronts and packages.

"As a player you don't really want to switch positions, because you think you're going to have to start all over again," Seymore said. "But going after sacks is also something every defensive lineman wants to do. That's what it's all about in this league, getting the quarterback."

At left end, the Patriots hope Warren can grow quickly into the position, even though veteran Bobby Hamilton is running with the first team in camp. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Warren played both inside and outside as an Aggie, and like Seymour will fluctuate between end, tackle and even nose tackle depending on the package.

"It's not that dramatic to go from the 4-3 to the 3-4," Warren said. "You're just taking out a lineman and putting in another linebacker. I played three of my four years at Texas A&M on the outside, so I'm fine. We've got a lot of versatility on this defense. You can't really call our defense a 3-4 or a 4-3. It's both."

The key to everything about New England's efforts with the 3-4 this season figures to be what happens at nose tackle, easily the most thankless of spots in a formation that is quietly returning to the popularity it had in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Second-year man Jarvis Green entered camp as the starter at nose, but the 2002 fourth-rounder has never played the position before, and his 6-3, 290-pound frame is a little tall and little light by ideal nose tackle standards.

That leaves Klecko, the son of the former Jets defensive lineman, squarely in the mix, as well as fellow youngsters Ken Kocher and Ethan Kelley. If one of those four can't get it done at nose, then the plan to move Seymour and Warren outside falls apart.

The Patriots have quality linebackers galore. Colvin will play outside on the right, or wherever he can wreak more havoc. On the left side, the steady Mike Vrabel will start, although veteran defensive end Willie McGinest -- the defense's senior member in terms of continuous service -- is another X factor-type player.

McGinest, who's not practicing in camp while nursing an undisclosed injury, will see plenty of snaps. Using McGinest's rush skills from a linebacker position is another major reason the Patriots were an ideal fit for the 3-4. He'll bounce between outside linebacker and left end from package to package. At inside linebacker, the trio of Ted Johnson, Tedy Bruschi and the ageless Roman Phifer all will see duty and give the Patriots three reliable play-makers in the middle of their defense.

No matter the look or the terminology the Patriots employ, Colvin and other New England defenders are expecting a few big numbers themselves. And they don't even have to add up to seven.

"People tend to talk about the 3-4 and 4-3 like it's two totally different entities, and it's not," Colvin said. "A defense is a defense, no matter if this guy has that gap and that guy has this gap. Somebody's an end, and somebody's a linebacker, regardless who you put in there. I'll be dropping and rushing, whether we're in a 3-4 defense or a 4-3. That's one thing that factored in my decision to come here. I'm going to get the opportunity to rush the passer, because that's what I love to do."

Both the Patriots and their fans are hoping Colvin follows his heart.

Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.

 

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