Green Bay: Enter the 3-4

If you're mad at your kid, you can either raise him to be a nose tackle or send him out to play on the freeway. It's about the same. ~ Bob Golic

The 3-4 Defense was created by Bud Wilkenson at the University of Oklahoma in the late 1940s. The formation features three down lineman and four linebackers in the front seven, thus the name 3-4.

The most important position of the 3-4 defenses is the Nose tackle position, without a strong presence in the middle at nose tackle your outside linebackers cannot get pressure on the opposing quarterbacks.

The first dominating nose tackle was Bill Willis, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, class of 1977. Willis was called a middle guard, which is the same exact thing as a nose tackle.

Nose tackles are forced to constantly take on double teams between guards and centers; along with the other defensive lineman their responsible for covering two gaps. Nose tackles cover gaps A and A while the defensive ends cover gaps B and C.

They create holes for the two inside linebackers and create passage ways for outside linebackers to rush the passer. 3-4 defensive ends are generally five-technique players, meaning that they line directly up against offensive tackles.

If the nose tackle fails to hold his ground then the inside linebackers get stuffed at the line, which creates running lanes for running backs. It’s reversed for the passing game, if the outside linebackers fail to get pressure on the quarterback then the passing game is an option all game long.

3-4 inside linebackers are required to stuff the line and shed unblocked offensive lineman in the running game. This is generally a tough task considering that they only have three defensive linemen in front of them and five offensive linemen. Take a look at this quote from Ray Lewis on the topic of 3-4 inside linebackers:

"We're in the 46 defense now, and finally, finally again, I get to play football," said Lewis. "My job is not to take on offensive linemen, but to make running backs not want to play against me"

The great thing about the 3-4 defenses is:

1. It causes quarterbacks to have a tougher time understanding the defense being run and where the pressure is coming from.

2. It’s tough on the offensive lineman to understand their blocking assignments before the snap

3. Generally the most wanted position on the offensive line is the Left Tackle, usually the blind side of your quarterback, but with the 3-4 defenses you need to have a strong center and guards to be able to stop a good nose tackle.

With the ninth pick in the 2009 NFL Draft the Green bay Packers select nose tackle, B.J Raji.

Standing at 6-1 and 327 pounds, he could be the next great nose tackle, he has the physical attributes needed to play nose tackle but does he have the mental makeup to take a beating every single game?

He’s going to have tough year as a rookie, defensive tackle is a very hard position to be a standout in your first year, and we all saw what happened to Glenn Dorsey last year.

Dorsey spent most of his time on his back and was out powered by bigger offensive lineman, B.J Raji will have an even tougher time being a nose tackle and having to take on two gaps.

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