The New England Patriots: Retool, not Reinvent, the 3-4 Scheme

The New England Patriots under Bill Belichick have primarily used a 3-4 defensive scheme. It is a scheme that employs three very large defensive lineman that will patrol and control two gaps each.

As a result it requires very cerebral players to effectively occupy the blockers and clog lanes so the linebackers can tackle. Patriots' rookie Jerrod Mayo was able to take advantage by leading the team in tackles.

This years draft brought Ron Brace who was largely overshadowed by B.J. Raji at Boston college. Ron is a little bit one-dimensional; but the one thing he does well is exactly what the Patriots need. He is very effective at jamming the middle. 

More teams are leaning toward this scheme so it is very important to have offensive players who can block and help protect the quarterback.

This scheme requires a good run blocking tight-end which the Patriots haven't seen in a long time. Tom Brady is coming off of major knee surgery and this was one area of concern. The Patriots hope the trade for Alex Smith will help keep their franchise quarterback healthy.

The 3-4 scheme gives the defense the greatest amount of flexibility and allows New England to make better use of the versatility of the linebacker. This allows the defense to rush the quarterback or drop back into pass coverage rather quickly.

The Patriots defensive lineman do not have eye-popping stats when it comes to tackles.  Instead, this allows them to be able to withstand the offensive line surge and push back.  Players in this defense must be able to maintain good leverage in order to sustain the push.

Vince Wilfork and Richard Seymour are currently the heart of this line.

The Patriots drafted Myron Pryor out of Kentucky as insurance if in case they can't re-sign Vince Wilfork.

Darius Butler is New England's Corner back of the future a Troy Brown type of player.  He doesn't have blinding speed to paraphrase Bill Belichick "he just makes football plays". This makes Ray Vetrone expendable.

There are also trade considerations for this team to shore up the defensive line. Rumor has it that New England is in trade talks with the Raiders for DL Derrick Burgess. Burgess is a two time pro-bowler and is seeking a contract extension Al Davis is unwilling to do this.

He would play weak outside linebacker which would help with the rush.

The Patriots are now loaded at this position with Vince Redd, Banta-Cain and Pierre Woods. Because of the abundance of prospects this most likely means that this will be a rotational position.

New England now has a nice mix of free agents, young veterans and rookies to compete for starting spots on defense. This allows for a very competitive camp as very few positions are open. 

This is a low risk high reward type of atmosphere that lends itself well to the Patriots philosophy of making football decisions based on players who can make football plays.