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WP: Andre Carter says he's "really comfortable" with 3-4 defense

authentic

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authentic

authentic

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"I'm really comfortable. I really am," he said. He added of defensive coordinator Jim Haslett and linebackers coach Lou Spanos: "just the level of communciation they have with us has been amazing. I'm happy to be here, I'm happy to be a part of something great."

So what's different? Carter has said he feels defensive end is his natural position, he's coming off a strong year at end and has said he didn't feel comfortable dropping back in coverage during his previous stint as a linebacker.

He thinks his role and responsibilities will be different playing linebacker in Haslett's scheme.

"I felt in San Fran, it felt like a lot of reading, things of that nature," Carter said. "Especially when it came to cover-two type of defense in '05 -- you had to jam the receiver, then you had to get in certain position between the two hashes so when that ball was thrown, you had to kind be in the way of the receiver.

"This scheme, there's no comparison. Sometimes you line up against the tight end and attack, sometimes outside, kind of doing a wide rush, force the ball back inside, force the ball outside. It's just very great. You don't have to do much thinking."

Carter says his recovery is going as scheduled and he's gradually intensifying his workload on his route back to 100 percent health. When he's ready to fully participate in practices, he expects to be playing a linebacker position unlike the one he was forced into with the 49ers.

"What I like about this scheme is you don't know who's coming," he said. "Three linemen, four guys rushing, maybe five guys rushing. It's just a whole lot of disguises."

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authentic

authentic

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The best thing about this defense, as it (seems) is that they will finally be aggressive. Even at times with GW (as good as he was) the players complained about not being allowed to be aggressive. Obviously it was worse under Blache. I'm glad that Haslett has identified that rankings means NOTHING, but its really all about turnovers. Over the years we were top ten in defense (yrds per game) but consistantly at the bottom of the league in interceptions, fumble recoveries, and defensive touchdowns.

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ATLredskin

ATLredskin

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Yeah I saw this quote yesterday and said we are going to be a attacking 3-4 defense where our OLB's will be blitzing just about every play. Everyone is talking about sacks and creating pressure on the QB, but being aggresive does not always work out. In this case the screen game would KILL us just like when the Giants did it to us in the blowout win last year. I can only hope our OLB's and ILB's notice when the offense is going to do the screen.

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Tay

Tay

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Somewhere else he stated that he is pretty much a standing DE in this defense. It seems to me that they will just be doing a lot of Zone Blitzing. The OLB will be like DE, who don't have to move as much and a 4-3 DE in order to play their zone. This style defense seems to give the D more flexibility and is more confusing than the standard 4-3 w/ a lot of Zone blitzing. Of course if a QB can read what we are doing pre snap, we could expose oursleves to an arial attack.

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wilburmarshall

wilburmarshall

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Happy about his attituse, mad that we couldn't unlaod him. Gets paid too much for what he will contribute to this defense. Not that it is his fault...he did well in our old scheme. Too bad that we couldn't send him to a team that he could help better. He will get a lot of critiscm next year for not putting up better numbers.

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Enter Apotheosis

Enter Apotheosis

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Happy about his attituse, mad that we couldn't unlaod him. Gets paid too much for what he will contribute to this defense. Not that it is his fault...he did well in our old scheme. Too bad that we couldn't send him to a team that he could help better. He will get a lot of critiscm next year for not putting up better numbers.

He has a no-trade clause, so shipping him off would have been complicated under any circumstance. Also, unless you're omniscient you simply don't know what he's going to contribute to the defense this year. Players of his type have been very successful as 3-4 OLBs in the past, so it's no big reach to say that he could be just as deadly as he was in the 4-3.

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Laxpunk2006

Laxpunk2006

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Carter wasn't good in the 3-4 the first time around... maybe this time he'll be better?

Not all 3-4's are created equal.

Just like with the 4-3 there is the Tampa 2, Regular Cover 2, Under Front, Over Front, etc. Some schemes call for big DE's like Blache with Philip Daniels. Some defense's like the Tampa 2 the Colts ran want a real light front seven to fly around the ball. Other cover 2's like Minnesota want a big boy in the middle like Pat Williams.

OLB in one 3-4 is not going to be the same as OLB in every other 3-4. He may not be the prototypical 3-4 OLB that can do it all but he certainly can be an effective rusher and in run support. He'll struggle somewhat in coverage but I don't expect to see him doing a lot of that.

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In Flames

In Flames

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Carter wasn't good in the 3-4 the first time around... maybe this time he'll be better?

It's all about attitude imo. If your job involved working with people who couldn't tell their ass from a hole in the ground, to then working with people who knew how to get things done, you would perform much better under that regime, right? Let's give the new admin some time and see if they light a fire under these asses. I like Carter, and he had a very good year last year.

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Sandman69

Sandman69

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AC has no choice but to be on board with the 3-4.

He's not in his prime like Fat Al and he's no All Pro

But he is in camp unlike Fat Al, and is a team player. I would take that anyday and twice on Sunday. FYI, Fat Al is no All Pro for us at the moment either.

I think AC is gonna surprise some folks this year who think he will suck in the 3-4.

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pvkeeper19

pvkeeper19

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Not all 3-4's are created equal.

Just like with the 4-3 there is the Tampa 2, Regular Cover 2, Under Front, Over Front, etc. Some schemes call for big DE's like Blache with Philip Daniels. Some defense's like the Tampa 2 the Colts ran want a real light front seven to fly around the ball. Other cover 2's like Minnesota want a big boy in the middle like Pat Williams.

OLB in one 3-4 is not going to be the same as OLB in every other 3-4. He may not be the prototypical 3-4 OLB that can do it all but he certainly can be an effective rusher and in run support. He'll struggle somewhat in coverage but I don't expect to see him doing a lot of that.

Yeah, I've played Madden, too.

If Carter is really just going to be a stand-up rusher, then he'll probably be reasonably successful at that... but then, I think you also lose some of the versatility of the 3-4. One of the strengths of running 4 linebackers is that they can line up in their regular spots and you don't know who's blitzing. But if you know Carter's not going to drop into coverage, that essentially takes away some of the guessing game for the O-line. He's admitted that he feels uncomfortable doing any coverage/reading, etc. So either you lose the advantage, or you drop in him coverage, where he's not any good.

I guess I'll have to take him at his word that he feels better in this incarnation of the 3-4 than the one he played in San Francisco, at least til we see them on the field.

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the burgundy and gold

the burgundy and gold

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This article really is great to read. I think it's obvious that the only role in a 3-4 defense that Andre Carter could excel at is a pure rushing linebacker. According to that article that seems to be all he'll be doing, running straight at the quarterback. If he's never dropping back into coverage I see no reason why AC couldn't be a very successful player in this 3-4 defense.

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Hiro

Hiro

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Yeah, I've played Madden, too.

That seems a bit mean and uncalled for? :whoknows:

As the coaches have mentioned, just because it's a base 3-4 scheme doesn't mean it's going to be exactly like the one Nolan ran in San Fran. There are different philosophies, strategies, and responsibilities between the schemes that just make them different.

I'm curious to see how Carter performs in this role, but I think he has potential to surprise.

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RandyHolt

RandyHolt

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I think every single defensive coordinator we bring in always said we were going to be more aggressive. Attack the QB, attack the ball.

As well all know, they were all lies. Evidenced by our lack of turnovers year after year. Our defense was more like, read react and get runover.

I dont know if Haslet has said it or not, but it now appears a major overhaul was needed for our defense. So many were deceived by our low points allowed, but that was because we made teams go a long ways to score on us, milking the clock, waiting for a mistake (that rarely happened).

Its reassuring hearing Andre Carter saying he likes our 3-4. I thought he would hate it the most.

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Mahons21

Mahons21

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The best thing about this defense, as it (seems) is that they will finally be aggressive. Even at times with GW (as good as he was) the players complained about not being allowed to be aggressive. Obviously it was worse under Blache. I'm glad that Haslett has identified that rankings means NOTHING, but its really all about turnovers. Over the years we were top ten in defense (yrds per game) but consistantly at the bottom of the league in interceptions, fumble recoveries, and defensive touchdowns.

-I completely agree that being aggressive is a switch I have wanted to make.

But we can't put all the blame on Blache for the defense not creating turnovers. When you're part of a team that is as abysmal as we have been for the past few years on offense, you don't really get the chance to be aggressive on D. Rather than taking chances which may lead to touchdowns, you play a safer scheme that intends to tighten up as the field shortens, hopefully holding opponents to a FG.

This is the complete opposite of a team like the Saints, who have one of the most explosive offenses on the field. Due to their offense the Saints can take a lot more chances on D and be much more aggressive. If they get down 10 pts because they took a risk that didn't workout for them, it won't be the end of the game.

The scheme of both the offense and defense are intertwined, you'd be hard pressed to find extremely aggressive defenses that generate turnovers on the same team of an anemic offense.

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SVRCLR

SVRCLR

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"Intensity is a lot of guys that run fast." John McKay (former Bucs coach)

The key thing is Carter's point, "You don't have to do much thinking." Most fans have no idea what a really aggressive D is. The Cover 2 is the least aggressive D in football, but because it asks DL to penetrate and make plays, a lot of people think it is an aggressive D. Many 34 teams are also classic read and react, with 2 gapping DL so that they can't get penetration (which is why most teams don't play the 34 anymore). But it frees up 1 or more LB so it looks more aggressive to most fans.

From what I understand Halsett is going to put in the Pittsburgh 34 zone blitz scheme. He may not be able to run as many zone blitzes until the secodnary proves that they can handling the assignments. Zone blitz is supposed to take the pressure off the secondary, but it really just transfers it to the secondary tackling, rather then the coverage itself.

The best thing about going to the 34 is that Orakpo and Carter will be lined up wide and away from the OL, giving them pretty good rush lanes. The other, next best thing, is that now Landry seems to be poised to move up close to the line as a LB on passing downs. He is out of place and looks uncomfortable as a deep S. With guys playing behind him, it should help to minimize his alarming tendency to be such a knucklehead.

Now the issue about whether any of the DL are well suited to play the 34 remains to be seen.

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