Re: Adalius Thomas released by the Patriots
 

I am all for giving anyone a try, look at Sharper more than one GM thought he was washed up, which is why they let him walk. Look how well he played last year.

Worst case scenario if he is horrible, GW will show this is how you DO NOT PLAY LB FOR THE SAINTS!

Re: Adalius Thomas released by the Patriots
 

Ray Lewis didn't do so well in the 3-4 either. Vilma, Lewis, and Thomas are very good LB's. Sign the guy Mickey! :bng:

Re: Adalius Thomas released by the Patriots
 

ray lewis has played his entire career in a 3-4

Re: Adalius Thomas released by the Patriots
 

Ravens' 4-3 Superbowl front 7:

LDE: Rob Burnett
RDE: Micheal McCray
DT: Siragusa and Adams
OLB: Boulware, Sharper
MLB: Ray Lewis

Re: Adalius Thomas released by the Patriots
 

i thought the ravens played in a 46 d?

Re: Adalius Thomas released by the Patriots
 

the ravens have ran multiple schemes....some consider them to not have a base defense since they switch up so much

however, the base defense has been a 3-4

Re: Adalius Thomas released by the Patriots
 

It is still a four man front with three backers, just like a 4-3.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._green.svg.png

Re: Adalius Thomas released by the Patriots
 

In 2000 and 2006 the Ravens ran a 4-3 ...

Baltimore Ravens: Should They Run a 3-4 or 4-3 Defense?

No blitzing doesn't mean this D won't dominate. Surprisingly enough, the sack leader of the Ravens 2000 unit, Rob Burnett, barely surpassed ten sacks. Really, the Ravens only had three all out pass rushers on that team, in Burnett, Michael McCrary, and Peter Boulware.

It was the duo of Sam Adams and Tony Siragusa at defensive tackle and the group of talented linebackers that made the defense so great. It didn't hurt that they had two good corners in Chris McAlister and Duane Starks, and a Hall of Famer in Rod Woodson at free safety. With the two defensive tackles, Burnett and McCrary at defensive end, and Jamie Sharper, Ray Lewis, and Boulware at linebacker, the team ran a 4-3 defensive scheme, using four defensive lineman and three linebackers in their front seven.

The question this year is, what scheme will Mattison run?

In 2006, under Ryan, the Ravens ran a 4-3, and the defense was actually comparable to the 2000 squad. The defensive tackles this time were Kelly Gregg and Haloti Ngata, both physical beasts of nature. On the edge, they used Trevor Pryce and Terrell Suggs as the defensive ends, and had Adalius Thomas, Ray Lewis, and Bart Scott play linebacker. Of that front seven, the Ravens return five players, as Scott (Jets) and Thomas (Patriots) signed free agent deals. Let's just imagine the scenarios.

Re: Adalius Thomas released by the Patriots
 

Defensive coordinator Rex Ryan likes to switch between the 3-4, 4-3, 4-4-3 and 46 fronts. He will use defenders in various positions, because a number of starters can line up in multiple positions. While the 2000 Ravens led by coordinator Marvin Lewis was quite vanilla, the 2006 Ravens are Ben & Jerry's Rocky Road.

Baltimore Ravens News - 2000 v. 2006: A COMPARISON OF DEFENSIVE GREATNESS

now the defense is in a 3-4 pretty much exclusively
http://espn.go.com/nfl/teams/depth?team=bal&formationId=15

Re: Adalius Thomas released by the Patriots
 

Yeah, the set up is there but my understanding is the weakside DE who lines up way outside the tackle is sometimes subbed for a LB who can rush the passer and only has "stay home" responsibilities in the run. The SLB is actually like a Jack in a 3-4 and becomes primarily a run stopper, up the middle blitzer and the WLB is responsible for the TE. I always figured it a hybrid of the two and what Rex Ryan ran since Buddy Ryan was an advocate. I thought the Ravens that year would pull in Cornell Brown to play the Jack LB. Phew--that was 10 years ago.