The 30, and the (d)evolution of our front scheme.

[wbbfan]

JY has lead us to running a 30 base front in our defense, but we also saw large changes to our scheme in 2023 as well. I've seen confusion and angst towards the front in many GDTs and else where on line. So I wanted to start this separate discussion around our front, mainly the changes we've made the past couple of years, and why we have gotten less and less pressure since 2021. 

First I'll throw in a rudimentary break down of the alignments and techniques.  

          5-4-4i-3- 2-2i-1-0-1-2i -2 -3-4i-4-5                  DL technique

   TE      LT        LG        C        RG        RT       TE        Position 

D     C         B         A        A          B          C      D     Gap identification

Note obviously the TE is used sparingly in the cfl, though heavy sets are becoming more popular with 6ol, its mainly academic having them in as most defenses don't have DL who play a counter role to that other than in short yardage.  Down south they also have Techs 6/7/9. With 6 lining up right on the TE, 7 on the inside shoulder of the TE, and 9 outside the TE. An 8 tech comes in when a team lines up a 6th OL beside a TE, also a short yardage type of set. You also see a Wide 9 alignment down south which is generally an even front, where the edge is far outside the furthest blocker on his side. 

The i alignment means inside shade, and has the DL lining up inside shoulder to out side shoulder on the opposing linemen. So a 1 and a 3 tech are right in the gap equally between the two OL, a 2i and 4i line up half in the gap and half on a linemen. 

Roles:

0 Tech = nose tackle/nose guard. Their primary role is to push the Centre back, and create pressure opportunities for other linemen. They almost allways draw a double team when executed right, and good ones will play both A gaps (2 gap player.) They generally push the centre to one side to body block it, and if the rb comes to the gap they are standing in, will disengage to make a tackle. These are your Stoves, Drake Nevis' etc. Most often, a 0 tech is seen in 30 fronts. in a 40 front, you see more 1 tech play. 

1 Tech. Similar role to a nose, but plays only 1 gap in the run scheme. generally a guy doesn't need to be as much of a thumper or as heavy to play the 1 vs the 0. Its more common in 40 fronts, where you might use 1, with a 3, or a 2i. An advantage of shading the nose vs playing straight up is it can be easier to twist with the DT in a 2/2i alignment, and vs 5 man blocking fronts it basically prevents the offense from doubling your End on the shade side. So if Woods is in 1 alignment, and Adams is in the 3, where ever willy jefferson lines up on that side, hes sure to only be facing 1 ol. Woods is smaller than our previous noses and is really good at both that and 1 tech. But we generally use 1/0 interchangeably. 

2i/2 These are the most common alignments in a 40 front, This is primarily a run stopping tech, unless twisting with another DL. Or some times it will be paired with a 1 shade to the other side of the line, in order for the 2/2i to shoot the gap in pass rush, or when the centre/guard is slow/sloppy with footwork and crossing the face of the guard alone creates pressure. 

3 Tech, the inside pass rusher. Mainly this player will shot a single gap with the goal of creating pressure/disruption and making a play. Casey sayles is a good example of a 3tech. Lighter than most DT, but heavier than a DE. A bullrusher with a single gap in the run gap, but who mostly plays the same on every snap. Beat the guard, inside or out, get in the back field and tear things up. Usually a good 30 front team will have 1 or 2 3 techs. 2 3 tech guys with a nose tackle. This is often what happens when you see a 30 front get a sack. The tackles pinch in to help, but you can only block soo long before one of the interior get home. Either the nose is getting a 1v1, or one of the 3s gets a free pass to the qb. When successful a tackle is often left upright and unable to get in on the play. 

4i. The other common end alignment in a 30 front. This is generally more of a run stopping alignment with a primary goal of turning a rb side ways and denying the B gap. This position does not start in the gap as much as a 2i generally. They tend to scrape into the gap and play that spot no matter the blocking scheme. Previously we used Jonathon Kongbo with great success in the 4i alignment. 

4/5 Tech. A 4 tech alignment is often more of a bull rusher in the cfl, like jackson jeffcoat, or you might use a 4 when you send a blitz (like our DB delay off the edge package) off their side. 5 tech is the prototypical pass rushing spot, think Willy jefferson on most of his edge snaps. 

We havent made a ton of use of wide alignments, forcing the Tackle to reach and possibly over commit to the end. It is also a bit dependent on the pass rushers moves. Our ends currently mainly try to curl around the edge of the tackle, rather than trying to sprint on a dart. We have seen some of that play from Montreal, and BC in the past. 

 

 In the earlies mafia days we started bringing in, and excelled at finding, Nose tackles. We pretty much fit our DL scheme around the nose. Often in 0, or some times a 1 tech, with a 3 tech DT and 2 4/5s. In 19 we used nevis and stove with jake rotating inside, two guys capable of playing nose and 2 guys who could play 3 tech. We let Nevis walk in 21, and stove missed a chunk of the season, so we let him walk in the off season of 21. Late in 21 we started working in more Cheetah front as well. where all the guys put on the DL can all pass rush especially with speed. Some times this would include stove on the nose with 3 des, other times it would be 4 Des with hansen, kongbo, jeffcoat, and willy, or 30 fronts with 3 of those guys on, often with willy on the nose. Though willy aligned on the nose in this front, he mainly played like a 3 tech, trying to shoot the inside gap on the centre. This is especially effective if the OL gap spread is wider than normal, or if you have a good combination of a quick end and a slow/sloppy centre. 

At the end of 21 we let stove walk, and made another wholesale change to the strategy of our front. We put jake at a 1/0 tech frequently, with casey sayles playing a 3 tech, and willy/JJ on the 4/5. It was kind of a hybrid from our cheetah pack, with the goal of jake drawing a double and forcing teams to block the other 3 one on one. But Jeffcoat missed almost half the season and dipped in his production. 

22 Ended and again we let our prized FA dl walk, casey sayles left, with the spot filled internally by Ricky walker. We moved walker around a lot in 23, tried him in the 3 tech spot to modest success, then as the extra end rotating inside out, this to more success. But still the interior was a fraction of the force it was with stove, and sayles etc. JJ and WJ enjoyed a good year doing the same as usual, but better and a bit healthier. Cam lawson took a big step forward as the rotational piece, providing us with the most impact in the fewest snaps along the interior.

But JJ still missed a good chunk with age catching up and we let him go in the off season of 23, also letting walker go. Lawson has missed all of this year to date, and we have tried to again fill the gaps internally with garbutt and habba, to very little success. This year we saw the largest shake up on our DL in a few years, between loses and the change to much more 30 front. We've had success with Adams and Woods, but both have seen stints on the PR sitting behind Jake, garbutt and habba. We've at times tried garbutt and habba in 3, 4, and 5 techs. Habba has been worse than his limited play last year and garbutt not much better. Jake has deteriorated to a fraction of his former self, and WJ has struggled with oppressive double teams killing his drive and his motor. 

We also got away from the no-thrill-for-bighill package that certainly shortened his career. Frequently sending Biggie on a "blitz" into a guard to try and force on on ones for willy. It seldom succeeded, as Jake doesn't demand double teams in side. And bighill rarely got pressure or disruption in the face of 300lbs guards. 

We have seem glimpses of all import 30 fronts, with woods at 0, Adams at 4i/3 and WJ in 4i/4/5 alignments. Which has done a tremendous job of creating pressure and closing gaps. Hopefully this is more of what we will see in the future, especially next year. We could easily succeed and disrupt the back field with that unit and a rotation including a healthy lawson, a second year Hubert, and the better of habba/garbutt or a new end. We could weave in 40 fronts with mainly different guys playing different alignments. Hubert could play some 3 tech, lawson 0 through 3, and adams just about any where. 

Those snaps have been far too few though, as our once vaunted pressure packed front has gone from the forefront of our defensive scheming, to an after thought. JY has done a tremendous job with the secondary, and limiting the bleeding of wasted snaps with edges who cant get pressure and blitzes that only waste a man. Taking the DL front to the next level is the key to our long term success on D, as we saw in the LDC, you can always get openings and create offence in the CFL if you have time to pass. 

 

 

[JohnnyAbonny]

 

21 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

JY has lead us to running a 30 base front in our defense, but we also saw large changes to our scheme in 2023 as well. I've seen confusion and angst towards the front in many GDTs and else where on line. So I wanted to start this separate discussion around our front, mainly the changes we've made the past couple of years, and why we have gotten less and less pressure since 2021. 

First I'll throw in a rudimentary break down of the alignments and techniques.  

          5-4-4i-3- 2-2i-1-0-1-2i -2 -3-4i-4-5                  DL technique

   TE      LT        LG        C        RG        RT       TE        Position 

D     C         B         A        A          B          C      D     Gap identification

Note obviously the TE is used sparingly in the cfl, though heavy sets are becoming more popular with 6ol, its mainly academic having them in as most defenses don't have DL who play a counter role to that other than in short yardage.  Down south they also have Techs 6/7/9. With 6 lining up right on the TE, 7 on the inside shoulder of the TE, and 9 outside the TE. An 8 tech comes in when a team lines up a 6th OL beside a TE, also a short yardage type of set. You also see a Wide 9 alignment down south which is generally an even front, where the edge is far outside the furthest blocker on his side. 

The i alignment means inside shade, and has the DL lining up inside shoulder to out side shoulder on the opposing linemen. So a 1 and a 3 tech are right in the gap equally between the two OL, a 2i and 4i line up half in the gap and half on a linemen. 

Roles:

0 Tech = nose tackle/nose guard. Their primary role is to push the Centre back, and create pressure opportunities for other linemen. They almost allways draw a double team when executed right, and good ones will play both A gaps (2 gap player.) They generally push the centre to one side to body block it, and if the rb comes to the gap they are standing in, will disengage to make a tackle. These are your Stoves, Drake Nevis' etc. Most often, a 0 tech is seen in 30 fronts. in a 40 front, you see more 1 tech play. 

1 Tech. Similar role to a nose, but plays only 1 gap in the run scheme. generally a guy doesn't need to be as much of a thumper or as heavy to play the 1 vs the 0. Its more common in 40 fronts, where you might use 1, with a 3, or a 2i. An advantage of shading the nose vs playing straight up is it can be easier to twist with the DT in a 2/2i alignment, and vs 5 man blocking fronts it basically prevents the offense from doubling your End on the shade side. So if Woods is in 1 alignment, and Adams is in the 3, where ever willy jefferson lines up on that side, hes sure to only be facing 1 ol. Woods is smaller than our previous noses and is really good at both that and 1 tech. But we generally use 1/0 interchangeably. 

2i/2 These are the most common alignments in a 40 front, This is primarily a run stopping tech, unless twisting with another DL. Or some times it will be paired with a 1 shade to the other side of the line, in order for the 2/2i to shoot the gap in pass rush, or when the centre/guard is slow/sloppy with footwork and crossing the face of the guard alone creates pressure. 

3 Tech, the inside pass rusher. Mainly this player will shot a single gap with the goal of creating pressure/disruption and making a play. Casey sayles is a good example of a 3tech. Lighter than most DT, but heavier than a DE. A bullrusher with a single gap in the run gap, but who mostly plays the same on every snap. Beat the guard, inside or out, get in the back field and tear things up. Usually a good 30 front team will have 1 or 2 3 techs. 2 3 tech guys with a nose tackle. This is often what happens when you see a 30 front get a sack. The tackles pinch in to help, but you can only block soo long before one of the interior get home. Either the nose is getting a 1v1, or one of the 3s gets a free pass to the qb. When successful a tackle is often left upright and unable to get in on the play. 

4i. The other common end alignment in a 30 front. This is generally more of a run stopping alignment with a primary goal of turning a rb side ways and denying the B gap. This position does not start in the gap as much as a 2i generally. They tend to scrape into the gap and play that spot no matter the blocking scheme. Previously we used Jonathon Kongbo with great success in the 4i alignment. 

4/5 Tech. A 4 tech alignment is often more of a bull rusher in the cfl, like jackson jeffcoat, or you might use a 4 when you send a blitz (like our DB delay off the edge package) off their side. 5 tech is the prototypical pass rushing spot, think Willy jefferson on most of his edge snaps. 

We havent made a ton of use of wide alignments, forcing the Tackle to reach and possibly over commit to the end. It is also a bit dependent on the pass rushers moves. Our ends currently mainly try to curl around the edge of the tackle, rather than trying to sprint on a dart. We have seen some of that play from Montreal, and BC in the past. 

 

 In the earlies mafia days we started bringing in, and excelled at finding, Nose tackles. We pretty much fit our DL scheme around the nose. Often in 0, or some times a 1 tech, with a 3 tech DT and 2 4/5s. In 19 we used nevis and stove with jake rotating inside, two guys capable of playing nose and 2 guys who could play 3 tech. We let Nevis walk in 21, and stove missed a chunk of the season, so we let him walk in the off season of 21. Late in 21 we started working in more Cheetah front as well. where all the guys put on the DL can all pass rush especially with speed. Some times this would include stove on the nose with 3 des, other times it would be 4 Des with hansen, kongbo, jeffcoat, and willy, or 30 fronts with 3 of those guys on, often with willy on the nose. Though willy aligned on the nose in this front, he mainly played like a 3 tech, trying to shoot the inside gap on the centre. This is especially effective if the OL gap spread is wider than normal, or if you have a good combination of a quick end and a slow/sloppy centre. 

At the end of 21 we let stove walk, and made another wholesale change to the strategy of our front. We put jake at a 1/0 tech frequently, with casey sayles playing a 3 tech, and willy/JJ on the 4/5. It was kind of a hybrid from our cheetah pack, with the goal of jake drawing a double and forcing teams to block the other 3 one on one. But Jeffcoat missed almost half the season and dipped in his production. 

22 Ended and again we let our prized FA dl walk, casey sayles left, with the spot filled internally by Ricky walker. We moved walker around a lot in 23, tried him in the 3 tech spot to modest success, then as the extra end rotating inside out, this to more success. But still the interior was a fraction of the force it was with stove, and sayles etc. JJ and WJ enjoyed a good year doing the same as usual, but better and a bit healthier. Cam lawson took a big step forward as the rotational piece, providing us with the most impact in the fewest snaps along the interior.

But JJ still missed a good chunk with age catching up and we let him go in the off season of 23, also letting walker go. Lawson has missed all of this year to date, and we have tried to again fill the gaps internally with garbutt and habba, to very little success. This year we saw the largest shake up on our DL in a few years, between loses and the change to much more 30 front. We've had success with Adams and Woods, but both have seen stints on the PR sitting behind Jake, garbutt and habba. We've at times tried garbutt and habba in 3, 4, and 5 techs. Habba has been worse than his limited play last year and garbutt not much better. Jake has deteriorated to a fraction of his former self, and WJ has struggled with oppressive double teams killing his drive and his motor. 

We also got away from the no-thrill-for-bighill package that certainly shortened his career. Frequently sending Biggie on a "blitz" into a guard to try and force on on ones for willy. It seldom succeeded, as Jake doesn't demand double teams in side. And bighill rarely got pressure or disruption in the face of 300lbs guards. 

We have seem glimpses of all import 30 fronts, with woods at 0, Adams at 4i/3 and WJ in 4i/4/5 alignments. Which has done a tremendous job of creating pressure and closing gaps. Hopefully this is more of what we will see in the future, especially next year. We could easily succeed and disrupt the back field with that unit and a rotation including a healthy lawson, a second year Hubert, and the better of habba/garbutt or a new end. We could weave in 40 fronts with mainly different guys playing different alignments. Hubert could play some 3 tech, lawson 0 through 3, and adams just about any where. 

Those snaps have been far too few though, as our once vaunted pressure packed front has gone from the forefront of our defensive scheming, to an after thought. JY has done a tremendous job with the secondary, and limiting the bleeding of wasted snaps with edges who cant get pressure and blitzes that only waste a man. Taking the DL front to the next level is the key to our long term success on D, as we saw in the LDC, you can always get openings and create offence in the CFL if you have time to pass. 

 

 

Get this man a job at 3DN yesterday 

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, JohnnyAbonny said:

 

Get this man a job at 3DN yesterday 

Thanks. I was actually musing about contacting them the other day, my work schedule has opened up a lot. Might volunteer for a local football team instead. 
 

 Reading the post ldc game articles on 3dn actually made me mad at how bad they were. It makes the reffing in the league look semi competent this year. 

[Noeller]

Good lord I went cross-eyed... Needs a TL/dr

[Booch]

3 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Thanks. I was actually musing about contacting them the other day, my work schedule has opened up a lot. Might volunteer for a local football team instead. 
 

 Reading the post ldc game articles on 3dn actually made me mad at how bad they were. It makes the reffing in the league look semi competent this year. 

yeah....It seems you need no actual football background and minimal knowledge to post things on 3down

[17to85]

17 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Good lord I went cross-eyed... Needs a TL/dr

Tl/Dr Jake Thomas sucks, adams and woods = good together.

[wbbfan]

36 minutes ago, Booch said:

yeah....It seems you need no actual football background and minimal knowledge to post things on 3down

Accurate. I think you need to have a severe team bias, and middle school calibre writing skill.

 

40 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Good lord I went cross-eyed... Needs a TL/dr

Tldr, married to mediocrity. Wouldn’t matter what front we run. 
went from maximum effort scheming to minimum. Kept letting premiere dl talent walk while doing worse in replacing them. 

[Super Duper Negatron]

44 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Good lord I went cross-eyed... Needs a TL/dr

ChatGPT to the rescue:

 

 

The user is discussing changes in their football team's defensive front over the past few seasons, especially the transition to a 30 base front. They note that while the team's defense has evolved, pressure on the quarterback has decreased since 2021. The post provides a detailed breakdown of various defensive line (DL) techniques and roles (e.g., 0, 1, 3 tech), explaining how players line up and what gaps they aim to control.

The team had success with a nose tackle-heavy scheme in the past but has struggled after letting key players go, leading to inconsistent pressure from the defensive line. Recent seasons have seen experimentation with different alignments, including the "cheetah" front that emphasizes speed. Injuries and personnel changes have further affected performance, with some players struggling to maintain their previous form.

While the secondary has improved, the DL is no longer as effective, and the author hopes for better use of a 30 front featuring players like Adams, Woods, and Lawson to disrupt opposing offenses more consistently.

[HardCoreBlue]

48 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Thanks. I was actually musing about contacting them the other day, my work schedule has opened up a lot. Might volunteer for a local football team instead. 
 

 Reading the post ldc game articles on 3dn actually made me mad at how bad they were. It makes the reffing in the league look semi competent this year. 

That's where you can make a lasting contribution imo. Grass roots as they say. 🙂

Edited September 5 by HardCoreBlue

[Bigblue204]

52 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Thanks. I was actually musing about contacting them the other day, my work schedule has opened up a lot. Might volunteer for a local football team instead. 
 

 Reading the post ldc game articles on 3dn actually made me mad at how bad they were. It makes the reffing in the league look semi competent this year. 

St.James Rods are always lookin for coaches.

[wbbfan]

27 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

That's where you can make a lasting contribution imo. Grass roots as they say. 🙂

Absolutely. I intend to coach my kid as he gets to that age, doing baseball, basketball and soccer now with him. Really hope he takes to football. If not that’s still in the future for me. 
 

20 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

St.James Rods are always lookin for coaches.

Thanks for the heads up. 

[HardCoreBlue]

46 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Absolutely. I intend to coach my kid as he gets to that age, doing baseball, basketball and soccer now with him. Really hope he takes to football. If not that’s still in the future for me. 
 

Thanks for the heads up. 

Yup volunteered coached both my kids soccer and football starting at the age of five, football started at the age of seven all the way up until high school. My goal was to lovingly irritate the hell out of the parents and the real coaches who knew the ins and outs of these two great games.
Goal accomplished, so much fun.

btw multi sport for both my kids did wonders for their sport and non sport development.

Edited September 5 by HardCoreBlue

[wbbfan]

5 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Yup volunteered coached both my kids soccer and football starting at the age of five, football started at the age of seven all the way up until high school. My goal was to lovingly irritate the hell out of the parents and the real coaches who knew the ins and outs of these two great games.
Goal accomplished, so much fun.

btw multi sport for both my kids did wonders for their sport and non sport development.

Haha yep that’s the goal! 
 
yeah im a big believer in cross training with other sports, and that every one can find some thing they’d enjoy playing, and it makes kids much better people. 
 He’s done swimming and gymnastics which he loves too. Some hitting pads and grappling with me which he thinks is the funniest thing in the world. 

[17to85]

1 hour ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

ChatGPT to the rescue:

 

 

The user is discussing changes in their football team's defensive front over the past few seasons, especially the transition to a 30 base front. They note that while the team's defense has evolved, pressure on the quarterback has decreased since 2021. The post provides a detailed breakdown of various defensive line (DL) techniques and roles (e.g., 0, 1, 3 tech), explaining how players line up and what gaps they aim to control.

The team had success with a nose tackle-heavy scheme in the past but has struggled after letting key players go, leading to inconsistent pressure from the defensive line. Recent seasons have seen experimentation with different alignments, including the "cheetah" front that emphasizes speed. Injuries and personnel changes have further affected performance, with some players struggling to maintain their previous form.

While the secondary has improved, the DL is no longer as effective, and the author hopes for better use of a 30 front featuring players like Adams, Woods, and Lawson to disrupt opposing offenses more consistently.

TL/DR

[SpeedFlex27]

4 hours ago, wbbfan said:

JY has lead us to running a 30 base front in our defense, but we also saw large changes to our scheme in 2023 as well. I've seen confusion and angst towards the front in many GDTs and else where on line. So I wanted to start this separate discussion around our front, mainly the changes we've made the past couple of years, and why we have gotten less and less pressure since 2021. 

First I'll throw in a rudimentary break down of the alignments and techniques.  

          5-4-4i-3- 2-2i-1-0-1-2i -2 -3-4i-4-5                  DL technique

   TE      LT        LG        C        RG        RT       TE        Position 

D     C         B         A        A          B          C      D     Gap identification

Note obviously the TE is used sparingly in the cfl, though heavy sets are becoming more popular with 6ol, its mainly academic having them in as most defenses don't have DL who play a counter role to that other than in short yardage.  Down south they also have Techs 6/7/9. With 6 lining up right on the TE, 7 on the inside shoulder of the TE, and 9 outside the TE. An 8 tech comes in when a team lines up a 6th OL beside a TE, also a short yardage type of set. You also see a Wide 9 alignment down south which is generally an even front, where the edge is far outside the furthest blocker on his side. 

The i alignment means inside shade, and has the DL lining up inside shoulder to out side shoulder on the opposing linemen. So a 1 and a 3 tech are right in the gap equally between the two OL, a 2i and 4i line up half in the gap and half on a linemen. 

Roles:

0 Tech = nose tackle/nose guard. Their primary role is to push the Centre back, and create pressure opportunities for other linemen. They almost allways draw a double team when executed right, and good ones will play both A gaps (2 gap player.) They generally push the centre to one side to body block it, and if the rb comes to the gap they are standing in, will disengage to make a tackle. These are your Stoves, Drake Nevis' etc. Most often, a 0 tech is seen in 30 fronts. in a 40 front, you see more 1 tech play. 

1 Tech. Similar role to a nose, but plays only 1 gap in the run scheme. generally a guy doesn't need to be as much of a thumper or as heavy to play the 1 vs the 0. Its more common in 40 fronts, where you might use 1, with a 3, or a 2i. An advantage of shading the nose vs playing straight up is it can be easier to twist with the DT in a 2/2i alignment, and vs 5 man blocking fronts it basically prevents the offense from doubling your End on the shade side. So if Woods is in 1 alignment, and Adams is in the 3, where ever willy jefferson lines up on that side, hes sure to only be facing 1 ol. Woods is smaller than our previous noses and is really good at both that and 1 tech. But we generally use 1/0 interchangeably. 

2i/2 These are the most common alignments in a 40 front, This is primarily a run stopping tech, unless twisting with another DL. Or some times it will be paired with a 1 shade to the other side of the line, in order for the 2/2i to shoot the gap in pass rush, or when the centre/guard is slow/sloppy with footwork and crossing the face of the guard alone creates pressure. 

3 Tech, the inside pass rusher. Mainly this player will shot a single gap with the goal of creating pressure/disruption and making a play. Casey sayles is a good example of a 3tech. Lighter than most DT, but heavier than a DE. A bullrusher with a single gap in the run gap, but who mostly plays the same on every snap. Beat the guard, inside or out, get in the back field and tear things up. Usually a good 30 front team will have 1 or 2 3 techs. 2 3 tech guys with a nose tackle. This is often what happens when you see a 30 front get a sack. The tackles pinch in to help, but you can only block soo long before one of the interior get home. Either the nose is getting a 1v1, or one of the 3s gets a free pass to the qb. When successful a tackle is often left upright and unable to get in on the play. 

4i. The other common end alignment in a 30 front. This is generally more of a run stopping alignment with a primary goal of turning a rb side ways and denying the B gap. This position does not start in the gap as much as a 2i generally. They tend to scrape into the gap and play that spot no matter the blocking scheme. Previously we used Jonathon Kongbo with great success in the 4i alignment. 

4/5 Tech. A 4 tech alignment is often more of a bull rusher in the cfl, like jackson jeffcoat, or you might use a 4 when you send a blitz (like our DB delay off the edge package) off their side. 5 tech is the prototypical pass rushing spot, think Willy jefferson on most of his edge snaps. 

We havent made a ton of use of wide alignments, forcing the Tackle to reach and possibly over commit to the end. It is also a bit dependent on the pass rushers moves. Our ends currently mainly try to curl around the edge of the tackle, rather than trying to sprint on a dart. We have seen some of that play from Montreal, and BC in the past. 

 

 In the earlies mafia days we started bringing in, and excelled at finding, Nose tackles. We pretty much fit our DL scheme around the nose. Often in 0, or some times a 1 tech, with a 3 tech DT and 2 4/5s. In 19 we used nevis and stove with jake rotating inside, two guys capable of playing nose and 2 guys who could play 3 tech. We let Nevis walk in 21, and stove missed a chunk of the season, so we let him walk in the off season of 21. Late in 21 we started working in more Cheetah front as well. where all the guys put on the DL can all pass rush especially with speed. Some times this would include stove on the nose with 3 des, other times it would be 4 Des with hansen, kongbo, jeffcoat, and willy, or 30 fronts with 3 of those guys on, often with willy on the nose. Though willy aligned on the nose in this front, he mainly played like a 3 tech, trying to shoot the inside gap on the centre. This is especially effective if the OL gap spread is wider than normal, or if you have a good combination of a quick end and a slow/sloppy centre. 

At the end of 21 we let stove walk, and made another wholesale change to the strategy of our front. We put jake at a 1/0 tech frequently, with casey sayles playing a 3 tech, and willy/JJ on the 4/5. It was kind of a hybrid from our cheetah pack, with the goal of jake drawing a double and forcing teams to block the other 3 one on one. But Jeffcoat missed almost half the season and dipped in his production. 

22 Ended and again we let our prized FA dl walk, casey sayles left, with the spot filled internally by Ricky walker. We moved walker around a lot in 23, tried him in the 3 tech spot to modest success, then as the extra end rotating inside out, this to more success. But still the interior was a fraction of the force it was with stove, and sayles etc. JJ and WJ enjoyed a good year doing the same as usual, but better and a bit healthier. Cam lawson took a big step forward as the rotational piece, providing us with the most impact in the fewest snaps along the interior.

But JJ still missed a good chunk with age catching up and we let him go in the off season of 23, also letting walker go. Lawson has missed all of this year to date, and we have tried to again fill the gaps internally with garbutt and habba, to very little success. This year we saw the largest shake up on our DL in a few years, between loses and the change to much more 30 front. We've had success with Adams and Woods, but both have seen stints on the PR sitting behind Jake, garbutt and habba. We've at times tried garbutt and habba in 3, 4, and 5 techs. Habba has been worse than his limited play last year and garbutt not much better. Jake has deteriorated to a fraction of his former self, and WJ has struggled with oppressive double teams killing his drive and his motor. 

We also got away from the no-thrill-for-bighill package that certainly shortened his career. Frequently sending Biggie on a "blitz" into a guard to try and force on on ones for willy. It seldom succeeded, as Jake doesn't demand double teams in side. And bighill rarely got pressure or disruption in the face of 300lbs guards. 

We have seem glimpses of all import 30 fronts, with woods at 0, Adams at 4i/3 and WJ in 4i/4/5 alignments. Which has done a tremendous job of creating pressure and closing gaps. Hopefully this is more of what we will see in the future, especially next year. We could easily succeed and disrupt the back field with that unit and a rotation including a healthy lawson, a second year Hubert, and the better of habba/garbutt or a new end. We could weave in 40 fronts with mainly different guys playing different alignments. Hubert could play some 3 tech, lawson 0 through 3, and adams just about any where. 

Those snaps have been far too few though, as our once vaunted pressure packed front has gone from the forefront of our defensive scheming, to an after thought. JY has done a tremendous job with the secondary, and limiting the bleeding of wasted snaps with edges who cant get pressure and blitzes that only waste a man. Taking the DL front to the next level is the key to our long term success on D, as we saw in the LDC, you can always get openings and create offence in the CFL if you have time to pass. 

 

 

You know, I respected your football knowledge before but now?? Off the charts, wbbhan. Great description of defensive fronts &  recap of the history of our defense since 2019. That is a must read for any Bomber fan wondering what happened to our crushing defensive philosophy in 2019 & 2021. No idea why the Bombers went away from this philosophy to what we have now.

We have a few outstanding posters here who should be coaching young players & developing them. Hint, hint. .

[wbbfan]

10 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

You know, I respected your football knowledge before but now?? Off the charts, wbbhan. Great description of defensive fronts &  recap of the history of our defense since 2019. That is a must read for any Bomber fan wondering what happened to our crushing defensive philosophy in 2019 & 2021. No idea why the Bombers went away from this philosophy to what we have now.

We have a few outstanding posters here who should be coaching young players & developing them. Hint, hint. .

Thanks. 
 Yeah it’s frustrating. I thinks it’s a trap we fell into based around the expectation that we could endlessly replace all star imp dl with rookies of the same calibre. After two years of failing to do so and making do with what we have it’s back slid into mediocrity.
We struggle to move on from old vets and that makes it worse. Crazy how guys like nevis, stove, and sayles weren’t afforded that luxury. 

 Going into the season the coffers were bare but we found a few gems to polish. Now we need to get past the old boys club and keep cycling through some young guys to pressure those gems to become the best they can. 
 

Haha sooner or later it’ll happen. 

[Booch]

It has too

I think if we keep and develop Adams and Woods...Have Lawson back and either draft smart...and sign a big fish free agent end or actually find one we will be sitting good

I see no spot for Schmeck...Thomas has to be gone...Biggie and Wilson likely too...revamping that with youth and skill sets us up nicely

[wbbfan]

2 minutes ago, Booch said:

It has too

I think if we keep and develop Adams and Woods...Have Lawson back and either draft smart...and sign a big fish free agent end or actually find one we will be sitting good

I see no spot for Schmeck...Thomas has to be gone...Biggie and Wilson likely too...revamping that with youth and skill sets us up nicely

For sure, tbh if I’m another team I scoop up Adams fast. Way too much production and upside to sit on a pr. Biggie and both lbers need to be gone for sure. Ba has steadily improved and is even selling out for hits less. But we have a lot of talented young tweeners vying for a spot. 

I legit think schmeks best use is as an ol/fb/teams/ both heavy sets. By next tc he could replace the 7th ol and give us a ton more versatility. Then we can polish mci into more rb stuff and have a scary heavy set on offence with 6 ol, schmek, mci, and clercius with woli. 

[17to85]

They became too married to the idea of a Canadian on the DL. It wasn't a necessity and they haven't got the heart to wind Thomas down.

[wbbfan]

9 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

They became too married to the idea of a Canadian on the DL. It wasn't a necessity and they haven't got the heart to wind Thomas down.

Too much ratio not enough quality for sure is a big part of it. Hansen and Kongbo brought a lot in reserve reps, Jake next to a nose with heavy rotation was solid too. Now we’re leaning on the ratio no matter the production. 
 We’ve run out a considerable amount of underwhelming imps inside and out as well. 

[17to85]

They drafted Bennett specifically to try and replace Kongo and trotted him out for useless rep after useless rep. Thomas has one foot in the grave and is trotted out. Hubert I like but as a rookie he got too many reps too because reasons. 

There were a million ways to make the ratio work on D and they chose the worst way IMO.

[K-Shack]

Given the commitment to having a Canadian on the DL, I'm surprised that they haven't brought in Kongbo or Mason Bennett. Or are both of them done / injured?

[wbbfan]

10 minutes ago, K-Shack said:

Given the commitment to having a Canadian on the DL, I'm surprised that they haven't brought in Kongbo or Mason Bennett. Or are both of them done / injured?

Guessing both are done. Lawson coming back will be a big help. Hubert was very solid early, they like schmeck and are hooked on Jake. Plus we have Samson on the pr who is a legit prospect. 

[GCn20]

3 hours ago, K-Shack said:

Given the commitment to having a Canadian on the DL, I'm surprised that they haven't brought in Kongbo or Mason Bennett. Or are both of them done / injured?

Likely an SMS thing. Kongbo for sure was looking for NAT starter money

[Atomic]

It's interesting that despite these issues on the DL, the defence as a whole has mostly been pretty successful. Is the secondary just that good?