Yea and if Pace and Thomas werent rushing and Wilkerson wasn't getting double teamed he would have many more sacks.
Red Bryant is 320+ lbs and plays 4-3 DE, and the Pats last year had big LEs in Ellis/Deaderick. I would expect Coples to play the "big DE" role, though.
Bingo. The key will be keeping Ellis healthy. When healthy he's played pretty well this season, allowing a Pouha release to be imminent come March.
Nope, but Teddy Bridgewater will be in 2014 hmy: That's a huge guy in the 4-3 DE position. Coples should play inside and out depending on the match-up and the weakest player on the offensive line.
Wilkerson has real potential as a strong side end. He's not going to get taken out by the RT and TE on a run play and he's got enough quickness and speed to pass rush effectively from there. He wouldn't be a big time sacker but more a Shaun Ellis type, pushing the pocket and getting sacks now and then when he beat his man cleanly. He's also very good as a 3-4 DE. Coples on the other hand is a pure interior pass-rusher. He dominates guards and he benefits from the shorter route to the QB. On the outside he doesn't have the speed or moves to beat a tackle consistently but he feasts on the guards. He's ok as a 3-4 DE but there is a reason that he hasn't seen the field much this season and that's because he's only ok as a 3-4 DE.
It's extremely obvious Rex is building his line for the 46 defense. Coples and Wilkerson are ideal 46 players. The 46 also works out of the 3-4, which is what Rex did to mold it into his own scheme (Buddy was a 4-3 all the way guy)... There is only one true DE in a 46 defense. The rest of the DL lines up in a TNT front (tackle, nose, tackle)....aka Wilkerson, Devito/Pouha/Ellis, Coples.....The D tackles line up right on the guards, and the NT on the center. The DTs are not just block absorbers and space eaters. Their job is to create interior pressure. The one true DE (or OLB in rex's case) lines up to the outside of the OT. Think Suggs, Ware. That's our missing piece in the defensive front. The only difference between the 4-3 46 and 3-4 46 is whether your DE has his hand in the ground, or whether he is standing up making him an OLB. Rex uses this player a million ways (zone blitz/coverage, man to man on a RB, pass rush), whereas his dad had him rush the passer all game. Coples and Wilk were never seen as 43 DEs and they shouldn't be.
