When Leonard was first drafted I thought this is what they'd do. Deploy Leo in a similar fashion to what New England did w/ Richard Seymour before they got Wilfork. There's an old adage that ideally your best players should line-up as close to the football as possible.It's hard to accomplish that w/ what is required from Nose tackles in a modern NFL 3-4.Teams must always think run first...and there aren't alot of guys built to do the job let alone one who can pass rush & might be the best player on the field.Leo would be alittle unconventional but there is no doubt he could hold his own..he's just too disruptive a force & has some thickness to his frame which should help filling the A Gap against the run. This would really open things up for Richardson & Wilk to wreak havoc at those DE spots.No reason Leo couldn't join in on the fun at DE & swapping w/ Sheldon every few snaps. Sheldon was used quite a bit at NT on 3 man looks under Rex..& has the needed quickness to compensate for the lack of girth.Of course the other Nts on the roster who have their strengths will be involved in this as well. There's alot to be excited about. Hopefully this unit can get out to a quick start even without Sheldon in week 1.
I've suggested that this would and should happen last year.. Let McLendon play the NT on the obvious run downs... but in a 4 man front Leo is a monster bringin interior pass rush. He's been doing it since USC... really doesn't matter where you line him up at on the line.. He's not wide like snacks but his wing-span is NBA-like. Super long arms he'll still be hard to get by, not to mention his bullrush is B E A S T. I love the idea, execute it. Also keeps Sheldon out of the OLB position.
I have no problem on obvious passing downs to play Leonard Williams at Nt . You get your three best defense lineman on the field at once. If the Jets plan for him to play there on the run downs , I think it's mistake as he's going have trouble holding up against the double teams. Not to mention the risk of injury, as Nt get hit from all angles.
in that situation The bets is usually 4 down lineman. We can slide rich inside and keep williams at DE
They could also play a 4-3 "under" front in which you'd have Sheldon & Leo playing DT, Wilk at one of the DE spots take your pick.The issue is who plays that other DE spot? I'm not sure they have someone built for that spot on roster.Maybe Mauldin if he gets better against the run?Jordan Jenkins if he can hold up?
Out of the three isn't mo the biggest ? Why not have him play dt and leave the smaller and faster Williams and Richardson at de
In 4-3 sets, I predict we're going to see a combination of Leo, Sheldon, Wilkerson and Lawrence Thomas at various times. From what I've been able to observe thus far, LT has really impressive mixture of size, build, athleticism and a strong motor. At Michigan State, he split time his freshman year playing FB (7 rec, 78 yds, 11.1 avg.) as well as DE and DT . After missing most of the his sophmore year due to a back injury, he played NT for most of his Junior year and was then switched to DE full time his senior year. His 35" vertical is also pretty impressive for 290 lb DL. I believe the kid is going to stick and see a fair share of playing time this season.
you keep McLendon at DT, slide rich at DT and wilk and williams play DE. Mouldin and jenkins play OLB and Lee or harris at ILB unless you are talking about shifting the base defense on the field in which case the DTs are the same , wilk is the same, Mouldin shifts to DE, henderson or lee shift to OLB harris plays ILB and jenkins plays OLB
