Philadelphia Eagles: Switching to a 3-4 makes all the sense in the world

The Philadelphia Eagles‘ defense in 2020 was average.

I know, to some, that may seem like a provocative statement, but statistically speaking, it’s true. They ranked 20th in team defense, 20th in points allowed, 19th in yards allowed,18th in passing touchdowns surrendered, and 25th in rushing touchdowns surrendered.

According to ESPN, the Eagles ranked 15th against the pass and 23rd against the run, and just generally looked like a shell of their former glory that played a pivotal part in the team winning a Super Bowl what feels like a lifetime ago.

Was Jim Schwartz solely responsible for these issues? No. Subjectively speaking, he had the least talented roster since his debut season with the Birds, and the Eagles’ anemic offense certainly didn’t do the team any favors.

With that being said, the Eagles can’t go into 2021 with the same scheme they ran in 2020 – like literally; they can’t.

Barring a surprise decision by whomever Howie Roseman and company opt to hire to retain defensive line coach/run game coordinator Matt Burke as Schwartz’s heir apparent, the Eagles will all but surely be running a new defensive scheme when they return to the hallowed field of Lincoln Financial Field this fall.

In this writer’s humble opinion, that scheme should be built around a 3-4 front regardless of which plucky offensive guru – or Josh McDaniels – the team opts to hire.

The case for the Philadelphia Eagles switching back to a 3-4.

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Now there’s a common misconception going around that the Philadelphia Eagles simply do not have the personnel needed to run a 3-4. They lack the size upfront, don’t have physically dominant linebackers, and are still the not-so-proud owners of one of the worst cornerback crews in the NFL.

If your idea of a functional 3-4 is the old-school, run thumping looks of the 20th century then yeah, the Eagles really aren’t positioned well to go drop the ‘steel curtain’ on opposing offenses without a near-ground up rebuild, but in 2021, very few teams actually use that sort of scheme any more – heck, even the Steelers have stopped trotting out a pair of 250-pound backers in the middle of the field in favor of speedy coverage players like Devin Bush and (pre-injury) Ryan Shazier.

And honestly, it’s not just the Steelers.

If you happen to have tuned into the NFL playoffs this postseason, you’ve surely seen a slew of successful defensive showcases from teams like the Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers all running some iteration of the 3-4 look.

Why? Because teams only play their base package for roughly 30 percent of any given game and thus don’t need to have three start-caliber inside linebackers to successfully stop the run anymore.

No, with teams like the 2020 Eagles going eight deep on the defensive but struggling mightily to find two linebackers who can cover adequately, it just makes more sense to base a, well, base package around having five rushers lined up on the, well, line and a pair of linebackers deployed a few yards back to clean up their mistakes and make plays.

Take, for example, the Eagle base package run by new Chargers head coach Brandon Staley with the Rams in 2020 (Weekly Spiral has a video on the look that you can check out here). The scheme is essentially a wide-9 front – the very same one Schwartz ran for the majority of his career – but with a nose tackle lined up over the center to help stop runs through the A-Gap.

While defensive linemen have different schematic responsibilities in the front than in Schwartz’s 4-3, as Staley would have his linemen read-and-reach to calls in a two-gapping system as opposed to a just pushing forward as one-gappers. The same goes for Staley’s outside linebackers, who will drop into coverage and perform stunts far more often than under Schwartz. With that being said, the Rams were able to record four more sacks than the Eagles in 2020 on only 38 more blitzes because they get creative with their rushes.

Remember how the Eagles would rush four pretty much every play regardless of down and distance? Well, the Rams had eight different non-lineman who recorded double-digit blitzes in 2020 – four outside linebackers, three inside linebackers, and a slot cornerback.

To effectively deploy this sort of post-modern 3-4 front, the Eagles would either need to find a true nose tackle to deploy between Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave – which isn’t hard, as players like Leki Fotu and Bravvion Roy can always be found on Day 3 of the draft. Alternatively, the Eagles could play Hargrave at the zero tech – a role he played very well over his first four seasons in Pittsburgh – and play Brandon Graham on the outside shoulder of an opposing team’s guard like Schwartz did early and often during his five-year tenure.

But what about the outside linebackers? Well, the Eagles are pretty well-positioned there too, as Graham, Derek Barnett, and Genard Avery all played standup rush linebacker before making their debuts in Schwartz’s scheme in 2016, 2017, and 2019 respectively. While Josh Sweat hasn’t played the position either in college or as a pro, he’s a supremely talented rusher who theoretically could play the position too, assuming, of course, he commits himself to learning the ins and outs of dropping into coverage.

And the linebackers? Surely the Eagles can’t run a 3-4 because they lack elite second-level options, right?

Woah, woah, woah, not so fast, my friends.

Yes, historically, teams who run a 3-4 have strength in the middle of the field, but not always. The Rams’ best inside linebackers in 2020 were Micah Kiser, a 2018 fifth-round pick out of Ohio State, and Troy Reeder, a UDFA who transferred from Penn State to Delaware to secure playing time. Alex Singleton is more athletic than either player and has proven himself a capable performer against the run, as a rusher, and in zone coverage. Even if the Eagles opt to use T.J. Edwards as a change of pace strongside option, the Birds at most need to find one more coverage-focused linebacker to play alongside Singleton – assuming, of course, Davion Taylor and/or Shaun Bradley doesn’t become a full-time performer for them in Year 2.

Draft a guy like Micah Parson at sixth overall and boom, the Eagles are practically an elite 3-4 team overnight, but even if they instead use pick six at another position of need (maybe a quarterback? more on that here) the Eagles could still land a linebacker like North Carolina’s Chazz Surratt and suddenly have the most competent interior duo they’ve trotted out since their Super Bowl-winning trifecta of Jordan Hicks, Mychal Kendricks, and Nigel Bradham in 2017.

That’s honestly the beauty of running a 3-4 scheme, especially in 2021: You don’t need to do anything different 70 percent of the time.

Regardless of whether a team runs a 3-4 base package, a 4-3 base package, or even a hybrid of the two, teams always remove a front seven player to go into the nickel package. That means every team really only needs two, ‘every-down’ linebackers to field a formidable front regardless of the scheme. No team, not even the best of the best, only runs a single defensive line combination for the entirety of a game regardless of down and distance. Why not switch to a scheme that highlights the Eagles’ strength – their defensive line – while simplifying the need for elite athletes at a position Roseman refuses to adequately commit resources to?

Why not run a scheme that plays to your players’ strengths, as opposed to trying to fit round pegs into a square hole?

If the Eagles continue to have sub-optimum cornerback play, why not switch to a Cover 2 safety look that employs more varied coverages? Assuming Jalen Mills and Rodney McLeod are both back in 2021 and K’Von Wallace takes a step forward, safety should still be considered a strength and could provide much-needed support both against the run and the pass.

The same goes for outside cornerback. Despite paying a handsome sum for Darius Slay‘s services, Schwartz seemed apprehensive to use the 3-time Pro Bowler one-on-one on an opposing team’s best player for an entire game. Regardless of how the Eagles’ next head coach decides to formulate their defensive front, they could still deploy Slay on an island a la his glory days in Detroit far more frequently.

In 2017, the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense succeeded because of Jim Schwartz’s scheme. In 2020, they were held back by it. There is legitimate talent on the roster, it just needs to be deployed more effectively.

Next. The pros and (many) cons to hiring Josh McDaniels. dark

When Chip Kelly transitioned the Philadelphia Eagles’ tried-and-true 4-3 defensive front to a 3-4, it was out of a place of pride. The ex-Oregon coach felt the alignment gave his offense the best looks and didn’t care that half of his players were poor fits in the scheme. In 2021, the NFL is a very different place, and the Eagles have a roster loaded with very different personnel who fit the new requirements of the scheme much better. With a new head coach on the sidelines, a ton of familiar faces noticeably absent, and a collection of fresh-faced players expected to take their place, why not go all-in on that commitment and try out a new defensive front too?

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