my main question regarding the switch regards arguably our biggest game changer on defense, being Agim. i cant see him playing nose guard over the center getting double teamed every play. so that leaves DE in the 3-4 which is basically a glorified block eater to keep lineman off the LB’s. this would seem like a waste of immense talent to me. i know he put on alot of weight to play interior D-line last yr, could he get down to 270-275 and play rush outside LB and maintain his athleticism? ive seen LB’s that big in the NFL thrive, could b a great fit with him on one edge and Ramsey on the other, with Greenlaw and Harris manning the 2 ILB spots. i assume Bijhon will fill the nose tackle role with Capps. then guys like Marshall and Guidry playing the end spots. am i way off here or does that sound somewhat logical?
I am concerned about the impact it will have on Agim. I do think he is good enough, though, that he will still be extremely productive. My opinion, for what its worth, is that overall I think it will be beneficial because it will allow us to get more speed on the field. Also, we are extremely thin at DL and this takes away one DL spot on the field. I think at LB, we have a couple proven guys with Greenlaw and Harris. I think the sky is the limit for Ramsey, and there are a few more young guys (Redshirt FR & Sophomores) that has a lot of upside. Overall, I think our LB roster is deeper and more talented than our DL roster. This is also a reason I questioned moving Froholdt to the offensive line. It took away depth from the defensive side of the ball. Changing to 3-4 will help minimize our weakness and put better football players on the field, in my opinion.
I think it does. Arkansas has always been able to recruit those hybrid type defensive players that has decent speed and ranges between 220-230lbs.
i totally agree it is easier to recruit LB’s/hybrid players than 300lb linemen who can run, for the simple fact there are more of them roaming the earth. i just know we need to get the best 11 on the field, i think we would all agree our defensive line class from last yr was pretty good. in their freshman seasons, both Agim and Capps proved they were SEC caliber players and i heard nothin but good things about Guidry and Marshall from practices. i assume 3 of our lb spots are locks with Greenlaw, Harris and Ramsey, so maybe on 3rd/obvious passing downs we could move Agim to OLB to rush passer which would get some of our other pass rushing lineman on field.
Agim won’t be playing nose and will a DE, probably a 4 technique. Hopefully Rhoads will have an attacking 3-4 where the linemen and LB’s will be lining up and confusing the offense. Agim can be a disrupter and cause all kinds of problems to an offense but if he can take up 2 blockers our LB’s should be free to make tackles.
I have a feeling Bielema and Rhodes will look at it much like Wade Phillips did with Denver.