Georgia football: why current 3-4 defense is better than Todd Grantham’s

Personnel

Both teams run 3-4 defenses, so you’d think both would have the same personnel. Nose guard in the middle of the line, flanked by two defensive ends, who are then flanked by two outside linebackers. Behind them, two inside linebackers. But college football in 2019 is much more sophisticated than that. Coaches put their own spins on formations. Some even dump the idea of a singular base formation altogether.

Georgia’s defense is perhaps the best example in the SEC East. We use 3-4 players, but only occasionally line up in 3-4 formations. We run a lot of 4-3 formations and the nickel 3-3-5 and 4-2-5 are the defaults for obvious passing downs. This array of formations means that no one is pigeonholed by position.

The defensive end position is a good example. Jonathan Ledbetter is an edge rushing defensive end, not the kind of DE you’d expect to find playing in a 3-4. But technically, he doesn’t play in a 3-4. When Georgia used him, the defense played with four men on the line with a nose guard beside him and a defensive tackle beyond him. But it’s still a 3-4 defense because the other defensive end is actually the Jack linebacker. Last year that was usually D’Andre Walker.

When Georgia used a typical 3-4 formation, Ledbetter was subbed out for a defensive tackle. because in those formations, the outside backers have the edge. An edge rushing defensive end isn’t necessary. But power, run stuffers and block occupiers are.

But Todd Grantham’s defense isn’t as sophisticated. They rarely leave base 3-4. When they do, it’s to switch to a 2-4-5 nickel. Even when one of the outside linebackers is dropped into coverage, the defensive end still plays tight, not in a position to rush off the edge. That essentially pigeonholes the defensive end into one role. In his defenses, the outside backers play the edge, ends play in the interior. At Georgia, that’s all based on formation and situations.

That pigeonholing has other effects. Look at former Georgia defensive end Ray Drew. He was one of the best defensive ends coming out of high school, known for being an edge rusher. We even gave him the number 47 in honor of David Pollack. All the experts said Georgia would move Drew to outside linebacker to make the most of his pass rushing. But Grantham kept him at defensive end, never utilizing his defining trait.

The biggest effect of the pigeonholing leads to the next reason why Georgia is better off without Grantham.