Drew’s back from summer break to talk about the structure of the K-State defense, starting with the defensive line.
I’d like to welcome myself back to Bring on the Cats. It’s been (and still is) a long, hot, sweaty (so, so sweaty) summer in Athens, Georgia. We’re in the portion of summer where I refuse to wear a shirt and walk around with a towel draped over my neck like Big Pun. I want nothing more than respite of a mid-October football game in Manhattan where everything is a little less soggy, and sweat actually evaporates, but we’ve got some business to attend to before we can be comfortable again.
Before we get to early October and bearable temperatures, we’ve got to get through August, and while not as enjoyable as fall football, late summer with football is better than late summer without football.
What I’m trying to say is…
I’m ready to talk about some Wildcat Football!
As always, I try and give you loyal folks something free that the pay sites don’t cover. Kansas State Sports Media has dedicated dudes that pound the pavement, attend practice, attend games, talk to the recruits, and generally live K-State sports all-day-every-day.
That’s not me. I’ve got nothing but respect for those guys, and if you want solid reporting and the inside scoop on recruiting, I suggest you check out one of those sites. I’m going to get the personnel, but not in this article. If you’re down to learn a little about the structure of the K-State defense…welcome to the show.
All of my preseason articles will be in the “roster reset” stream.
3-3-5 Stack Basics
Most of y’all are already familiar with the basics of the 3-3-5 since the ‘Cats adopted the look a couple seasons ago, but I thought I’d start with a brief review of the position groups before focusing on the defensive line.
Orange Box – Defensive Line
Green Box – Linebackers
Blue Triangle – Corners
Purple Circle – Nickle Back
Light Blue Circle – Strong Safety
Yellow Circle – Free Safety
Defensive Line
Defensive End
Position
Green Dot – Weak Side Defensive End
Yellow Dot – Strong Side Defensive End
Job Description
A 3-man front changes the responsibilities of the defensive end. Generally speaking, defensive ends aren’t the featured pass rushers like in a traditional 4-man front. They can, and do, rush the passer, but when you’ve got 5 offensive linemen blocking 3 on the defensive line, it requires a supreme effort or supreme talent (like Felix Anudike-Uzomah) to get the job done.
The main job of the defensive front in the 3-3-5 is to eat blocks and maintain the line of scrimmage. Everything after that is gravy.
Physical Prototype
Some schools employ a distinct strong side and weak side defensive end. The Wildcats tend to put two guys that would traditionally be considered “strong side” defensive ends on the field. These guys are usually on the taller side (6’4”+) and heavier side (250+) for defensive ends, as a hedge against a physical run game.
That’s the case this season.
Nose Tackle
Position
Red Dot
Job Description
The nose tackle’s job in the 3-man front is to take on the center and guard and plug one of the A-Gaps. Nose tackle is a key position for this defense. They don’t put up much in terms of stats, but that’s because they’re essentially being assaulted by 2, 300-pound men on every snap.
While defenses have evolved over the years, some things never change. Show me a team that can’t control the center of the line, and I’ll show you a team that can’t stop the run. It’s that simple and explains a good bit of the defensive regression against the run last season.
Physical Prototype
Human Refrigerator
William Perry is from my hometown of Aiken, South Carolina and went to my rival high school, so I’m allowed to use this reference (Michael Dean Perry went to my high school). It’s pretty self-explanatory. These are the guys that are impossibly big. I’m 6’3”, 210, no one in the real world considers me “small” but these guys make me look like a child.
This type of player is better against the pass than the run in most cases because they can get their hands up and block passing lanes, making the quarterbacks job that much more difficult.
The problem with this type of player is twofold:
1: They make up .000000000001 (a guess) of the population, making them extremely hard to recruit.
2: They tend to need rests during the game because moving all of that weight around is physically taxing, much less playing football while moving all of that weight around.
Human Fire Hydrant
The human fire hydrant style of nose tackle is short, stocky, and impossible to move backwards. They don’t necessarily have to be huge, but they’ve got be freakishly strong, especially in the lower body. Dudes in this category tend to have massive…ahem…rear ends (dare I say caked up?) and bad attitudes. It takes a special kind of sicko to enjoy getting mashed by a center and guard on every play, and the human fire hydrant nose tackle is just that type of sicko.
I actually like shorter, stockier nose guards against run oriented teams because they can st
Overall
Every defense has a strength and corresponding weakness.
The more traditional 4-man front (DE, DT, DT, DE) stands up better against the run and tends to generate more pass rush. When you take a defensive tackle off the field, holding up against a power run team is tough. In the end, physics wins, and you’ve simply got more mass accelerating towards the defensive line than you’ve got mass on the defensive line accelerating towards the offensive line.
The tradeoff is the ability to put more speed in the secondary while also avoiding bad matchups against a “tempo” based team that wants to trap your defense on the field. You can always find a spare defensive back in the 3-3-5. In the 4-3 you end up with more linebackers in coverage, and that’s not a good thing most of the time.
At the same time, the 3-man front allows the defense to put another defensive back on the field to slow down more pass-oriented offenses. Also, it’s much easier to find an elite safety than to find 2 good defensive tackles. There are significantly more people in the general population that fit into the “safety” physical parameters, and significantly fewer that were born to play nose tackle.
Other than the Missouri loss, every team that beat the Wildcats mashed them on the ground. Oklahoma State up 174 rushing yards. Texas ran for 230. Iowa State went for 258. Even Kansas got into the act, running for 234 yards, keeping the game close.
Whoever lines up on the defensive line this season has to hold up better. In my opinion, defensive line is the limiting factor for this defense. They don’t have to be great, but they need to be functional and hold up against the run reasonably well.
The ‘Cats have a ton of speed on defense, but can the defensive front let them fly around the field instead of getting squished by guards at the second level and steamrolled by untouched running backs sprinting through the line?
If the line holds up, this defense is elite.
If it doesn’t, stopping the run is going to be a tough and the offensive will need to be both explosive and efficient to make up the difference.