re: Question for ppl who know football: 4-3 vs 3-4

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In the era of the spread offense, a true 4-3 won't cut it. You're sacrificing speed for strength, and unless you're in the Big 10, you just don't see many teams running true pro-style (old school) offenses. Michigan State, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, etc... Those schools run traditional offenses, but they've also added wrinkles to account for personnel.

With that said, a true 3-4 isn't run all that much either. You really need three ridiculously big down linemen to effectively fill the middle (both A gaps and both B gaps). Most of your Will or Same linebackers are hybrid SS types that can cover the flats in pass coverage and make tackles off the edges in space. The two Mike backers will clean up anything that gets to the line of scrimmage or beyond between the tackles (in theory), which means they are primarily "read and react" and they are excellent in pursuit.

Regardless, you've got the same personnel (once again, in theory) that are in the secondary. Ideally, you've got two lockdown corners, a ballhawk at free safety, and a rover type guy at SS that can do it all (LSU has had a number of really good SS dating back to the early 2000's), but the primary focus on the SS is run support and tackling.

The 3-4 is, nowadays, a far more effective defensive scheme than any true 4-man front, mainly because it allows you to replace one down lineman with another linebacker/hybrid type of player that can assist more effectively in pass coverage, but also possesses the ability to carry his weight in run support off the edges.

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