The Jim Johnson 4-3 Defense

By Scott Carasik

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Teams that use this defense: New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams

Overview

The Jim Johnson 4-3 is the last of the base 4-3 defenses I will cover in this series. His defense is used by multiple teams including San Francisco and Philadelphia. His defense is a zone-blitz style scheme that attempts to create the same kinds of mismatches that the LeBeau 3-4 tries to create.

The defensive line will be in your traditional 1-gap 4-3 under alignment. The DE's will be lined up in identical spots on the outside shoulders of the OT's. The Nose Tackle is in the 1-tech lined up in the strongside A-gap. The Under Tackle is in the 3-tech in the weakside B-gap. The Linebackers are off center and unbalanced. The WOLB is lined over the B-gap on the weakside. The Middle Linebacker is lined up over the B-gap on the strongside. The SOLB is at the LOS lined up on the outside shoulder of the TE. The secondary is lined up in the traditional alignment with the FS 10-12 yards back and across from the weakside OT, the SS 8-10 yards back and across from the strongside OT and the corners lined up over the wide receivers.

Defensive Line Responsibilities

The NT is in charge of the strongside A-gap and plays the 1-technique. They are supposed to be able to get through the gap as quickly as they can and need to be a true penetrator. The UT is in the 3-technique and plays hte same exact role as the NT, but is in weakside B-gap. The weakside DE is supposed to contain the outside run on his side while also creating a lot of outside pressure in the passing game. The Strongside DE is supposed to control the C-gap on his side, and create a lot of outside pressure in the passing game or draw the TE in on a double team. Any of the four defensive lineman will be called to drop back into a short zone from time to time and should be quick enough to cover some ground. The Ideal players for this scheme based on the roles in the 2011 draft:

Strongside DE - Da'Quan Bowers, played 4-3 DE at Clemson University

Nose Tackle - Marcell Dareus, played 3-4 DE at the University of Alabama

Under Tackle - Nick Fairley, played 4-3 DT at Auburn University

Weakside DE - Robert Quinn, played 4-3 DE at University of North Carolina

Linebacker Responsibilities

The Weakside LB is in charge of cleaning up the run game to the weakside. If someone messes up their gap, he is responsible for fixing it. In the passing game, he will normally drop back into an intermediate or short zone and will be expected to blitz around 15% of the time. The Strongside OLB is in charge of the outside in the running game and in the passing game will drop into an intermediate zone and will be expected to blitz around 50% of the time. The Middle Linebacker will be dropping into a zone and will be expected to blitz around 65% of the time. He is also in charge of covering any and all runs in the box as the thumper in the middle. The Ideal players for this scheme based on the roles in the 2011 draft:

Strongside OLB "Sam" - Dontay Moch, played 4-3 DE and OLB at the University of Nevada

Middle LB "Mike" - Quan Sturdivant, played 4-3 OLB at the University of North Carolina

Weakside OLB "Will" - Bruce Carter, played 4-3 OLB at the University of North Carolina

Secondary Responsibilities

There is a lot of blitzing from the safeties, and they will be in robber zones, cover 2 and cover 4 sets as well as multiple other looks. The CB's however are primarily zone cover CB's with a knack for making plays on the ball. The CB's will normally play an intermediate to deep zone. The Ideal players for this scheme based on the roles in the 2011 draft:

#1 CB - Patrick Peterson, played CB at Louisiana State University

#2 CB - Prince Amukamura, played CB at the University of Wisconsin

Free Safety - Aaron Williams, played CB at the University of Texas

Strong Safety - Rahim Moore, played FS at the University of California-Los Angeles