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The Commanders use a base 4-3 defense, but could they adopt more 3-4 principles in 2025?
I’ve been wondering if a potential scheme change could be on the cards. I don’t think it will necessarily be a huge scheme change, more of a package that they did use last year but one that could become much more of a staple for them this season. The Commanders are a base 4-3 team, meaning when they line up in a base defense, they have four defensive lineman and three linebackers on the field. But I’m wondering if head coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. might be considering using more three-man fronts that look more like a 3-4 defense.
This was something I first wondered about last offseason when the team drafted Johnny Newton in the second round. Newton joined Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen as notable defensive tackles and I wondered if the Commanders might try and get all three on the field at once. They did do that at times last year, but that package was heavily restricted, first by Newton’s injuries that held him out during the offseason and then by Allen’s injury that kept him out for a good chunk of the season too.
So without being able to use all three of Allen, Newton and Payne for a good chunk of the season, the Commanders had to stick to their normal four-man fronts. But the run defense was really struggling, especially on the edge. That led to the Commanders trying out some different ideas to help sure up the edges, including using Daron Payne as a defensive end in those four-man fronts.
Against good rushing teams, the Commanders employed this tactic more frequently down the stretch, often using Jalyn Holmes at the other end spot too. Holmes is a bigger defensive end, listed at 6-foot-5, 283 pounds. That’s getting closer to undersized defensive tackle than defensive end type of size.
Here’s an example of Payne and Holmes playing the end spots against the Falcons, with Newton and Allen inside. Again, this is a four-man front but with three defensive tackles on the field, and the fourth defensive lineman is almost an undersized defensive tackle rather than a typical defensive end. Payne plays on the strong side of the offense, meaning he has to contend with both the left tackle and the tight end. But being a defensive tackle that is used to double teams from guards and centers, a double team from a tackle and tight end is light work for him.
At the snap of the ball, Payne is super aggressive with the tight end, driving him backwards to try...
