How the does 3-4 work defending against the Shotgun, all pass offense? It works really well against the Pro/I-Form passing offenses, but I did notice it struggles a bit against Trips (3 WR vs 2 CB's) and that might be exacerbated by the Shotgun (4 WR's vs only 2 CB's).

In real football it would get pummeled...and the coach would get fired. In GLB you will be fine if you have good coverage LBs ..and/or flat out better talent. Then it doesn't matter.

Thanks, yeah I was assuming roughly equal talent in the question. I don't have a large sample of data vs. Shotgun offenses. I guess I'll just have to find out.

I and many others have won multiple NC's using the 3/4 . The 2 main things are 1 - level of talent as Realist mentioned.
And 2- What settings to use vs each individual offense. I have multiple playbooks so I can plug in what I need and once in a while will even customize those(especially in big games).
Against top level shotgun teams(shotgun teams in general are rare but top level ones rarer) it will work fine or not depending on how you match up with the first two items I mentioned

The reason everyone uses 3-4 is because it does so well vs. passing offenses. That way you can practice only one defensive formation instead of 4-3 and Nickel, allowing you to either practice it more or spend those minutes on something else. While I assume Nickel would work better against Shotgun, the reality is almost nobody uses Shotgun, and for the few teams that do, you might be able to just beat them with talent and 3-4 as has been mentioned.

I'm not very knowledgeable about defensive formations, gameplanning, etc., but most of the top coaches are using 3-4 so I'm converting all of my teams to that for the time being.

When my shotgun team comes up against a 3-4 defense the best advice I can give them is to kiss their butt goodbye!!!

Serioulsy though, if you look at my Houston team in Bryant, I lost my last game to Memphis who uses 3-4 and am losing to Miami now they are 3-4 also. You can look at play by play to see who's covering who.

One thing to consider "Before" converting to a 3/4 defense is - If there are so many 3/4 teams out there , then it might be a lot easier recruiting for top level 4-3 / Nickel defense since they use fewer lb's then for just another 3/4 ?

I already run the 3-4 (converted to full time this season after spending the two previous seasons practicing it), was just wondering if it might have trouble with Shotgun teams because I haven't had to face one yet. I don't think I'll add a Nickel or Dime into my practice plan based off this thread.

I converted to the 3-4 10 or 11 seasons ago and had some success vs. all formations and game plans. When I recruit I seek LB's with speed as a priority as well as DB's with speed, assuming that I will face teams that are pass oriented and may implement the Shotgun. I practice "dime" 1 minute in the event that I find the 3-4 is not effective vs. Trips or SG passing attacks. Here is what I have found. When facing the SG and trips I drop all 4 LB's into "cover" which gives me 8 defenders covering the pass. If I face a team that runs as well as passes out of either of these formations I adjust accordingly, ie. move 1 or 2 LB's to "line" in an attempt to neutralize the run. Bottom line, if you commit to the 3-4 or any other defense make sure you recruit accordingly!!

Do not hesitate to sitemail me to continue this dialogue.

The 3-4 is not popular anymore. Too many coaches use it.

LOL!!!! "No one goes there anymore, it is too crowded" Yogi

Posted by mojolad on 4/5/2017 3:23:00 PM (view original):
One thing to consider "Before" converting to a 3/4 defense is - If there are so many 3/4 teams out there , then it might be a lot easier recruiting for top level 4-3 / Nickel defense since they use fewer lb's then for just another 3/4 ?

That's a subject I've had many internal debates lol

At least in my world (Warner), there are often some decent LB's that are undecided where the good DL have 3 Sims on them. I have to spend around ~30k on a DL where I can get LB's for one or two CV's.

For my coverage LB's, I also like to factor TECH and even ELU into their ratings. They aren't traditionally looked at for LB's, but I've found that guys who are strong in these categories (particularly TECH) make more INT's.