A Survey of the Current 3-4 Teams.

Given our "evolution" to a 3-4 defense, what changes are likely to overtake our roster this off season? In order to answer that, I took a look at the rosters of the 9 teams currently utilizing a 3-4 defense as their base defense as reported at NFL.Com. Those nine teams include the Ravens, Browns, Steelers, Dolphins, Patriots, Jets, Chargers, Cowboys and 49ers.

Typically, the Packers have kept between 9 and 11 d-linemen on the roster and between 5 and 7 linebackers. Usually either 14 or 15 players total in the front 7 on defense. Most teams using a 3-4 defense keep 15 front 7 defensive players on their rosters. San Francisco and New England have 14 and Baltimore has 16. All others have 15, so that is likely to stay the same going forward, but the mix of those players will be different for us going forward.

The most likely combination from the 9 teams currently running a 3-4 is to keep 6 d-linemen and 9 linebackers. All of the teams carried between 6 and 8 d-linemen. The average was 6.444. Miami carried 8, two teams carried 7 and 6 carried 6. The nine teams also carried between 7 and 10 linebackers. The average here was 8.444. Only Miami carried 7, and only Baltimore carried 10. Four teams had 8 and 3 had 9.