Terrance Knighton signed with the Redskins after visiting a number of teams hoping to find a large multi-year contract after a record season for the Denver Broncos. This marks the third defensive lineman the Redskins signed this free agency including Ricky Jean-Francois and Stephen Paea earlier this week. In this breakdown we’ll see how Terrance Knighton fits into the Redskins’ new 3-4 Under led by defensive coordinator Joe Barry.
Earlier this week we took a deeper a look into the 3-4 Under the Redskins will employ after they signed Stephen Paea to a 4 yr - $21 mil contract. Click here for that full breakdown. To re-iterate, in a traditional 3-4 Okie defense the nose tackle and the defensive ends play two gaps. In the 3-4 Under, the nose tackle and the strongside defensive end in 5-technique play one-gap to aggressively penetrate the backfield, while the other defensive end holds two gaps on the weakside of the formation. Due to this change in responsibilities, the nose tackle position requires a different skill-set and ideal body size than your prototypical 3-4 Okie defense. Typically, Wade Phillips uses a nose tackle that stands around 6’3″ 300 lbs like Jay Ratliff when he coached the Cowboys.… Article continues here