Texans linebackers coach Reggie Herring has taken some time out of his no-longer-so-busy lockout schedule to talk about the basics of Wade Phillips' 3-4 defense with the help of a whiteboard. Fortunately, unlike UPS' old whiteboard commercials, this is both interesting and doesn't involve people with douchey hair.
↵Perhaps the biggest overreaction in the media about Mario Williams' "move" to outside linebacker is that "oh no, he would have to cover people!" Herring goes out of his way to show that this is not true at all, and notes that depending on the play call, they usually rush one of their outside linebackers no matter what out of their base set. Guess which one that is going to be when Mario Williams is on the field? Herring further explains that this is pretty much exactly what they did with DeMarcus Ware in Dallas.
↵The other part I found enlightening in these videos was when Herring talked about switching to a 4-3 on third down, which would help a lot of the current 4-3 transitional guys on the roster (i.e. Amobi Okoye, Mark Anderson, Tim Jamison) get some snaps in a set that they are more used to.
↵Hard not to be optimistic about the team's defense after viewing those videos. Well, if they acquire actual help in the secondary, that is.
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