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The Gus Bradley/Pete Carroll/Tony Dungy/Floyd Peters/Monte Kiffin/George Siefert 43/34 defense has been around college forever and the NFL since the mid 1980's, on and off.
The big difference between old versions and the one will be using, based on what Gus Bradley has done recently is:
1). Use 3 bigger DL and 1 rush Tweener/Hybird OLB/DE.
2). Unlike his co-worker Carroll and Bradley always seemed to like playing more press coverage in a 3 deep secondary, while the cover 2 guys (Kiffin and Dungy) prefered the 2 deep secondary. And Seattle is a rarity in that they tend to play a lot of man to man, while most of the other 34/43 over teams tend to play more zone (which is how most teams tend to play pass coverage anyway).
3). The latest incarnation of the Bradley-Carroll version is that they play a lot more 2 gapping, while other defenses have been mostly 1 gap defenses. It hurts their early run down pass rush, but puts their DL in a better position to contain the run, allowing the LB more room to run.
Defensive terminology
Leo - Rush OLB/DE - This position was what Charles Haley used to play for the 49ers under George Siefert and was called the Elephant back then. Basically, you flip flop the Leo/Elephant DE to the open side of the formation, so he won't get slowed down by the TE. But by flip flopping him, it also means he will be a bit slower off the ball, since he has to learn 2 sets of hand/foot motions. But the Leo, despite looking and being called a LB in some forms of the 34/43 D, is just a pass rusher. THey only drop him into pass coverage when running zone blitzes. Usually the player aligns wide, forcing the OT to come out in space to block him, and defend the C gap (outside the OT). Athletic abilty is the most important quality.
SAM/Otto- Drop OLB - This is the position KJ Wright plays for the Seawaks and Bill Romanowski played for the 49ers. The Leo is the rusher, so the other OLB has to cover. Usuaully, but not always this player will get moved to play DE on passing downs, but it depends on what the player is good at. Most of the time, the player aligns outside the TE, and never can get reached in the run game. This technique is the 9 technique spot in the D. Often has the TE in man coverage. Will follow him in motion.
5 Technique DE - Bosa will play this spot. The key is he has to be a good outside leverage guy, who can squeeze down the strong side C gap, but not allow him to get hooked inside. This guy has to work with the SAM/OTTO player and prevetn the outside run, so the Free Safety can come up and fill the inside gaps and takeaway the cutback.
3 technique DT - In Seattle D, this guy has to be stout and is often used as a s 2 gap player. Even when he is a 1 gapping, he is not to get too far upfield. This is a major difference from most 3 technique guys, who are asked to penetrate and disrupt the offensive backfield. The Bradley/Carroll D, the guy is a leverage player vs the run. On passing downs, a smaller quicker guy will be brought in. Probably the ideal guy would have been John Parella or Shawn Lee. Guys who can get in a gap and then not get moved out no matter what. Liuget is the guy who would play this spot if the season started tomorrow.
1 technique DT - This is Mebane's old poisition, and is pretty much exactly how we have used our NT. A guy like Mebane may play it more like a 2 gap, or a tilt techique (line up in 1 gap, but playing on an angle so that he can close down and read the gap on the other side of the C), so that he is playing along the line, rather than penetating. This player may also get subbed out on passing downs. I expect Mebane and Square will play this spot.
The key thing that has made the Carroll D so successful is that he has been extremely felxible in how he has used his personnel. Not too many HC would be willing to play Red Bryant as your starting DE weighing 323 pounds, when Mebane and Alan Branch were both smaller and faster than Bryant was. But Bryant had the outside leverage and would never get hooked, so they were almost impossible to run outside on. Mebane was avalible to almost everyone but because he is short and not real big, only Seattle realized that if he was 6'4" he would weight about 350lbs, and at 6' was so short no one could get low enough to get leverage on him. But when Bryant got too expensive, they replaced him with Cliff Avril (who weighs about 260lbs), and their run D is still awesome.
The point is that they don't get hung up on having a prototype guy for a position, they just worry about what each player needs to do to make the D successful. Whether it is Red Bryant at DE, or Cliff Avril, the 5 technique DE can't get hooked and caught inside. IF the 3 technique is a quick guy, they let him get into the gap, but the key is not over penetrating, which is why Alan Branch played the spot at 330lbs, and probably never got into the backfield all season.
The other big thing that has made Seattle so good is that they do the rugby tackling and they practice tackling every single day. Thy don't tackle live or in pads, but they do some work every single day. The Seahawks haven't led the league with the fewest missed tackles every year (not sure if they have done it at all), but they are consistently among the leaders and they allow very, very few yards after contact. It has been a huge part of their success. It has been a huge part of the Chargers failings on D, allowing players to get a lot more yardage, even when the D has basically defended a play pretty well.
The big difference between old versions and the one will be using, based on what Gus Bradley has done recently is:
1). Use 3 bigger DL and 1 rush Tweener/Hybird OLB/DE.
2). Unlike his co-worker Carroll and Bradley always seemed to like playing more press coverage in a 3 deep secondary, while the cover 2 guys (Kiffin and Dungy) prefered the 2 deep secondary. And Seattle is a rarity in that they tend to play a lot of man to man, while most of the other 34/43 over teams tend to play more zone (which is how most teams tend to play pass coverage anyway).
3). The latest incarnation of the Bradley-Carroll version is that they play a lot more 2 gapping, while other defenses have been mostly 1 gap defenses. It hurts their early run down pass rush, but puts their DL in a better position to contain the run, allowing the LB more room to run.
Defensive terminology
Leo - Rush OLB/DE - This position was what Charles Haley used to play for the 49ers under George Siefert and was called the Elephant back then. Basically, you flip flop the Leo/Elephant DE to the open side of the formation, so he won't get slowed down by the TE. But by flip flopping him, it also means he will be a bit slower off the ball, since he has to learn 2 sets of hand/foot motions. But the Leo, despite looking and being called a LB in some forms of the 34/43 D, is just a pass rusher. THey only drop him into pass coverage when running zone blitzes. Usually the player aligns wide, forcing the OT to come out in space to block him, and defend the C gap (outside the OT). Athletic abilty is the most important quality.
SAM/Otto- Drop OLB - This is the position KJ Wright plays for the Seawaks and Bill Romanowski played for the 49ers. The Leo is the rusher, so the other OLB has to cover. Usuaully, but not always this player will get moved to play DE on passing downs, but it depends on what the player is good at. Most of the time, the player aligns outside the TE, and never can get reached in the run game. This technique is the 9 technique spot in the D. Often has the TE in man coverage. Will follow him in motion.
5 Technique DE - Bosa will play this spot. The key is he has to be a good outside leverage guy, who can squeeze down the strong side C gap, but not allow him to get hooked inside. This guy has to work with the SAM/OTTO player and prevetn the outside run, so the Free Safety can come up and fill the inside gaps and takeaway the cutback.
3 technique DT - In Seattle D, this guy has to be stout and is often used as a s 2 gap player. Even when he is a 1 gapping, he is not to get too far upfield. This is a major difference from most 3 technique guys, who are asked to penetrate and disrupt the offensive backfield. The Bradley/Carroll D, the guy is a leverage player vs the run. On passing downs, a smaller quicker guy will be brought in. Probably the ideal guy would have been John Parella or Shawn Lee. Guys who can get in a gap and then not get moved out no matter what. Liuget is the guy who would play this spot if the season started tomorrow.
1 technique DT - This is Mebane's old poisition, and is pretty much exactly how we have used our NT. A guy like Mebane may play it more like a 2 gap, or a tilt techique (line up in 1 gap, but playing on an angle so that he can close down and read the gap on the other side of the C), so that he is playing along the line, rather than penetating. This player may also get subbed out on passing downs. I expect Mebane and Square will play this spot.
The key thing that has made the Carroll D so successful is that he has been extremely felxible in how he has used his personnel. Not too many HC would be willing to play Red Bryant as your starting DE weighing 323 pounds, when Mebane and Alan Branch were both smaller and faster than Bryant was. But Bryant had the outside leverage and would never get hooked, so they were almost impossible to run outside on. Mebane was avalible to almost everyone but because he is short and not real big, only Seattle realized that if he was 6'4" he would weight about 350lbs, and at 6' was so short no one could get low enough to get leverage on him. But when Bryant got too expensive, they replaced him with Cliff Avril (who weighs about 260lbs), and their run D is still awesome.
The point is that they don't get hung up on having a prototype guy for a position, they just worry about what each player needs to do to make the D successful. Whether it is Red Bryant at DE, or Cliff Avril, the 5 technique DE can't get hooked and caught inside. IF the 3 technique is a quick guy, they let him get into the gap, but the key is not over penetrating, which is why Alan Branch played the spot at 330lbs, and probably never got into the backfield all season.
The other big thing that has made Seattle so good is that they do the rugby tackling and they practice tackling every single day. Thy don't tackle live or in pads, but they do some work every single day. The Seahawks haven't led the league with the fewest missed tackles every year (not sure if they have done it at all), but they are consistently among the leaders and they allow very, very few yards after contact. It has been a huge part of their success. It has been a huge part of the Chargers failings on D, allowing players to get a lot more yardage, even when the D has basically defended a play pretty well.
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