Cleveland Browns: Garrett and Chubb could be the Yin and Yang of defensive ends

Cleveland Browns general manager John Dorsey is committed to taking the best player available. Is that player Bradley Chubb?

There is a lot of buzz linking North Carolina State defensive end Bradley Chubb to the Cleveland Browns at pick No. 4. The buzz is justified due to his quick get off and excellent technique at the defense end position.

The most recent buzz compares Chubb to Browns defensive end Myles Garrett. Some claim that Chubb is a better NFL prospect than Garrett. Danny Kelly of the Ringer.com did an excellent job of comparing Chubb and Garrett. He concludes that Garrett is a better NFL prospect in terms of overall talent but that Chubb is more polished as a defender coming out of college.

One thing Kelly’s excellent analysis does not address is the fact that Garrett and Chubb played in different styles of defense. Yes, both played in a 4-3 scheme but not all 4-3 schemes are created equally. Even though the trend in the media is to discount scheme on the basis of the amount of nickel defense played in the NFL, but scheme does matter when evaluating defensive line prospects entering the NFL draft.

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A 4-3 defense is one in which there are four defensive linemen in a 3-point or 4-point stance. Along with these linemen there are three linebackers on the field at the same time. These defensive linemen and linebackers can line up in the box in various ways. The alignment of the defensive front is often determined by how the defensive coordinator wants to approach defense overall.

In the case of Browns defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, good defenses are supposed to apply pressure to force the offense into mistakes. Hence, his defense attempts to attack the offense. The most effective manner in attacking an offense is to assign gaps to the defenders and tell them to attack the gap at the snap and disrupt the play. Therefore, Gregg Williams runs an attacking style 4-3 defense. This is obviously oversimplified to make a point.

Heading into the 2017 NFL draft, Garrett was the perfect 4-3 defensive end prospect for a 4-3 attacking style defense. He played in an attacking style defense at Texas A&M. His strength was his firing off the ball and getting into the backfield. His pure athleticism made him wildly successful at this style of defense. His style of play was easy to project to the Browns because he would be doing the same thing in the NFL for the Browns.

Take a look at his game in 2016 versus Alabama. Notice that he is firing into gaps and not the offensive tackle. Also notice that Alabama (for the most part) stayed away from him all game.

Chubb played in a different style of defense. Instead of shooting gaps and looking to disrupt the play in the backfield, the North Carolina State defense played a more of a read and react defense. They fired out into the offensive linemen then made their move based on what the offensive player was trying to do to them. They read the offensive lineman and reacted.

This style of defense is just as aggressive as an attacking style defense but in a different way. As where the attacking style assigns one gap per defender. This style assigns two-gaps per defender. The 4-3 double gap defense requires the ability to engage an offensive linemen, bench press him off then make a move to get to the ball carrier.

As per this extremely over simplified analysis, the double gap style defense requires the use of more refined technique to be effective.

See how this plays out when Bradley Chubb’s Wolfpack took on the Florida State Seminoles. This game is a good opportunity to see Chubb’s pass rush ability along with his double gap technique against the run.

Which style is better is really a matter of personal choice. But each style requires a different skill set. The attacking gap style defense requires speed, quickness and a very quick “get off” the ball. Garrett excels at this.

The double gap scheme requires strength, patience and the technique to engage then disengage from defenders. Chubb does an excellent job with the technical aspects of defensive end play. He is not quite the athlete as Garrett and Garrett is not quite the technician as Chubb.

In scouting terms, this means Chubb has a higher floor as he comes into the NFL having already developed the skills necessary to play the position. But Garrett has the higher ceiling due to his athleticism.

The challenge for Garrett is to take his athleticism and develop the skills necessary to play the position. The challenge for Chubb (should he be chosen by the Browns) will be to learn to use his athleticism in an attacking style system.

Drafting Bradley Chubb and pairing him with Myles Garrett would give the Browns the Yin and the Yang of defensive ends. Garrett is the uber athletic freak in need of refinement. Chubb is the uber technical player who needs to unleash his athleticism.

Next: Former Browns quarterbacks making headlines

If these two can keep each other in balance, they will terrorize the NFL.

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