Coach Fox confirms Broncos to shift to 4-3 defense
Denver coach John Fox confirmed that the Broncos will switch to the 4-3 defense next season, according to The Denver Post on Friday. The Broncos moved to the 3-4 front under Josh McDaniels before the 2009 season after employing the 4-3 for 14 seasons under coach Mike Shanahan. "I think we'll make the commitment to the 4-3. The transition from the 3-4 to 4-3 is much easier than going from the 4-3 to 3-4," Fox told the newspaper. "So we feel pretty confident about that switch." The Broncos finished this season last in the league in total defense (390.8 yards per game) and scoring defense (29.4 points per game). The Post reports that outside linebackers Elvis Dumervil and Robert Ayers would likely resume their natural defensive end roles in the 4-3. The switch could also impact how the Broncos use their No. 2 overall pick in April's draft. "We're working through that with our personnel people, both our pro and college," Fox said.
Makes sense. Fox has always used a 4-3 to the best of my knowledge. That puts the Broncos in the market for a monster DE to play across from Dumerville so D'Quan Bowers may be a likely choice at the #2 spot. He'll compete with Robert Ayers a previous #1 pick. Ayers and Mario Haggans are 270 pounders who played the OLB spots in the Broncos former 3-4 defense but now may backup the starting DE spots.