Bill Belichick, Vince Wilfork, and the New England Patriots defense – Grantland

In case you missed this article from Chris Brown it’s a dandy. The scary thing to think about though is how reliant the Patriots seem on Wilfork to give them their scheme versatility. I don’t want to ever have to see what they’d do without him anchoring the middle, but it certainly makes you wonder what they’d have to throw together. Hopefully that’s a question for after his retirement.

By combining these techniques into one defense, Belichick achieves what seems most important to him these days — versatility. He’s able to plug different guys into different spots while knowing he has Wilfork anchoring the middle. As NFL offenses have become more and more spread, Belichick’s defenses have become more versatile. With one or two players 2-gapping on a given play, the outside linebackers in particular are free to blitz, drop into coverage, and attack running backs all over the field. Belichick rarely lets his scheme turn into a true 4-3; more often, he’ll use the same assignments for each defender but use 3-4 personnel. The variations are endless. And it all works because Wilfork is in the middle, dominating his gaps and putting his blocker on skates.