The War Room | HoustonProFootball.com 
April 11, 2005
One Gap or Two?
by Warren DeLuca
HoustonProFootball.com
The defensive line may not be the Texans’ top priority this offseason, but they should address the position at some point during the draft. The team has made significant salary cap commitments to their three starters, Gary Walker, Seth Payne, and Robaire Smith. Walker and Payne, however, are both on the wrong side of 30 and have had injury problems in the past. None of the Texans’ reserve defensive linemen has the look of a future starter.
With so few college teams using a 3-4 base defense, Houston’s personnel department doesn’t have the luxury of seeing most defensive linemen play in a scheme similar to their own. As part of the evaluation process, the Texans must determine whether each prospect who played on the D-line in college is a one-gapper, and two-gapper, or an outside linebacker candidate.
Two-Gappers
A defensive lineman for the Texans must be capable of controlling two gaps in the line. For example, the nose tackle is responsible for the gaps between the center and each of the guards. He needs to be able to at least hold his own against double team blocks, so that the second blocker has to stay with him rather than just chipping him and then going after a linebacker. While a defensive lineman who can do this and make plays himself is ideal, the ability to shut down two gaps usually comes at the expense of great one-on-one pass rush skills.
Two-gappers typically don’t put up the impressive sack and tackle-for-loss stats of defensive linemen who only have to defend one gap, but that doesn’t mean they’re not contributing to the team’s defensive effort. When the linebackers in a 3-4 are able to run free because the blockers are occupied by the defensive linemen, that defense is likely having a very good day. Two-gappers almost always play tackle in a 4-3 defense and usually weigh over 300 lbs.
First Day Prospects: Marcus Spears, LSU; Shaun Cody, Southern Cal; Luis Castillo, Northwestern; Chris Canty, Virginia; Anttaj Hawthorne, Wisconsin; Atiyyah Ellison, Missouri
Spears is the rare college 4-3 end who could play down in an NFL 3-4. He’s probably the top defensive lineman on most teams’ boards regardless of scheme. Cody is quick enough to be a one-gap tackle and strong enough to be a 3-4 end. At 6’7”, 280 lbs., Canty doesn’t have the classic 3-4 dimensions, but he showed in college that he can play the position. Castillo, Hawthorne, and Ellison fit the traditional two-gapper mold.
Best of the Rest: Anthony Bryant, Alabama; Vince Crochunis, Pittsburgh; Jonathan Fanene, Utah; Ronald Fields, Mississippi State; Simon Fraser, Ohio State; Jason Jefferson, Wisconsin; Matt McChesney, Colorado; Sione Pouha, Utah; Darrell Shropshire, South Carolina; Santonio Thomas, Miami
One-Gappers
These players are at their best when they’re free to get upfield and find the ballcarrier but struggle when asked to shut down more than one gap. One-gappers usually have exceptional quickness off the snap but lack the bulk of their two-gapper brethren. That doesn’t mean that they’re off the Texans’ draft board, but 4-3 teams that depend upon their defensive linemen to penetrate tend to value them more than 3-4 teams like the Texans. Houston has drafted a one-gapper before, Keith Wright in 2003, but Wright was only a sixth-round pick. Wright didn’t make the team but has spent time on the rosters of the Colts and Buccaneers, for whom his game is a better fit.
The Texans could try to boost their pass rush with a one gapper who can play one of the tackle positions in the nickel and dime packages. Even though the Texans don’t expect their defensive linemen to be great pass rushers, in 2004 the D-line only had half a sack more than the secondary, so improvement is needed in that area.
First Day Prospects: Travis Johnson, Florida State; Mike Patterson, Southern Cal; Jonathan Babineaux, Iowa
Best of the Rest: Lorenzo Alexander, California; Chris Barry, Nevada; Tim Bulman, Boston College; Eric Coleman, Clemson; Jim Davis, Virginia Tech; Arrion Dixon, Arkansas; Kevin Huntley, Kansas State; Mike Montgomery, Texas A&M; C.J. Mosley, Missouri; Jay Ratliff, Auburn; Bill Swancutt, Oregon State; Jimmy Verdon, Arizona State
Outside Linebackers
Some 4-3 defensive ends can find a home in a 3-4 defense as outside linebackers. A 4-3 end with pass rush skills and enough athletic ability to play from a two-point stance and occasionally drop into pass coverage will be viewed by the Texans as an outside linebacker candidate. 4-3 outside linebackers, while they may be effective blitzers, usually don’t have the size, strength, and block-shedding skills to battle offensive tackles like a 3-4 outside linebacker must, so they end up as inside linebackers. Almost every player that the Texans have acquired to play outside linebacker was once an end in a 4-3 defense.
First Day Prospects: Shawne Merriman, Maryland; Demarcus Ware, Troy; Erasmus James, Wisconsin; David Pollack, Georgia; Justin Tuck, Notre Dame; Dan Cody, Oklahoma; Matt Roth, Iowa
Best of the Rest: Trent Cole, Cincinnati; George Gause, South Carolina; Jovan Haye, Vanderbilt; Jeb Huckeba, Arkansas; Jonathan Jackson, Oklahoma; Khari Long, Baylor; David McMillan, Kansas; Eric Moore, Florida State; Brady Poppinga, Brigham Young; Ryan Riddle, California; Derek Wake, Penn State; Jonathan Welsh, Wisconsin. Another college defensive end, Jonathan Goddard from Marshall, projects to inside linebacker rather than outside because he has height limitations (6’0”) but is instinctive and makes plays. 
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