Wade Phillips ran his 3-4 with a baby sized (relatively) Jay Ratliff. His biggest advantages? Leverage and speed. He weighed 285 pounds and played 0-tech (shaded).
We have guys like Norton and Jenkins who could disrupt the **** out of an offense from the same position (and are actually bigger than Ratliff was in the NFL).
I'd even go so far as to ask both of them to slim down and optimize their get off.
Why do we keep using NFL examples along with a potential hall of fame coordinator and a 4-time pro bowler? Why do these systems work in college? Who in the college ranks can we compare our guys too and is that defense sustainable year to year? Are we going to need grown men and who have "got the system down" to run it effectively?
A 3-4 one gap system is totally sustainable year to year and I was probably the biggest skeptic, from jump, of the 3-4 version D'Ono and Al ran. I called it unlikely to ever be sustainable from the beginning because of its need for guys with 3-4 year strength. Stanford has a lot of those guys and they STILL one gap.
Whatever the **** Aranda does is only tangentially relevant to what I'm talking about:
It is possible, if not totally feasible, to run a sustainable 3-4 defense if you're talking about a one-gap, upfield system.
0-shades need to be quick and play with leverage. We'd need at least one of these types to run an effective 4-3, anyway.
3-techs need length and explosiveness. We'd need these types to run an effective 4-3, anyway.
5-techs need length and versatility. If anything, I think SoFla is now growing many of these types. We have at least 2 committed to us right now.
6+ need speed, length, flexibility. Should not be a problem.
At LB, FSU ran an effective 3-4 with Telvin Smith tipping the scales at just over 210 and wirey. We can get these types.
All the style of DBs we need grow here and would/should want to play in an aggressive, up-field scheme that makes them look better.
I'm not even a strict 3-4 guy, but I don't see the problem.