North Carolina Defensive Coordinator, Jay Bateman, made a name for himself at Army with his use of delayed pressures. Most notably the one that hit home versus Oklahoma in 2018 (below). A delayed pressure is a great way to give the presentation of drop-eight (rush three) only to have the ILB away from the RB insert on the guard. The goal is to get a static guard to block a more athletic LB.
The design of a modern 3-4 is to get LBs that can pressure yet drop out into coverage. This use of 240 lbs LBs as rushers is nothing new. The main transition has been to put them in the middle of the formation instead of always on the edge. This has fundamentally changed defenses. The 4-3 Under was created to get an athletic 3 technique in a one-on-one on a run-blocking guard. The natural evolution as the Spread has grown in popularity is to have LBs become major players in rushing the passer. James Light had a great tweet from a college coach explaining the idea behind using LBs, something Belichick has been using to kill the NFL for years.
Had a college coach reach out to me through DM about my post, explains the philosophy of Patricia/Belichick in terms of creating rush vs drafting/paying for it. https://t.co/MBMB5vPJou pic.twitter.com/Q22YIAtF76
— James Light (@JamesALight) April 21, 2020