Move to 3-4 scheme helps defensive end
ASHBURN – The compensation didn’t boost his confidence, though in truth that hardly mattered. What Adam Carriker knew was this: The Redskins had just traded for Donovan McNabb, had a defensive coach he liked and played a scheme many said suited him better.
The official terms of the trade involved Washington and St. Louis swapping picks in the fifth and seventh rounds. The unofficial term, according to Carriker, was a bit different.
“They traded me for a donut and a cup of coffee,” he said. “They didn’t trade me for much, but this was a better situation for me anyway.”
And he hopes that’s abundantly clear to the Rams, whom he’ll face Sunday.
“I’ve been looking forward to this game since I got here,” Carriker said.
The 6-foot-6, 315-pound end is playing the best of Washington’s defensive linemen, coming off a game in which he had a tackle for a loss and finished with a half sack and a quarterback hurry.
He’s exactly what the Redskins had hoped for in a 3-4 end, so far at least.
“He’s big, strong and powerful and plays his gap,” Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said. “I didn’t know he was that strong. I knew he was big, but I didn’t know he was that powerful.”
But in St. Louis, Carriker was known by another name: bust. He was a former first-round pick who didn’t work out, though many said he was miscast in a 4-3 front. In that scheme, linemen need to get upfield faster. In a 3-4, they move more laterally, holding blocks to free linebackers.
After the trade, Rams general manager Billy Devaney said, “He did the best he could, but it hasn’t been a great scheme for him.”
Ironically, current Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett was in the same position with St. Louis when the Rams drafted Carriker in 2007. Haslett said they thought they could turn him into a pass-rushing tackle.
“He never really panned out,” Haslett said. “He’s perfect for what he does here. It was a great pickup.”
Reuniting with Haslett let Carriker know he still had worth.
“If I wasn’t that good, he wouldn’t have wanted to bring me here,” Carriker said. “I had played a 4-3 my whole life until all of a sudden I can’t play it? That’s what the perception was.”
He also said he got a little bit of a bad rap by the fans. As a rookie he started all 16 games, rarely leaving the game. His second year, he only started nine games and missed one.
“I was out there with an arm I could barely move and an ankle I could barely move,” he said.
But that wasn’t a good enough explanation for some. And now he’s in Washington.
“They didn’t want him there,” Phillip Daniels said. “When a team doesn’t want you, that makes you a little angry.”
