Florida Football: How would 4-star DE Andrew Chatfield fit in new scheme?
While head coach Dan Mullen begins his tenure with Florida football, recruiting will be a big emphasis on how he can build a solid foundation.
As the new staff inserts its fingerprints on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, the new defensive scheme will be the subject talked about all offseason. In comes new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham with his aggressive 3-4 scheme.
Essentially, a 3-4 defense isn’t as typical as your traditional 4-3 defense, however, it still remains effective in today’s game. Surprisingly, this year’s national championship featured two 3-4 defenses.
In summary, a 3-4 defense is the alignment of three defensive lineman and four linebackers. Florida is currently looking for depth a defensive to help make this scheme work. As of now, Grantham has circled in on the talented weak-side defensive end, four-star Andrew Chatfield.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Fort Lauderdale-native would be the perfect fit in Grantham’s 3-4 scheme. Looking at film, Chatfield shows pure aggression and a consistent motor to finish plays.
During his years of playing high school football he posted mind-blowing numbers. During his junior year, he finished the season with 21 sacks and also added 47 solo tackles while assisting on 37 more. All-in-all, finishing the season with 84 tackles while only playing 14 games. Chatfield wasn’t finished, he came back for his senior campaign with more to prove.
During his senior season, he finished with 14 sacks, 92 total tackles, and even added two interceptions to his impressive film. The numbers speak for the themselves but does Chatfield fit? Absolutely. He shows a quick burst off the edge to get past opposing left tackles. Chatfield also shows versatility — Grantham can scheme Chatfield and have him blitz from the linebacker position as well.
As his recruitment comes to an end, it seems to be between Miami and Florida. Currently 247Sports.com has Miami favorited to land the talented stud. However, reports coming from the site have also reported that Florida seems to be in the driver seat. Chatfield will be on a official visit on Jan. 26 in Gainesville.
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Be on the lookout for many experts to change their predictions for Chatfield to Florida as National Signing Day approaches.