Basics

Fundamentals : Single High Safety

I have to tell you, I’m pretty excited about the next two weeks on the blog. There is a lot of great information coming your way! Today we’ll wrap up our defensive fundamentals (for now). Next week, since we’ve been talking about so many different formations, we’ll talk about how to identify who is on the field and what they are doing when a) the player’s position is unclear and/or b) the funky formation is unclear. It should help a TON.

For now, let’s finish up on defense and talk about an increasingly popular defensive look: deploying the single high safety.

Let’s turn to our new friend Coach Billick for a basic introduction to the single high safety concept:

Not too bad, right? The single high safety is usually the free safety. He plays zone up high, hence the name, “single high safety.” There are just a few nuances from last week’s lesson on zone coverage, so let’s go over them.

Here’s the formation that Coach Billick drew up:

There are a few interesting things to note in this formation. Take a look at the defensive line and the second level. From a numbers standpoint only, it looks like a fairly traditional 4-3 formation, right? Four guys on D-line, 3 backers behind. But when we look at the letters, we see that Coach Billick has actually drawn up something that looks like a variation of a 3-4 offense, in which there are 3 defensive linemen on the field and 4 linebackers.

So is this a 4-3 or a 3-4? Great question! I didn’t know the answer, so I started doing some research and Greg Cosell came to my rescue with this article. I would have originally been inclined to say that it depends on the lineman’s stance: if he’s in a 2-point stance as a rusher, it’s a 3-4; if he’s in a 3-point stance as a blocker, it’s a 4-3. But luckily Greg is smarter than me and called me out: stance has nothing to do with formation. It’s all about gaps. If it’s a 2-gap concept in which defensive linemen are responsible for 2 gaps each, therefore lining up over the tackles (ends) and center (nose), it’s a 3-4. If it’s a 1-gap concept in which defensive linemen are responsible for 1 gap each, it’s a 4-3. (The whole article is well worth a read if you have a few spare minutes!)

So what do we have above? According to Greg, it’s a 4-3. (I think.)

(What do you guys think?)

Ok: moving on. We didn’t talk about Cover 1 last week because it’s not strictly a zone coverage. Let’s take another look at the illustration to flesh it out:

Cover 1 is a mixed coverage: the deep safety is playing zone, and all of the other defensive backs are playing man-to-man. We can see that the corners are covering the receivers and the strong safety is covering the tight end. It’s a single high safety concept because – you guessed it! – there’s a single safety up high in the formation.

Boom.

But a single high safety doesn’t automatically equate Cover 1, as Coach explained next:

There can be a single high safety look in a Cover 3, too. The corners can cover the outside zones while the deep safety covers the middle third up high. It’s a little bit challenging to see on the screen shot, so here’s another example:

In this look, we see one single high safety in the middle and two defensive backs deep outside. That makes this Cover 3 – 3 defensive backs playing zone deep – with a single high safety.

BOOM.

Isn’t this fun?

On Wednesday we’ll have even more fun in our Film Room post looking at how Seattle is effectively utilizing the single high safety look with the wonder that is Earl Thomas. Can’t wait!

Fundamentals : Zone Coverage Schemes

Thus far in Fundamentals, we’ve covered a lot of defense, but it’s mostly been up front – dealing with the defensive line and linebackers. Today, we venture into the secondary to learn about zone coverage schemes – specifically, Cover 2, Tampa 2, and Cover 3.

Let’s set the stage:

These types of zone coverage are usually run out of a 4-3 formation. We know that a base (and, consequently, basic) 4-3 looks something like this:

Looks familiar, right? We know who all of these guys are and what they do.

A basic Cover 2 formation isn’t much different:

The Cover 2 is a classic formation in which there are two deep safeties playing zone defense. Up front, you’ve got a four-man rush (composed of the 4 down linemen) and 5-under (the linebackers and the corners in this example, or players in between the defensive line and the end zone).

Pretty basic, right?

Ok, so here’s the Tampa 2:

What changed? The middle linebacker – or the Mike – drops back into coverage and plays zone up the vertical seam of the field (inside the hash marks). Essentially, this is a 3-deep formation with 4-under (since now one linebacker is brought back into coverage). In most Tampa 2 situations, the 4-man front protects against the rush and it’s all hands on deck to play zone against passing plays midfield/deep. The success of the Tampa 2 hinges on the effectiveness of the Mike backer – he needs to be fast and athletic to drop back into coverage and also a sure tackler to stop any potential progress.

So why Tampa 2? The coverage was popularized in the mid-90’s by the Tampa Bay Bucs and their coaching staff – namely Tony Dungy, Lovie Smith, and Monte Kiffin. Tony Dungy took a lot of defensive strategies from his days with the Steelers. This was one of them (and he gives Coach Noll full credit for being the original mastermind.) The Bucs altered the scheme and made it work beautifully with their aggressive, stingy defense. It’s been known as the Tampa 2 ever since.

Dallas Cowboys fans may want to pay particular attention to this post. With Monte Kiffin as your new defensive coordinator, you’re almost sure to see Tampa 2 in a lot of situations this season.

Moving right along: Cover 3.

Why isn’t Cover 3 the same as Tampa 2? Both have 3 guys deep, right?

That’s true! But look at who is back there. In Cover 3, two corners and one safety (usually the free safety) play zone deep, which means they split the end of the field into thirds and cover each portion as a zone. The strong safety sneaks down so that it’s 4-under – this time with three linebackers and a safety.

Blast from the past, but remember when we talked about 8 in the box? This is that. The safety sneaks down into the box, presenting a tough coverage to beat: lots of guys with the flexibility to protect the run or short pass, lots of guys deep.

How are we doing? Make sense? If not, stay tuned for Wednesday’s film room post. It’ll be a big help!

Fundamentals : 4-3 Defense (Base, Over, Under)

*Due to massive interest, this post is in the process of being rewritten and featured as a series for the 2014 season. In the meantime, please read the comments section as it is tremendously helpful! Thanks to everyone who has reached out about the post so far. Keep any comments coming!

This Fundamentals post serves to answer a question I’ve had for just about forever: what’s the difference between base, over, and under?

So I found the answers and turned them into color coordinated pictures. Because that’s what we do around here.

Ok, ready?! Here are a few foundational truths to lay out before we get rolling with this:

Base defense refers to the default defense that a team runs as a standard. For most teams in the NFL, their base defense is either a 3-4 or a 4-3 defense. Think of base defense as an empty room with a table and chairs: there will always be the same number of furniture pieces in the room, but you can rearrange them in any way that suits your needs. In the same way, teams that run a 3-4 defense as their base defense are going to field 3 linemen and 4 linebackers, but they can rearrange them in different ways if need be.
Over and Under Fronts describe how players are aligned within a base defense. In an over front, the four-man defensive line aligns to the strong side of the offense (the side with the tight end). In an under front, the defensive line aligns to the weak side (the side without the tight end). There can also be over and under fronts in 3-4 defensive systems, in which an outside linebacker would move up to become the 4th lineman. (Thank you so much for your help with this correction to the original post, Drew and Curtis!)
Ok, this is going against everything we’re learned so far, but sometimes there is a nose tackle in a 4-3 defense. It’s true. I’ve been withholding information to make the learning process between 3-4 and 4-3 easier, and now I kind of feel like I just told you all you were adopted. So, here’s the thing: the nose tackle in a 3-4 system in the sole defensive tackle and plays 0-technique. We know that. In a 4-3, a nose tackle (if used) would usually have about the same size and strength as a traditional nose tackle, but would play 1-technique instead of straight over the center in 0-technique. According to Pat Kirwan, “A 4-3 nose tackle is required to penetrate the inside “A” gap and often loop around and be responsible for containing the “C” gap.” (See this post for a refresher on gaps.)

Now that we have the basics ironed out, let’s move on to what a 4-3 base defense might look like.

(For all of the following illustrations, W = weakside linebacker (Will), M = middle linebacker (Mike), S = strongside linebacker (Sam). Remember that the strong side of any formation is the side with the tight end; the weak side is the side without the tight end. Check out the glossary for more help with these positions.)

We won’t spend a lot of time here because we already know this defense fairly well. In a 4-3 Base Defense, there are 4 defensive linemen and 3 linebackers. Usually, they are aligned in a formation similar to the one above, but certainly not always.

Let’s stick with the 4-3 Base and see what an over front would look like:

In the 4-3 Over Front, the defense shifts it’s strength to the strong side of the offense. How can that be, you ask, when there are more defensive players on the weak side than on the strong side? Great question! It’s all about the defensive tackle.

We see that the nose tackle is lined up on the weak side of the formation. And he’s important – his size and strength will plug up the gaps like nobody’s business. But the crux of the Over/Under fronts is built around the abilities of the defensive tackle.

In the Over front, the defensive tackle is aligned on the strong side of the formation. That defensive tackle is usually a 3-technique player. We know that the 3-technique player is aligned on the outside of the guard and relies on speed and agility, rather than sheer size (ala nose tackle), to shoot the B-gap and disrupt the backfield. The defensive tackle is the true “strength” of the formation and wherever he is will be the side to which the defense is shifting it’s strength. When the defensive tackle is on the strong side of the formation, it’s a 4-3 Over front.

Since you guys are all A+ students, I’m sure you are all anticipated what comes next: In a 4-3 Under Front, the defense shifts it’s strength to the weak side of the offense. See where the DT is? 3-technique on the weak side. A lot of NFL teams runs this defense because the defensive tackle has less obstacles between himself and the backfield. As long as he can shoot the B-gap he can get into the backfield and disrupt the action.

It’s a little counterintuitive to remember that the strength of the defense is the side that has less players and a little confusing to untangle the strength of the defensive from the strong sides and weak sides of the offense – I’ll give you that. But in general, now that we understand the role of the defensive tackle in all of this, does it make more sense?

Shout out your questions, comments, and concerns!

Fundamentals : Goal Line Defense

Your team’s defense is on the one-yard line. Your own one-yard line. The opposing team is poised to score easily with the ball mere feet from the end zone and a fresh set of downs. You believe in your team…but you know what’s going to happen here. The offense is going to score and then it’ll be up to your team’s offense to make up the difference.

But something miraculous happens. Three downs later, the offense hasn’t broken through the brick wall that is your defense. They opt to kick a field goal for 3 guaranteed points instead of trying to go through it again.

What just happened?

A goal line stand by a spectacularly called goal line defense.

As we’ve discussed before, most NFL defenses run a 3-4 or a 4-3 defensive formation. This makes the most sense when trying to cover large portions of the field.

But when your unit is backed up against the goal line and only has about 10-12 yards of field to cover, what do you do then?

That is just the question that goal line defense answers!

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The point of goal line defense, similarly to every other defense, is to keep the offense from scoring. Since the space in which this happens in quite condensed, goal line defenses load the box as much as possible to defend the goal line and force the offense to pass it in for a touchdown instead of easily running it in.

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NFL teams run two main types of goal line defense (predominately – as we know, there are always exceptions to every rule). Which goal line defense a team runs usually has more to do with the offensive formation they are facing than with the defensive formation they run the rest of the game – but again: exceptions. Here’s what we can know for sure about each formation:

The 6-2

We know from studying the 3-4 and the 4-3 that the first number describes the number of players on the defensive line and the second number describes the number of players mid-field between the D-line and the secondary – which is a space usually occupied by linebackers. The rest of the players not denoted by the formation are defensive backs. So in a 3-4, we know there are 3 D-linemen, 4 linebackers, and 4 defensive backs (3+4+4 = 11).

The 6-2 is a little different. The first and second numbers still pertain to regions of the field: there are 6 players up front and 2 behind. But the 6 in this case doesn’t denote 6 defensive linemen in the traditional sense. Only 4 of those 6 are linemen by position; the other 2 are linebackers. See the image above to get a better understanding of what that looks like.

So in the 6-2 we have 6 men on the defensive line (4 D-linemen and 2 LB’s), 2 linebackers behind, and 3 defensive backs. The exact alignment of all these players will depend on the offensive formation, but in this example, the tackles are blocking the A gaps and the ends and linebackers on the D-line are head up over their offensive tackles (which would be 5-technique) and tight ends (8-technique). The linebackers behind the D-line are playing head up over the guards (2-technique). The defensive backs are covering the end zone (and the QB might try to throw one to the outside right corner since there’s no one in the immediate area to defend against it).

The 5-3

We can go back to our traditional understanding of defensive formations with the 5-3. There are 5 men on the D-line and they’re all linemen, and there are 3 men behind and they’re all linebackers. Since there are 5 on the D-line and 3 LB’s, that means we still have 3 guys in the secondary. The techniques have changed a little bit in this formation, though. See if you can figure out which technique each of the D-linemen and linebackers are playing (and refer back to this post if you need a little extra help!).

Will you see other defenses at the goal line in NFL games this season? Will the linebackers and tackles and ends be all jumbled up and aligned in different places? ABSOLUTELY! Play design is a math equation with thousands and thousands of different permutations. That’s what makes learning about it so interesting! But as long as you know these basics about goal line defense, you’ll be just fine.

Draft Week Fundamentals : Q & A

DRAFT WEEK IS HERE!!!

Now, let me be the first to state the obvious: we haven’t covered much of anything draft-related in the past few months. That’s true! And that’s mainly because draft projections chip away at my soul…it seems so pointless to spend time guessing where all of the prospects may or may not get drafted only to have it all fall to pieces after the first pick.

So why the excitement? It’s three-fold (Friends lovers, that’s for you):

First, the draft makes the regular season feel like it might actually arrive in the not-too-distant future (even though in reality, this only marks the halfway point…).

Second, it’s pure joy to see dreams come true one after the other in tearful succession for hours on end. It’s warranted to think whatever you wish about professional athletes – how they’re overpaid, arrogant, disproportionately lauded. That’s understandable and occasionally true. But at the heart of every professional athlete is a kid who had a big dream and worked relentlessly to achieve it, and that’s what you see on stage at Radio City Music hall each spring. I love it.

And third, now the projections that actually matter can begin. Instead of wondering how so-and-so might contribute to such-and-such a team if he’s drafting in this-or-that round, you can put names on the jerseys and speculate about impact on the lineup. That’s the kind of projecting I can get on board with.

It really is a great weekend for all involved.

So, how does it work? We know that players get added to teams over the course of multiple rounds, but how? Let’s answer a few of the foundational questions today:

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THE BASICS:

The draft is a rotating player selection process which exists to give all teams an equal chance at procuring the players they need. There are seven rounds of selection that take place over the course of three days in April at the Radio City Music Hall in NYC.

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Questions and Answers:

Q: Who can get drafted?

A: Players who have been out of high school for at least three years, which means nearly all of whom are college juniors, are eligible to be drafted. That doesn’t mean that the draft is comprised entirely of college juniors; a surprising majority of college players choose to stay and play out their senior year.

Q: What determines the order of the picks?

A: The worse your season, the better your draft order. The team with the worst record gets the first pick, followed the by teams with the worst records who did not make the playoffs, followed by the least successful playoff teams. Consequently, the Super Bowl champion gets the last pick in the draft. In the event of shared win-loss records, draft order is determined by 1) strength of schedule, 2) division record, 3) conference records, 4) coin toss. The order stays mostly the same for every round (teams within the same “tier” of win-loss records do cycle, but stay within the same general area of picks), until teams start trading picks during the draft to get a player they want (more on that below). To see this year’s draft order, check out this list.

Q: How long do teams have to make their selection?

It differs in every round. In Round 1, teams get a lengthy 10 minutes to make their decision. That time gets shortened to 7 minutes in Round 2, and 5 minutes in Rounds 3-7.

Q: How do teams “trade up” for a player?

A: Teams can trade picks before and during the draft. Before the draft, teams trade picks for existing players. You’ve probably heard of this over the course of the offseason: Alex Smith was traded by the 49ers to the Chiefs for a second round pick this year and a conditional (based on how many games the Chiefs win) third round pick next year; Anquan Boldin was traded to the Niners for a sixth round pick; the Vikings got an incredible deal when they traded Percy Harvin to the Seahawks in exchange for Seattle’s first and seventh round picks this year and a possible mid-round pick next year.

During the draft, teams can call other teams and trade with them – a single pick or multiple picks, this year and/or in following years – to trade up to the spot they want. In 2011, the Atlanta Falcons infamously (and to much criticism) traded three picks in 2011 and two picks in 2012 – including their first round pick – the the Cleveland Browns so that they could move up to the sixth spot and take wide receiver Julio Jones.

You might say it’s worked out well for them.

Q: What is “cap management” and how does it relate to the draft?

A: That’s an excellent question for which I do not have an excellent answer. Math has never been my strongest suit to begin with, and the convoluted nuances of the NFL salary cap don’t help matters much. There are conditions for this and conditions for that and sometimes an amount of money actually counts for more or less than the numerical amount – it’s a jungle out there. But here’s what I can tell you, in short: the salary cap is like a budget, and each team has a finite spending limit. In 2013, the salary cap is set at $123 million dollars (don’t we all have that in pocket change?). That money isn’t used exclusively to draft new players – it’s the whole sum paid out to all players on the active roster. Teams have to budget wisely (or practice good “cap management”) throughout the year to retain their best current players and to also have the resources to pay players they want to add to the roster in the draft and throughout free agency. Take a look at this list to see how much cap space each team has left going into the draft (and notice the wide discrepancy in amounts!).

Q: What’s a compensatory pick?

A: The NFL awards compensatory picks – 32 total, and up to 4 additional draft picks per team – to teams that have lost significant talent through the free agency season. Free agents are players who are no longer under contract with their current team and are therefore allowed to sign with another team. When a teams loses their top free agents, they are given compensatory picks as a talent buffer (the picks occur in specified rounds and cannot be traded). 2013 Example: the Ravens, who lost what felt like the majority of their starting lineup this offseason, were awarded 4 compensatory picks, the maximum amount allowed.

Q: What’s a “war room” and what in the world does it have to do with the draft?

The war room is the place where each teams selected draft personnel – coaches, executives, general managers, owners, etc – hammer out their final decisions on draft picks and submit their picks to the NFL. It’s nicknamed the “war room” because of the intensity and strategy involved in getting the players the teams wants. For a great read on what goes on inside war rooms, check out this piece by Andrew Brandt about the Packers’ war room.

Q: Is there a limit to how many players a team can draft?

No; a team can draft as many players as they have picks, and can bring as many as 90 players into training camp to tryout for the final 53-man roster.

Q: What happens to the players who don’t get drafted?

Players who don’t get drafted are deemed “undrafted free agents” and can tryout for any team who will give them a chance after the draft. It’s easy to think that these players aren’t as good as the players who were drafted, but that’s not always the case. In fact, some of the best players to ever play the game were snubbed in the draft: Kurt Warner, James Harrison, Jeff Saturday, London Fletcher, Arian Foster, and Wes Welker are just a few of the notable players who’ve gone undrafted.

Q: Historically, how do draft picks usually pan out? Are there “good” and “bad” drafts? Are the first round picks the only ones who really make it in the league?

Great questions! Tune in for Thursday’s History Lesson post on draft history to learn all about memorable NFL drafts.

Fundamentals : Holes and Gaps

To prevent both offensive and defensive play calling from turning into “Hey, I’m going over there and you go over there!” football has a system of naming spaces in the offensive line.

But I would like to be in the huddle of a play that didn’t have a naming system, just for fun.

Since that’s not the case, here’s how the real system works:

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Offensive players identify spaces with numbers called holes.

Defensive players identify space with letters called gaps.

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Let’s start with the offensive numbering system.

HOLES

The number of the hole tells the running back where to go. Even numbers are always on the right, odd numbers are always on the left, and both increase as they move from inside to outside. Identifying the hole in the play call lets all of the other offensive players know where the play is going and therefore the area they are responsible for blocking.

So does the running back jump in the huddle and call dibs on 2?

Again, I’d really like to be in a huddle where the backs play Rock, Paper, Scissors for the hole they want, but unfortunately it doesn’t work like that.

Just as each hole has a number, so does each back (and it’s different than the number on the back of his jersey). Traditionally:

QB = 1
Tailback = 2
Fullback = 3

Where’s running back on that list? And where are the tailbacks and fullbacks in this picture, you ask? Good question! Tailbacks (usually the ball-carrier) and fullbacks (usually the blocker) are types of running backs. Pictured above is a 3-wide formation that features a tight end on the line and a running back in the I formation. Since there’s only one running back, he’s the main back, so he’d be number 2.

Running plays are called by naming the number of the back first, the number of the hole second, and the type of run third.

Let’s say the play is “23 Dive.” That would mean the running back (2) is going through the 3 hole and running a dive play (running straight ahead as fast as possible).

Make sense? As long as you know the numbers of the backs and the numbers of the holes in the offensive line, you should be just fine. If you want to challenge yourself and learn a few types of running plays, too (you do!), check out this article.

Moving on to defense.

GAPS

Whereas the offense uses numbers to identify holes from the backfield, the defense uses letters. The gap between the center and the guards is always the A gap, the gap between the guards and the tackles is always the B gap, the gap between the tackles and the outside edge (or the tight end, if present) is always the C gap, and the gap between the tight end (if present) and the outside edge is always the D gap – or just the edge.

We talked a little bit about gap responsibility in last week’s post about defensive techniques. In the photo above, the defensive tackle (who is also called the nose tackle since he’s the only DT in the 3-4 alignment) is playing 0-technique, so he’s responsible for blocking both A gaps. The ends are playing 5-technique, so they’re responsible for the B and C gaps (they’ll also likely get help from the linebackers depending on the play call).

As for defensive play calling, you’ll often hear that a certain defensive player is going to “shoot the gap.” Let’s say one of the middle linebackers is going to shoot the A gap. That means he’s going to charge through one of the A gaps, likely in an attempt to blitz the quarterback.

So: offensive spaces get numbers, defensive spaces get letters, and the football world continues to spin on it’s axis.

Until I talk someone into calling, “Whoever wins Rock, Paper, Scissors through that hole over there. GO!”