Mike Abou-Mechrek: Now You Know
Last week we identified the stars in our defensive secondary as SAM linebacker and UWO grad Craig Butler, Halfbacks Dwight Anderson and Terrell Maze, cornerbacks Prince Miller and Carlos Thomas, and Safety Tyron Brackenridge; and I may have (over) mentioned the fact that the basic principles of a defensive back and an offensive lineman are the same. They react to the receivers; we react to the d-line. They are asked to do everything their opponent does- except backwards! And we are asked to mirror our on rushers- going backwards! And they need to work together to have any success just the same as we do.
The two basic forms of defensive coverage’s are “Man” and “Zone.”
As the name suggests, “Man” has man to man responsibilities. You pick a receiver and I’ll pick a receiver. Simple. Often if the receivers’ patterns cross each other (for example, one runs and “in” and the other an “out”) the DBs will exchange responsibilities and take the receiver closer to them, or coming towards them. They also “switch” to avoid being “rubbed.” (although, defenders use a term basketball fans might be more familiar with: “pick.” The difference: Picks are illegal in football, Rubs are not). Once a reciever has identified the coverage as man, he may use some Shake-n-Bake, a teammate, another defender and sometimes even an official to slip away from their assigned DB.
Often in man schemes, the safety is not assigned a receiver. His man is the quarterback. As he watches the QB’s eyes and body language he uses his peripheral vision to feel the play around him and make sure he’s the deepest person on the field and in a position to help out. As soon as the QB winds up and throws the ball the safety’s job is to get to it in a hurry, and in a bad mood.
The other type of basic Man Defense is “Cover Zero”…which I think stands for zero safety help. He is still assigned the QB, but this time he’s not dropping back and waiting for him to make a decision, he’s coming to get him… and in a bad mood. This type of D is extremely aggressive and as a result there is opportunity for high risk (a TD against) and high reward (a sack or interception). You may be noticing that defenses across the CFL as of late have been introducing Cover 0 more and more into their defensive game plan resulting in a lot of quarterback injuries…and sacks.
Now, in cover 0 it’s not always the safety that blitzes. Often it’s a HB, SAM or even a cornerback. Whoever it is the defense just rotates accordingly and if everyone is on the same page there is no blown coverage’s with receivers running free to the goal line. Communication is the key in every good relationship and it’s even more important in the defensive secondary, especially when the Defensive Co-ordinator calls a Zone Defense.
As its name also suggests, in zone defense each defender is assigned an area of the field. Common terms in zone coverage might be “2 deep,” or “3 deep,” referring to how many defenders are assigned to the deepest part of the field. In 3 Deep Zone typically the safety and corners will play in an ‘umbrella formation’ (not a football term) across the top of the defense allowing nothing past them. This means that 5 players- the HBs, SAM as well as Middle and Weakside linebackers are assigned across the intermediate part of the field; or perhaps the defense calls for a linebacker to blitz which would translate into 4 intermediate defenders and 3 Deep, or 2 deep and 5 underneath…the possibilities are endless.
(At this point I could really use a chalk board. Football makes more sense on a chalk board.)
In Zone, DBs have their eyes wide open as to what the receivers are trying to do. When receivers recognize that it’s Zone they adjust their routes to the type of zone that it is and try to influence the DB into second guessing themselves. This is where the communication becomes vital. “comin attcha,” or “I got number 7,” or or “whoop whoop” are some of the more technical talk you will hear out on the field.
Perhaps on a deep route, the receiver will run right in front of a DB to get him to take a few steps with him only to have another receiver run into the vacated space behind them. Or a receiver might run right into…er, um, I mean “rub” the zone defender so the man underneath can get open. Communication is paramount.
There are many things that one can do on a football field…but not that much. Just 2 basic defenses- Man and Zone. Right?…but then we can start talking about all the different zone schemes as well as the Man/Zone combos (man on one particular receiver and zone all around him, or man on one side of the field and zone on the other to try to mess up the QBs reads) the possibilities aren’t endless but to explain the defensive back field I think its best we stick to just man and zone, and besides, I am not sure I know much more about DBs, they are such a foreign concept to us o-linemen…yet one that is so familiar. Kind of like the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. They are all stars that need each other to define their success in the sky, ones just bigger than the other.
(I value your feedback at Mike.Abou-Mechrek@InvestorsGroup.com)
