So, you’ve made it through Football 101 and have one of two thoughts:
“That was a waste of time; I knew all of that already and got bored and started skimming”, or
“That was helpful, and I FINALLY get it! Now I don’t feel lost any more!”
Regardless of what your reaction was, today we cover the other side of the ball. We’ll be going over defensive positions by alignment rather than the offensive positions.
Just like with the offense, a defense can have 11 men on the field at a given time. Unlike the offense, a defense is not required to have anyone lined up anywhere. If they want to put all 11 on the line of scrimmage, they can. If they want to put all 11 sixty yards off the line of scrimmage, they can do that as well. Neither one would be particularly advantageous, but it could happen.
Defensive players are normally grouped into three positions: defensive line, linebackers, and secondary. There is no minimum or maximum to how many can be on the field at a time as long as there’s 11 or fewer total. Now, let’s go through these one by one.
The defensive line normally will include three or four men. They normally line up in what’s referred to as a three-point stance; this means that they have one hand down on the ground and the other one either on the leg, next to the leg, or up in a strike position. A four-point stance means that the player has both hands down. A five-man or six-man line (normally seen only at the high school level) will usually be the only one to see a four-point stance.
In a standard defensive line, the interior players are referred to as defensive tackles (DTs; used only with a four- or five-man line) or a nose tackle (NT; used only with a three- or five-man line). A nose tackle will set up directly in front of the center; they’re usually the mammoths that could cause a solar eclipse. The defensive tackles will normally set up either directly in front of the guards or in the gaps; one will usually line up in the gap between the center and guard and the other between the guard and tackle on the other side. A DT lined up between the guard and center is more specifically referred to as a 1-technique or 1-tech; the DT between the guard and tackle is also referred to as a 3-technique or 3-tech. 1-tech and 3-tech are based off alignment signals, which will be covered in a later lesson.
With a three-man defensive line, the nose tackle (NT) lines up directly over the center. Outside of him are two other linemen, the defensive ends (DEs). In a three-man front, they’ll normally line up over the tackles. In a four-man front, the DEs will normally set up on the outside shoulder of the offensive tackles.
The big exception is a five-man line. Understand first that by nature, a five-man line only occurs when all five players are in a three- or four-point stance. If the outer two are in a two-point stance (no hands on the ground), it’s still considered a three-man line. A true five-man line will include a nose tackles, defensive tackles, and defensive ends. The NT will be head-up over the center, the DTs will be in the gaps between the guard and tackle, and the DEs will be either on the outside shoulder of the tackles or head-up on the tight ends.
The number of linebackers is based largely on the number of defensive linemen. The term 3-4 and 4-3 defense refer to the number of each on the field (3-4 is three DLs and 4 LBs, 4-3 is 4 DLs and 3 LBs, 4-4 is 4 DLs and 4 LBs).
In a 4-3 defense or another alignment with three linebackers, there will be one middle linebacker (MLB) and two outside linebackers (OLB). The MLB normally sets up behind where the NT would be; directly over the center, usually five yards off the line. The OLBs would set up just outside of the DEs, about three yards back and one yard outside. In most alignments, the MLB is also referred to as the “Mike”. Some alignments require the OLBs to switch sides depending on offensive strength; the one that lines up to the strongside is usually called the Sam and the weakside LB the Will. If they line up based on the side of the formation regardless of strength, they can more specifically be referred to as the LOLB (left OLB) and ROLB (right OLB).
With a four-linebacker set, there are two OLBs and two inside linebackers (ILB). Just like with the OLBs, the ILBs can set up based either on side or on strength. The ILBs will set up directly over the guards about four yards off the line.
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][IMPORTANT CONCEPT: The “flex”
With more teams running a 3-4 defense, there is a premium on a particular type of player. Terminology varies from defense to defense, but I’ve always referred to it as a “flex”. A flex is a player who plays outside linebacker in a 3-4 look and defensive end in a 4-3. Normally this player is both athletic enough to be able to drop into coverage and strong enough to be able to hold down a crucial line position.]
[IMPORTANT CONCEPT: Defensive orientation
Did you know that on any given play, a left tackle (offense) will directly oppose a right end (defense)? The reason is that the left/right orientation is based off of alignment from behind and in the middle of the formation. For the offense, imagine someone five yards behind the quarterback; to him, the offensive tackle in question is on his left, thus the left tackle. To the defense, imagine someone five yards behind the safety. The player opposing the tackle would be to the right of this ghost man (to use an old sandlot baseball term), so he would be the right end.]
As a quick aside, let me explain what a “stacked” defense is. As it refers to alignment, stacking is when a linebacker sets up directly behind a defensive lineman. If there’s a nose tackle and an MLB right behind him, that’s a stacked look. If there’s no nose tackle but an MLB behind where he would be, that’s not stacked.
The rest of the defenders make up what’s called the secondary; this is the cornerbacks and safeties. All together, they’re referred to as defensive backs (DBs). If there’s an eight-man front, there will normally be one safety. Taking a cornerback off the field never really happens; even if the defense goes with a 5-4 look, it usually will be the two safeties that are replaced. The cornerbacks are too vital in outflanking the offense to come off.
The two cornerbacks will set up in the area of the widest offensive players. If there are two tight ends and two wingbacks, they’ll set up outside the wingbacks. If there are two flankers or split ends, they’ll be out in that area. How close they set up in relation to the line of scrimmage is entirely reliant on the defensive scheme.
The safety or safeties will set up around the middle of the field, anywhere from 10-15 yards off the line of scrimmage. If there’s just one, he’s simply the safety. Most two-safety alignments just refer to “safeties”, although schemes that adjust to strength will use a strong safety (SS) and free safety (FS). The strong safety will usually play a little bit closer to the line and toward offensive strength, while the free safety will play back a little bit further.
There is one additional position. In obvious passing situations, the defense will usually take out a linebacker and put in an additional DB. Since this is normally the fifth defensive back on the field, he’s referred to as the nickelback. A sixth DB would be the dimeback (continuation of coins), and a seventh DB would be a pennyback (as in “seven penny”). An eighth defensive back wouldn’t have a name, since he would only be used at the end of a game when trying to prevent a desperation touchdown pass.
The following graphics illustrate basic alignments of the most common defensive alignments against a (mostly) balanced offense. There would be a great deal of adjusting and rotating that would take place based on what the offense does, but this is designed to illustrate just the most basic concept.
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