The defensive unit on a football team consists of three core areas: the defensive line, the linebackers, and the secondary-or defensive backfield. He has limited responsibility and most plays may have nothing to do with him at all. The easiest position on offense may be the receiver. Is the 46 defense still used?īut even though it’s a defense that was designed for the most skilled players at the most advanced level of the game, the 46 defense can still be used by youth football teams. The prevalence of Cover 2 has faded, but it’s still seen today. Option-isolation routes and common man beaters like the under concept, drive concept, cross concept, Texas concept, and deep curl concept are all ways to beat Cover 2 if the specific playbooks account for sitting in zone. That leaves four defenders to cover the underneath zones. Each sideline is covered by the corners and the middle of the field by the safety. What is a Cover 3 defense?Ĭover 3 is a zone defense with corners and safeties protecting the deep thirds of the field. … This is a base Cover 4 defense out of a 4-3 above. The two safeties are in the middle of the field, while the corners take the quarter of the field to their side. What is a cover 4 defense?Īlso known as quarters coverage, Cover 4 has four deep zones, typically two corners and two safeties, splitting a fourth of the deep portions of the field. Guard (G): There are two guards, one on each side of the center. The center is often required to block the defensive nose tackle, usually the biggest, strongest player on the defense. This will allow the defense to cloud cover the backside receiver, when the defense is in 3×1 sets.Īlso read Is Jaylen Brown injury? Who is normally the biggest and strongest players on defense? … Cover 6 is a great coverage to use when an offensive team likes to put its backside receiver on the weak side. This movement creates a natural hole between the safeties that can be attacked.Ĭover 6 (also known as quarter, quarter, half) is a common coverage in modern day football. At the snap of the ball, many times the safeties will move toward the sidelines in order to cover any long passes to quick wide receivers. The main weakness of the Cover 2 shell occurs in the middle of the field between the safeties. The primary weaknesses in cover 3 are the seams (the area between the deep zones) and the flats (the area near the line of scrimmage on each side of the field.) Similarly, What is the weakness of cover 3? This defense is often played in long passing situations and provides extra support for any deep passes. Cover 5 is a 2-deep coverage that has 5 underneath defenders who play man coverage.