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DC-Advice on Defense
By: Dum Coach
Wow! Playing against a team with 5-6 studs is tough! With that many studs you can lie up in any offense and look good. But, to answer your question, defense is, first and foremost, determined by counting up the number of studs you have. A "stud" is defined as a player who can consistently and reliably bring down the other team's stud running backs. The fewer the number of studs you have the more limited you become defensively. For example, the 4-4 is a fine defense but it requires 5 studs to make it go (four LBers and an FS). With 35-40 kids to choose from, you should find 3-4 studs, probably not less, but probably not much more either. Since, no matter what defense you run, your studs will be in the secondary (to take advantage of their pursuit), I will limit my advice to defenses that require 3-5 studs. Second, you need to be aware of the principals of defense. The first principal of defense is to be able to match up, numbers wise, with the offense. If the offense has 5 players to the left of center, the defense needs five players either on, or near, that side also. If the offense adds one more to make it six to the left of center, the defense adds one more also. Or, if they take one offensive player of the five to the left of center away to make it four, the defense must take one away to make it four also (Of course, to every rule there is always the exception and the exception to this rule are the "monster" defenses). The second principal of defense is that you cannot allow the offense to "spread" your defense or "gaps" and "holes" will be created. That's bad. Here is a Split 4-4 defense aligned on a "Twins" I formation set:
C F C
B1 B2 B3 B4
E T T E
O O O 0 O O O
O O
O
O
The offense can bring six offensive players to the left of center. The defense can also bring 6 (2 DL's, B1, B2,1 CB, and the F). The offense can bring seven to the right of center but so can the defense (B2, B3, B4, 2 DL's, 1 CB, 1 FS). The defense has shaded the FS to the "twins" side but not very much - or else he would be lost as a run defender to the left. The defensive "spread" is such that there is only one full gap between each DL and that gap is covered by a LBer. So the defense is "sound". If you have five studs, you can run this defense. However, there are two weaknesses to this defense (Both are "spread" related). First, they are making the defense shade the FS to the "twins" side. Since he can't shade very much, if the offense starts hitting the "twins" with passes which B4 and the CB can't cover, the FS has to cheat over farther to help out - and the farther over he cheats the weaker the defense becomes to runs to the left (TE side). So the FS can be "spread". That is the first weakness. The second weakness is that the front four can also be spread by the offense just going to two TE's. This is shown below:
C F C
B1 B2 B3 B4
E T T E
O O O 0 O O O
O O
O
O
There are now TWO full gaps between each of the down linemen and with only one LBer to cover each of the two holes. The defense is no longer sound. The offense can run the ball between those big gaps, something the "I" does very well. So, in picking a defense, we need to draw it up against the expected offense(s) and check to see if they can "spread" us. Generally speaking, it's hard to "spread" a five man front (Although I can do it). The opposite problem of "spread" is "compression". If the defense has six or more defenders on the LOS, it is in position to be "compressed". "Compression" occurs when TE's are removed and SE's added. Shown below is a "Split 6" man defense against three wideouts: C F C
B1 B2
E T G G T E
O O O 0 O O O
O O
O
O
The defensive line is now compressed with the DE's now in closer. This not only makes them susceptible to the sweep but it also loses all six defenders on the line on every option play, leaving onlty the 5 DB's to stop the play. Further, using 5 DB's creates open passing areas, such as the deep middle. Notice also, that in man coverage on a HB pass to the QB, the QB is uncovered. Here is another six man front, the 6-1:
WS SS
C M C
E T G G T E
O O O 0 O O O
O O
O
O
Once again, the six man front is "compressed" and can be run around leaving only 5 DB's to stop the play. Again, passing opportunities arise in both the "hook" and slant routes. Also, either the QB or the TB is uncovered on pass against man coverage. If you're going to play a six man front and 5 DB's, you're pretty much stuck playing zone, usually 3 under and two deep.Another decision that must be made is in your deep coverage. Are you going to play Cover 1, Cover 2, or Cover 3? The difference is considerable but the BIG consideration is that in Cover 1 or Cover 3, you need a stud at FS. You don't need any studs for Cover 2 (unless you play a monster) - and by playing inverted Cover 2 you can get away with weenies back there. So when you add up the number of studs you have, playing Cover 1 or Cover 3 will "suck" one off. You need to build that into your math. Okay! So what have we learned? We've learned that "monster" defenses are defenses of a different category but, even with those, your starting point is your number of studs. Here are the number of studs required by defense:
3 studs: GAM and 6-1 Cover 2, 4-3 Cover 2, or 5-2 Monster
4 studs: 5-4, 6-1 Monster, 5-3 Cover 1 or Cover 3, or 46 Cover 1 or Cover 3, 4-3 Monster. 5 studs: 4-4 (Split or Stack) Of these defenses, the four man fronts will have the most difficulty in dealing with the "I" on "paper" but, if you have 5 studs, the "paper" problems tend to go away. Ask if you have questions.
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