Buckeye Blog - 5/30/04

[3yardsandacloud]

Basics of the Secondary for the Armchair Quarterback
written by osugrad21 graphics by Clarity (5/30/2004)


The following is a very basic breakdown of secondary coverages used in a 4-3 defense. Nothing grates my nerves more than an analyst using jargon/shop talk while breaking down a play during a game. Most of the viewing population is not familiar with the intricacies of the game of football, but most analysts blather on and on assuming that every armchair quarterback is familiar with the terminology used by coaches and players. Hopefully, this short breakdown will help clear up the secondary coverages which are commonly referred to during a typical broadcast. Remember, this is a bare and very basic breakdown. Every defensive scheme has different check-outs and mixed coverages in place, but this analysis should at least give you an idea of what is being discussed.



Cover 1: Cover 1 is your basic Man-to-Man. In this coverage, the cornerbacks are responsible for the widest eligible receivers in the formation. In a double tight-end, wishbone backfield formation, the corners would lock up on the tight ends. However, in a Pro Set, the corners would be responsible for the flanker and split end respectively. The strong saftey will always play the second receiver on the strong side. In a Pro Set, this would be the tight end, but in a Slot/Twins set, the SS would play the inside receiver while the backside cornerback locks up on the TE or Split End. The free safety and linebackers are always responsible for the backs coming out of the backfield in your non-spread offensive sets, but the rules of the lockup will change with the blitz called.



Cover 2: Cover 2 is a Two-Deep Zone Coverage. In Cover 2, a defense will have 5 defenders playing underneath while the safeties are responsible for their deep half of the field. The corners will play the flats. This area is usually considered six yards off of the line of scrimmage (LOS) to twenty yards deep. This coverage allows the corners to jump on the quick out routes with confidence that the safety is coming over the top for support. The outside linebackers (Sam & Will) play the curl zones which run from two yards outside of the end man on the LOS to two yards inside of the wide receiver. The middle linebacker (Mike) plays the hook zone which is essentially two yards outside of the end man on the LOS on either side. The hook/curl zones again run six to twenty yards deep.



Cover 3: Cover 3 is a Three-Deep Zone where the field is divided into thirds to be played by the corners and free safety. The corners play hashmark to sideline and the free is responsible for the deep middle. The strong safety will creep up on the strong side of the offensive formation to line up a yard or two behind the linebackers. He is responsible for the flats to his side. The Will LB will play flats to his side while Mike and Sam cover the hook/curl zones.



Cover 4: Cover 4, as you are probably catching onto by now, simply divides the field into quarters. The corners and safeties are responsible for one-fourth of the deep zone. The Sam and Will linebackers will cover the flats while the Mike linebacker is responsible for all traffic coming underneath.



Cover 5: Cover 5 is another Man-to-Man defense similar to Cover 1. However, Cover 5 is called "Man Free" due to the fact that the free safety does not have a locked responsibility. He is free to play centerfield and flow into the deep zone to give help over the top.


Check out this months (May 2004) archived blogs here: Blog Archives

[diehardbuckeye]

What a great breakdown of secondary coverage schemes. Here is a sligth suggestion if possible. If the playboard, erase board that was up here sometime ago is still available could you diagram the feild and shade it. I don't know, if that is possible but it can't hurt to give a visual so people can see what is going on also.

[3yardsandacloud]

Great stuff osugrad21!

diehardbuckeye, I don't think the "white board" is currently functioning. I believe it was only being tested at the time. Clarity will have to let us know about that one. I know Clarity is working with a programmer to add some other functionality to the board. I do believe that the "white board" is one of those features. So stay tuned, I think you'll see that and a good bit more in the not too distant future.

[osugrad21]

Thanks guys...

Diehardbuck, according to Clarity, the graphics you are referring to will be available for future breakdowns like this one. I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in a basic analysis, but if you guys have any requests, I can do my best to provide the info. Many aspects of football, such as strength calls, basic audibles, and techniques are taken for granted by commentators who assume this is given knowledge with all viewers.

I appreciate the compliments.

[Clarity]

I could actually see a group of blogs about different coverages, formations and plays (starting with a basic overview, then moving into intermediate and advanced concepts) forming a big area of the site some day. I don't know if that makes sense, but imagine a 'Football 101' (widely used title, would have to find something else probably) area where tons of information like this is organized in a meaningful way.

I guess the point is, great job 21, and as we put more content like this together, it can in time mature into dedicated areas of the site in of itself. I'd love to see a virtual playbook of sorts that can explain to someone curious what a TE playing H-back means, or what the blocking scheme is for a given run, or what the difference between Cover 2, and Cover 2 Man Under is, etc.

To respond to the other issue, the whiteboard is indeed a custom feature that will be coming down the road. No ETA, the entire focus right now is the stats engine/content manangement system. After that a couple small 'game' features (pick'em, brackets for March Madness, etc.). Then the whiteboard, which figures to be a serious undertaking, but one that I am particularly excited about.

[BIATCHabutuka]

i don't get the whiteboard thing. maybe i am missing something here but wouldn't it be easier and free-er to just have anyone illustrate their points in microsoft paint (or paint shop pro or photoshop or whatever) which is on probably every computer here and then just attach that pic to their post?

why spend the cash on making it more integrated for the few people who will actually use it?

we could then attach a quick faq/tutorial on how to post your illustrations and all would be solved but for the dumbest of dumb asses and do we really want to see illustrations from these dumb asses anyways.

here is a real quick how to.

1. press start in lower left corner of your desktop.
2. go to programs
3. go to accessories
4. click on paint
5. click image on top bar of paint
6. click attributes on that menu
7. change size to 600 by 600 max so it will attach to your BP threads, then click OK when you are done
8. paint what you want to
9. click file in the top bar of paint
10. click save as (you will probably want to save it as a jpg or gif)
11. give the file a name in the filename box and put it somewhere on your computer where you can find it (perhaps the desktop), press OK when you have a filename, a file extension (jpg or gif) and you know where you are saving it
12. attach the pic from your desktop to your thread by using the manage attachments button in the BP window and you are done.

[Clarity]

The key point to the whiteboard concept is that people could use it in real time with one another. Sort of a shared application, with the ability to output results. Meaning a bunch of people are in chat during a game, a convo breaks out about a specific play, and one or more can draw it up for the rest of the group and import the resulting image into a thread.

The flipside is it's a really long ways off, and not a concern either way right now. It's the last thing on the priority list, won't even be started until everything else is done, so there's plenty of time to decide whether it's worth it or not.

My only point of interest right now is the stats/content managment system, which still looks to be done before the season starts.

There's no reason people can't just paint plays up. In fact, I did just that earlier today with the cover packages above. Those images may or may not be getting tossed into the thread later. We could even build a layered template with everything ready to go -- although that would require Photoshop and some basic image editing knowledge.

[BIATCHabutuka]

i do see the point now and the business man in me agrees that this is down near the bottom of the priority list.

[diehardbuckeye]

That looks just wonderful. HOW GREAT IS THIS SITE

[gbearbuck]

THIS IS WHAT I"VE BEEN LOOKING FOR>>>FOR YEARS!!!!!

If we can keep drawling plays like this that is great IMO...

Lets see if we can describe the strong and weak points of each D... how the O would attack the D, and what variations of Audible's a D might call (ie what D would you see a LEO DE drop back into coverage/what is his area of the field/how might this effect the LB's in their coverage, and how would the DL shift).

I have been asking BN for this type of stuff forever (finally gave up asking... nobody seemed interested )...

Keep it going... Thanks, this is awsome, real football talk!!

[buckeyebri]

Thanks Guys, this is incredibly awesome. Could I make a suggestion that someone does one on the O-line and run blocking. It seems that this was a serious debate topic last year. I could use some help on understanding the responsibilities of the O-line and the running back in the scheme....

[BuckeyeInTheBoro]

Nicely done! One question... how can the commentators tell if the call was cover 2 or cover 4? They seem quick to blame the CB on a deep catch, but it might well have been the Safties responsibility. Is there some subtle difference I'm missing in where guys line up or are they just basing it on the actions/reactions of the other defensive players?

[osugrad21]

how can the commentators tell if the call was cover 2 or cover 4?

Boro, In Cover 2, although you will see corners rolling up or back to disguise the coverage before the pre-snap read, the technique commonly used is to jam to the WR at the line while reading the #2 receiver to that side on the line. For instance, if the corner is jamming the flanker, he is reading the TE for a quick out. He can then play a squat technique where he can sit in his short zone for the TE's outside or veer release or he can get his depth in the flats to help on the stop route or quick out from the flanker. In Cover 4, the corner will immediately "bail" to his designated zone. The first rule of the secondary is to never get beat deep, so covering the deep zone is priority number one in Cover 4. Again, this is an extremely basic breakdown that will change with formations and situation.

[BuckBojangles]

Is there any way we can get the photos back in there?

[jwinslow]

Originally Posted by BuckBojangles

Is there any way we can get the photos back in there?

good question, for those that will check, here is the url of one of the pics:
http://www.buckeyeplanet.com/imgops/bplog_cover1.gif