05-11-2018, 10:40 AM
There is a lot in this thread to work through some right and some wrong. As it has been pointed out man to man can be played for various reasons with varying levels of "help".
If it is cover 0 you are looking at no help which means you are sending extra blitzers, often time a linebacker or two but could also include a corner or safety. In this case the outside guys usually play slightly off due to no safety help over top. If they are running man cover 1 there are two normal ways you see this either a single high safety and a blitzer or a single high safety with a linebacker playing a hook zone, which in the second scenario it is kind of a man zone hybrid with zone up the middle of the field at two levels. In cover 1 the corners are normally going to shade the outside shoulder depending on formation knowing they have help to the middle of the field.
In cover 2 man there are two high safeties with providing protection in the event that a corner gets beat. Two man is the most common to see press man out of because you have the benefit of the help over top. Often times you will see press man into trail technique because it provides a pseudo bracket coverage on defenders and can create a lot of interceptions. Someone pointed out a cover 3, cover 3 is usually reserved for zone because in a man coverage format you'd be one man to man coverage short with a 3 lineman. You will occasionally see what you could call cover 3 man as a prevent defense but it is rare. To a point though cover 3 doesn't mean 3 safeties, it means a 3 high shell. Usually one safety rolls down into a hook or flat while the CB's and another safety bail out immediately on the snap.
The whole thing here is our corners were pretty much all projected coming out as better press man corners. Kirkpatrick was a master of the Saban shuffle and was thought to have huge upside as an NFL press man corner. In the vein of creating more turnovers, see the comment about about press man trail and the ability to force turnovers. With the trail technique it lets the corners attempt to jump routes more often because of that safety blanket over top. I for one am a big fan of a more aggressive man based defense with our current roster and welcome the change.
If it is cover 0 you are looking at no help which means you are sending extra blitzers, often time a linebacker or two but could also include a corner or safety. In this case the outside guys usually play slightly off due to no safety help over top. If they are running man cover 1 there are two normal ways you see this either a single high safety and a blitzer or a single high safety with a linebacker playing a hook zone, which in the second scenario it is kind of a man zone hybrid with zone up the middle of the field at two levels. In cover 1 the corners are normally going to shade the outside shoulder depending on formation knowing they have help to the middle of the field.
In cover 2 man there are two high safeties with providing protection in the event that a corner gets beat. Two man is the most common to see press man out of because you have the benefit of the help over top. Often times you will see press man into trail technique because it provides a pseudo bracket coverage on defenders and can create a lot of interceptions. Someone pointed out a cover 3, cover 3 is usually reserved for zone because in a man coverage format you'd be one man to man coverage short with a 3 lineman. You will occasionally see what you could call cover 3 man as a prevent defense but it is rare. To a point though cover 3 doesn't mean 3 safeties, it means a 3 high shell. Usually one safety rolls down into a hook or flat while the CB's and another safety bail out immediately on the snap.
The whole thing here is our corners were pretty much all projected coming out as better press man corners. Kirkpatrick was a master of the Saban shuffle and was thought to have huge upside as an NFL press man corner. In the vein of creating more turnovers, see the comment about about press man trail and the ability to force turnovers. With the trail technique it lets the corners attempt to jump routes more often because of that safety blanket over top. I for one am a big fan of a more aggressive man based defense with our current roster and welcome the change.
