Go into the classroom with Suds and take in depth look at the fundamentals of the game.

Defense

In the first three installments we examined the offensive positions of American football. In the “iron man” era of one-platoon football, as I mentioned at the start, a man who played end on offense also played defensive end. A tackle was a tackle, a halfback was a halfback. In fact, the defense was often a mirror image of the offense in the beginning, with two opposing seven-man lines resembling something of a rugby scrum. But that practice wouldn’t last long…

Defensive Positions

Remember these two essential rules of football?

• The team playing offense must have at least seven players on the line of scrimmage.
• Only a player on the end of the line or in back of the line is eligible to run with, throw, or catch the football.

They don’t apply to defenses, and never have. Since a defensive player never handles the ball unless the offense turns it over, Rule #2 is moot. But Rule #1 likewise doesn’t apply; there are no restrictions governing how many men can be on the line.

Of course, it would be foolish to have no men on the line of scrimmage; a defensive team would be giving up immediate yards on every play. Likewise, a coach would never want to put all eleven on the line, because a back or receiver reaching the nonexistent second level would have a free ride to the end zone. It didn’t take teams long to realize that they didn’t need to put seven on the line to match the offense, and there was a distinct advantage in not doing so.

Per the above rules, an offense has two levels: linemen (on the line of scrimmage) and backs (in back of the line of scrimmage). The rule of eligibility, however, creates a third “level”: ends (those on the ends of the line who handle the ball on the perimeter). Today we know these three groups as interior linemen, backs, and receivers. Likewise, a defense has three levels which are referenced by football announcers all the time: the line, linebackers, and the secondary (backs). The first two levels are generally referred to as the “front seven”, and in this installment we’ll examine where those seven started.

The Line

In the beginning there were centers, guards, tackles, and ends…just like on offense. And the aforementioned rugby scrums resulted in some pretty dull games that would make the Packers’ 13-10 loss to the Niners (too soon?) a veritable shootout. It turns out that moving some of those front seven players in back of the line—in a stand-up position rather than down in a three- or four-point stance—gave them a much better vision of the offensive backfield. This was the birth of the linebacker…which is the topic of our next installment. For now, let’s look at who’s left on the defensive line.

Depending on a coach’s preferences (and/or the individual skills of his players), he would have dropped one or two players back, leaving a five- or six-man line. In those run-oriented days, those closest to the center got the lion’s share of the action and were typically the first to be called into linebacker duty. The remaining players were one or two middle guards, two tackles, and two ends. Since—with the advent of the 4-3 and 3-4 defenses that are the only base systems in use today—there is no such thing as a defensive guard, we will merge that position with the other interior line role.

Defensive Tackles

As is generally true on the offense, the tackles are the largest players on the defensive line, but since the emergence of offensive and defensive specialists in the 1950s, they became quite different in both role and body type. First, since the center and one or both guards had become linebackers, the tackles gravitated toward the middle to fill the void, typically lining up in the gap between the offensive guard and the tackle (aka the B gap). Today there are even different types of defensive tackles.

Nose Tackle

In a 5-man front there was a “nose guard” lined up directly over the center. This position, which went away with the introduction of Tom Landry’s 4-3 defense in the 1950s, would eventually be reborn as the nose tackle with the 3-4 defense. This player is typically massive (like former Packers great Gilbert Brown), and is asked to take on double-team blocks in a two-gap technique. A two-gap player lines up directly across from his offensive opponent and covers the gap on either side of him. The nose tackle is typically responsible for the gaps on either side of the center (aka the A gaps).

It should be noted that the nose tackle is not only used in a 3-4 defense. Whereas the 4-3 defenses of old were primarily balanced with tackles lined up in the B gap, most 4-3 teams today use an unbalanced defense with a two-gap nose tackle over the center and another tackle off to one side of him. This was the case with Fritz Shurmur’s Packers defense in the 1990s; Gilbert Brown was the nose tackle, and Santana Dotson was a tackle with a different role.

3-Technique Tackle

This defensive tackle’s job is far different from that of the nose tackle. In Fritz Shurmur’s defense, Santana Dotson was called the “eagle tackle”. The Minnesota Vikings called John Randle and, later, Kevin Williams, the “under tackle”. No matter what it’s called, it’s the same thing: a smaller, more agile tackle whose job is to penetrate the line and disrupt a running play or rush the passer. While an NFL nose tackle will typically be well over 300 pounds, a 3-technique like the Rams’ Aaron Donald will often be in the 280-pound range. He typically lines up in the B gap between the offensive guard and tackle on the weak side.

To understand the term “3-technique,” one needs to know the numbering system devised by Alabama’s “Bear” Bryant. A nose tackle lines up in either a 0 or 1 technique. A simplistic description of the techniques is as follows: 0 = on the center; 1 = in the A gap between center and guard; 2 = on the guard; 3 = in the B gap between guard and tackle; 4 = on the tackle; 5 = in the C gap between tackle and tight end (if there is one); 6 = on the tight end, and so forth. (It’s actually more complicated than that with numbers like 2i and 4i adding nuance, but you get the picture.)

In a 3-4 defense this player is usually listed as a defensive end (Mike Daniels, Cullen Jenkins), but the role is the same. Jenkins was part of the transition from a 4-3 (listed as a DT) to Dom Capers’ 3-4 (listed as a DE) and played virtually the same position.

Defensive Ends

Nothing differentiates a 4-3 from a 3-4 defense like the defensive end position. In the 4-3, a defensive end is a premium position: the edge rusher. His job is to hold the edge and contain the outside run on rushing downs, and rush the passer on passing downs. The defensive end tends to be tall and fast, yet powerful enough to bull-rush offensive tackles.

Ends in a 3-4 defense, by contrast, aren’t even really ends. While they are technically the outermost defensive linemen (with a nose tackle between them), they are not the edge rushers. That role is filled by outside linebackers, who nearly always rush from the line of scrimmage and act just like 4-3 ends except they line up in a standing position rather than a three-point stance. A 3-4 defensive end is essentially an interior rusher lined up in a 5-technique, or even as a 3-technique tackle. They are often asked to play a two-gap role, and typically don’t get many sacks. Dean Lowry is the classic 3-4 end: 6’6” and around 290 pounds. (A 3-technique, by contrast, tends to be shorter and built for low pad level, penetration and disruption.)

Former Packers defensive coordinator Jim Bates preferred a 4-3 with a balanced line: two big defensive tackles who played a two-gap technique to absorb blocks and clog the middle, and two small, fast ends split wide in a 9-technique (outside the tight end) similar to what the Eagles used around 10 years ago. Bates’ Packers predecessor, Ed Donatell, used an unbalanced line with a nose tackle, a 3-technique tackle, and two very different ends:

Power End

The defensive end on the strong side of such an alignment is a larger, more powerful athlete. Reggie White and J.J. Watt are the prototypical power ends: large enough to play DE in a 3-4, but with the speed and power to play edge rusher. They can set the edge against the run, stand up to chip blocks from the tight end on the strong side, and still rush the passer. A player who can do it all like this is one of the most valuable assets on any team.

While they didn’t have “power ends” until recent years, it should be noted that Packers great Don Hutson was a two-way player lining up at left end…which meant that on defense the swift receiver became the strong-side end. Wanting to preserve him for his offensive skills, Curly Lambeau brought in the rugged Larry Craig to play defensive end, moving Hutson to safety. On offense Craig played quarterback: a blocking back lined up behind the strong-side guard and tackle.

Elephant/Edge Rusher

This is one of the biggest misnomers in football, because it refers to the smaller of the two defensive ends. On the other hand, it was first applied to an outside linebacker in a 3-4 alignment. Essentially, the “elephant” is a hybrid DE/OLB: in other words, an edge rusher. And not just any edge rusher, but usually a team’s best edge rusher. Lining up on the weak side, this player has to fight the opponent’s best pass blocker (the left tackle) en route to the prize.

Notable elephant ends include Charles Haley and Julius Peppers, though Peppers was listed as a linebacker in Green Bay. Past Packers at the position include Tony Bennett (a 3-4 LB), Sean Jones (a 4-3 DE) and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (also a 4-3 DE), who was undersized at the position at around 245. He was a fantastic pass rusher, but an absolute liability against the run who required a tough weakside linebacker to lend support.

And that seems like the appropriate jumping-off point until we tackle our next subject.