the Safety Position

[boyst]

6 pages, 2,967 words.

 

Per request from a few folks in another thread I will break down the SS and FS position. I have done this before with other positions. I think the only position I have not really covered on D is the DL. Maybe that is next. I found this for the LB’s. There is at least one other in depth LB breakdown

http://forums.twobil...e/#entry2411670

 

So, looking at the defense we can reasonably believe there will be no surprise cuts of any starters.

Carrington – KWilliams – Dareus – MWilliams

Lawson – Alonso – Bradham

McKelvin – Gilmore

Byrd – AWilliams

As our base D, 4-3

KWilliams– Dareus – Carrington

Lawson – Bradham – Alonso – MWilliams

As a projected 3-4, or variation of.

 

Safety 101

The Safety position is two positions. Strong Safety and Free Safety. The Strong Safety (SS) plays to the strong side of the field - the side of the QB the TE or most players are on. The weak is the opposite and where the Free Safety (FS) plays. Ed Reed may be the best FS in the league of recent and Troy Polamalu the best SS in the league of recent. To copy and paste from Wikipedia:

The strong safety tends to be somewhat larger and stronger than the free safety. However, the word strong is used because he is assigned to cover the "strong side" of the offense, the side on which the big, powerful tight end lines up on offensive plays. The strong safety tends to play closer to the line and assist in stopping the run. He may also be responsible for covering a player, such as a running back or fullback or H-back, who comes out of the backfield to receive a pass. A strong safety's duties are a hybrid of those belonging to a linebacker in a 46 or 3-4 defense and those of the other defensive backs, in that he both covers the pass and stops the run.

The free safety tends to watch the play unfold and follow the ball. The free safety is typically assigned to the quarterback in man coverage, but as the quarterback usually remains in the pocket the free safety is "free" to double cover another player. On pass plays, the free safety is expected to assist the cornerback on his side and to close the distance to the receiver by the time the ball reaches him. Offenses tend to use the play-action pass specifically to make the free safety expect a run play, which would draw him closer to the line of scrimmage, and reduce his effectiveness as a pass defender. Furthermore, quarterbacks often use a technique to "look off" a free safety, by purposely looking to the other side of the field during a pass play, with the intention to lure the free safety away from the intended target receiver on the other side of the field. This phenomenon often tests how effective a free safety's wit and athleticism are at defending long pass plays. If the offense puts a receiver in the slot, then the free safety may be called upon to cover that receiver. Free safeties occasionally blitz as well. When this happens, the pressure on the quarterback is often very severe since a blitz by a defensive back is not usually anticipated. Free safeties, because of their speed and deep coverage, are often prone to catching interceptions.

(Jairus Byrd is listed with Weddle, Goldson, and Reed as top FS in the game currently)

 

The SS is the last resort, often times, to stop a ball carrier. He is the one who gets juked out of his jock a lot and the guy that often makes RB’s look very good. It is hard to stop a RB when he has 10-15 yards of steam running at you. The FS is the deepest man on the field in most situations. The ball should never be thrown past this player, as he must always be aware of where the ball is at and going during the play. Therefore, this player must have a combination of speed and awareness to close the distance between himself and the ball. The FS follows the opposing players downfield to provide what is called over the top protection, in most cases. The SS often does not travel more than 15 yards from the Line of Scrimmage (LOS).

 

A very basic way to look at the responsibility of these players is to think of a triangle and an umbrella. The SS is responsible for anything between the tackles getting behind him. The FS is responsible for putting an umbrella over the field that nothing gets out from under and remain the deepest man on the field.

 

Safety 2000

Of course, there are many different ways to play the safety position. If you have been a Bills fan for a while you remember the Tampa2 we tried. And failed. Why did we fail? We had no supporting cast for this position. The cover 2 is how it is actually known and using the above principals it further divides the field in to two halves. Each safety is responsible for their half of the field. This can be run with both a 34 and 43 defense. However, running this with a 43 defense is in most cases more dangerous because the ILB must be extremely good to protect the vulnerability of the running between the tackles.

There is an inversion that happens to the cover2 that is seen often when you see the Cornerbacks drop off the line out of press coverage. The safeties will come closer to the LOS and can confuse a QB to believe a blitz may be coming. It, much like the cover2 weakens the middle of the field and puts a lot of pressure on the SS.

One many do not fully understand is called the Cover3. A cover3 divides the field in to three sections between the FS and two CB’s. This is actually a run stopping defense, as the SS is often moved closer to the LOS (often within 5 yards). There he can blitz, or drop to a flat for coverage, or cover a backfield target.

Cover0 is a straight man-on-man coverage, which I hear is Beerballs favorite type.

Cover1 is one that we often get confused about when watching a game, but it is exactly like cover0 for the DB’s, except that one of the safeties, often the FS. Before the snap of the ball each player identifies their matchup, and this is where miscommunication will leave a guy uncovered for the big play. This is a coverage we will continue to see of the Buffalo Bills. That is because this allows Jairus Byrd to play to the ball. The SS in this will often double team a TE or RB with a LB.

Cover4 and Cover6…yeah, there are those. The cover4, like others has underneath or zone coverage in traditional styles. That means that the defender stays between the ball and the receiver. The cover4 drops the CB’s back to their zone while the safeties follow suit. It is ideal for defending long passes as each of the CB’s and S’s share coverage for ¼ of the field. Both the FS and the SS are used in run support for this scheme which lets the CB’s commit to pass coverage – which is opposite the cover2.

In a Cover6 the defense is often called to the open side of the field and run as a 34. Therefore, the strong side is the open side and the SS and the CB both quarter the field. The SS is vital to the run support in this coverage, but it is more important to have a strong side linebacker that is able to drop in to coverage to support the under routes in the flat of the defense. This defense can be very weak on the weak side as the FS cannot be used underneath and there is little to no coverage off the LOS in the flat. This is what is called a soft area.

 

Safety 3000

Take a minute and stretch.

Let’s collect what we know about the schemes above and look at our defense. We have Mike Pettine who is known as an aggressive and mixing it up style Defensive Coordinator. Pettine relies on a strong front 4 to hold his line and disrupt the pocket. His Defensive Ends must hold containment and allow his LB’s to fill gaps, scrape and drop in to coverage. They are, in effect, his boundary men. You see, as the DL does their jobs this closes gaps and removes space for a ball carrier or QB to operate. This will either flush a QB out of the pocket in to a waiting LB or it will cause a ball carrier to break in another direction as the holes fill up quickly.

What does this mean for the safeties? This means that when that ball carrier breaks we must have a SS who is right there to contain the play should he get sprung from the pocket. We will see a lot of runs stopped in the first yard of the LOS between the tackles, but we will also see a lot of runs stopped 7 yards from the LOS. This all depends on the abilities our ILBs to stay clean and the DL to protect them. If the DL does not do their job they let OL get to the next level. The OL then block the LB’s. This leaves the WR’s and downfield blockers to attack the S’s. This is where a few years ago we saw a lot of responsibilities fall to Donte Whitner. This is a major reason that George Wilson succeeded and had his stats padded nicely.

As the QB scrambles to make his passes in short time in disrupted pockets he will check his reads quickly. This plays to the advantage of Jairus Byrd. He is very good at spying the QB and getting to where the ball will be. This gives Byrd a chance to free range the defensive backfield and play to his strengths. However, I have concern, especially when it comes to his INT stats. With disruption on the QB this could also backfire. Quick reads will move the ball in timed patterns exposing Byrds lack of speed. The same will be true when the QB can squeeze the ball in to tight spots or finds separation developing on a speedy WR covered by anyone not named Gilmore. In fact, to put it bluntly, our CB2 position is going to cause a lot of problems for Byrd, as he will be required to compensate for underperformance should it occur.

How does bad play effect a FS, you ask? If a CB is unable to man up on a WR and requires a lot of FS assistance it opens up any other downfield WR to get deeper than his cover. Someone like Atlanta will be a great example of this for us. Should Roddy White or Julio Jones beat Gilmore deep Matt Ryan is able to get the ball 40 yards downfield while Byrd could be covering with CB – or maybe even TE Gonzalez.

Safety 4000

The Nickel and Dime.

The Dime is a 6 DB set, often. However, we have Bryan Scott (at least for now), Aaron Williams and Manny Lawson. In other words, we have a Strong Safety who plays Linebacker, a Cornerback who plays Strong Safety, and a Linebacker who is fierce at pass defense as a 43WLB. Dowtin is a wildcard for coverage, as well, but I will choose not to focus on him at this point (if you ask I can fill ya’ll in).

Our dime defense could be so many things I do not even know where to start, but it still ends up with 2 traditional safeties, the FS and the SS. The 5 other non DB’s can be 4 DL and 1 LB, 3 DL and 2 LB, or 2 DL and 3 LB’s…or even 1DL and 4 guys in a 2pt stance as we have already seen in preseason.

Without focusing on who will be in what position, as I have to have more to talk about later we will cover some break downs of what generally goes on in the Dime and then Nickel.

In the Dime we are going to defend long to medium passes on teams that do not run so well. Our 6^th back is the Dimeback. The SS must devote a lot of his game to stopping the run – and thus, is susceptible to play-action. The entire defensive will be subject to this, actually, as it will freeze defenders a split second which could cause a player to get deep. With 6 defensive backs and this being the case speed will be very important. Unfortunately, we do not have a tremendous amount of speed on the defensive side of the ball. Therefore, removing the SS from the 5 remaining backs in this scheme we see that we have 4 other CB’s. Often a 3^rd CB, often a large athletic cover guy will take the TE. The SS will sometimes assist this coverage. The FS in this scheme will float to the deepest man on the field in many cases, however, in our defense we could see Byrd follow the QB. In other words, where the QB targets Byrd will commit to. As often called, this is what is known as playing the QB.

The Nickel D will remove a DL or LB and put an extra DB on the field. The DB will often over the TE and will rely on the SS for assistance in doing so. This is a scheme and not coverage. This scheme is otherwise similar to other schemes and coverage can vary. A Tampa2 in a Nickel defense can be played, for example.

 

Safety 5000

The Giant Dime. AKA, what we will see this year. This was employed in 2010 by the Gints by running a nickel defense with three safeties. In this case I have to think the 3^rd SS could be Bryan Scott at LB playing as a shallow SS at 5 yards. Instead of 43 being the Mike he will drop back to coverage on the strong side of the field to cover what will likely be a TE, WR short pattern, or springing RB. However, the main focus of this falls back to the Tampa2 style, where both additional safeties will cut the field in half and each accordingly. The FS will then be free to play as he would in any other specific coverage package. This will be important should we find that we have little options at CB4. It is looking like we might be headed that way, too. With Gilmore, McKelvin, Brooks, Rogers being listed at top 4 we all know that behind Gilmore we are lacking talent. Butler, Heath and Robey look promising but are not sure fire to make the roster. At least 1 should, and another likely to hit the PS we will probably go in to game day with only 4 active CB’s. Our special teams will be heavily fielded by offensive players, as we figure Choice to make the team along with at least 6 WR’s, a FB, possibly Dickerson, and 3 TE’s and a slew of LB’s.

In the Giant Dime or 3 safety set we are likely to see a CB blitz. With Aaron Williams on the field and the recent improvements in Searcy it is very easy to imagine AWilliams sliding out against a WR on the weakside and McKelvin blitzing.

Safety 6000

How to excel with Jairus Byrd and Aaron Williams. Should one of those players go down I envision Searcy coming in and becoming the SS.

Aaron Williams is going to face a surprising season to many this year. With strong play from Alonso we are likely to see Williams step out as one of the best defenders on the defense. This is because at CB Williams was not able to turn his hips and keep up with the game. However, in two preseason games and select games last year it was easy to see Williams recognize a play in front of him and address it correctly. Williams at CB last year was able to attack runs to his side and quickly released from his player in zone coverage. As a SS safety he will need to identify the very important seams in the defense. With Gronkowski in our division we know how vulnerable a good seam receiver is and I believe Williams will be able to attack these seams and with some heat. Williams year could be much like George Wilsons 2009 campaign.

Jairus Byrd, gulp, might have some trouble this year. I will get to the negative first. As mentioned above Byrd is going to have his hands full babysitting our second CB. Facing quick reacting QB’s, like Fitzpatrick on his good days, will keep the ball away from Byrd. If the read-option is big this year, as well, we could see more lost opportunity for Byrd. His best game will likely come against Carolina with a struggling Cam Newton who looks down his targets and often cannot get past three reads. Byrd will do very well this year playing to his strengths, though, when given time to make his reads. Of course, in our defense we do not want plays lasting over 4 seconds. It could be a very interesting year for Byrd. A beautiful year could be Byrd getting 8 INT’s and the defensive combining for 40 sacks with Alonso having 135+ tackles. That would be a top 5 defense.

 

 

Alright, it is late, I may have missed a little, but you still should feel like you learned something…

Edited August 24, 2013 by jboyst62

[voodoo poonani]

Good stuff, but AJ Green plays for Cincinatti. Roddy White and Julio Jones play for Atlanta

[boyst]

Good stuff, but AJ Green plays for Cincinatti. Roddy White and Julio Jones play for Atlanta

Ahh, you know what I meant. I was tired.

 

edit: I meant to link this

http://smartfootball.com/passing/attacking-coverages-in-the-passing-game

Edited August 24, 2013 by jboyst62

[San Jose Bills Fan]

You're gonna have to trade your beef for some dairy cows cuz it seems like you have too much time on your hands.

 

:nana:

 

Let me have the weekend to read this and I'll shoot some CliffsNotes back at you.

 

Provided I can read this epic in two days.

 

[NDBUFFCUSEFAN]

 

10/10, would read again.

[NewEra]

If Byrd goes down, I envision Aaron Williams remaining at SS and Duke Williams playing FS. Searcy is a proven liability in coverage. He's relatively slow (for a guy that may have to guard a WR) and his hips are tight. Duke has the physical attributes to cover WRs and RBs. It might be tough for him to cover a TE, but hopefully AW can take on that responsibility. While Duke may be a couple years behind Searcy mentally, he's in another league physically. He's tough, can run and lay the smack down. I think he's one helluva prospect and would rather see him out there than a slug like Searcy. Jmo.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Searcy is a proven liability in coverage. He's relatively slow (for a guy that may have to guard a WR) and his hips are tight.

 

[billsrcursed]

Good stuff, jboyst. I agree with you about the Giant Dime and using Bryan Scott. I like his chances in that role.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[K-9]

Great work, Mr. Boyst, a yeoman's effort.

 

Now we know why a QB needs to read the safeties. How and where they lineup tells him most about the coverage the D is playing and where you can exploit it. It's amazing to me how many QBs just aren't very good at reading a defense.

 

GO BILLS!!!

Edited August 24, 2013 by K-9

[Matt in KC]

Thanks so much, jboyst. I was one of the people who "asked for it".

 

I made it to the following, and just need to fill my coffee and pick up my morning reading where I left off. . . .

Safety 3000

Take a minute and stretch

[Gugny]

Dammit, I thought Men Without Hats got back together.

[Best Player Available]

If Byrd goes down, I envision Aaron Williams remaining at SS and Duke Williams playing FS. Searcy is a proven liability in coverage. He's relatively slow (for a guy that may have to guard a WR) and his hips are tight. Duke has the physical attributes to cover WRs and RBs. It might be tough for him to cover a TE, but hopefully AW can take on that responsibility. While Duke may be a couple years behind Searcy mentally, he's in another league physically. He's tough, can run and lay the smack down. I think he's one helluva prospect and would rather see him out there than a slug like Searcy. Jmo.

"and his hips are tight".

 

Very correctable, Marone, go out buy him Exile on Main Street. And have him do the "hip shake baby" Works every time.

[bowery4]

According to Pettine the outside CBs will not get much over the top help from either safety and will mostly be lined up in man to man (and that has been the case in at least the first preseason game, the second I couldn't tell as much). I find that with the relative lack of speed of our FS will seem to be an issue and think Byrd may get beat some down field this year (not so much by his ineptitude but by the seemly soft spot in the scheme). Although, he may still end up with a decent interception total because of the deception involved in some of the fronts and the lacking of strictly defined positions (including his own), should be interesting to see how it plays out. He has really picked up his tackling skills and separating players from the ball the last couple of years and I see that as a plus against the run too (as on some plays he should be closer to the LOS and playing almost like a SS). Thanks for the write up, interesting to read.

Edited August 24, 2013 by bowery4

[boyst]

According to Pettine the outside CBs will not get much over the top help from either safety and will mostly be lined up in man to man (and that has been the case in at least the first preseason game, the second I couldn't tell as much). I find that with the relative lack of speed of our FS will seem to be an issue and think Byrd may get beat some down field this year (not so much by his ineptitude but by the seemly soft spot in the scheme). Although, he may still end up with a decent interception total because of the deception involved in some of the fronts and the lacking of strictly defined positions (including his own), should be interesting to see how it plays out. He has really picked up his tackling skills and separating players from the ball the last couple of years and I see that as a plus against the run too (as on some plays he should be closer to the LOS and playing almost like a SS). Thanks for the write up, interesting to read.

The over the top coverage will likely adjust against better passing teams. I just do not see the ability of our #2 CB to handle a lot of single coverage.

The Pats game is going ot be chaos on D as our guys will be tested, Brady will seeing something different but not new since this team will be similar to NJJets D, and most importantly because there will be so much going on we will miss a lot.

 

If Byrd goes down, I envision Aaron Williams remaining at SS and Duke Williams playing FS. Searcy is a proven liability in coverage. He's relatively slow (for a guy that may have to guard a WR) and his hips are tight. Duke has the physical attributes to cover WRs and RBs. It might be tough for him to cover a TE, but hopefully AW can take on that responsibility. While Duke may be a couple years behind Searcy mentally, he's in another league physically. He's tough, can run and lay the smack down. I think he's one helluva prospect and would rather see him out there than a slug like Searcy. Jmo.

I do not know if this happens off the bat, but I could see it happening. Searcy's liabilities in coverage may be weakbut I am not ready to put a fork in his tenure with Buffalo.

[BUNCH OF MULARKEY]

Thanks for that , it made it an interesting read how you plugged the players into the scenarios.

[boyst]

Thanks for that , it made it an interesting read how you plugged the players into the scenarios.

Are there any more you are curious about? Positions or players?

[3rdand12]

J , have i told you lately ..i love you man ?

well done indeed. again.

and yes i have learned somethings

[BUNCH OF MULARKEY]

Are there any more you are curious about? Positions or players?

Just keep em comin when ya get bored and feel like writing another novel. I'll be looking forward to the d line edition.