Big Blue Huddle

That's a good question.  I will have to start watching, to be able to answer it though.   I think one thing I took away from this video was it would seem a cut back style runner would be more negatively affected by adding the eighth man .

Here is another good video explaining and showing how the 4-3 stop the run, this time with 8 men in the box.  Note- This coach seems to switch the terms Weak and Strong linebackers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRB_asdJBUA

Good stuff Ed, very well written.

Bama,

I know that's the college rule, but I am not sure what it is in the pros. 


Here is a nice video using Madden Football to illustrate a screen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfcMM2JWV6c

Here is a very simplified explanation, again using Madden:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfcMM2JWV6c

What do you guys think of this write up?   First off a screen play is an outside behind the scrimmage pass play.  It's designed to take advantage of aggressive defenses.  It does this by allowing D-Linemen to penatrate and then throwing outside their penatration.   The receiver can either be a running back (the traditional screen) or a wide receiver (the bubble screen).   

Here is an animation of a bubble screen

http://static.espn.go.com/ncf/football101/BubbleScreen.swf

here is an animation of a traditional screen

http://static.espn.go.com/ncf/football101/SlowScreen.swf

Now here some links to some good articles covering the screen pass.   Also I would love to get some input from some of the other Xs and Os guys

http://espn.go.com/ncf/columns/davie/1433797.html

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/2007/08/06/ramblings/strategy-minicamps/5260/

Pat Kirwin does a great job explaining the use of the double inside blitz, in the Philly game.  He goes on to explain what could be done to counter it and what was done.  Plenty of good diagrams to help explain things.   

www.nfl.com/goto?id=09000d5d803c0bed

Jimmy,

My opinion is that either defense can be very effective.  It's all a matter of having the right players and a good DC.   I think the 4-3 can be extremely effective when you get someone in the DT position that can get a consistent push in the middle.  This year's Giants and the Warren Sapp Tampa defenses were two good examples of that.

I will offer my take Jimmy.   The 3-4 defense is one in which the primary pass rush pressure comes from one of the OLBs.   Usually one of the 2 OLB will be rushing on every pass play.   The NT is a pass rusher (on passing downs) as are the two defensive ends.  However because the NT is usually a very stout player, who needs be able to occupy 2 blockers on running plays, they usually don't get a great push up the middle.   For a 3-4 to get a good middle push they usually need to blitz a safety or an ILB.   Ottoman offers some good insights, but I don't think you usually see the ends lining up over the guards (at the pro level).  I have usually seen them lining up over the tackles or between the tackles and the guards.  I have a couple of good links to articles as well as a flash video and a picture of the basic alignment



http://i.usatoday.net/sports/graphics/3_4_defenses/flash.swf


http://www.geocities.com/epark/raiders/football-101-3-4-defense.html

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2008-01-03-defense-cover_N.htm

That's a good question Jimmy.  I will let some of the others get the first shot at answering this.  If no one steps up, I will give my best answer.

Thanks for the input and welcome BLD.

Excellent work Painter.   Here is an article that covers zone blitzes.  It includes some diagrams and it covers the zone coverage concepts.  Painter's work is at a pretty high level, so this article might be useful to fully understand it.

http://espn.go.com/ncf/columns/davie/1430750.html

The box under Bill and Hillary

In general the safety position requires the following dimensions, to handle the different role.   They need to be 6 foot or taller (although 5-11 isn't uncommon).  They need to be 200+ pounds.   They need to be good tacklers (hard hitters prefered).   Finally they need to be skilled in zone coverage, as that is the primary coverage most safeties will use, the majority of the time.

When you look at Madison: 5-11 180 lbs   Not big enough.  Plus his strength is M2M rather than zone and he is an average tackler

When you look at McQuarters: 5-10 194 lbs  again he is under sized.  He is an average tackler and his coverage skills are unremarkable.

This is a good topic.  Once it falls off the front page, I am going to move it over to the Chalk Talk board.  This is a perfect topic for that new board.

Painter is correct the names are defined by the roles in the defense more than a player's attibutes.   While I don't have hard numbers to back this up, it seems to me we have seen safeties get a little smaller and faster over the past decade or so.   So in  way they are adopting to the trend you have noted BCBud.   
Still in most defensive schemes the tackling ability of a safety is challenged far more than that of a cornerback.     In most between the tackle runs, the safeties are the last line of defense.  A missed tackle by either on of them, can result in a long gain and touchdown.   
They are also the player that is brought down closer to the line of scrimmage to take on duties, similar to a linebacker, when you put 8 men in the box.   So again the safety needs to be stronger tackler.   
On the passing side of things, I think you see corners used in M2M far more often than you will see a safety being called on to do so.  When safeties are called on to cover M2M, it's usually a running back or TE.   These are players where a little more size and strength are helpful.  So there is another reason why safeties need to be a little bigger and stronger than a corner.
It's my opinion that the need for quality safeties has grown over the years.   They are needed to handle the increasing numbers of big athletic TEs, to handle the good running teams and provide much needed help in covering the pass happy offenses.