The discussion on the other thread about Thomas Davis got me thinking. Typically do the smaller quicker LB's play WLB due to their ablilty to chase plays from behind and the bigger, stronger guys play SLB due to their ability to fend off blocks from the TE.I kinda thought that coverage skills would be important for the SLB but the more I thought about it, they probably will get help from the safety depending on the scheme. Or is there no generalities when it comes to this and it depends on the DC and scheme.
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A LB question (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter CFSize24
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Footballguy
Depending on the system, the WLB is usually your best athletic LB. A good defensive scheme will funnel the offense into your best athletes. Often this is done by overloading the strong side and outnumbering the offense there. The offense will run weakside because they have you outnumbered and/or at least manned up. That's when you depend on superior athleticism to win the day. Obviously, you see LBs running back and forth at the snap once strength is determined. Many times, you'll see the d-lineman doing the same thing. However, offenses counter this with motion.With coverage, you're right in that the SLB has help from the secondary. Not only that, defenses will often roll coverage to the strong side. So the WLB is often alone on the backside and has to be able to cover a lot of space in coverage. He'll have the TE working across to him as well as RBs coming out on swings or screens. Not to mention curls from the WRs.Also, if someone motions out strong side the SS will usually match up and the SLB takes the TE. If they motion weak then the WLB will match up.WLB is almost like a second SS.There are exceptions and some d-coords prefer different LB types.
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Footballguy
Right, he'll be in on passing downs if the d-coord can help it. I think coverage skills in LBs are underrated. If an LB isn't good in coverage, it seriously hurts their playing time. You'll be hard-pressed to teach some run-stuffer how to play a zone let alone man. A lot of that has to do with whether or not the player is athletic.Take a "coverage" LB and teaching him how to play the run is much easier.
