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A defensive player may line up anywhere on his side of the line of scrimmage and perform any legal action. Over time, however, defensive roles have become defined into three main sets of players that encompass several individual positions. Defensive formations are often known by a numerical code indicating the number of players at each position.
The three basic defensive positions are: Defensive lineman (DL): Linemen play at the line of scrimmage, directly across from the offensive line. They are categorized as defensive tackles (DT) or defensive ends (DE). The 4-3 defense has 2 tackles and 2 ends; the 3-4 defense has 2 ends and 1 tackle, who is sometimes called a nose tackle (NT) to ...
A diagram of a standard 4–3 defense set. The defensive backs include two cornerbacks (labeled CB on the diagram), a free safety (labeled FS) and a strong safety (labeled SS). In gridiron football , defensive backs ( DBs ), also called the secondary , are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of ...
Also called the "umbrella" defense or "3-deep". In this set, the third safety would be referred to as a "weak safety" (WS) and allows two position safeties at the mid-level with a third safety deep. It is because of this that the secondary safety in a football defense is called a free safety rather than a weak safety
In American football, the 3–4 defense is a common defensive alignment consisting of three down linemen and four linebackers. It is called a "base defense" because it will readily switch to other defensive alignments (such as a nickel defense or a dime defense ) as circumstances change.
The most players a National Football League team can carry on its active roster at the start of the regular season. To reach the deadline, teams trim rosters by the deadline by releasing players and, if injured, move them to the injured reserve or physically unable to perform list. 6–2 defense
Early in the history of the National Football League, teams stacked the defensive line of scrimmage with seven linemen, typically using a 7-diamond or the 7-box. [1] With the liberalization of the forward passing rules in 1933, the defenses began to evolve along with the offensive changes, and by the later 1930s, the standard defense in the NFL and college was the 6–2.
In American football, a nickel defense (also known as a 4–2–5 or 3–3–5) is any defensive alignment that uses five defensive backs, of whom the fifth is known as a nickelback. The original and most common form of the nickel defense features four down linemen and two linebackers .