8 Man Pressure Blitz Concept
I was looking at some man blitz cut-ups from Arizona State and saw a couple of variations that were really different from anything I had looked at before. After watching a number of the clips, I think I have some idea of what was going on.
The End slides down and the Nose goes to head up, creating a sort of Bear front look. You can do any number of things with these guys, but in one variation the two 3-techs are working to the TE side (so the weak 3 is going to A-gap, the strong 3 to B-gap). The Nose is going to twist with the weak 3.
The Will Backer will walk up in a weak 5-tech and come off the edge. It would make sense that he has blitz peel, though I don’t know that I ever saw him do it. This means that if the back flares to his side, he will break off his blitz and pick up the back man to man.
The Sam Backer, Strong Safety, and Defensive End form the really unique thing about this blitz – one that I think makes it special. Of course, I’m not positive about which positions are doing what, so I’m guessing on that. The Sam (in my drawing) is walked up inside shade up the TE, while the End is in a 9-tech on the TE. It makes sense that the Sam may be the Strong Safety instead – based on what happens when this was run against 10 personnel – so keep that in mind. The Safety (in my drawing) is outside of the End, coming off the edge. On the snap, the Sam has eyes on the TE and steps to him. If the TE releases, he will pick him up. If the TE sets to block, the Sam blitzes the C-gap. The 9-tech will use up the TE if he blocks, meaning to occupy him so the SS and Sam get a free run. But if the TE releases, the 9-tech End is now blitzing. Finally, the SS is coming off the edge and has blitz peel, just like the Will backer. This is another reason why it makes sense for the Sam to be where the SS is – the backers have the same job in this blitz.
The last part of the blitz is a blitz through the open A-Gap by the Mike Backer. The other possibility is that he’s man on the back, and blitz-engages when the back sets up. That would take away the blitz peel responsibility of the outside rushers. Either way, you’ve got an 8-man pressure if they try to keep 7 in to block.
The Free Safety and both corners are in man coverage on the remaining receivers. Against 10 Personnel, the Strong Safety walks out and plays man coverage on the slot. You still have a 7 man pressure versus 6 potential blockers now, without changing anything else.
There were several variations of this basic idea, and you could get pretty creative. It was just something I had never really seen before and thought was worth putting the idea out here. I could have a lot of the position names wrong, but that’s not really the point! If anyone knows more about these concepts I’d love to hear it.
The technique you describe with the Sam/SS, whoever is doing the reading of the release with the TE is often referred to in college coaching circles as the “Texas” concept. It is indeed a fairly standard practice in any man to man coverage for the defense player who is assigned to the TE to do this “Texas” read. It has the advantage of always giving the defense a plus one advantage in blitzing numbers.
Another important note is that the defensive backs will be practicing what is called a “catch” technique in cover zero. The DB’s will take inside leverage and sit at 6-8 yards and literally try to catch the idea. The idea of this is that with the +1 blitz, the defense should be able to get to the QB before they ever have the chance to get off a deep pass.
Brad, I’ve never heard of the “Texas” concept, so that’s good stuff to know. I am familiar with the catch technique, just not a big fan of it. But you are right, the ASU film shows the DBs playing off-man. Thanks!