The 3-safety protection and why it helps cease RPO offenses, defined

Late within the first half of their 2018 recreation in opposition to Beggs High School (Ok.), Shiloh Christian (Ark.) defensive coordinator Jacob Gill lastly felt comfy sufficient to strive a protection the Saints had been workshopping within the offseason. Gill wanted a protection that may restrict the pace of a Beggs crew that rostered a number of gamers who went to Power Five universities. So he took an opportunity. What started as one thing Gill stated the crew dabbled in in opposition to Beggs turned out to be the identical three-safety protection that Iowa State has used lately to develop into a drive defensively within the Big 12.

Since Iowa State made the change to the three-high protection as their main construction halfway by means of 2017, Iowa State has performed the scheme extra usually, permitting lower than 240 passing yards per gam per gam each season regardless of enjoying explosive passing offenses like Oklahoma’s Air Raid each week. This defensive enchancment additionally comes whereas Iowa State finishes outdoors the highest 5 of recruiting rankings within the Big 12.

The Cyclones have created, and Gill is making an attempt to duplicate, a protection that maximizes the expertise on the roster, whereas minimizing the hole between bigger colleges with higher-quality athletes and smaller colleges like Shiloh Christian, a non-public Christian college in Springfield, Arkansas. As concepts within the soccer world acquired handed up the chain, defensive coordinators within the NFL started utilizing the personnel from the protection to realize the smallest edge on their opponents week in and week out.

It’s a protection that former Iowa State security Lawrence White IV is aware of nicely. White performed security for the Cyclones from 2016-2020, and says the change to the three security protection got here halfway by means of the 2017 season, a Thursday night time recreation in opposition to Texas.

“The switch was difficult at first because we were scrapping an entire defense for a game that was on Thursday,” White, who was a redshirt freshman on the time, stated over the cellphone. “Once I saw it in action though, and saw the players in motion I really believed that this kind of defense could be special.”

Back in Beggs, Gill took a defensive lineman off the sector and positioned the crew’s greatest athlete, a large receiver, on the sector as a 3rd security. Three negative-yardage performs for the offense later, Gill realized that they may have stumbled throughout one thing particular.

“We all sat there after the game thinking ‘Wow, alright. This might work,’” Gill stated on Zoom. “We had to ask ourselves how to get the best athletes on the field and this was perfect for us.”

Along the way in which, the three-safety protection supplied an important information level within the evolution of the physique kind groups are starting to search for within the secondary, specifically at security and slot defender.

“We found a way to get more of our best players on the field more often,” Gill stated. “We’ve made the game easy for our kids while making it difficult for our opponents.”

How the Defense Works

After utilizing the protection for the primary time in 2018, Gill and different defensive coaches started to implement the protection progressively, utilizing the scheme solely on passing downs. Passing performs are the place the three-safety protection is most profitable, limiting downfield passing assaults and run-pass choices (RPOs) by forcing the offense to make quick throws as a substitute.

Cody Alexander, creator and author of Match Quarters, defined that the Iowa State protection is an offshoot of the standard 3-3-5 protection created by former longtime faculty soccer defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn. This protection takes a defensive linemen off the sector rather than a defensive again, therefore the numbers: three defensive linemen, three linebackers, and 5 defensive backs.

However, Dunn’s 3-3-5 protection shortly grew to become out of date as trendy offenses started to place extra pace on the sector. Normal schematic counters Dunn’s 3-3-5 protection used – resembling Tampa 2, a protection that tells the 2 safeties to every cowl one half of the sector, whereas the center linebacker covers the complete center of the sector, grew to become an issue for the protection when confronted with true receiving threats from the within.

This is the place Iowa State Defensive Coordinator Jon Heacock acquired artistic, Alexander stated.

“In the Big 12 you play some of the best spread offenses in the country who use the Air Raid. The problem with the Tampa 2 defense is that you need an athletic freak at middle linebacker, who also has to play the run, which puts them in constant flux,” Alexander stated. “What Iowa State did was play their corners really aggressively, and move a third safety to the middle of the field.”

At its core, the protection is efficient as a result of it removes the duty of a slower linebacker in move protection and provides it to a 3rd security, which Alexander defined has a number of the identical obligations as a conventional nickel nook.

“The third safety is what people call a box player,” Alexander stated. “He’s playing the run from depth, because it’s a lot easier to play football going forward than running backwards.”

Because offenses are actually designed to assault the linebacker in protection, Heacock makes use of the third security as a fast repair to the issue, permitting the participant to cowl something that comes throughout the center the place the linebacker was normally in flux.

For coaches like Gill at Shiloh Christian, this helps tremendously when matched in opposition to trendy offenses that use Run Pass Options (RPOs) to place the linebacker in battle by making the participant take into consideration whether or not the play is a run or a move. At the school stage, a number of groups are throwing it extra usually, many occasions basing their complete offensive assault round it.

According to Sports Info Solutions in 2018 solely two groups tried greater than 100 RPOs. In 2021, that quantity jumped to 13 groups, together with conventional powerhouses like Alabama and Miami. In an RPO, the offensive line and working again run a working play, whereas the receivers run routes as if it’s a move play. The quarterback reads the Sam (S) linebacker and bases the play on what he does. If he performs the run, the quarterback passes it, and if the Sam drops into passing protection, the quarterback palms the ball off. The three-safety protection eliminates RPOs by taking away the issue of the Sam linebacker. The Sam linebacker is free to play the run, as a result of there’s an additional security behind him to play the move.

“We felt like [the three safety defense] helped us answer some questions,” Gill stated. “We can structure what we’re doing based on which players the offense is trying to put in conflict.”

Personnel Changes

As Gill ready to proceed to implement the three security protection, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Shiloh Christian misplaced 23 seniors getting into the soccer season, and acquired smaller on the defensive position as nicely.

Gill knew he needed to change the protection to suit his gamers’ strengths, and this included the third security place, most significantly the center security. The identical spot the place Gill positioned a large receiver in 2018 in opposition to Beggs might have a special position going into the 2020 soccer season.

“We put our best overall defensive back at the middle safety position,” Gill stated. “Then we construction our calls and our protection round what the participant can do greatest. For defensive backs which might be higher enjoying in opposition to the run, Gill would transfer the participant round to be used as a strain participant, a method he used with an undersized defensive again he coached final 12 months. The luxurious of getting the flexibility garnered from the three-safety protection is flexibility amongst different gamers, Gill stated.

“Being able to keep the coverage rules for the other two safeties the same is the beauty of this defense,” Gill stated. “Now we can get versatility in terms of players we put around him, and maximize every player on the field.”

Christian performed their three-safety protection on 40 p.c of their snaps, and ended up successful the state championship. “If you look at our defensive efficiency numbers, we’ve played better defense in this structure than we did before,” Gill stated. “Because of that [three safety] structure, we’ve been able to get our best players on the field more often.”

The duty of the center security participant begins up entrance, Gill stated.

“We teach him the front call first, whether he’s in the front or not,” Gill stated. This information is so necessary as a result of in opposition to the run, the center security on this protection acts as a “cap”, in line with Alexander, a participant on the prime of the protection who has to ensure no massive performs occur, like how the cap of a drink retains the liquid from spilling.

Think of it like a triangle: the center security is on the highest level, with the three intermediate defenders on the second stage, and the defensive position on the backside. The center security will come from his spot initially within the protection and run into the “box,” the area between the offensive tackles on the left and proper facet, to cease the run, or “fit” the run as Alexander known as it. The triangle strikes with the path of the play, and the protection drops down into the play later.

“You now have a defender who isn’t in the box, and the offensive line can’t see them,” Alexander stated. “It’s like an amoeba, offenses think they’re blocking this player at this point but then a second or third level defender comes running at you.”

This “amoeba” protection appears complicated to opposing offenses, however for White it made his job less complicated. As the free security, White stated he was an overhang defender, usually being the additional man dedicated to stopping the RPO.

“Playing in that defense is just fun man,” White stated. “It was unique and made you want to play the game more.” White additionally outlined what kind of gamers Iowa State regarded for of their safeties, saying that the center security was a “hybrid” between a linebacker and a security, whereas the sturdy security is extra of a protection participant. “Having that other safety in the middle of the defense made my job a lot easier,” White stated. “It allowed me to be more aggressive and make more plays around the ball.”

At the NFL stage, offenses are starting to alter the personnel that’s usually on the sector, choosing extra spread-out gamers resembling 4 vast receivers in shotgun formation as a substitute of two working backs on the sector on the identical time.

The enhance of the unfold offense is presently hitting the NFL, with excessive powered offenses just like the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams manufacturing explosive performs by means of the air with their offense. The cycle of schematic concepts continues to run, nonetheless, and as concepts get handed from the highschool and faculty stage, one begins to marvel if this three-safety protection would ever make its method to the NFL stage.

Cody Alexander, creator of the Match Quarters web site devoted to dissecting defenses at each stage, doesn’t appear to suppose the construction of the three-safety protection will catch on within the NFL. “The three-safety defense involves getting cornerbacks involved more in the run game,” Alexander stated. “The corners in the NFL are getting paid a lot of money to be coverage specialists, and it wouldn’t make sense to waste them in a run fit.”

From a schematic standpoint, the three-safety protection construction is supposed to restrict groups which might be unfold all the way in which out onto the hash marks. It’s a small adjustment, however because the previous adage goes, soccer is a recreation of inches.

At the highschool stage, the hash marks are 53 ft and 4 inches aside. In faculty the quantity goes all the way down to 40 ft, whereas within the NFL the quantity shrinks all the way in which all the way down to 18 ft and 6 inches. There’s merely much less area to place all three safeties on the sector structurally like Iowa State does, and NFL offenses aren’t as prolonged past the hash marks as they’re in faculty soccer.

“There are a lot of reduced sets and reductions in the NFL,” Alexander stated. “Alex Gibbs, the godfather of wide zone offense always wanted to make the corner tackle, and by bringing receivers in closer you get better blocking angles on the safeties and force the corner to tackle.”

Where the three-safety protection might discover its means into the NFL is within the personnel utilization. According to White, the position of the center security is extra of a hybrid participant, a cross between a linebacker and defensive again.

This form of participant wouldn’t have a spot on the sector in earlier eras, being too small to place at linebacker however too gradual to place at security. Now, the NFL is turning into extra positionless, mimicking different sports activities like basketball.

“Everyone is trying to spread everybody out and passing is the equivalent of the three-pointer in the NBA,” Alexander stated. “Analytics tells you that it’s more efficient to throw the ball, so now you need more guys that can play in space.”

The capability to play in area is at a premium within the NFL now, particularly as NFL groups start to maneuver their greatest receivers into the slot to get a matchup benefit. Reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp dominated NFL defenses whereas working a majority of his routes from the slot, which afforded a bonus to the Rams offense.

What folks usually overlook, nonetheless, is that Kupp is listed at 6-foot-2 and 208 kilos, an even bigger receiver than what folks usually affiliate with enjoying within the slot. According to Sports Info Solutions (SIS), in 2021 six of the highest 10 leaders in routes run from the slot had been above 6 ft tall, together with tight finish Mark Andrews, who tops the listing at 6-foot-5.

This is much more fascinating if you evaluate it to 2016, when SIS first started charting routes run. That 12 months, there have been solely two receivers over 6 ft tall within the prime 10 of routes run from the slot.

The period of the Wes Welker kind of slot receiver is ending, and now nickel cornerbacks have gotten extra like the center security White talked about, a hybrid participant who can match up with greater slot receivers.

“You don’t want your 5-8 , 175-pound slot corner guarding Travis Kelce or Darren Waller, that’s a huge mismatch,” Cody Alexander stated. “What you need now are more 6-1 or 6-2 safeties who can match up with these guys in the passing game and play the run.”

The NFL is already starting to make this adjustment. Per SIS, among the many groups that completed within the prime 10 of Football Outsiders Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA) metric in opposition to the move in 2021, certainly one of them had a participant under 5-foot-11 play essentially the most protection snaps within the slot (Jourdan Lewis of the Dallas Cowboys).

Compare this to 2018, when SIS began monitoring protection snaps from the slot. In that 12 months, among the many prime 10 groups in defensive passing DVOA there have been seven gamers who had been under 5-foot-11 who led their respective groups in protection snaps from the slot. As the NFL will get greater within the slot offensively, groups will start to search for extra gamers like the center security in Iowa State’s protection, gamers who’re versatile sufficient to put on a number of hats for the protection.

“The defensive back (DB) position is becoming more and more important,” Alexander stated. “The key cog of defenses used to be linebackers, but now it’s safeties.”

As safeties develop into extra necessary in soccer, the method of constructing groups and discovering worth within the security and slot defender is turning into extra necessary.

At the highschool stage, Coach Gill has seen that the rise of participation in padless seven-on-seven tournaments, that are meant for talent place gamers like vast receiver, has elevated the quantity of gamers Gill calls “tweeners”.

“Kids grow up playing catch, and wanting to be a wide receiver and score touchdowns,” Gill stated. “Because of how often teams pass the ball now, you need guys who can play in space and run.”

The deal with bigger gamers who’re “positionless” is shaping recruitment on the faculty stage as nicely. According to 247 Sports’ participant rating database, one of the best recruits are given 5 stars out of 5.

In the upcoming class of 4 and five-star safeties graduating highschool, solely two are under 6 ft tall. The capability to be “positionless” within the secondary is turning into much less of a hindrance and extra of a constructive trait that not solely faculty soccer groups search for, however NFL groups as nicely.

“NFL teams today can come to the table with three very talented receivers, which means that you have to play a slot defender who can cover,” former Atlanta Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff stated. “We perceived our slot defender as our third corner and a starter, that’s how important they are to the defense.”

During his tenure with the Falcons, Dimitroff labored with a number of head coaches, defensive coordinators and place coaches so as to construct a contending crew on protection. While the coordinators and other people inside the entrance workplace may need modified, the analysis of the protection and slot defender didn’t.

“We started with general athleticism, like hip fluidity and agility,” Dimitroff stated. “We’d then hone in on the ability to cover from the outside versus the inside. If a guy is really smart and athletic but lacks top speed, we’d find a role for him on the inside.”

As Dimitroff transitioned from being the GM of a defensive scheme like Mike Smith (who coached the Falcons from 2008-2014) to a Dan Quinn (Falcons coach from 2015-2020) scheme, he seen how the roles of the protection modified as offenses started to modernize. “Quinn would much rather want two good athletes who could be interchangeable,” Dimitroff stated. “There’s a lot of variability from team to team, but now you’re beginning to see the safeties go from being 225 pounds to more in the 195-205 pound range.”

Where we’re headed

As Coach Gill prepares for an additional season teaching the Shiloh Christian Saints, he’s making ready to run the three-safety protection as his “base”, or most important, protection. For a smaller college in Arkansas, the protection has given Gill a method to play his greatest gamers without having monstrous defensive linemen.

From placing within the protection and testing it on a crisp fall night time in 2018 to creating it their main protection, Gill has seen the advantages. Shiloh Christian has made the state championship within the earlier two years, and their protection has been stronger and stronger every year.

“It’s really simple,” Gill stated. “The more we’re in it [the three-safety defense] the better we play.”

While the true three-safety protection will possible by no means make it into the NFL, the change has already been felt. Football is like chess, and for defenses, the protection is shortly turning into the queen on the chessboard, and the worth of the protection is skyrocketing.

“The NFL is a matchup league,” former Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff stated. “Even though you want some badass guy to come down and fill a gap, being able to cover takes more priority in the league.”

An ideal case research of this variation occurring in actual time is with the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers. For the Rams, their passing protection really took off when former defensive coordinator Brandon Staley started to make use of All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey to cowl the slot receiver starting in 2020, taking away routes by greater receivers on the within and placing him nearer to the motion. This culminated in 2021. Ramsey helped the Rams to a Super Bowl victory.

“The different places we can activate him is a real weapon — it’s kind of like one of those ‘Jokers’ on offense, that you don’t know whether he’s going to be in the backfield, in the slot, attached to the core or out wide as a receiver,” Rams coach Sean McVay instructed Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic. “And that’s what Jalen is for the defensive side of the ball.”

Staley left the Rams to develop into the pinnacle coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, the place he has an analogous type of affect participant in security Derwin James. James completed fourth for the Chargers in protection snaps from the slot, or the “Star” place as Staley calls it, at 6’2.

Staley might need him there extra to have the ability to match up in opposition to greater slot receivers and tight ends, and has already began addressing that want. The Athletic’s Daniel Popper wrote in February after the Chargers chosen Baylor security J.T. Woods that it offers Staley the pliability to play James within the slot to be across the motion and be an even bigger physique in opposition to greater slot guys.

At the school stage, the three-safety defensive construction is already making its means throughout the nation. The most notable instance is with former Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables, who now could be the pinnacle coach at Oklahoma. The Athletic’s Max Olson reported in 2020 that Venables and different defensive coaches visited Iowa State defensive coordinator Jon Heacock in April to shadow the Iowa State protection and watch movie.

What resulted was Venables implementing Iowa State’s three-safety protection and deploying it on a whim, simply as Coach Gill did in opposition to Beggs High School. The solely distinction? Venables put the protection into motion on a nationwide stage, the 2019 College Football Playoff semifinal in opposition to Ohio State halfway by means of the primary half, down 13.

“We had to do something different,” Clemson safeties coach Mickey Conn instructed Olson, “because they were going up and down the field on what we were trying to do otherwise.”

Venables noticed the success the Iowa State protection had in defending trendy offenses, and deployed it for himself at Clemson.

Lawrence White IV is one of the best instance of this protection altering the gamers themselves. After enjoying nook and quarterback in highschool, White was caught in the midst of the depth chart earlier than Iowa State Defensive Coordinator Jon Heacock made the change. From the second the change was made, White noticed enjoying time enhance for everybody within the secondary room.

“Going from two safeties on the field to three, you move up the depth chart,” White stated. “Coach gained more trust in us to play more people and get reps in the game.”

White stated as soon as the change was made, as much as eight safeties would see the sector throughout a single recreation. The greatest method to develop is to get enjoying time in video games, and that growth paid off for White. White grew to become a full time starter within the three security protection in 2018, and in 2019 and 2020 White was named honorable Big 12 by coaches and media.

White, who obtained a coaching camp invite from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was within the 2023 XFL draft, credit all the pieces to Iowa State and that protection, proving that three is the magic quantity.