AFM RSS Feed Follow Us on Twitter       
AMERICAN FOOTBALL MONTHLY THE #1 RESOURCE FOR FOOTBALL COACHES
ABOUT |  CONTACT |  ADVERTISE |  HELP  



   User Name    Password 
      Password Help





Article Categories


AFM Magazine

AFM Magazine


Defending the Empty Set

by: Christian Guenther
Defensive Coordinator Southwest Minnesota State University
© More from this issue

Click for Printer Friendly Version          

As the spread offense has become more popular, we are starting to see more teams utilize empty backfield sets. What has been the most difficult for our defense has been an offense that will stay in a traditional personnel grouping and then align in an empty set. We are a pressure defense at Southwest Minnesota State University that has to react to this type of formation through checks in our defense. Only one mistake can lead to a score or big play that could make the difference in a game. For this reason, we want to ensure that our defense is well-prepared for this set. The steps that we follow make sure that we are prepared to adjust and still have the opportunity to be aggressive on defense rather than reactive to the offense.

The first steps in preparation are to identify the type of empty set our opponent will utilize and evaluate the quarterback operating this offense. We do this by identifying the skills their quarterback may possess and what weaknesses we can take advantage of during the game. The following are three categories we use to determine the skills of our opponents’ quarterback.

  1. Is he an athletic quarterback with the ability to run the football?
  2. Is he an experienced drop-back passer that has the ability to read a defensive coverage and throw downfield as well as make good decisions under pressure?
  3. Is he a poor decision maker that tries to force the football?


Once we know what we have to defend, we will try to keep our checks simple. They fall into one of the following three defensive adjustments. Our ultimate goal is to get them out of the empty backfield set and back into their offense. The following checks will be made to our huddle call and will be used to change to our empty set defense for that week. For example, if we call ‘Field 2’ and our opponent comes out in an empty backfield set, our safeties would respond by calling one of the following three checks:  Mayday, Sink, and Blue.


Mayday Check

Our first check is a “Mayday” call. We play this front to force a quarterback or receiver to the edge in their run game. Our interior defensive linemen will cover both A gaps and will play run first. They will react to pass sets by guards and will work to contain the quarterback. Our two defensive ends will penetrate the B gap and try to force a quarterback run to the outside and eliminate any pulling offensive linemen. This front and movement, which we call Delta Buc, allows our linebackers to play on the edge of the offensive formation and read the offensive tackle.  This gives them a quick trigger key and they are able to attack the run aggressively. 

Our defensive coverage would be ‘4 Option’ and we would divide the field in halves. The safety to the two-receiver side of the formation would call “Fox” to the corner and linebacker. This identifies that they will pattern read off the #2 receiver. If the receiver makes an outside breaking route, the corner will take him and the safety will work over the #1 receiver. If the #2 receiver runs a vertical route, the safety and corner will play man, which would have the corner on the #1 receiver and the safety on the #2 receiver. If the #2 works inside, the linebacker would re-route him and the safety would play over the #1 receiver with the corner underneath. To the three-receiver side of the formation, we would play a form of cover 3 with corner and safety playing deep thirds of the field. Our two linebackers will wall the two inside receivers who are re-routing inside releases and will run with them on the outside breaking route. This allows our linebackers to play with their eyes on the box for the run and they are also able to react to a pass (See Diagram 1).




Sink Check

If we are facing a quarterback that is a great decision maker and is able to throw the ball well, we will defend him by eliminating his options. We do this by putting as many defenders as possible in our pass coverage. We will check to a cover 2 with a sink defender which in this check would be an interior defensive lineman. Our safeties will check “Sink” when the offense aligns in an empty backfield set. This gives our defensive players spots on the field to drop to take away all of the underneath throws and puts our defensive players’ eyes on the quarterback. We want to react to the quarterback’s movement to get a break on the ball and shrink the area in which he can throw the football.

In our cover 2, we will drop our outside linebackers outside the hash at 12 yards and then react to the quarterback. Our middle linebacker will run through the middle of the uprights and will key the most dangerous receiver to the field. Both safeties will drop to 25 yards and will be two yards outside the hash with the corners forcing an inside release and staying over the top of any receiver that runs a route to the flat area. The “Sink” call will allow our nose to spy the quarterback and try to eliminate the short drive route, as well as disrupt passing lanes by reading the quarterback’s eyes (See Diagram 2).



Blue Check

The third option for us is to pressure the quarterback. This has been most effective for us against an offense that will slide their protection to the field and against a quarterback with a trend of making poor decisions by forcing the football to his receivers.   

Our safeties will check “Blue” when an offense aligns in an empty backfield set. This tells our corners, outside linebackers, and rover that they are playing man coverage. Our free safety will align inside of their most dangerous receiver. This allows us to double-cover the player that potentially could hurt us the most. Our front will play the designated pressure combination for that week. We will bring our Mike in the A gap to the boundary or weak side of the formation and try to attack the backside of the slide. This has been very effective by rushing only five players yet has still enabled us to pressure the quarterback
(See Diagram 3).



These three options have been effective for us in defending the empty set. Going into a game, we will try to make our defense against the empty set as simple as possible. Our goal with these three checks is to prevent the big play by having our defense well prepared and allowing us to still play our aggressive style of Southwest Minnesota State Mustang defense.

About the Author: Christian Guenther begins his second season this fall as both the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Southwest Minnesota State University. He previously coached for nine seasons at Culver Stockton College, five of which he served as head coach. Guenther also coached at both Minnesota State-Mankato and Elmhurst College.






NEW BOOK!

AFM Videos Streaming Memberships Now Available Digital Download - 304 Pages of Football Forms for the Winning Coach



















HOME
MAGAZINE
SUBSCRIBE ONLINE COLUMNISTS COACHING VIDEOS


Copyright 2024, AmericanFootballMonthly.com
All Rights Reserved