I have this theory:
Every Defensive Back wants to Blitz. Every Defensive Lineman wants to drop into Coverage.
This play offers both.
Let’s get into it.
Edmonton’s Corner/Half Blitz
I was watching the Edmonton Elks game last weekend, and I saw them send this Corner/Half pressure at least three times in the game.
Disclaimer: Reverse engineering a pressure after seeing someone else run it is not a perfect science. Especially when you only have a small sample size of reps to work with. This is my best guess as to what Edmonton was running on the weekend.
The Concept
There’s a lot going on here.
But like most things, once broken down, the picture becomes quite simple.
The Defence is sending two non-box players — the Boundary Half and Boundary Corner — on a Blitz off the Edge. At the same time they are dropping their Field End into Coverage.
The result is a five-man pressure.
On the back end, it appears as though they are running some type of Cover 4 Coverage with three Low Zone players underneath.
The Pressure
Timing is crucial when sending Defensive Backs on a Blitz.
Edmonton’s DBs are aligned on the Line of Scrimmage early to simulate Press Coverage. They then reduce down towards the Box before the snap to be in a good position to Blitz.
The Boundary End and the two Defensive Tackles are slanting towards the Field Side to even up the pressure.
As I said above, the Field End is dropping into Coverage.
There are a few different looks you might get when executing this type of Blitz. You could get some sort of Run TOWARDS the Blitz, you could get a Run AWAY from the Blitz, or you could get a PASS look.
Your reaction to all of these looks should fit your system when designing a Blitz like this.
The Coverage
As I said above, it’s tough to know all of the Coverage rules on a play after only seeing it a few times.
I do believe it’s a full field Cover 4 Coverage.
(I initially thought it might be split field Match, but I eventually moved away from this theory. Feel free to post your own thoughts in the comments.)
The Will Linebacker looks to be the Deep Zone player nearest to the Boundary Sideline. He has a long way to go from his home position, so again timing is key.
The Free Safety, Sam Linebacker, and Field Corner make up the remaining Deep Zone players.
It’s always tricky when you drop a Defensive Lineman into Coverage. We usually don’t have a lot of time to work this skill in practice, so it’s often beneficial to keep their rules as simple as possible.
A good starting point is to have them get some Depth off the Line of Scrimmage and to find the nearest Receiver.
Final Thoughts
As shown by the clips above, this pressure was very productive for Edmonton last weekend.
The challenge with a Blitz like this is that it’s fairly easy to identify once teams get used to it.
(The DBs need to cheat their alignment, the Will Linebacker cheats their depth, etc.)
This is why teams practice during the week.
Look for Edmonton to build a new variation of this Blitz — or a Blitz like it — as the season rolls forward.
All the best,
Jon Svec
Defensive Coordinator
St. Francis Xavier University
X-Men Football
IG: @jonsvecx
Twitter: @jonsvecx
To read more check out Canadian Football Chalk Talk: Defensive Basics, and Canadian Football Chalk Talk: Linebacker Toolbox.