DEJA VU

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Wide-9 Press Coverage Defense

"Inspired by, but not a replica of, the DeMeco Ryans (HC) / Houston Texans defense."

+ 4-3 Base foundation & personnel (4-3 Over Wide, 2-5 Over Wide)

+ Primarily based out of a Big Nickel personnel & look (4-2-5)

+ Heavy usage of Wide splits, (4-3 Over Wide & Nickel Wide)

+ Very consistent Umbrella shell, Quarters look & Matching Man underneath

+ Does not rely on pre-snap disguise & post-snap versatility (outside of Cover __ Show 2) + Focus on Press Coverages to buy time for the pass rush (Press Quarters, 3 Sky Press, Press 1) + Heavily reliant on Front 4 and their Wide Splits for majority of the pressure package

+ Little use of Drop zone coverages, as Man & Matching Man are the focus + Lots of Spy/Contain MCV included, to pair with Press MCV, to mitigate QB scramble tendency + Mixes in Hard Flats & Inverted coverages to mix up the playcalling, and take away the normally available underneath area, given the consistent Umbrella look being established + Low usage of Sim Pressures, as EDGEs are meant to have one mode; See Ball Get Ball + Leans on solid tackling throughout the secondary, as Quarters has a tendency for Drop & Rally

Scouting Report

Wide 4-Down

Fronts

Quarters

Coverages

Manufactured

Pressures

FORMATIONS / SETS

4-3

OVER OVER SOLID*

OVER WIDE*

TITE LEO

5-2

NORMAL

4-2-5 EVEN* OVER G* UNDER*

NICKEL

3-3 DOUBLE MUG 3-3 LOAD MUG

LOAD LOAD DBL MUG OVER SINGLE MUG* WIDE*

DIME

3-2 RUSH

NORMAL*

PREVENT

3 DEEP

GOAL LINE

5-3

6-2

IDEAL ARCHETYPES

POSITION	ARCHETYPE(S)	ROLE
LEDGE	Speed Rusher / Power Rusher	LEDGE / RRE*
REDGE	Speed Rusher / Power Rusher	REDGE / RLE*
DT	Gap Specialist / Pure Power	NT / DT1/ DT2
SAM	Signal Caller / Thumper*	SAM / RE*
MIKE	Signal Caller / Lurker / ATH	MIKE / SUBLB2
WILL	Lurker / ATH / Signal Caller	WILL / SUBLB1
CB	Boundary / Bump & Run / Field	LCB / RCB / SLCB
FS	Hybrid / Coverage Specialist	FS/SLCB*
SS	Hybrid / Coverage Specialist	SS1/SS2/SLCB*

Notes :

DT : Being a Wide 9 based scheme, the splits are larger, and your edges are pinning their ears back. So you'll want the run stopping attributes & abilities on your interior. So thats why I've boldened Gap Specialists.
EDGE : The spearhead of your pass rush, and this scheme often calls for 7 in coverage, you will want purely pass rushers here, and you'll want to try and develop them to be two of your better players on defense year in & year out.
SAM : While being mostly a Big Nickel base, there is a solid amount of 4-3 Over Wide & 2-5 Over Wide getting called in this scheme, so having a legit SAM backer shouldn't be overlooked like they are in many schemes. Also, with this being so dependent on having a great 4-man rush, I left the RLE/RRE snaps to the EDGEs, with no need to develop the SAM as a Jack.
MIKE : Personal opinion, but I feel like the goal for every MIKE should be a Signal Caller. As they can handle coverage just fine, but also have run stopping abilities & room to grow their pass rushing at a relatively low cost.
WILL : Lurker (or ATH) at WILL and SUBLB1 just bolsters the pass coverage alongside the MIKE in Nickel, and holds it down in Dime. Signal Caller can also work here, but variety is the spice of life and Lurkers come with Coverage based abilities.
CB : I have both Boundary and B&R corners boldened, because Press coverage & abilities are hugely important with the amount of Press Coverages. I still hold Boundary in higher regard because of the massive tackling offset to B&R (10+), but I would never turn away a high Jammer, Blanket, or Ballhawk badge.
S : Hybrid safeties are just the best, literally one of the best bang for your buck archetypes to manually upgrade, as they can pretty much do it all, and their coverage upgrades are tied together for cost saving purposes. Coverage Specialists also work here, they're just slighlt more cost effective, as their coverage stats are upgrade separately and often times reach a higher overall faster due to how their attributes are weighted (resulting in higher NIL earlier).

DEPTH CHART SETUP

POSITION	STARTER
REDG	Best Speed/Pass Rushing EDGE
LEDG	Better Balanced Speed/Power Rushing EDGE
DT1	#1 DT or Best Run Stuffing DT
DT2	#2 DT or Next Best Run Stopping DT
DT3	#3 DT or Best Pass Rushing DT
SAM	#1 SAM or Better Run Stopping Linebacker (MIKE/SAM)
MIKE	#1 MIKE or More Balanced Linebacker (MIKE/WILL)
WILL	#1 WILL or Better Coverage Linebacker (MIKE/WILL)
CB1 (LCB)	#1 CB, plays left side of the field (Most often matched up vs. #1 WR)
CB2 (RCB)	#2 CB, plays right side of the field (Most often matched up vs. #2 WR)
FS1	#1 FS or Better Hybrid/Coverage Safety
SS1	#1 SS or Better Hybrid/Box Safety
SS2	Next Best Hybrid/Coverage Safety (FS/SS)
RRE	Better Balanced Pass Rusher of the EDGE players (LEDG) or SAM if developing
RLE	Best Pure Pass Rusher of the EDGE players (REDG) or SAM if developing
RDT1	Best Pass Rushing DT (N/A in CFB27)
RDT2	Best Run Stopping DE (N/A in CFB27)
NT	#1 NT or Biggest/Strongest/Highest-tiered Grip Breaker
SUBLB1	Best Coverage Linebacker (WILL/MIKE), plays in all packages
SUBLB2	Better Balanced/Overall Linebacker (MIKE/WILL), plays all snaps but DIME
SLCB1	Highest rated non-starter CB or FS/SS if rated higher
SLCB2	Next Highest rated non-starter CB or FS/SS if rated higher

NOTES :	The reason for flipping sides for the EDGEs between Base/Sub personnel, is largely due for fun and variety, but also lines up the better pass rusher over an "easier" matchup being the RT is typically worse than the LT. The reason for flipping the MIKE/WILL hierarchy in subpackages (SUBLB), even if the MIKE is a better overall player, is probably a less than 10% difference in snaps overall, but fits the Dime packages better, and puts the MIKE in position as the more common blitzer in LB blitz situations. Unlike most of my other playbooks, which are typically 3-4/Multiple based, this one is 4-3/Big Nickel based, so there is a need for an actual SAM linebacker, so that is why I don't designate the SAM as a "Jack" in this scheme. You can feel free to still utilize them that way, but realistically you're going to want your EDGEs to be two of your absolute best players, so there's no good reason to be replacing them on the field in either Base/Sub packages. If you don't have a solid CB3 or CB4 that you like for SLCB, I highly advise using a backup FS (since SS2 already plays such a large role). You're going to want the tackling, as a lot of this defense is about capping & collapsing.