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2022 Fall Camp: Drippin'

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I had the chance to talk to a buddy who has been to multiple practices and every person on this thread except the clown that thinks NFL scouts make a bunch of money would trust this buddy's unvarnishe

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Domedriver

Domedriver 655

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Don't ever question my being a fan of the Texas Longhorns!  I risked my life and limb just to go to a game where every one knew we were going to lose (SMU-Texas with the cheaters and whore killer).  After we had a bad loss to OUSuxs, i drove to Manhattan Kansas to scream from the endzone seats to support the team.  And we stopped them and won!

And I remember when we had a new gunslinger QB named Brown who responded to the hater press and declared that maybe we win by 3 touchdowns (Texas-Nebraska).  And we won!

No-one gives us a chance against Bama.  We have a new Gun-slinger at QB!  I am calling it!  We beat Bama!🤘

Fuck the haters!  No fucking brakes baby!🤘

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Burt Macklin

Burt Macklin 19038

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Posted
1 hour ago, Vito Andolini said:

Holy shit, I think many of you have really good jobs, but do any of you actually do any fucking work?

Post for the job you want, not the job you have. 

1 hour ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

If you guys don't get your shit together I'm going to start posting Ian Boyd strategy/scheme articles -clear this place right the fuck out.

I will physically assault you at the next Surly tailgate. 

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bigcigar

bigcigar 1164

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2 hours ago, PTINS said:

Not better fan. Just a fan, or not? Binary choice. Better or worse. Good or bad. Positive of Negative. 

All the decisions on this program are made by others. My choice is to support them, or not.  Loyalist? Yes. Blindly? No.

I know from this board you have are involved, generally supportive and interested in UT athletics.  Thanks for that.

This is very aggy - pretty much tshirt fan talk.

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gmr548

gmr548 16580

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I also hope we don't see Jerrin Thompson play a lot this year...

Equally baffling: why did Jerrin Thompson drive the blocker all the way into the backfield? Why do our players do such weird shit on the field? Just be normal!

Attempt at sunshine: At least Thompson has shown a willingness to be physical. I remember a play where he was getting dogged against Arkansas because some 250 pound TE blew him up on the edge. He ran in and executed his assignment - forcing the run back inside. He was just giving up 70 pounds.

Idk what he’s doing here but there isn’t anyone else delivering a blow like that. You can work to channel aggression/physicality, but you can’t manifest it from thin air.
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lilMAC25

lilMAC25 3800

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Posted
7 hours ago, PTINS said:

"No actual Texas fan wants to see Sarkisian fail so they can claim foresight."

That's a Bingo. Your definition of Actual Texas Fan is different than mine.  Much different. Tell me how all of the negative posting does anything to help this University.  Does your posting make it better or worse?

I sense to some posters here that "being right" is more important than Texas winning. Agree to disagree, but that attitude is not far below the surface.

"Sarkisian was a terrible hire on paper. Indefensible." Terrible; extremely or distressingly bad or serious, causing or likely to cause terror; sinister.

Who or what do you want? 

Sark has a few coaching attributes that are at the top of the food chain; a brilliant offensive mind and he relates well to players, recruits & parents, and other coaches.  He's not the best at everything, but that's a great starting point.

Sark's choice for DC was vetoed. I agreed w/ the veto.  We ended up w/ a DC who did not know and had not coached with all the assistants. Can't put that all on Sark.

Sark is not the same person he was 10 or 20 years ago.  He faced adversity and overcame the challenges.   Can you not see that fact resonates well with recruits and their parents, the lifeblood of a college program? Is that terrible or indefensible? 

Top HS players want to play for Sark. He has signed and got commitments from top players that were heavily recruited by the last 3 National Champions, including 2 of the 3 highest rated QB's of all time. Is that terrible or indefensible?

Poor decision making and execution by the players on the field is 100% controlled by the players on the field. It's the coaches role to coach and the players role to play. Some of the players last year had the talent, but not the attitude.

Sark made a mistake in equating one with the other.  Regardless, those were the players he had and the only ones he had to choose from. 

The culture and character of the Texas team has been suspect for some time.  Last year showed what it really was.  There wasn't a lot on that team that was symptomatic of a championship level organization.  

Was it coaching or the players? Based on my 50+ years of watching Texas Football, I think it was the players.  The players quit.

The program needed to be rebuilt from the ground up.

I like Sark. But then again, I'm an actual Texas fan. 

 

 

Tell me how claiming that our shit smells like roses helps The University.

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The Deuce

The Deuce 1094

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Posted
11 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

Alabama game should be interesting. They have four quality senior defensive linemen and four juniors too. And of course, Will Anderson. 

In my non-expert opinion, I run 12 personnel for 70% of the game , 22 personnel for 15%, and then mix and match the remaining 15%. 
 

I’ve got TE’s being the key to our success for that game (blocking & catching). It’s the area that I believe we can create the best mismatch. Whatever happens, don’t let a free rusher tee off on Quinn. You face mask that fucker and take your 15yd unsportsmanlike penalty like a man.

 

Yeah…… I’m just throwing shit against the wall. Hopefully Sarks able to scheme our boys into favorable situations.

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BurntOrange&White

BurntOrange&White 39934

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You all deserve this:

 

Texas' two-high defense

Ian Boyd•about 13 hours

Jerrin Thompson makes a tackle in the spring game (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

One detail the open practices revealed about the 2022 Texas Longhorns was how they intend to honor Steve Sarkisian’s mandate for playing tighter coverage. The Longhorns ran a lot more single-high safety man coverage in practice, either to bring some blitzes or to drop a safety down near the box, than they did for most of 2021. Yet, the base defense remains a two-high coverage which has a lot of variety and is being executed more aggressively and at a higher level than we saw a year ago.

A two-high, pattern-matching coverage is one of the more popular defensive systems in modern football. There are weaknesses to the scheme, but the more variety you can add to the system and the better your safeties are at recognizing offensive tendencies the more difficult you can make it for opponents to get the ball down the field.

This has major value for Texas since they take on several HUNH (hurry-up, no-huddle) spread teams this coming season, including their rivals across the Red River. The ability to position safeties in different leverages to squeeze the space these teams are trying to exploit could be a massive factor for Texas in competing for a Big 12 Championship this coming year.

Texas’ two-high coverages

The Longhorns played a few different two-high coverages in the open practice alone with an obvious preference for quarters concepts.

Pattern-matching quarters these days typically boils down to man coverage on the outside receivers by the cornerbacks, particularly on vertical routes, with the linebackers taking inside receivers on underneath routes and the safeties covering them if they go deep.

The scheme is most effective if the safeties have a good feel for recognizing where the offense is trying to go and the cornerbacks can hold up down the sideline without help over the top. Texas has two primary quarters coverages which both function in that fashion, they’ll probably play both at the same time.

One is a more aggressive brand often called MEG quarters. MEG stands for Man Everywhere he Goes. The cornerback is playing man coverage, perhaps press-man, on the receiver across from him and shadowing him around the field. He might have help deep and inside from the safety or he may not, depending on how occupied the safety is with the inside receiver. Texas will probably use this coverage in the boundary quite a bit in 2022.

Then there’s MES quarters, Man Except Shallow, which is the technique everyone knows and hates from 2021. The cornerback plays off on the receiver and will play him on vertical routes but stay loose and let him go if he runs a shallow route inside and close on the ball on a quick stop route. The Longhorns will likely play this version quite a bit to the wide side of the field where a quarterback’s throw is in the air long enough for a corner to hang back and react. In either coverage the safeties are able to read keys and potentially arrive wherever the ball does, depending on how well they know their jobs.

They also showed two brands of quarters for defending the dreaded 3×1 formations of the HUNH spread teams which put three receivers to one side of the field.

First option, a “poach” coverage with the boundary safety rolling toward the trips side.

Second option, the defense plays man on the outermost two receivers with the cornerback and Star.

The defense can cycle through either (or play single-high man with a safety dropping down to cover an inside receiver) based on whether they want to ask more of the boundary cornerback or of the Star (nickel) and field cornerback. The former example leaves the boundary corner on an island without much help, the latter example helps him while deferring stress to the coverage defenders furthest off the ball.

They’re both potentially useful depending on the matchups with opposing receivers and the quality of the quarterback. Need to lock down a lethal X receiver? You’ll probably play the second option and trust the Star and field corner to hold up outside. Worried about an offense’s speed to the wide side, you may roll coverage and trust the boundary corner. I’m guessing Texas will lean toward option two given their move of cornerbacks Jaylon Guilbeau and Jahdae Barron to Star.

If you can cycle through multiple varieties of coverage against a spread team’s favorite formations it creates hesitation in the quarterback and opposing play-caller.

How will this work in 2022?

Much like the single-high man coverages which are going to take a greater role in the defense in the coming year, this approach puts a lot on the safeties to control the middle of the field. The “Star” (nickel) ends up with a lot of tough coverage assignments. He can get involved in the run game but the presence of their pure man coverages and the quarters coverages which put him in man coverage on a slot without the guarantee of safety help are all reasons for using a converted cornerback like Barron or Guilbeau.

The quarters coverages involve the cornerbacks having to own the sideline on their own while the safeties play flat-footed reading the inside receivers. They can end up running the alleys and arriving pretty hard and fast in run support or robbing routes thrown over the middle. What matters most is they know what’s coming and can arrive where needed with violence and leverage. There will be obvious value in getting Bryan Allen and Kitan Crawford acclimated back there because of their physicality and athleticism but you can’t rush things. Veteran reliability in these defenses is worth more than a faster 40 time, they have a lot to diagnose. TCU routinely had some 4.7/4.8 40 time guys who’d make a lot of plays running quarters because they knew how to use the system to arrive at the right places.

Weak spots in quarters coverage for Texas to worry about include the following. First, two-high quarters coverages are helpful against the run IF the safeties are good at fitting downhill from the hash marks and IF the defense is properly setting edges in front of them. If not…

…and there are plenty more examples from 2021.

Secondly, quarters coverages are vulnerable deeper down the field. They can be hell on teams trying to throw anything quick or off a three-step drop, but if a team can protect the quarterback long enough to read a safety’s reaction to multiple deep routes, there are 1-on-1s galore to attack. Hudson Card connected on a few in the open practice for touchdowns.

Texas’ single-high man coverages are good at getting numbers around the box quickly while keeping someone over the top to prevent a touchdown on a post route, but they’re vulnerable on crossers and throws in the middle of the field. The quarters coverages lock down everything quick and intermediate but consequently are a little slower to arrive against the run and less reliable over the top.

What matters is playing great team defense with the linebackers helping disrupt routes and the pass-rush preventing quarterbacks from sitting back and dissecting the downfield coverage. Texas’ mastery over these base concepts is clearly improved and simply getting their athletes to play good, team defense is going to yield shocking results. It’s been about four years since Texas could even do that.

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Lerka Lerka

Lerka Lerka 1087

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Posted
7 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

You all deserve this:

 

Texas' two-high defense

Ian Boyd•about 13 hours

Jerrin Thompson makes a tackle in the spring game (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

One detail the open practices revealed about the 2022 Texas Longhorns was how they intend to honor Steve Sarkisian’s mandate for playing tighter coverage. The Longhorns ran a lot more single-high safety man coverage in practice, either to bring some blitzes or to drop a safety down near the box, than they did for most of 2021. Yet, the base defense remains a two-high coverage which has a lot of variety and is being executed more aggressively and at a higher level than we saw a year ago.

A two-high, pattern-matching coverage is one of the more popular defensive systems in modern football. There are weaknesses to the scheme, but the more variety you can add to the system and the better your safeties are at recognizing offensive tendencies the more difficult you can make it for opponents to get the ball down the field.

This has major value for Texas since they take on several HUNH (hurry-up, no-huddle) spread teams this coming season, including their rivals across the Red River. The ability to position safeties in different leverages to squeeze the space these teams are trying to exploit could be a massive factor for Texas in competing for a Big 12 Championship this coming year.

Texas’ two-high coverages

The Longhorns played a few different two-high coverages in the open practice alone with an obvious preference for quarters concepts.

Pattern-matching quarters these days typically boils down to man coverage on the outside receivers by the cornerbacks, particularly on vertical routes, with the linebackers taking inside receivers on underneath routes and the safeties covering them if they go deep.

The scheme is most effective if the safeties have a good feel for recognizing where the offense is trying to go and the cornerbacks can hold up down the sideline without help over the top. Texas has two primary quarters coverages which both function in that fashion, they’ll probably play both at the same time.

One is a more aggressive brand often called MEG quarters. MEG stands for Man Everywhere he Goes. The cornerback is playing man coverage, perhaps press-man, on the receiver across from him and shadowing him around the field. He might have help deep and inside from the safety or he may not, depending on how occupied the safety is with the inside receiver. Texas will probably use this coverage in the boundary quite a bit in 2022.

Then there’s MES quarters, Man Except Shallow, which is the technique everyone knows and hates from 2021. The cornerback plays off on the receiver and will play him on vertical routes but stay loose and let him go if he runs a shallow route inside and close on the ball on a quick stop route. The Longhorns will likely play this version quite a bit to the wide side of the field where a quarterback’s throw is in the air long enough for a corner to hang back and react. In either coverage the safeties are able to read keys and potentially arrive wherever the ball does, depending on how well they know their jobs.

They also showed two brands of quarters for defending the dreaded 3×1 formations of the HUNH spread teams which put three receivers to one side of the field.

First option, a “poach” coverage with the boundary safety rolling toward the trips side.

Second option, the defense plays man on the outermost two receivers with the cornerback and Star.

The defense can cycle through either (or play single-high man with a safety dropping down to cover an inside receiver) based on whether they want to ask more of the boundary cornerback or of the Star (nickel) and field cornerback. The former example leaves the boundary corner on an island without much help, the latter example helps him while deferring stress to the coverage defenders furthest off the ball.

They’re both potentially useful depending on the matchups with opposing receivers and the quality of the quarterback. Need to lock down a lethal X receiver? You’ll probably play the second option and trust the Star and field corner to hold up outside. Worried about an offense’s speed to the wide side, you may roll coverage and trust the boundary corner. I’m guessing Texas will lean toward option two given their move of cornerbacks Jaylon Guilbeau and Jahdae Barron to Star.

If you can cycle through multiple varieties of coverage against a spread team’s favorite formations it creates hesitation in the quarterback and opposing play-caller.

How will this work in 2022?

Much like the single-high man coverages which are going to take a greater role in the defense in the coming year, this approach puts a lot on the safeties to control the middle of the field. The “Star” (nickel) ends up with a lot of tough coverage assignments. He can get involved in the run game but the presence of their pure man coverages and the quarters coverages which put him in man coverage on a slot without the guarantee of safety help are all reasons for using a converted cornerback like Barron or Guilbeau.

The quarters coverages involve the cornerbacks having to own the sideline on their own while the safeties play flat-footed reading the inside receivers. They can end up running the alleys and arriving pretty hard and fast in run support or robbing routes thrown over the middle. What matters most is they know what’s coming and can arrive where needed with violence and leverage. There will be obvious value in getting Bryan Allen and Kitan Crawford acclimated back there because of their physicality and athleticism but you can’t rush things. Veteran reliability in these defenses is worth more than a faster 40 time, they have a lot to diagnose. TCU routinely had some 4.7/4.8 40 time guys who’d make a lot of plays running quarters because they knew how to use the system to arrive at the right places.

Weak spots in quarters coverage for Texas to worry about include the following. First, two-high quarters coverages are helpful against the run IF the safeties are good at fitting downhill from the hash marks and IF the defense is properly setting edges in front of them. If not…

…and there are plenty more examples from 2021.

Secondly, quarters coverages are vulnerable deeper down the field. They can be hell on teams trying to throw anything quick or off a three-step drop, but if a team can protect the quarterback long enough to read a safety’s reaction to multiple deep routes, there are 1-on-1s galore to attack. Hudson Card connected on a few in the open practice for touchdowns.

Texas’ single-high man coverages are good at getting numbers around the box quickly while keeping someone over the top to prevent a touchdown on a post route, but they’re vulnerable on crossers and throws in the middle of the field. The quarters coverages lock down everything quick and intermediate but consequently are a little slower to arrive against the run and less reliable over the top.

What matters is playing great team defense with the linebackers helping disrupt routes and the pass-rush preventing quarterbacks from sitting back and dissecting the downfield coverage. Texas’ mastery over these base concepts is clearly improved and simply getting their athletes to play good, team defense is going to yield shocking results. It’s been about four years since Texas could even do that.

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Professor Chesney

Professor Chesney 498

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Posted

Been busy with a new job but was able to have lunch with one of the DTs recently.  He was optimistic about the defense this year, said they’d be attacking more and there’s a better overall understanding of responsibilities generally.

Obviously he’s biased but it is better to hear that than the alternative.  Please Venmo all $9.95s to the Burnt Ends account. 

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Chili dog

Chili dog 1787

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Posted
45 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

You all deserve this:

 

Texas' two-high defense

Ian Boyd•about 13 hours

Jerrin Thompson makes a tackle in the spring game (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

One detail the open practices revealed about the 2022 Texas Longhorns was how they intend to honor Steve Sarkisian’s mandate for playing tighter coverage. The Longhorns ran a lot more single-high safety man coverage in practice, either to bring some blitzes or to drop a safety down near the box, than they did for most of 2021. Yet, the base defense remains a two-high coverage which has a lot of variety and is being executed more aggressively and at a higher level than we saw a year ago.

A two-high, pattern-matching coverage is one of the more popular defensive systems in modern football. There are weaknesses to the scheme, but the more variety you can add to the system and the better your safeties are at recognizing offensive tendencies the more difficult you can make it for opponents to get the ball down the field.

This has major value for Texas since they take on several HUNH (hurry-up, no-huddle) spread teams this coming season, including their rivals across the Red River. The ability to position safeties in different leverages to squeeze the space these teams are trying to exploit could be a massive factor for Texas in competing for a Big 12 Championship this coming year.

Texas’ two-high coverages

The Longhorns played a few different two-high coverages in the open practice alone with an obvious preference for quarters concepts.

Pattern-matching quarters these days typically boils down to man coverage on the outside receivers by the cornerbacks, particularly on vertical routes, with the linebackers taking inside receivers on underneath routes and the safeties covering them if they go deep.

The scheme is most effective if the safeties have a good feel for recognizing where the offense is trying to go and the cornerbacks can hold up down the sideline without help over the top. Texas has two primary quarters coverages which both function in that fashion, they’ll probably play both at the same time.

One is a more aggressive brand often called MEG quarters. MEG stands for Man Everywhere he Goes. The cornerback is playing man coverage, perhaps press-man, on the receiver across from him and shadowing him around the field. He might have help deep and inside from the safety or he may not, depending on how occupied the safety is with the inside receiver. Texas will probably use this coverage in the boundary quite a bit in 2022.

Then there’s MES quarters, Man Except Shallow, which is the technique everyone knows and hates from 2021. The cornerback plays off on the receiver and will play him on vertical routes but stay loose and let him go if he runs a shallow route inside and close on the ball on a quick stop route. The Longhorns will likely play this version quite a bit to the wide side of the field where a quarterback’s throw is in the air long enough for a corner to hang back and react. In either coverage the safeties are able to read keys and potentially arrive wherever the ball does, depending on how well they know their jobs.

They also showed two brands of quarters for defending the dreaded 3×1 formations of the HUNH spread teams which put three receivers to one side of the field.

First option, a “poach” coverage with the boundary safety rolling toward the trips side.

Second option, the defense plays man on the outermost two receivers with the cornerback and Star.

The defense can cycle through either (or play single-high man with a safety dropping down to cover an inside receiver) based on whether they want to ask more of the boundary cornerback or of the Star (nickel) and field cornerback. The former example leaves the boundary corner on an island without much help, the latter example helps him while deferring stress to the coverage defenders furthest off the ball.

They’re both potentially useful depending on the matchups with opposing receivers and the quality of the quarterback. Need to lock down a lethal X receiver? You’ll probably play the second option and trust the Star and field corner to hold up outside. Worried about an offense’s speed to the wide side, you may roll coverage and trust the boundary corner. I’m guessing Texas will lean toward option two given their move of cornerbacks Jaylon Guilbeau and Jahdae Barron to Star.

If you can cycle through multiple varieties of coverage against a spread team’s favorite formations it creates hesitation in the quarterback and opposing play-caller.

How will this work in 2022?

Much like the single-high man coverages which are going to take a greater role in the defense in the coming year, this approach puts a lot on the safeties to control the middle of the field. The “Star” (nickel) ends up with a lot of tough coverage assignments. He can get involved in the run game but the presence of their pure man coverages and the quarters coverages which put him in man coverage on a slot without the guarantee of safety help are all reasons for using a converted cornerback like Barron or Guilbeau.

The quarters coverages involve the cornerbacks having to own the sideline on their own while the safeties play flat-footed reading the inside receivers. They can end up running the alleys and arriving pretty hard and fast in run support or robbing routes thrown over the middle. What matters most is they know what’s coming and can arrive where needed with violence and leverage. There will be obvious value in getting Bryan Allen and Kitan Crawford acclimated back there because of their physicality and athleticism but you can’t rush things. Veteran reliability in these defenses is worth more than a faster 40 time, they have a lot to diagnose. TCU routinely had some 4.7/4.8 40 time guys who’d make a lot of plays running quarters because they knew how to use the system to arrive at the right places.

Weak spots in quarters coverage for Texas to worry about include the following. First, two-high quarters coverages are helpful against the run IF the safeties are good at fitting downhill from the hash marks and IF the defense is properly setting edges in front of them. If not…

…and there are plenty more examples from 2021.

Secondly, quarters coverages are vulnerable deeper down the field. They can be hell on teams trying to throw anything quick or off a three-step drop, but if a team can protect the quarterback long enough to read a safety’s reaction to multiple deep routes, there are 1-on-1s galore to attack. Hudson Card connected on a few in the open practice for touchdowns.

Texas’ single-high man coverages are good at getting numbers around the box quickly while keeping someone over the top to prevent a touchdown on a post route, but they’re vulnerable on crossers and throws in the middle of the field. The quarters coverages lock down everything quick and intermediate but consequently are a little slower to arrive against the run and less reliable over the top.

What matters is playing great team defense with the linebackers helping disrupt routes and the pass-rush preventing quarterbacks from sitting back and dissecting the downfield coverage. Texas’ mastery over these base concepts is clearly improved and simply getting their athletes to play good, team defense is going to yield shocking results. It’s been about four years since Texas could even do that.

Dick move. This crowd earned it, but dick move. 

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Da Fino

Da Fino 2783

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Posted
You all deserve this:
 
Texas' two-high defense
Ian Boyd•about 13 hours
Jerrin Thompson makes a tackle in the spring game (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)
One detail the open practices revealed about the 2022 Texas Longhorns was how they intend to honor Steve Sarkisian’s mandate for playing tighter coverage. The Longhorns ran a lot more single-high safety man coverage in practice, either to bring some blitzes or to drop a safety down near the box, than they did for most of 2021. Yet, the base defense remains a two-high coverage which has a lot of variety and is being executed more aggressively and at a higher level than we saw a year ago.
A two-high, pattern-matching coverage is one of the more popular defensive systems in modern football. There are weaknesses to the scheme, but the more variety you can add to the system and the better your safeties are at recognizing offensive tendencies the more difficult you can make it for opponents to get the ball down the field.
This has major value for Texas since they take on several HUNH (hurry-up, no-huddle) spread teams this coming season, including their rivals across the Red River. The ability to position safeties in different leverages to squeeze the space these teams are trying to exploit could be a massive factor for Texas in competing for a Big 12 Championship this coming year.
Texas’ two-high coverages
The Longhorns played a few different two-high coverages in the open practice alone with an obvious preference for quarters concepts.
Pattern-matching quarters these days typically boils down to man coverage on the outside receivers by the cornerbacks, particularly on vertical routes, with the linebackers taking inside receivers on underneath routes and the safeties covering them if they go deep.
The scheme is most effective if the safeties have a good feel for recognizing where the offense is trying to go and the cornerbacks can hold up down the sideline without help over the top. Texas has two primary quarters coverages which both function in that fashion, they’ll probably play both at the same time.
One is a more aggressive brand often called MEG quarters. MEG stands for Man Everywhere he Goes. The cornerback is playing man coverage, perhaps press-man, on the receiver across from him and shadowing him around the field. He might have help deep and inside from the safety or he may not, depending on how occupied the safety is with the inside receiver. Texas will probably use this coverage in the boundary quite a bit in 2022.
Then there’s MES quarters, Man Except Shallow, which is the technique everyone knows and hates from 2021. The cornerback plays off on the receiver and will play him on vertical routes but stay loose and let him go if he runs a shallow route inside and close on the ball on a quick stop route. The Longhorns will likely play this version quite a bit to the wide side of the field where a quarterback’s throw is in the air long enough for a corner to hang back and react. In either coverage the safeties are able to read keys and potentially arrive wherever the ball does, depending on how well they know their jobs.
They also showed two brands of quarters for defending the dreaded 3×1 formations of the HUNH spread teams which put three receivers to one side of the field.
First option, a “poach” coverage with the boundary safety rolling toward the trips side.
Second option, the defense plays man on the outermost two receivers with the cornerback and Star.
The defense can cycle through either (or play single-high man with a safety dropping down to cover an inside receiver) based on whether they want to ask more of the boundary cornerback or of the Star (nickel) and field cornerback. The former example leaves the boundary corner on an island without much help, the latter example helps him while deferring stress to the coverage defenders furthest off the ball.
They’re both potentially useful depending on the matchups with opposing receivers and the quality of the quarterback. Need to lock down a lethal X receiver? You’ll probably play the second option and trust the Star and field corner to hold up outside. Worried about an offense’s speed to the wide side, you may roll coverage and trust the boundary corner. I’m guessing Texas will lean toward option two given their move of cornerbacks Jaylon Guilbeau and Jahdae Barron to Star.
If you can cycle through multiple varieties of coverage against a spread team’s favorite formations it creates hesitation in the quarterback and opposing play-caller.
How will this work in 2022?
Much like the single-high man coverages which are going to take a greater role in the defense in the coming year, this approach puts a lot on the safeties to control the middle of the field. The “Star” (nickel) ends up with a lot of tough coverage assignments. He can get involved in the run game but the presence of their pure man coverages and the quarters coverages which put him in man coverage on a slot without the guarantee of safety help are all reasons for using a converted cornerback like Barron or Guilbeau.
The quarters coverages involve the cornerbacks having to own the sideline on their own while the safeties play flat-footed reading the inside receivers. They can end up running the alleys and arriving pretty hard and fast in run support or robbing routes thrown over the middle. What matters most is they know what’s coming and can arrive where needed with violence and leverage. There will be obvious value in getting Bryan Allen and Kitan Crawford acclimated back there because of their physicality and athleticism but you can’t rush things. Veteran reliability in these defenses is worth more than a faster 40 time, they have a lot to diagnose. TCU routinely had some 4.7/4.8 40 time guys who’d make a lot of plays running quarters because they knew how to use the system to arrive at the right places.
Weak spots in quarters coverage for Texas to worry about include the following. First, two-high quarters coverages are helpful against the run IF the safeties are good at fitting downhill from the hash marks and IF the defense is properly setting edges in front of them. If not…
…and there are plenty more examples from 2021.
Secondly, quarters coverages are vulnerable deeper down the field. They can be hell on teams trying to throw anything quick or off a three-step drop, but if a team can protect the quarterback long enough to read a safety’s reaction to multiple deep routes, there are 1-on-1s galore to attack. Hudson Card connected on a few in the open practice for touchdowns.
Texas’ single-high man coverages are good at getting numbers around the box quickly while keeping someone over the top to prevent a touchdown on a post route, but they’re vulnerable on crossers and throws in the middle of the field. The quarters coverages lock down everything quick and intermediate but consequently are a little slower to arrive against the run and less reliable over the top.
What matters is playing great team defense with the linebackers helping disrupt routes and the pass-rush preventing quarterbacks from sitting back and dissecting the downfield coverage. Texas’ mastery over these base concepts is clearly improved and simply getting their athletes to play good, team defense is going to yield shocking results. It’s been about four years since Texas could even do that.

Don’t post that idiots bullshit.
  • Fuck You 1
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