Always have a plan to play your best 11

• By Keith Grabowski

You are always in a better situation if you have your best 11 on the field.  

Depth charts are great, and in the course of a single game, a second teamer will most likely play, but what do you do in the case of an injury?  How does the next most dynamic defender get on the field if one of your starters goes down?  

What tools do you have or how does your structure accommodate a change?  

For example, let’s say there is an injury to your starting end and your next most dynamic guy is an undersized outside linebacker.  

He clearly gives you more than the next end.  Do you have something structurally that allows you to get him on the field more?  

It’s something to think about now.  Always understanding who your best 11 are trumps a depth chart in many situations.

Let’s use the example of a four down team.  

I saw a team using multiple outside linebackers (a 4-3 team).  They were alternating during the course of a game.  Then the defensive end went out.  He was clearly one of their best defenders.  

Just based on watching the next player run in for him, I saw a big drop off and fortunately for them, the injured defensive end was back in the next series.  

The question becomes what can the defense do to adapt and keep the best 11 on the field?

RPI Defensive Coordinator Jeff Dittman had to handle a similar situation. Needing something different in the middle of the season, he found a way to add an odd front into their four down defensive system on the fly.  

This didn’t require major overhauls.  He kept it simple and it proved very effective.

Coach Dittman used various odd front alignments while keeping the thought process the same for his defenders. 

“Bama” allows Dittman to get his defense into the “mint” front which utilizes 4i’s.  Many coordinators like this to shut down inside zone teams because it forces the ball wide instead of downhill. Here is the change-up:

Bama video (click on image for video):

In the scenario we talked about earlier, the R is that OLB who was subbing in with another OLB. When the DE goes down (or needs a break) R is used from an odd structure to maintain their 4 down front responsibilities. Now a more dynamic player is on the field rather than using that next DE.

These are questions to ask now and work into practice.  Prepare for all contingencies.  As you go through the season, what do you need to package up to be able to get a different 11 on the field if you do not feel someone next on the depth chart is not your best option.

It may never come into play, but when it does you are prepared.  It can also be used as a change-up.  Maybe that DE also plays offense and getting him a break here and there, especially early in the season is a smart thing to do.

These packages that provide variations can add stress to the offense in their preparations. It makes it simple for you, but they must take extra time to prepare. That’s an advantage for the defense!