Bringing Back DBU, Part 1: Cranking Up The Complexity

Bud Foster

The Evolution of Coverage

In the olden days, coverage was simple. There was man coverage, where you picked out a guy before the snap and then followed him all over the field after the snap. And there was zone coverage, where after the snap you ran to a spot on the field and waited for a throw to head your way.

Then offenses adapted with rub and timing routes to thwart man, and pattern concepts that broke open zones. Suddenly you couldn’t cover that guy like you used to, and you couldn’t wait for the throw to cue your break from zone. And sometimes you couldn’t do anything at all because no one came your way and you were stuck guarding grass. So defenses countered with rules for swapping man assignments, and spot defenders started covering receivers as soon as they entered their zones.

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