As one starts to think about the schematic elements that could define the 2021 NFL season, the battle between defenses and offenses on the Cover-2/Cover-4 battlefield might be the most critical. As many have detailed, one of the schematic elements we are seeing in today’s NFL is defenses showing two-high looks before the snap, trying to influence offenses into running the football. This is something I outlined in this piece looking at the future of offenses.
We are seeing a rise in these coverages, particularly quarters or Cover-4, at the NFL level. Why might defenses use this scheme? There are a number of reasons but defensive coach Cody Alexander outlined perhaps the biggest reason in his book “Match Quarters:”
By aligning in a two-high shells and utilizing split-field coverages, the defense has created brackets on the inside most WRs. In the modern offense, these slots have become an integral part of the modern passing attack. They are close to the box and force the defense to honor their speed and agility, many times versus a lesser athlete (LB). Though a single-high scheme may give the defense a gapped-out box, the structure has created one-on-one matchups outside and against the slot WRs. The middle of the field (MOF) safety now hast to patrol both hashes and the brackets on the slots are gone.
These defenses, perhaps first implemented to counter dangerous slot receivers and to try and eliminate easy throws to those players, has also worked to give defenses answers for another dangerous offensive weapon in the modern game: The matchup nightmare at tight end. Defenses now have that natural “bracket” on those players as well, given their standard alignments.
Of course, offenses will counter those looks, and having talented players at tight end makes that easier for offensive coordinators. That leads us to the players that some teams might rely heavily upon in 2021. Here are the NFL’s top 11 tight ends.