7 V 7 Zone Coverage Question

[AsianChexMix 0]

I was planning and thinking about our zone defense for our 7 v 7 team and was thinking of how many I should have. I was initially thinking of having three types of coverage that would be situational. Now that I think about it, I'm having second thoughts. Here are the types of defenses I want to employ and reasoning.

1. Cover 2 (2 rushers, 3 short, 2 deep)

This will be the base of our defense. We have two rushers for extra rush, corners get flats and check QB for scrambles, LB gets QB and middle with two deep. If the rush is consistently good, I was thinking that this is all we run because deep routes are eliminated with a good rush.

2. Cover 3 (2 rushers, 2 short, 3 deep)

I was thinking this would be for passing plays only (3 WRs) but if our rush is good enough, do we really need to have this? Underneath stuff would be weakness but if its a long passing play, it shouldn't matter.

3. Prevent (1 rusher, 3 short, 3 deep)

This is something that I was thinking of doing as an alternate to our Cover 3. One pass rush would mean coverage has to be good. I would have rusher try to push QB into opposite direction of the hand they throw the ball with. This would try to make the QB try to throw across the body which isn't going to be accurate and hoping for decent coverage to bat it down or pick it off.

Which combination do you think would work best? Maybe fiddle with 1:4:2 instead of 1:3:3? You think I should switch up the rushers (ex. line up with three as d-line but at hike have one move back to be LB) to keep offense guessing? Let me know guys!

[AsianChexMix 0]

63 views and no one has anything to say? Maybe none of you play 7 v 7 but I would assume that common football knowledge would be able to answer this question.

[Chris W 0]

Not knowing your rules, I'm assuming anyone can rush the QB at any time when answering.

I would generally run option #1 as my base, playing the two upfront rushers as DE responsible for outside contain on running plays first then rushing the QB second. I would play your MLB ~ 3 yards of the LOS, the 2 CB ~ 5 yards, and your S's splitting the LB/CB on their side ~7-8 yards deep. Based on opponent tendencies work some CB & S blitzes adjusting coverage as required.

[Texas_D_Coach 14]

What age group are you coaching?

[AsianChexMix 0]

Not knowing your rules, I'm assuming anyone can rush the QB at any time when answering.

I would generally run option #1 as my base, playing the two upfront rushers as DE responsible for outside contain on running plays first then rushing the QB second. I would play your MLB ~ 3 yards of the LOS, the 2 CB ~ 5 yards, and your S's splitting the LB/CB on their side ~7-8 yards deep. Based on opponent tendencies work some CB & S blitzes adjusting coverage as required.

Yeah, anyone can rush in. I was thinking of doing that with my defense with those very thought processes.

What age group are you coaching?

I am coaching a group of girls who are mainly 13-18 years old with two 18+ adults on the field. I'm expecting that not every team will have a QB that can pick apart zone defenses, look at various options well and also have a huge arm. That's why I wanted to have a defense package for the long ball JUST in case but I would be pretty much sticking to my cover 2 type defense.

THANKS FOR THE REPLIES! Glad to get something. Was about to give up.

[Texas_D_Coach 14]

Chex,I like the 2-3-2 option the best. Kids that age you're probably going to get alot of play action and lots of throwing/minimal running teams, so I would defend more toward the pass than the run.I'd send 2 rushers every time to contain the QB, and then have your 3 middle LB cover all the short stuff and up the middle runs. Put 2 of your best athletes at the 2 safety spots since they will be 1 on 1 fi the offense tries to chunk it deep on you.Good Luck

[AsianChexMix 0]

Chex,I like the 2-3-2 option the best. Kids that age you're probably going to get alot of play action and lots of throwing/minimal running teams, so I would defend more toward the pass than the run.I'd send 2 rushers every time to contain the QB, and then have your 3 middle LB cover all the short stuff and up the middle runs. Put 2 of your best athletes at the 2 safety spots since they will be 1 on 1 fi the offense tries to chunk it deep on you.Good Luck

Now would this work if they have three wide outs going long? That would potentially be hazardous to our defense which is why I don't want to rely just on this defense. I want to have another one in place. Do you think that the rush would negate that because they only give them like 3 seconds so unless they are crazy fast, then safeties would shade but I don't think ALL three will be fast.

[Texas_D_Coach 14]

Now would this work if they have three wide outs going long?

Well the advantage we have in flag football is that the field isn't that wide, so 2 fast safeties should be able to cover the whole thing pretty well, also since they are playing zone, they should have an excellent read on the QB and if they throw it long (which is not going to happen often if you get a good rush from your 2 rushers), then the 2 safeties should have a very quick break on the ball and you should see a high number of picks if they do try to throw deep on you.

That would potentially be hazardous to our defense which is why I don't want to rely just on this defense. I want to have another one in place.

I agree you should have a t least 2 defensive variations, but I like the 2-3-2 best for most situations. If you keep people in the same spots then it will be easy to audible into the optional defenses based on what you see from the sidelines. You can use simple code words or whatever and shout them from the sideleines for your defense to switch.

Do you think that the rush would negate that because they only give them like 3 seconds so unless they are crazy fast, then safeties would shade but I don't think ALL three will be fast.

Exactly. At the older ages where the kids can throw the ball really well it is imperative that you get a good rush on the QB. If not they will eventually pick your defense apart, especially a zone type defense. If you get a good rush you can force the QB to make bad decisions and bad throws, which will help you win the turnover battle, and if you win the turnover battle you're well on your way to winning.

[AsianChexMix 0]

Now would this work if they have three wide outs going long?

Well the advantage we have in flag football is that the field isn't that wide, so 2 fast safeties should be able to cover the whole thing pretty well, also since they are playing zone, they should have an excellent read on the QB and if they throw it long (which is not going to happen often if you get a good rush from your 2 rushers), then the 2 safeties should have a very quick break on the ball and you should see a high number of picks if they do try to throw deep on you.

That would potentially be hazardous to our defense which is why I don't want to rely just on this defense. I want to have another one in place.

I agree you should have a t least 2 defensive variations, but I like the 2-3-2 best for most situations. If you keep people in the same spots then it will be easy to audible into the optional defenses based on what you see from the sidelines. You can use simple code words or whatever and shout them from the sideleines for your defense to switch.

Do you think that the rush would negate that because they only give them like 3 seconds so unless they are crazy fast, then safeties would shade but I don't think ALL three will be fast.

Exactly. At the older ages where the kids can throw the ball really well it is imperative that you get a good rush on the QB. If not they will eventually pick your defense apart, especially a zone type defense. If you get a good rush you can force the QB to make bad decisions and bad throws, which will help you win the turnover battle, and if you win the turnover battle you're well on your way to winning.

Thanks for breaking down, sentence by sentence, on what my questions were. I think I will still implement my prevent type defense just in case but would be thinking that 2:3:2 is going to be a good base to start. I'm thinking offenses generally won't be going 3 wide all the time unless they run spread. In that case, only runs would be from QB and any reverses which I'll allow them to do instead of trying to go downfield. Thanks once again.

[kensvilo 0]

Instaed of starting a new thread, thought I'd piggy-back off this one...

Coaching 11-13 yr olds. 7 v 7... Defense cannot cross the LOS until the ball leaves the QBs hands (hand-off, toss, lateral, etc.)... QB cannot run with the ball and has 5 seconds to get rid of it after the snap... All 7 offensive players are eligible receivers... Only 1 rushing play is allowed in any series of downs, have to go 15 yds for a first down (field is 60yds x 35yds).

Any suggestions?

[AsianChexMix 0]

Instaed of starting a new thread, thought I'd piggy-back off this one...

Coaching 11-13 yr olds. 7 v 7... Defense cannot cross the LOS until the ball leaves the QBs hands (hand-off, toss, lateral, etc.)... QB cannot run with the ball and has 5 seconds to get rid of it after the snap... All 7 offensive players are eligible receivers... Only 1 rushing play is allowed in any series of downs, have to go 15 yds for a first down (field is 60yds x 35yds).

Any suggestions?

If you could rush the passer, then I would do that as well. Since the QB would have to throw the ball after 5 seconds, added pressure would be great to have to make him force a bad throw even more. I was thinking of either 2:3:2 but with linemen being eligible, maybe stick to a 1:4:2. I think practicing both would work out and you can make it situational 2:3:2. I think 2:3:2 + 5 second clock would make the QB need to make REALLY quick decisions.

To continue onto mine, I think that 2:3:2 was a great base defense but I think I forgot one crucial aspect of girls flag football: they run a lot! I don't know why I didn't consider this earlier but the most effective team was the one that ran the ball. But anyway, I think this year I am implementing a cover 1 and a cover 2 defense.