Understanding coverages allows you to know what the defense is trying to do. If you can understand where the defenders are going to be and what their responsibilities are then you can figure out ways to exploit and beat the defense. Mastering the mental side of the game is the separator from good to great and great to elite. Once you start playing at high levels, everyone is big, fast, athletic, and talented so the separation comes from preparation and understanding the mental side of the game better than anyone else on the field.
Cover 4 is a type of defense that has “4” defenders playing deep zones. There are different variations of cover 4, but in this post we are just going to focus on a traditional 4-3 cover 4 defense.
Alright, let’s break it down…
4-3 is referring to how many defensive linemen and how many linebackers there are. You always start with the defensive linemen. One easy way to remember this is to start with the position group that is closest to the ball (Defensive linemen are closer than linebackers). The first 4 in 4-3 means there are 4 defensive linemen. The second number corresponds to how many linebackers there are so 4-3 means there are 3 linebackers.
Cover 4 means there are four defenders in deep zones (Both safeties and both corners). A good way to think about this is that the defense is dividing up the field into 4 deep zones.
The safeties are responsible for the deep ¼ of the field. Typically, safeties line up around 10 yards pre-snap but this can vary team to team and can range from 10-20 yards. The safeties have less ground to cover in cover 4 so they will often line up narrower and shallower compared to cover 2 - this can help differentiate between the two pre-snap. Often, at the snap of the ball safeties will be working back and out rather than straight back, but this will vary team to team.
Teams will often have safeties help in the curl hook zone in cover 4 so they might come downhill and play hard if they get an in-breaking route within 10 yards.
Corners are responsible for the outside deep ¼ of the field. They want to try and keep everything in front of them and not get beat deep. Often corners will line up around 5-8 yards pre-snap, but this can vary. Corners can also “disguise” the coverage and line up pressed and then bail at the snap of the ball. Two common techniques for corners in cover 4 are backpedaling or facing the quarterback and shuffling. Corners often play outside leverage since they have help inside with the safeties.
Outside linebackers are responsible for getting to the flats. The flats are the areas underneath the corners (5-10 yards over by the sideline). Often, outside backers will line up in the 4-6 yard range pre-snap. They may step up for run and/or jam the slot WR if he releases vertical before getting to the flats.
The middle linebacker is responsible for playing the underneath hole in the middle of the field. Before dropping to his zone, he will step up for run action. This means that if you give a good play fake on play action then he will step up before getting to his zone. Typically, the middle backer will line up anywhere from 3-6 yards pre-snap.
