Elsewhere on this site, you can read a piece looking at the overall positions that players are asked to take up on an American football pitch. Some of those positions require a little bit more explanation than can be offered in such a generic piece, which is why we’re talking a close look at some of them.
The Safety, for example, is one of the positions that has a lot more to it than some people might realise, with both a Free Safety and a Strong Safety each offering something a little bit different from one another. Here, we’re taking a closer look at what the role is all about.
What Is the Safety?
In American football, there is a position of a defensive player that was known for a time as the ‘safety man’. The role is a lot like what you might expect given the nature of the name, providing a safety net for the rest of the defensive line and positioning themselves between ten and 15 yards from the line of scrimmage. The exact role carried out by the safety will be dictated by the defensive scheme at play, but there is often some overlap in the defensive responsibilities of the safety and the cornerback, with the main thing being that they’re there to cover passes.
That is thanks to the fact that the professional game has changed and developed to focus more and more on the passing side of things, meaning that safeties are given the responsibility of trying to cover any eligible pass receivers on the opposition team. They will often have a focus on the middle and sidelines of an NFL field, working with the cornerback to cover as many options as possible. In American football, there are usually two safeties in the 11-player team, which is different from Canadian formations thanks to the 12 players and the use of one safety with two defensive halfbacks.
Safeties are a crucial part of any team on account of the fact that they are literally the last line of defence for their team. They have to be reliable tacklers, which is why many of the safeties in the National Football League are amongst the game’s hardest hitters. Sometimes, a player operating as a safety may previous have been working as a cornerback, either because a choice has been made to convert them over or because they have aged out of the cornerback role and are more suited as a safety. The reason the US formation uses two of them in comparison to Canada’s one is that the defensive halfback position isn’t used in America.
The Two Main Types of Safeties
When it comes to American football, there are really two main types of Safeties that get used. The first is that of the Free Safety, whilst the second is the role of Strong Safety. Here is a look at how the two positions differ from one another:
Strong Safety
Although you might imagine that the word ‘strong’ is used in the title of a Strong Safety because the player is physically imposing, the reality is that it’s actually because of the fact that they are asked to cover the ‘strong side’ of the opposition’s attacking unit. That is the side that the big, powerful receiver known as the tight end is located on, lining up over there for offensive plays. As a result, the Strong Safety has to be equally as big and powerful in order to stop the opposition player from being able to break through the defensive line easily, playing close to the line where possible.
They are used to try to stop the run, whilst sometimes being asked to cover a player like a fullback, H-back or running back. They are the players who will often come out of the backfield in order to receive a pass, with a Strong Safety’s duties being something of a mixture of what a linebacker might be asked to do in a 3-4 defence or a 46 and the work of other defensive backs. There aren’t really Strong Safeties used in the Canadian version of the game, but similar duties are given over to the strong side linebacker, occasionally seeing former NFL Strong Safeties take up the role.
Free Safety
As the name suggests, Free Safeties are allowed to watch a play develop and follow the ball. They are asked to be the quarterback of the backfield, usually being assigned to watch the quarterback in man coverage. It is more common than not for the quarterback to remain what is known as ‘in the pocket’, which is why the Free Safety remains available to cover other players. If a team is looking to opt for a pass play, the Free Safety will assist their side’s cornerback and look to closer the gap to the receiver. If there is a receiver in the slot, the Free Safety could be asked to cover them too.
Free Safeties will often be the players that make interceptions, thanks to their speed and the fact that they’re providing deep coverage. The nature of the role means that they are physically different from Strong Safeties. Offences will often use the play-action pass in order to make the Free Safety expect a run play, drawing him closer in to the players in the line of scrimmage, which would essentially reduce their effectiveness as someone defending passes. Quarterbacks will engage in a tactic known as ‘looking off’ a Free Safety so as to disguise the intended receiver of their pass.
The use of the ‘look off’ can be considered to test a Free Safety’s intelligence and athleticism when it comes to defending long passes. They will sometimes be used in order to ‘blitz’ the opposition, which can cause the quarterback issues as a blitz by a defensive back isn’t something that is often anticipated.