A safety in American football is an important and versatile position on the football field.
As its name states, safety is the defense’s last line of defense. The safety’s job is to make sure no offensive players run or catch a touchdown. They are often the deepest player on the defense.
This article will show you what the safety position does in football and the variations of safety.
In the spread offense era, the safety position is arguably one of the most important positions in football.
The safety’s role on defense is to make sure no big plays happen. Big players are often plays of 20+ yards or more. If the offense can have a big play (otherwise known as impact plays), there’s a high percentage chance of scoring a field goal or a touchdown.
The physical build of a safety is often bigger than that of a cornerback but smaller than a linebacker. The safety position must utilize both tremendous speeds as well as athletism.
NFL safeties such as Ed Reed and Troy Polamumnu are great examples of players covering the pass and run-down running backs that happen to gain big yards.
Slow safeties are not ideal for the last line of defense. The perfect example of this was when Rob Gronkowski tried to tackle Miami Dolphins, running back Kenyon Drake for a touchdown on the game’s last play.
Long before football was a finesse game, teams could pack as many big and strong players onto the field as possible. These players could man-handle the offense to their advantage.
The invention of the forward pass changed all of that. Teams no longer tried to win with pure power but rather speed. Offenses spread out and used throwing the football down the field as the primary offensive strategy.
As football teams started to throw the ball downfield, defenses needed to match this aerial attack by adding speed to the field. This is how the safety position in modern-day football was born.
These safety positions are split into two types of safeties used most commonly.
Free Safety
The free safety position is common in most defensive structures. This player has a unique skill set as they must cover the ground. Players that play free safety are often the lone safety.
When watching a football game, this player will often be the deepest player on the field. The name free safety comes from the fact that the safety is often free to cover the deep part of the field.
For example, in the cover 1 scheme, the free safety supports any deep passes. They don’t necessarily have an assignment but rather help cover the middle of the field.
Many football coaches will put their most athletic and best tackler at the safety position. If a big play happens, this player needs to tackle the ball carrier immediately.
Open field tackling is one of the hardest techniques to do in football. The free safety will practice and specialize in tackling players in the open field.
Strong Safety
The strong safety is a little bit different from the free safety.
Strong safeties are often built like linebackers; however, they have the speed of a safety. These players play both the run and the pass, but mainly the run.
They get their name strong safety because they need to be strong and play the run from depth. Often, the strong safety will play at the same depth as a free safety but is responsible for playing a gap or run fit.
In the present-day NFL, the player that provides the best visual for strong safety is Tyrann Mathieu. Not only built tough in stature, but Tyrann also covers any pass that comes his way. His speed and physicality also allow him to play the run effectively, as he’s not scared of larger running backs.
Strong safeties are hybrids between linebackers and cornerbacks. The combination of size, speed, and ability to tackle are all wanted traits of strong safety.
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Variations Of The Safety Position
Football differs from scheme to scheme. Not all football defenses will have players that are named free and strong safety.
The innovation of the spread offense has led teams to bring on more safeties to combat the 5 wide receiver sets that are commonly used.
Coaches will often use different name types to identify their safety positions, such as Rover, Jack, and Dollar.
This depends on the coach’s scheme and how he wants to use each player. Instead of just saying free and strong safety, the actual naming of these positions gives the coach flexibility to spin coverages and blitz if needed.
Free Safety Vs Strong Safety
The difference between free safety and strong safety is typically in the player’s build, speed and responsibility.
The free safety is often a smaller and quicker player. Strong safeties are often taller and strong players who are fast and can tackle.
Strong safeties will have more responsibility to tackle running backs and cover receivers, while the safety is more responsible for covering deep passes thrown by the quarterback.
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Safety’s in football is one of the most important positions in football to ensure that big, explosive plays from the offense do not happen.
The skillset requires safeties to cover slot receivers and have enough speed to catch running backs across the field. The size and strength of safety make them look like linebackers, but the athleticism and speed will often be mistaken for a cornerback.
It’s a true hybrid position that can be used in multiple forms in defensive schemes.
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. This article is about a player position in gridiron football. For the scoring play, see Safety (gridiron football score). Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their duties depend on the defensive scheme. The defensive responsibilities of the safety and cornerback usually involve pass coverage towards the middle and sidelines of the field. While American (11-player) formations generally use two safeties, Canadian (12-player) formations generally have one safety and two defensive halfbacks, a position not used in the American game.
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As professional and college football have become more focused on the passing game, safeties have become more involved in covering the eligible pass receivers.[1]
Safeties are the last line of defense; they are expected to be reliable tacklers, and many safeties rank among the hardest hitters in football. Safety positions can also be converted cornerbacks, either by design (Byron Jones) or as a cornerback ages (Charles Woodson, DeAngelo Hall, Lardarius Webb, Tramon Williams).
Historically, in the era of the one-platoon system, the safety was known as the defensive fullback (specifically the free safety; the strong safety would be a defensive halfback, a term still in Canadian parlance) or goaltender.
Former Washington Redskins free safety Sean Taylor
The free safety tends to watch the play unfold and follow the ball as well as be the "defensive quarterback" of the backfield. The free safety is typically assigned to the quarterback in man coverage, but as the quarterback usually remains in the pocket, the free safety is "free" to double cover another player. On pass plays, the free safety is expected to assist the cornerback on his side and to close the distance to the receiver by the time the ball reaches him. If the offense puts a receiver in the slot, then the free safety may be called upon to cover that receiver. Because of their speed and deep coverage, free safeties are especially likely to make interceptions.
Offenses tend to use the play-action pass specifically to make the free safety expect a run play, which would draw him closer to the line of scrimmage, and reduce his effectiveness as a pass defender. Furthermore, quarterbacks often use a technique to "look off" a free safety, by looking away from the intended target receiver's side of the field during a pass play, with the intention to lure the free safety away from that side of the field. This phenomenon often tests how effective a free safety's savvy and athleticism are at defending long pass plays.
Free safeties occasionally blitz as well. When this happens, the pressure on the quarterback can be severe since a blitz by a defensive back is not usually anticipated.
Current examples of free safeties active in the NFL include Marcus Williams, Justin Simmons, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Kevin Byard, Micah Hyde, and Jessie Bates III.[2]
The strong safety tends to be larger and stronger than the free safety. However, the word strong is used because he is assigned to cover the "strong side" of the offense, the side on which the tight end, a typically big, powerful receiver-type player lines up on offensive plays.
The strong safety tends to play closer to the line than the free safety does, and assists in stopping the run. He may also cover a player, such as a running back or fullback or H-back, who comes out of the backfield to receive a pass. A strong safety's duties are a hybrid of those belonging to a linebacker in a 46 or 3-4 defense and those of the other defensive backs, in that he both covers the pass and stops the run.
Current examples of strong safeties active in the NFL include Jamal Adams, Landon Collins, Jordan Poyer, Harrison Smith, Budda Baker, Tyrann Mathieu and Derwin James. Strong safeties are not seen in the Canadian game, where the role is filled by the two defensive halfbacks.
- ^ Trotter, Jim (October 7, 2006). "NFL safety today must fly like wideout, sting like LB". SignOnSanDiego.com. Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Retrieved October 10, 2007.
- ^ "Defensive and Special Teams Football Positions". FootballBabble.com. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
- phillyBurbs.com Football 101: The Free Safety
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