Are two Safeties Needed?

[fbfan_37]

What are you opinions on high school teams running defenses with one safety in the middle of the field with alot of teams running the spread offense?

[bigd70]

In my eyes there should be two safeties. If there are 5 receviers i think you need 3 down lineman, 1 linebacker in the middle, 5 cornerbacks, and 2 safeties. play man, with 1 safetie to each side that way nothing gets behind.

[mhuber]

Bigd, I think that's a good formation to use. Wonder, though, how many small  teams can utilize something that specialized. I mean, many safeties and corners are the same and some aren't even that much bigger than the linebackers, making every one interchangeable.  If that is the case, it makes for an interesting blitz package available to defensive coordinators. If you have 8 guys on defense that a pretty much the same, then you could blitz any number of players, hoping to catch the offense off guard and force quick throw. That of course means the 7 non blitzing defenders must be sure tacklers or it's a big play.

[fbfan_37]

I am not so sure that you need something that specialized. If you have atleast one linebacker that can run you can run a 4-3 on defense and cover 5 wide.

[bduffield30]

What are you opinions on high school teams running defenses with one safety in the middle of the field with alot of teams running the spread offense?

A lot of it has to do with the defense you are playing and who the opponent is. If you're going against a grind-em-out running team, that second safety could become a "monster man" or a strong safety, basically another linebacker. Against passing teams, you need that second safety as a cushion.

I personally like the two safety set up - maybe three at times because I've seen a lot of DBs get burned trying to play man-to-man...