All Football Defensive Positions

The offensive line wide receivers and tight ends quarterbacks and running backs.

All football defensive positions. The defensive line the linebackers and the secondaryor defensive backfield. If youre new to football you may not be able to name all of the positions on a teamsome like the quarterback or center are fairly obvious. Football includes three groups of players. In a 4 3 set there are two defensive tackles.

Understanding the different positions in each category is key to understanding the game. Football defensive positions the defensive unit on a football team consists of three core areas. But do you know the difference between the cornerback and the fullback and what positions they occupy on the field. The defensive positions in football can be grouped into three general categories.

That sounds simple enough but players at each position have different. In college and professional football the defensive team is led by the defensive coordinator. The defense like the other two categories must put 11 players on the field. The two most common formations are the 34 defense and the 43 defense where the first number refers to the number of defensive linemen and the second number refers to the number of linebackers the number of defensive backs can be inferred since there must be eleven players on the field.

The offense the defense and the special teams. Here are the basic positions on the defense. Football defensive positions the defensive unit on a football team consists of three core areas. Defensive football positions are all designed to achieve one goalstop the offense from gaining yards and scoring.

While their basic position is roughly across from the offensive guard like all defensive players they shift around to many different positions in the same general area. By learning how to identify the different positions on a football team youll be able to understand how different plays are executed. The defensive line the linebackers and the secondaryor defensive backfield. Thus a 34 defense consists of three defensive linemen usually a nose tackle and two defensive ends four linebackers and four defensive backs two cornerbacks a strong safety and a free safety.

Defensive linemen generally are aligned the closest to the ball along the line of scrimmage as exemplified by the players in white jerseys in the photo below. The three main defensive groupings are defensive line dt s and de s linebackers mlbs and olbs and secondary cbs safeties. In american football the defenses primary job as a team is to keep the offense from scoring points by intercepting the ball tackling members of the offense and in general preventing the offense from moving the ball closer to their end zone to create a scoring opportunity.