Defending the Zone Read –Defenses can be successful against the zone read if they understand the rules and their gap responsibilities.

by Rick Scheidt
Defensive Coordinator, Fresno City College
American Football Monthly March 2013 Issue Online

Defending the zone read is similar to defending the triple option that attacks the play side of the defense. We have specific rules for defending the dive (RB), the QB and the pitch. For the dive, we designate the first defender outside the offensive tackle to squeeze and tackle the first threat. The quarterback is designated for the area #2, the curl defender, which is usually the scraping linebacker.

We always emphasize that our area #1, the curl/flat defender is responsible for t...Login to Read More

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