One of the more uncommon facts about the linebacker position is that they are all the same with all the same duties. But in fact, the linebacker position can be summed up into three general positions: middle, strong and weak.
Will McClay is entering his second season as head coach/defensive coordinator of the Dallas Desperados of the Arena Football League. Also serving as a scout for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League, McClay has been around the game of football long enough to know the ins and outs of the linebacker position.
"You can tell where a linebacker plays by the different names that are given to them," he said. "Generally, anytime you hear somebody talk about a linebacker and there is an M in front of the word, they are referring to the middle linebacker. If it is an S in front, that stands for strong while a W stands for weak."
"Like in Arena Football, we use Mac for middle linebacker," McClay added. "And Sam and Will for strong side linebacker and weak side linebacker. And that is determined by which line backer goes to the strength of the formation. If it is a S guy, he is usually on the strong side which is declared by the tight end."
Most teams run a 4-3 base defense. The premise of the 4-3 is that defensive teams will have four down linemen and three linebackers. In the 4-3 formation, it's easy to assign the linebackers names such as middle, weak and outside. But if the formation changes to a 3-4 set, then the two middle linebackers would be called middle while the two outside players would be the outside linebackers.
Also, although all three positions are considered linebacker positions, different players make up different molds to fit each category. According to McClay, most middle, strong and weak linebackers are all built the same.
"The Mike linebacker is normally a stouter, more physical guy that can handle inside runs and players that are coming directly at you," he said. "This linebacker is able to cover the inside gaps of the run game."
"The Sam linebacker is also more of a physical guy but has a little bit more athletic ability," he added. "The Sam has to be more athletic because they are lined up over the tight end on the strong side of the formation. Being over the tight end, a defense may ask the Sam linebacker to cover and play man coverage. And the Will linebacker is more of an athletic pass rushers, a run around kind of guy."
The Will linebacker also drops back in coverage on passing plays and can sometimes be a smaller player such as a defensive back in certain sets.
