What does it mean when a defensive unit has five down linemen on a football team. A five down linemen is a different front that you don't see very often. One of the best battles on a football field is the...
One of the best battles on a football field is the one that goes on in the trenches. Known more commonly as the line of scrimmage, offensive and defensive linemen usually determine the winner of most games by their ability, or lack thereof to protect their side of the football. For offensive line, the blueprint is pretty much the same every time - a center, two guards and two tackles. But when it comes to how a defensive line will align themselves, many different options allows the defense to do many different things.
One defensive front that is becoming more and more outdated as time goes by is the five down linemen front.
Will McClay is the head coach/defensive coordinator for the Dallas Desperados of the Arena Football League. Also serving as a scout for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League, McClay knows exactly what a five down linemen front is and in what situation they should be used for.
"A five down linemen is a defensive front that you don't see very often," he said. "There are a lot of five man fronts in high schools where teams normally run the ball a lot. So you put five down linemen in hopes of getting a better chance to stop the run up front."
Anytime someone speaks about the style of defense that a team runs, it can be classified and determined by a group of two numbers. For example, there are four base defenses that teams run.
"Four-three, three-four, five-two or five-three are usually your base defenses," McClay said.
So what these numbers mean is that this is the style of defense that a team will be running. The first number stands for the first line of defense or the defensive front. The second number is the second line of defense or the linebackers. So when a team has a four-three defense that means that they have four defensive linemen and three linebackers.
"If you go with the four-three or the four-man line now you have decreased the number from five men on the line to four," he said. "But, you should still get enough weight and girth to be able to handle the run. And the three-man line causes you to have four line backers. So it's just those different fronts that cause you to align your second line of defense according to what you do on your first line."
The five down linemen front is one that is used primarily to stop the run. But according to McClay, with players getting bigger, stronger and faster at every position, seeing fewer five down linemen fronts is becoming more and more common.
"A lot of this depends on your personnel," he said. "You see more people going to the three-four now because there are a lot more linebacker type players than there are quality defensive linemen."
Running a five down linemen set doesn't come easy and is usually run by a team that has the right coaches in place to execute.
"Whichever base defense a coach decides to go with usually depends on their best knowledge of the defense," McClay said. "You have to really and truly understand whatever defense you are going to run to be able to teach it and execute your plan."
