Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Sam Will Blitz is a five man pressure package out of the 4-3 Over Walk set that sends both the Sam and Will linebackers off the edge while the defensive line crashes underneath. The diagram shows five underneath defenders dropping straight down into short zone landmarks with one defender working a hook to flat angle, while four defenders bail deep to cover the vertical thirds and deep quarters behind the rush. This is a zone blitz look designed to disguise pressure with a two deep or three deep shell behind it, so the primary read is getting an immediate home run threat off the edge while the shallow zone defenders squeeze any quick hitters or hot routes the offense throws underneath.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check the offensive line count and running back alignment, if the back stays in the backfield you have a numbers advantage on the blitz. Watch the slot and tight end depth, aggressive man beater concepts like slants or quick outs will try to attack the flat defender before the edge pressure arrives, so time your jump on the route. Post-snap, key the quarterback's eyes immediately after the snap, since the underneath zone defenders are reading hook to curl and can undercut any in cut or drag route trying to sit in that window. This blitz can get gashed by screens and quick RPO throws to the perimeter, so if you see receivers stacked or bunched pre-snap consider peeling off into a screen read rather than committing fully to the rush lanes. Against strong pocket passing quarterbacks who climb up quickly, make sure the interior rush collapses fast because the coverage shell only has four defenders left to cover the deep half of the field.
Usage Tips
Call this on early downs or second and medium when you expect the offense to lean on quick game or shallow crossers since the underneath zone drops are built to jump those routes. Check the running back and tight end pre-snap, if they are staying in to block you get a clean two on one rush advantage off the edge, if they leak out you need to trust your zone drops to buy time. Use the flat and hook defenders to bait the quarterback into a throw and then close on the ball with a user controlled defender for a big hit or turnover chance. Mix this with Cover 3 Sky or Cover 3 Cloud from the same Over Walk set to keep the same pre-snap shell while alternating between coverage and pressure, which makes it harder for opponents to diagnose blitz versus drop just from alignment. Avoid calling this against empty backfield spread sets since the extra rusher advantage disappears and your zone shell can get exposed by quick out patterns.
