Playbooks
Breakdown
Olb Blitz 1 out of the 3-3 Cub Nickel package brings a five man pressure look with Cover 1 man behind it, shown by the tight blue coverage shell over the top and the lone deep defender roaming the middle of the field. The diagram shows all five underlying defenders firing downhill off the snap, an OLB blitz designed to collapse the pocket quickly while the corners and nickel lock up receivers in man coverage with a single high safety robbing the deep middle. This is a pressure package, not a coverage shell to sit back in, so the primary read is getting immediate eyes to the offensive tackle to blitzer matchup and closing throwing lanes before the quarterback can climb the pocket.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify the running back alignment, if he is releasing into a route instead of blocking you have extra pressure coming free off the edge. Watch the receiver splits and motion, heavy man coverage means picks and rubs can beat this so be ready to work through traffic with your assigned defender. Post-snap, get your eyes to the deep middle safety zone drop, if the quarterback has a receiver working behind the underneath defenders that safety is your last line of defense. This blitz gets exploited by quick hitting slants and speed outs thrown before the rush arrives, so timing your jump on the snap count is critical. Look for play-action or RPO tags from the offense, since your linebackers are crashing downhill they can be vulnerable to counters and misdirection runs if you bite too hard.
Usage Tips
Call this on early downs when you expect the offense to lean on quick game or shallow crossers since the blitz timing beats slower developing route concepts.
Check the offensive personnel and formation before the snap, if you see max protect or extra blockers stay home, consider audibling to a coverage heavy play instead.
Use the flat and short zone defenders as spies against mobile quarterbacks who like to escape the pocket on designed rollouts or scrambles.
Pair this with Cover 1 Robber or Cover 3 Buzz in your play-calling sequence so quarterbacks cannot key blitz tendencies purely off pre-snap look.
Mix in user control on the OLB rushers to time your blitz and disguise which gap you are attacking, this keeps the offensive line guessing on protection assignments.
