Switching the OLB and CB

[Coach Kyle]

What if, rather than having the corner stone, you had the OLB stone. They'd play kind of like the LB in the GAM defense, except they'd be on the outside gap. They'd hit the DE, then play off him. If it's a pass, he'd back up and defend flats. If it's a run, he would have no hesitation to go forward because he wouldn't have to cover the TE. I think that would allow them to play a little bit more aggressively, and it would give the corner a decent amount of time to assess whether or not it was run or pass.

[KFMagee]

That is EXACTLY how it is played in the 73 Bandit.  DE slams the TE while the CB is making read/pass.  De releases into the backfield.  If it is pass, CB covers... if it is run, then CB supports flank or fills inside.

[DumCoach]

What if, rather than having the corner stone, you had the OLB stone. They'd play kind of like the LB in the GAM defense, except they'd be on the outside gap. They'd hit the DE, then play off him. If it's a pass, he'd back up and defend flats. If it's a run, he would have no hesitation to go forward because he wouldn't have to cover the TE. I think that would allow them to play a little bit more aggressively, and it would give the corner a decent amount of time to assess whether or not it was run or pass.

What are your corners doing?  Playing OLBer?

[Coach Kyle]

What are your corners doing?  Playing OLBer?

They're keying on the TE, but this lets them look at the backfield for the first second to determine if it's a run or pass before playing man. If the tightend is some how able to release from a stone, then the corner will easily cover him man to man. If they spread out, the corners still spread out.

What this doesn't allow you to do is have your OLBs key the guards. You could make that the corner's first read. If they pull away, follow that guard. If they do anything else, cover the TE. If the TE is blocking, look for the run.