The Perfect Co-ed Flag-Football Team — Defense Edition
By: Anthony Nguyen
Tags: Talent, Guides And Tutorials, Football, Flag Football, Roster

As fall season comes to a close, recreational adult leagues have crowned champions. From soccer, to softball, and many other sports, one of the league favorites is co-ed flag-football. This is a time where players have built chemistry with their teams and accomplish what they’ve set out to do — acquire trophies. A key component in doing so is as the saying goes: defense wins championships.

While rosters have been solidified, players and captains take into consideration what type of talent is needed for their teams to compete in even more competitive tournaments, locally or nationwide. Most tourneys have an 8 vs 8 format, typically comprised of 5 men and 3 women for each team on the field of play. With these requirements on a roster, specific skill-sets are sought after at each position.

From spectating, playing, coaching, and even, officiating in various co-ed leagues for over a decade now, this is my take on the make-up of The Perfect Co-ed Flag-Football Team.

This article is the second part of The Perfect Co-ed Flag-Football Team series.

You can read the first part — Offense Edition — here:

The Perfect Co-ed Flag-Football Team — Offense Edition.

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The Perfect Defense

The Game-changer

(R, rusher, male)

To start off the defensive group strong is The Game-changer. As the nickname indicates, he can change the game in an instant by wreaking havoc on the heart and soul of the offense, the quarterback. Once this player drops into the lineup, it’ll be a very long day for The General of the offense.

You may notice that many of the novice teams tend to place their least experienced player at the rush position. Why? Because the concept is easy — just go get the the quarterback. It requires very minimal experience to “go and chase the QB.” In reality, it’s more than just tracking down the QB and trying to get sacks, it takes strategy, especially, against veteran and scrambling QBs.

On the flip-side, you’ll find that the more advanced teams will have their best athlete at rush. Not only is this player athletic, he is quick, fast, excellent at flag-pulling, and possesses high rush-IQ.

The rusher needs the savvy to get to the QB as quickly as possible, yet able to stay under-control once he gets to the QB. His decision-making is a fine art between earning a sack, applying pressure, or containing the QB. Each is dependent upon on the play-situation.

For example, on a short goal-line situation, the QB is looking to score quickly by throwing a short pass or getting into the endzone with a run. If the rusher over-pursues the QB and loses contain (outside leverage of the pocket), the QB will have time to look for an open receiver or scamper in for a score.

Additionally, a strong rush at the front lines will typically make an average secondary look good. When there is constant pressure in the QB’s face, he/she is going to toss up and force passes to avoid sacks, thus, creating more pick/turnover possibilities for the defense.

Overall, if The Gamechanger isn’t slowed down, he will single-handedly shut down the entire offense by himself. Once he dominates and dictates what the quarterback does: it is not just game-changing, it’s game-over.

The Perfect Skill-sets:

* Quick acceleration and speed

* Strong lateral agility/change of direction

* Excellent flag-puller

* Understanding of containment

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The Marshall

(R, rusher, female)

For every elite rusher, there needs to be a strong compliment on the opposite side. Though The Game-changer can do damage on his own, it is much more difficult against a speedy and scrambling QB. This is where The Marshall comes into play.

Most experienced teams will rush two players: a male and a female. While the male is usually the faster player to get to the QB, the female rusher’s job is to get to the QB as well, except the primary goal is to contain the QB first.

This is easier said than done and takes quite a bit of discipline and technical ability. As mentioned, The Marshall’s job is to keep the QB at bay, inside of the pocket. This will allow the other rusher to get to the QB and make a sack. If the QB is fast, then The Marshall has to beat the QB to a point on the field, giving her a better angle and opportunity to force the QB back inside. If she runs directly at him, he will most likely be able to get by her with speed.

It is an important role because if the QB breaks contain and gets outside of the pocket, they will have more time to find an open receiver on a broken play or take-off and scramble down field.

Usually, The Marshall will control the pocket by delaying their rush and keeping outside position on the QB, keeping him inside the pocket. If the QB steps up into the pocket and tries to take off, The Marshall will collapse the pocket, continue to maintain outside position, make the flag-pull for a sack or no-gain.

The Marshall can be the difference between a big-play by the opposing offense or a momentum-changing sack by the defense.

The Perfect Skill-sets:

* Strong read on the QB

* Excellent understanding of containment

* Good speed and lateral agility

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The Enforcer

(MLB, middle linebacker, male)

Just like the offense, every defense needs a signal-caller. A leader on the defense can be assigned to any player, but middle linebacker is the most ideal position to direct everyone to the right place, at the right time. The Enforcer requires high-IQ to run the defense and play mental chess against The General of the offense.

This position also requires quick analysis of play development once the ball is snapped. One moment The Enforcer can be covering receivers in the secondary, the next moment he can be in the short-zone covering line-leaks, or third, he can be chasing down a scrambling QB.

Having the field awareness to make those adjustments and reads is one thing, but it also requires a certain level of athleticism to execute those type of plays.

The Enforcer should have great sideline-to-sideline range in order to close in on plays with speed and quickness. He should have an understanding of pursuit angles and excellent open field flag-pulling ability. And when he’s not pursuing ball-carriers, he’s flying around in the secondary knocking down passes or getting picks.

He’s in the middle and mix of everything, positioning players, strategizing against opposing offenses, and flying around, making plays. He’s The Enforcer of the defense.

The Perfect Skill-sets:

* Excellent anticipation and adjustments

* Excellent flag-puller

* Great communication

* Good speed and quickness

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The Clamp

(CB, left-cornerback, male)

There are two types of corners: one that can play zone and one that can play man-to-man. The most elite corners can do both. For the sake of content, this position is the latter, a corner that can play man — The Clamp.

This is one of the most athletic and fastest players on the defense. He is usually assigned to cover The Speedster on offense. The Clamp is, as the name indicates, a lock-down corner. He has the ability to stick with the fastest receiver and give him little room to get open for big plays.

With that being said, The Clamp will tend to knock down passes more — racking up pass deflections compared to getting interceptions. This is due to the fact that he’s covering the receiver rather than sitting back and reading the quarterback by playing zone.

Top-tier speed is rare to come by, so having a corner with this skill set is an asset on defense. With that speed should also come with good hips and ability to change direction on a dime. Receivers have an advantage because they know what route they’re running, so a corner that can keep position on a wide receiver is a huge commodity.

So, contain the top receiver by letting your best — The Clamp, sit alone on an island and shut down the offense’s best.

The Perfect Skill-sets:

* Excellent speed, hips, change of direction

* Great field awareness

* Strong route anticipation

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The Crook

(CB, right-cornerback, male)

The Crook is a strong cover-3 corner. He plays the deep third of the field, preventing any deep passes from being completed in his zone. He has a smooth backpedal, great hips, and turns at the right moment as the wide receiver closes in on his cushion. He should also be great at breaking on the ball with deep routes.

Playing zone requires a bit more discipline than man-to-man coverage. While The Clamp simply utilizes his athleticism and speed to blanket his receiver, The Crook understands when to release the receiver from his zone into the next zone. He should have strong communication with the linebacker underneath, as well as the middle safety to ensure coverage is passed along properly.

Additionally, The Crook is named as such because he should be getting a majority of the interceptions in the secondary. Due to the nature of this position, the corner gets to see the field because he usually starts in a backpedal rather than lining up close and running with the wide receiver. This gives him the ability to keep eyes on the quarterback and passes coming.

Every stout secondary should have a Crook to shut down the deep passing game and snatch passes from opposing offenses.

The Perfect Skill-sets:

* Outstanding field awareness/zone-read

* Fluid backpedal

* Great breaking ability

* Great catching

* Good vertical

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The Slasher

(S, safety, male)

The Slasher is the last line of defense, therefore, he should not be getting beat deep. One of the most important attributes of a safety is discipline. Keep everything in front, nothing behind. To be able to do so, requires field awareness, range, and tracking of the ball in flight.

Since the safety is lined up furthest back, he needs to have a great deal of patience watching the play develop while getting depth in his backpedal. He should be good at reading the QB’s eyes, all while scanning the receivers streak across the field on deep routes, and not biting on any short or mid-range routes.

Being instinctive is also a unique trait at this position to anticipate routes and bait QBs in throwing a pass that they think is open. Once the ball is in the air, the safety immediately breaks on it to prevent receivers from making the catch.

The Slasher can either knock down or intercept passes to cap off and support The Clamp and The Crook in aerial defense.

The Perfect Skill-sets:

* Outstanding field awareness/zone-read

* Excellent range

* Great route anticipation

* Good tracking of ball

* Good vertical

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The Disrupters

(LB, outside linebackers, female)

These two ladies play outside of the middle linebacker, one on the left and one on the right. They are defenders that defend the flats — covering all the short routes on the outside. This position requires a combination of characteristics, but the most important are: play recognition, coverage, and flag-pulling.

When playing on the outside, The Disrupters need to recognize the down and distance and utilize that information to anticipate the routes that are coming. Though, the outside linebackers’ job are to cover everything short, they should also have the awareness and ability to run with longer-developing deep routes such as the wheel-route on long distance downs.

In coverage, the linebackers should be able to knock down passes and have the skills to jump/undercut routes for interceptions. This is a prime position to do so because most of the time linebackers are lined up in front of the receivers and are able to see passes coming from the quarterback.

When coverage in the secondary in strong, it will give the rushers a chance to get to the quarterback. Once this happens, the quarterback will usually scramble to avoid sacks and try to gain positive yardage. The linebackers have to make a judgment call on whether to stay in coverage or to come up and make the flag-pull.

If the decision is to make a flag-pull, the linebacker will be in the open field one-on-one vs the quarterback, therefore, great flag-pulling is a trait that linebackers must possess. Help from The Enforcer would be ideal, but sometimes the middle linebacker is stuck in the center of the field covering a receiver or pursuing late to chase the play down.

These outside linebacking ladies have versatile skill-sets. They can go from throwing off the timing of wide receivers, to knocking down or picking off passes, to dictating the run lanes that QBs decide to scramble. This is why they’re The Disrupters.

The Perfect Skill-set:

* Excellent field awareness

* Strong cover skills

* Great flag-pulling

* Good route anticipation

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Obviously, if every single player was a top-notch athlete then that would make for an elite team. Therefore, the roster above is a more realistic representation of diverse talent on a team.

It’s also worthy to note that there are women that can play each position just as well as men. Lady footballers are on the rise in leagues all around.

The ideal set of characteristics presented above are what every group should strive to come close to as possible to create The Perfect Co-ed Flag-football Team.

Lastly, keep in mind that though things are a whole lot easier with talent to form the perfect roster, it doesn’t necessarily and immediately equate to success. Ultimately, team success requires a combination of talent, skills, strategy, experience, and chemistry that are executed in unison.

Best wishes to you and your team. Happy recruiting. Be safe, stay healthy, and have fun!

See you on the field!