Alabama Cover 1 Dog

Here is a effective 5 man cover 1 pressure from Alabama defensive coordinator and new Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt. The Tide are in Dime personnel group with 2 rush linebackers at DE. 

The Rush:

The Dime blitzes off the edge. Inside the Rush backer and DT are running a twist with the DT penetrating and the Rush looping inside. The weak side Rush backer is playing man coverage on the running back. 

The Coverage:

Initially the coverage is a two high shell that rolls late to a 1 high man free concept. Corners are playing aggressive press technique.

Alabama manipulates the protection really well. The usage of Dime personnel causes the OL to be less likely to treat the Dime as a rush threat. The coverage disguise adds to the effect. The Dime shows an alignment and demeanor that indicate he is going to pass drop to the #3 receiver. The back end also holds the 2 high safety shell until late to further sell the Dime as a coverage player. 

The Mike pressuring in the A gap adds to the success. The Center sets to the Mike because he is a bigger pass rush threat than the Dime. That gives the Dime the run off the edge. If the Center did pass set to the Dime's side, the Mike would have a run through on the RB. In that case the defense would get an overload with the Mike and man cover rush backer on the RB.

Good stuff from Bama.