[Note by CptChaosSidekick, 05/11/08 9:03 AM EDT ] Taking from wikipedia to help illustrate my point in reguards to the defense we use and issues as it relates to the Saftey postion.

Cover 2

In traditional Cover 2 schemes the free safety (FS) and strong safety (SS) have deep responsibilities, each guarding half of the field. The NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears, and Detroit Lions run a variant of this defense called the Tampa 2.

Cover 2 can be run from any seven-man defensive fronts such as the 3-4 and the 4-3. (It is difficult to implement Cover 2 from an eight-in-the-box front, because the strong safety or someone replacing him is usually the eighth man.) Various "underneath" coverage played by cornerbacks and linebackers may also be implemented. For example, Cover 2 Man means 2 safeties have deep responsibility while the cornerbacks and linebackers follow their offensive assignment in one-on-one coverage. The NFL's San Diego Chargers inherited a base Cover 2 Man 3-4 from Wade Phillips. Cover 2 can also be paired with underneath zone schemes: Cover 2 Zone refers to 2 safeties with deep responsibility but now the CBs and LBs drop back into specific coverage zones where they defend passes only in their assigned area.

Teams that play Cover 2 shells usually subscribe to the "bend-but-don't-break" philosophy, preferring to keep offensive players in front of them for short gains while limiting long passes. This is in stark contrast to a more aggressive Cover 1 type scheme which leaves the offensive team's wide receivers in single man-to-man coverage with only one deep helper. By splitting the deep field between two defenders, the defense can drastically reduce the number of long gains.

The main weakness of the Cover 2 shell occurs in the middle of the field between the safeties. The safeties attempt to gain width upon the snap of the ball to cover any long passes to quick wide receivers down the sideline. This movement creates a natural hole between the safeties that can be attacked. By sending a receiver (usually a tight end) into the hole, the offense forces the safety to make a decision: play the vulnerable hole in the middle of the field or help out on the wide receiver. The quarterback reads the safety's decision and decides on the best matchup (i.e. which mismatch is better: TE vs S or WR vs CB).

Looks like this type of D goes hand in hand with a lot of things. Good CB cover skills and a much needed pass rush by the front 4. I wonder if we will implement a somewhat diffrent type of cover 2 under our new D cordinator.

I was listing to the radio, and heard some very intresting things concering postions on the field that might go the way of the Dodo bird. Here is my take. The NFL is a copy-cat league, and what everyone is doing on offence is spreading the field. Caues & effect..some postions are no longer considered as valuable as they once were.

Fullback:  With teams lining up with three & four wideout's, the defence gets spread out and the need for a sledge hammor like Lorenzo Neal isn't as nessasry as it once was.  Now FB is one of my favroite postions but it seems like the only ones in need are the ones with pass catching abilities  ...except when in  a goaline situation. 

Strong Saftey:  AKA roving LB that can cover.  Players such as John Lynch, Roy Williams, and Adam Archulata are constantly findind themselves out of postion and getting burned.  Teams are specifically targeting them due to their lack of range.  So defensive packages simply take out the SS and rotate a CB in his place.

Inside/ Middle Linebacker:  What I'm talking about here is the downward attacking LB, that more specifically stuffs the run. Case in point Dan Conner who was considered the 3rd best ILB in the draft but didn't get taken until the 3rd round. He came out of linbacker U with the alltime tackels record but teams again are worried by lack of range by their LB's causing a Reggie Bush type or even a more deadly threat to expose them.

So what do you all think?  Is this a change that will have a lasting effect on the league?