Hustling 2-6 Defense Demoralizes, Confuses Offensive Attacks

THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND the 2-6 defense is to put continuous pressure on the offense. In this defensive formation, you have the flexibility to stunt inside, outside and sometimes use a combination of both.
From this 2-6, you can play both man and zone pass coverages with a goal to confuse, frustrate, out-hustle, out-hit and demoralize your opponent.

In this defense, we replace the traditional down defensive ends with faster outside linebacker types. On occasion, we’ve even played defensive backs at the front-side LB position so that we could add more speed in our defense.
We play this defense because our opponents are usually bigger than we are and we have to depend on speed to compensate.

Alignments, Position Requirements
The alignment of this 2-6 defense is as follows:

O  Defensive Tackles (T): Line head-up on the offensive guards. These players must be big and strong enough to control the inside running game and quick enough to stunt and pressure the quarterback.

O  Front-Side Linebackers (F): From a stand-up position, these players line head-up on the outside offensive player. Front-side LBs must be strong enough to control the off-tackle run and fast enough to stunt and pressure the QB, as well as to pursue down the line against the sweep, option, flare and screen passes.

O  Inside Linebackers (I): Line up stacked behind the defensive tackles. These players must be run stoppers and quick enough to stunt and play pass coverage.

O  Backside Linebackers (B): Line up stacked behind the front-side LBs. These players must defend against both the run and pass, as well as stunt and apply pressure against the QB and pursue down the line against the sweep, option, flare, flat and screen passes.

O  Corners (C): Line up 7 yards off the ball and outside the backside LBs. These players must play the pass (zone or man) and provide quality run support.

O  Free Safety (FS): Lines up 12 yards off the ball. Shades over to the strong side of the formation. This player must be able to play the pass (zone or man) and give strong run support.