The Conflict Defender

Modern offense is a search algorithm, and the thing it searches for is the conflict defender — the one player whose two jobs can be attacked by one play. The overhang linebacker who must both fit the inside run and cover the flat: an RPO throws the bubble when he squeezes and hands off when he widens. The flat-zone corner of Tier 3's smash concept. The crashing end of the zone read. In every case, the offense stops trying to beat eleven players and instead isolates one, makes his correct answer to one threat the wrong answer to the other, and reads him.

Defenses know this, of course. Their counter is to move the conflict: rotate a safety down to take one of the conflicted man's jobs, exchange responsibilities after the snap, or simply accept the conflict but change who is in it — putting their best hybrid athlete there and daring the offense to read a player quick enough to be right anyway. Watch any RPO sim and name the conflict defender before pressing play. That's the whole skill.