In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the defensive linemen who play directly on the line of scrimmage, and the linebackers, who play in the middle of the defense, between the defensive line and the defensive backs.[1][2]
Among the defensive backs, there are two main types, cornerbacks, which play nearer the line of scrimmage and the sideline, whose main role is to cover the opposing team's wide receivers, and the safeties, who play further back near the center of the field, and who act as the last line of defense. American defensive formations usually includes two of each, a left and right cornerback, as well as a strong safety and a free safety, with the free safety tending to play further back than the strong safety. In Canadian football, which has twelve players on the field compared to the eleven of American football, there is an additional position called defensive halfback, which plays like a hybrid between a linebacker and cornerback. Canadian formations include two cornerbacks, two halfbacks and one safety, for a total of five defensive backs.
Besides the standard set of defensive backs, teams may also remove a defensive lineman or a linebacker and replace them with an additional defensive back. The fifth defensive back is commonly called the nickelback (so named because a five-cent coin in the U.S. and Canada is called a nickel). By extension, a sixth defensive back is called a dimeback (because the next value coin in the U.S. and Canada is called a dime). Rarely, teams may employ seven or even eight defensive backs.
Historic notable defensive backs include Hall-of-Famers Dick "Night Train" Lane, Mike Haynes, Ronnie Lott, and Troy Polamalu, Deion Sanders (aka "Primetime"), and Ed Reed, among others. In 2019, the National Football League released its all-time team in honor of the league's 100th anniversary, in which the top defensive backs in its history were noted and honored.[3]
^"Defensive Back - DB Definition - Sporting Charts". www.sportingcharts.com.
^"The Positions in a Football Secondary - dummies". dummies.com.
^"NFL 100 All-Time Team defensive backs, special teams revealed". NFL.com. Retrieved 2021-10-19.
^"Gil Brandt's greatest NFL cornerbacks of all time". NFL.com. Retrieved 2021-10-19.
February 19, 2023
defensive, back, gridiron, football, defensive, backs, also, called, secondary, players, defensive, side, ball, play, farthest, back, from, line, scrimmage, they, distinguished, from, other, sets, defensive, players, defensive, linemen, play, directly, line, s. In gridiron football defensive backs DBs also called the secondary are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players the defensive linemen who play directly on the line of scrimmage and the linebackers who play in the middle of the defense between the defensive line and the defensive backs 1 2 A diagram of a standard 4 3 defense set The defensive backs include two cornerbacks labeled CB on the diagram a free safety labeled FS and a strong safety labeled SS Among the defensive backs there are two main types cornerbacks which play nearer the line of scrimmage and the sideline whose main role is to cover the opposing team s wide receivers and the safeties who play further back near the center of the field and who act as the last line of defense American defensive formations usually includes two of each a left and right cornerback as well as a strong safety and a free safety with the free safety tending to play further back than the strong safety In Canadian football which has twelve players on the field compared to the eleven of American football there is an additional position called defensive halfback which plays like a hybrid between a linebacker and cornerback Canadian formations include two cornerbacks two halfbacks and one safety for a total of five defensive backs Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Deshea Townsend jumps for the ball with St Louis Rams wide receiver Drew Bennett Besides the standard set of defensive backs teams may also remove a defensive lineman or a linebacker and replace them with an additional defensive back The fifth defensive back is commonly called the nickelback so named because a five cent coin in the U S and Canada is called a nickel By extension a sixth defensive back is called a dimeback because the next value coin in the U S and Canada is called a dime Rarely teams may employ seven or even eight defensive backs Historic notable defensive backs include Hall of Famers Dick Night Train Lane Mike Haynes Ronnie Lott and Troy Polamalu Deion Sanders aka Primetime and Ed Reed among others In 2019 the National Football League released its all time team in honor of the league s 100th anniversary in which the top defensive backs in its history were noted and honored 3 Longtime National Football League executive and renowned former general manager of the Dallas Cowboys Gil Brandt released a list of the top cornerbacks of all time 4 See also EditDefensive Specialist arena football American football positionsReferences Edit Defensive Back DB Definition Sporting Charts www sportingcharts com The Positions in a Football Secondary dummies dummies com NFL 100 All Time Team defensive backs special teams revealed NFL com Retrieved 2021 10 19 Gil Brandt s greatest NFL cornerbacks of all time NFL com Retrieved 2021 10 19 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Defensive back amp oldid 1131574752, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
