What They Do: Nasty Set

I received some pretty good feedback from my last “What They Do” series on the Smash Concept so I have decided to add another installment,  this time on the Nasty Set.

While the Smash Concept was a passing route concept,  this series on the Nasty Set will talk about a particular formation.  If you understand offensive football,  play callers on that side of the ball try to manipulate the defense in a number of ways.  The main ways that they do this is either by personnel, motion or formation.  All of this is done with the objective of gaining an advantage over the defense either through a mismatch in player vs. player or by having more players at the point of attack than the defense.

The Nasty Set is a formation used to create a mismatch.  Most often you will see the Nasty Set come out on offense vs. teams that are heavy on man to man coverage on defense.  Just by looking at the formation,  you can see why this would cause a problem for teams that are trying to play man coverage with press coverage in particular.

As you can see looking at this formation,  the chances that a defender could get picked off by the routes as the play unfolds is high.  So the defense now has to play on different levels meaning the defenders must pick and choose who will press and who will have to play off the ball.  If a team is big on press or has players that aren’t particularly good at playing off man then this could be a bit of a problem.

This set is also a problem for teams that don’t communicate well in the secondary or are not particularly good at playing zone.  It should be noted that those two things usually go hand in hand.  Teams that don’t communicate well on defense usually struggle at playing zones.

With all of that in mind,  if you can learn the core concepts that are used by offenses out of this formation then you can put yourself in better position to defend the plays when the offense attacks you with this set up.  While there are many plays that can be run out of this formation from a passing stand point,  most of those plays fit under one of three concepts that I will cover below:

(1)  Hi Low Concept

This concept is designed to put a perimeter player (like the cornerback) in conflict.  Typically the offense will send one wide receiver up the field and to the sidelines at a depth of 15 yards or more.  While doing this,  they will flash another player in front of the perimeter player as bait typically at 5-7 yards.  The hopes is that the cornerback bites the cheese on the shorter route opening up a big opportunity with the deeper one.  However,  should the cornerback remain deep then the quarterback can come back down to the shorter route in an effort to get the required yardage.   Basically,  the offense wants to make any decision by the cornerback a wrong decision.  This concept will typically get run when defenses opt to check out of man coverage and into a 2 high zone coverage like quarters or better yet,  Cover 2.

(2) Mesh Concept

This concept is great for the offense if the defense is hell bent on staying in man coverage.  As you can see,  the route concepts can lead to problems for the defenders in man coverage as they can get rubbed off by intersecting routes.  Some of the most aggressive press man cover teams have been done in by mesh concepts out of the nasty set.  The New Orleans Saints come to mind with this formation and they have used it to dictate how some aggressive defenses have been able to play.  Lack of communication on defense is a killer here as unintended double teams can leave an intersecting receiver wide open for a big gain.

(3) Sticks Concept

This is usually the weapon of choice in short yardage situations.  As the fear of getting rubbed causes the defense to expand and play zone,  the offense uses this formation to explode out into open space and get the ball quickly to move the “sticks”.   Even if you choose to stay in man coverage,  as I explained earlier,  one or more defenders will have to do so from an off position.  That defender is at a disadvantage vs. the sticks concept as his alignment provides the space needed to have a WR sit down and make a quick catch.  Unless the defender is willing to sit on a route,  things get difficult for them to stop the routes that are a part of this concept.  The quarterback will typically try to determine if it’s zone and anticipate where there open space will be or find the soft defender in man so he can attack him.

So there you have it.  While different teams will run some different routes,  the primary objective out of this formation in the passing game relates to these three concepts.  As you can see,  this is a good formation for several reasons for offenses to use against teams.  However,  there are ways to defend it.  I won’t be covering those options in this article.  You’ll just have to stay tuned for future blog posts.  What is important though as defenders whether you are a player or coach is to first know what it is the offense is trying to do and that was covered in this post.  I hope you enjoyed it.

If you have any feedback or questions about the post,  feel free to reach me via email at cwilson@alleyesdbcamp.com -Thank you for being a member.

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alleyesdbcamp

Owner at All Eyes DB Camp

Chad Wilson is the founder of All Eyes DB Camp and a former standout defensive back for the Miami Hurricanes. After an elite collegiate career, Wilson spent a season with the Seattle Seahawks before transitioning into coaching. A 3-time Florida state champion defensive coordinator, he has spent over 20 years developing the "All Eyes" blueprint that has produced NFL All-Pros and stars like Xavien Howard, Patrick Surtain II, Tyson Campbell, Minkah Fitzpatrick and more. His coaching system is proven at the highest levels—his own sons, Quincy and Marco Wilson, both excelled as starters in the SEC before being drafted into the NFL.

Chad is the author of "101 DB Tips"—The Ultimate DB Reference Guide. You can find more information on the manual and how to order your copy in the sidebar and footer of this page.

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