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For a very nice read on the 5-2 defense and it's evolution and "modern" adaptation, see:
MHR University: The 5-2 Defense - Mile High Report
Of particular interest:
Also of note:
The Pats seem to have the perfect personnel on the back end to run this scheme: Mayo and McCourty have the vision and smarts to make the reads and direct things, Revis, Browner and Dennard provide the man coverage corner requirement, and Logan Ryan could easily be the second zone coverage safety. Plus Jamie Collins' range and coverage ability and explosiveness make him a perfect fit in this kind of approach. Very few teams have the depth and quality of personnel on the back end to make this work.
All of the guys we've been discussing heavily in this thread - including not just the front line guys mentioned above but also LBs like Christian Jones and Jordan Tripp, hybrid LB/Ss like Ryan Shazier and Kevin Pierre-Louis, faster edge rushers like Dee Ford and Jeremiah Attaochu, and DBs like Antone Exum and Kyle Fuller - would fit perfectly into this kind of approach.
MHR University: The 5-2 Defense - Mile High Report
Of particular interest:
Because of the flexibility the 5-2 has, having an incredible smart middle linebacker or free safety to organize and give out assignments is vital to it's success. In most defenses the middle linebacker or free safety is the player who receives the call from the side line than adjusts the play before the scrimmage, that responsibility grows in the 5-2. The reason the flexible Peyton Offense is so successful is because of Peyton's incredible intelligence that allows him to read the defense and adjust depending on what he see's. The modern 5-2 is very similar, how the linebackers are supposed to align and how the defensive ends are to play largely depends on the middle linebacker or free safety reading the offense and calling defensive audibles.
This is probably the biggest impediment to more teams implementing the 5-2 since many of the great MLB's and safeties of the league have retired in the past few years but there are a rising number and we've seen teams like Seattle and Carolina begin to use this defense more because they now have the leadership and ability to run it, at least in terms of leadership.
But this isn't the only big hurdle of the 5-2, one more remains.
The 5-2 Demands Two Quality Man-Coverage Corners and Two Quality Zone Coverage Safeties.
The one aspect of the nature of the 5-2 is that the corners are designed to play tight man-to-man coverage, this is because there are only four defensive backs on the field. Normally there are two corners and two safeties, there are variants that rely on three corners and one safety. This allows the team which is deeper at corner than safety to offset that weakness and still be able to combat the spread offense. This formation tends to not rely on zone coverage from linebackers and defensive ends, at least not pre-snap though those positions can adjust depending on how the play develops or if the field caller (MLB or S) decides to change things up.
Since the modern 5-2 largely eliminates the need for run defense from the safeties they are regulated zone coverage. This requires the team to have more safeties that are better in coverage, or what most coordinators see as free safeties.
Also of note:
The 5-2 provides a natural defense against the option offense since it provides a spread out defensive front to counter quick outside runs and linebackers who are usually spying the play, allowing them to not be caught flat footed against the option.
The Pats seem to have the perfect personnel on the back end to run this scheme: Mayo and McCourty have the vision and smarts to make the reads and direct things, Revis, Browner and Dennard provide the man coverage corner requirement, and Logan Ryan could easily be the second zone coverage safety. Plus Jamie Collins' range and coverage ability and explosiveness make him a perfect fit in this kind of approach. Very few teams have the depth and quality of personnel on the back end to make this work.
All of the guys we've been discussing heavily in this thread - including not just the front line guys mentioned above but also LBs like Christian Jones and Jordan Tripp, hybrid LB/Ss like Ryan Shazier and Kevin Pierre-Louis, faster edge rushers like Dee Ford and Jeremiah Attaochu, and DBs like Antone Exum and Kyle Fuller - would fit perfectly into this kind of approach.