Cover 4 Defense (Quarters): Four Deep and Safeties Reading No. 2

Cover 4 (Quarters) at a glance

Coverage type

Zone

Deep defenders

4

Underneath zones

3

Rushers in this call

4

The Play Designer's base version of the call. Teams adjust who rushes and who drops every week.

Four deep, three under, four rushing

In the call the Play Designer draws, the two corners and two safeties each take a deep quarter. Only three players work underneath: the Sam and Will linebackers take the curl/flat zones on their sides and the Mike takes the middle hook. The four linemen rush.

That math is the trade. The Scouting Academy's Inside the Pylon glossary says four deep men make Cover 4 strong against vertical attacks, but leave only seven defenders to handle runs and short passes. Former NFL safety Matt Bowen explains why those curl/flat players exist in both Cover 3 and Cover 4: you have to stop the curl route.

The safety's read: what does No. 2 do?

In Quarters each corner lines up on the outside receiver, called No. 1, and each safety keys No. 2, the next receiver inside, usually a slot or a tight end. Everything the safety does comes from that read.

Aaron Segedi, a high school defensive coordinator, laid out his rules at a Nike Coach of the Year clinic. If No. 2 releases vertical, the safety takes that receiver, and the corner stays on No. 1. If No. 2 goes inside or outside instead, the safety hands that receiver to a linebacker and looks for the new No. 2, which is generally the outside receiver the corner already has. Now the safety can help the corner, which the glossary lists as another safety job: helping on deep in-breaking routes. Segedi also uses a lock call: once a route goes past 10 yards, the defender locks on man to man.

So Quarters looks like zone before the snap and plays a lot like man once the routes declare. Segedi's rules turn it into man coverage when an attached tight end releases inside and into what he calls matchup zone when the tight end releases outside, and Pro Football Focus notes that some people call Cover 4 four across man coverage. The Play Designer's own description says the same thing in fewer words: safeties read No. 2 and lock vertical routes.

Run defense with the safeties in the fit

Quarters is not a pass-only coverage. The glossary lists run support as one of the safety's jobs, right next to carrying slot receivers deep. In Segedi's run fits, the strong safety is the alley runner, and the first item on his list of what Cover 4 does for his team is getting 9 defenders in the box against the run.

PFF's breakdown of a New Orleans Saints Quarters scheme against two backs shows the same idea in the NFL: the three linebackers handle the two open gaps plus the first extra gap a fullback or tight end creates, and the safeties behind them account for the second. That is where, in PFF's words, Quarters flirts with becoming Cover 0.

So how many defenders play the run? The two numbers count different things, and neither is a rule. The glossary's seven is a pre-snap count: 11 defenders minus the four deep players leaves seven to counter runs and short passes. Segedi's nine counts the run fits: his safeties are run defenders too, with the strong safety as the alley runner, so against the run they count in the box. The count also moves with the offense: PFF notes that as an offense spreads out, a defense can play more genuine zone style Cover 4 to the passing strength.

Where offenses aim

The first target is underneath and outside. With only three short defenders, Segedi admits the weak side flat is an issue and the boundary has trouble with the three step quick game. That is where a flat route or a quick out route lives, and in Segedi's scheme the Will linebacker is the one who has to play the hitches and speed outs.

The second target is the safety's eyes. Because the safety reads No. 2, offenses build routes that make that read expensive. The glossary's example is the Mills concept: the slot runs a dig route to drag the safety down, and the outside receiver runs a post route into the space the safety left. Its Mills entry says the concept is primarily used to attack Cover 4 in today's NFL.

Running everyone deep is the attack Quarters is built to handle. Segedi lists taking care of four vertical routes among the coverage's strengths, and the glossary calls it strong against vertical attacks.

Reading Quarters before the snap, and the jobs inside it

Before the snap you see two high safeties and corners off the ball, and that picture is part of the plan. Segedi says Cover 4 gives the quarterback a false pre-snap read: a quarterback who sees two high safeties thinks they can throw the hitches and quick game, and the defense can stem into another coverage easily, including a Cover 2 look with a squat corner. His corners line up at six yards and his safeties at eight; the Play Designer draws the corners about 6.5 yards off and the safeties about 10.5 yards deep. Alignments vary by system and by opponent.

Safeties: you do not have to cover as much grass as in other coverages, but the glossary says the mental demands are considerable. You read run or pass, then No. 2, and act fast. Segedi teaches a rocker step so a safety reads without losing ground. Corners: you play a lot of man concepts on No. 1 even though the call is zone. The backpedal drill and the W drill train the pedal and break you use to stay on top and drive on throws.

Linebackers: the Sam and Will own the curl/flat, so they have to get width fast; the Mike owns the middle hook. The zone drop drill is 440's rep for those landmarks. The full plans are on the defensive back and linebacker pages.

Cover 4 (Quarters) FAQ