A One-Gap System

A One-Gap System
Lions, Marinelli May Select 'Smaller' Players, but There is a Method to Detroit's Madness
By Chrissie Wywrot
Detroitlions.com
May 24, 2008

Marinelli's preference regarding defensive players is based on placing a premium on speed.

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- There is a certain type of talent that will theoretically succeed with any NFL team. It is the kind of talent that transcends scheme and system – the ‘studs’ for lack of a better term.

Those players are typically selected in the top 10 of each year’s NFL Draft. Sometimes there are 10 players who fit that bill and sometimes there is less, but the one commonality among all of them is that they have a unique physical make-up that could translate into NFL superstardom.

In moving beyond that group, teams try to find players who fit what they are trying to do on their respective team. That doesn’t mean players lack talent, it just means they possess a particular physical make-up and skill set that would best suit a particular scheme or system.

In Detroit, there seems to be one particular theme when it comes to drafting defensive players: they have been accused of being ‘small,’ but that term shouldn’t be taken literally.

As Head Coach Rod Marinelli says, these players aren’t small, they’re short.

“Somebody that’s not tall is considered small and that’s not right,” said Marinelli. “I like short, thick and quick inside.”

The primary reason Marinelli gravitates towards players on the shorter – or ‘smaller’ – side is because Detroit’s defense places a premium on speed. The Lions’ Cover 2 system relies on speed from every position, from the defensive line to the secondary.

“I want a track team on defense – that’s what I’m looking for,” said Marinelli. “You can add some mass to a guy over the years – slowly – but what you can’t add is speed. If a guy didn’t have speed coming in, you can add maybe a little bit here or there, but you’re (likely) not going to have it.”

The trio of defensive players the Lions added this year that has been zeroed in on as ‘small’ is made up of linebacker Jordon Dizon, defensive tackle Andre Fluellen and defensive end Cliff Avril.

Dizon is a player the Lions took for his speed and instincts – two things you can’t teach.

“He’ll put some weight on as he goes,” said Marinelli, “but the stuff he has you can’t find: the quickness and the instincts. Eventually he’ll just start filling out as he goes.”

In looking at the defensive line, Fluellen and Avril are 6-2 and 6-3, respectively.

At first glance, Fluellen seems small for an interior lineman and Avril was projected as being better suited as a 3-4 outside linebacker than a 4-3 defensive end.

But there is a very particular method to Marinelli’s madness when it comes to taking ‘small’ defensive linemen and the first aspect of that method goes right back to speed.

“What you don’t want to compromise on is speed and athleticism – don’t compromise,” said Marinelli. “Now, it’s okay to be big and fast and quick – we won’t turn those guys down. But there just aren’t that many of those guys or they’re all gone in the first round.

“But (after that) you can find guys that can really fit what you’re doing.”

In response to Marinelli’s desire to draft players with speed and athleticism, the skeptic may point out the 300-pound offensive linemen these ‘smaller’ players have to go up against each game for four quarters.

How do these defensive linemen hold up in those kinds of conditions?

The answer to that is simple: the Lions play a one-gap defensive system.

“We don’t put our men in position to play head-up on defense,” said Marinelli. “You always play on an edge. So players don’t take the mass. A two-gap (player) is a big, heavy guy that can (handle it), but nobody’s asking those guys to pass-rush either.”


Playing ‘head-up’ means players are asked to cover two gaps, which are the holes between offensive players.

In a two-gap system, interior defensive lineman would be asked to play face-to-face with an offensive lineman and be responsible for covering the holes on either side of that offensive lineman. All the while, that defensive lineman would not be asked to rush the passer.

To succeed in that system, the defensive lineman would have to be on the larger side, considering he is being asked to hold up a 300-plus-pound offensive lineman.

In the one-gap system, the defensive linemen are not asked to do that. Instead, each defensive lineman is asked to take care of one hole - or one gap - which alleviates the physical need of containing large offensive linemen one-on-one.

“(Chuck Darby) is a great example,” said Marinelli. “(People say), ‘that’s a small defensive lineman.’ But he’s not small, he’s short. He’s 310 pounds and he’s pushed down like an anvil hit his head. But he’s powerful, strong and has great feet, great balance. That’s what you look for: team pursuit, team speed.”

Detroit’s defensive system has two interior line positions: the nose tackle and the undertackle, or three-technique. Each position is different; the nose tackle will play right on the center, while the undertackle will play off the line a little bit.

But while each position has a drastically different technique, both require good get-off – getting off the line of scrimmage as quickly as possible – and pursuing the quarterback.

“Pad level, leverage, it’s great,” said Marinelli of shorter linemen. “These guys have a tendency to be in shape. They’re lean, they can run all day – that’s what you like. Your real good pass rushers should flourish in the fourth quarter in two-man drills.

“If they’re in great shape and their legs are strong – especially at home on turf – they should look the same, if not better, in the fourth quarter if they’re in great condition and that’s what you want. Your great pass rushers should show up in the fourth quarter.”

As far as the defensive ends are concerned, the same concept applies.


With the likelihood of more one-on-one match-ups, the Lions will put Avril - a 'speed-rusher' on the right side of the defensive line.

Because each gap is accounted for by a defensive player – assignments are dished out to both linemen and linebackers – defensive ends are rushing on an edge, meaning they are able to run around the ends of the offensive line.

The two defensive end positions can be slightly different, however.

The majority of the NFL’s offensive players are right-handed and plays tend to lean that way; the running back will run to the right side and the tight end will line up on the right side. Because of that, the Lions put their bigger rushers on the left side to play the run and compensate for double-teams, and put their smaller, quicker rushers on the right side for one-on-one opportunities.

Avril would fall into the smaller, quicker category.

“What you want is your left ends to be bigger, powerful guys that can run,” said Marinelli. “That left end is a guy you really want to bang in there who can play the run, but you’ve still got to rush and a lot of the times the play-action comes toward him.

“That right end is getting turned, fanned out there – he’s getting single rushes out there on first down, where he’s got to go back and win those on first down.”

Marinelli is excited at the prospect of Avril and can already see his speed after rookie mini-camp and this past week’s mandatory mini-camp, but it will obviously be a different world when the pads are put on during training camp.

But Marinelli sees promise in Avril as a right end with the same build as another guy he used to coach.

“I go back to Simeon (Rice),” said Marinelli. “Simeon was 250 pounds coming out of Illinois and Cliff is 251 – both (ran) in the 4.5s. (But) you can see the edge speed. He’s got it, he’s got that speed. We’ve just got to clean him up.”