What will Brandon Jones bring to the Denver Broncos?

Deep Zone Coverage

Jones is generally considered a box safety, but I’m not convinced that he shouldn’t play deep.

Compared to the rest of the league, Vic Fangio doesn’t play much Cover 3, which would place Jones as a center fielder. Here’s the only example I saw in the game.

Jones sets up deep and takes away the post cleanly.

While there isn’t much Cover 3, there’s plenty of Cover 4 and Cover 6. We’re going to start with some of the Cover 6 tape.

In Cover 6, the deep portion of the field is split in half. On one side, the defense plays Cover 4. That’s one safety deep and a corner dropping deep up the sideline. Each player has a quarter of the field. The other half of the field is the responsibility of the other safety.

In this clip, Jones is responsible for a “quarter.” He sees the post and has plenty of speed to run with the receiver across the deep middle of the field. (Jones is the deepest player at the snap.)

This time, Jones aligns on the “half” side. Nobody on his half of the field runs deep, so he picks up the deep route crossing from the other side of the field. Once again, there’s never a window. (Jones is the safety closer to the bottom of the screen at the snap.)

Jones has the same half-field assignment for this play. The difference is that a receiver on his side of the field runs deep. The cornerback’s job is to re-route the receiver inside to give Jones leverage. He does just that. Then Jones picks him up and carries him deep. (Jones is the safety closer to the bottom of the screen at the snap.)

Now let’s get into some Cover 4.

Cover 4 is a simpler coverage. The outside cornerbacks drop and take away the deep boundaries. The safeties are each responsible for the area inside the cornerbacks on their side of the field. Essentially, the deep portion of the field is split into quarters, with each player taking one of the portions.

On this play, Jones waits for the receiver to cross into his zone, then carries him. It’s a simple play, with textbook footwork once again. (Jones is the safety toward the top of the screen.)

This is the same call. But this time, the receiver breaks back outside. Jones runs with him and blankets him again. (Jones is the safety closer to the top of the screen.)

I left the game with zero complaints about Jones in zone coverage. He was in the right spot on every play. He erased deep routes. He did exactly what he was told.

The Broncos, at least in some ways, run a similar system. Both Denver and Miami disguise coverages often. Neither runs much Cover 2, which can be a safety-intensive coverage.

But the Fangio system is unique. In passing situations, they run more Cover 6 than any other team in the league, and that’s where Jones impressed me most. Of all the teams in the league, Denver is probably among the five or ten easiest transitions for Jones, but it’s still a transition.

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