Football Positions and What They Do

Just the other day I met one of my friends and she was all miffed and was sort of feeling a little dumb. I asked her the cause of here fantastic mood and I got to know that her fiancee was a huge NFL fan and she being not interested in American football (just like 95% of the fairer sex), had a fight with her fiancee. While he was gung ho about how well the team he supported was playing and this girl was trying to match up with his enthusiasm but to no avail. The reason - she did not even have a faint idea! If you too are in that position as my friend was, may be this article on football positions and what they do will help you in developing a good rapo with diehard football fans!

Football Positions and Descriptions

Football is a game which requires a lot of strategies and shrewd thinking. The football positions and descriptions too have been devised such that the coach gets a full scope to play them in way which will suit the team the best.

American Football Positions - Attack
The players to be described now are like the Spartans and the Athenians - they fight till they win, with the fullbacks and quarterbacks doing a la Achilles, leading the way.

Turning the Game On
The player called Center puts the ball in play by snapping it and then and does the typical blocking, a center has to do. Quite a few times this player is also the captain of a team. He is the player who is in the middle of the offensive line.

Guarding, the Offensive Way
Offensive Guards or the offensive linemen, stand within the tackles, while the center is on their either side. These players primarily block on running and passing plays.

Can you Tackle This?
Outside the line of offensive guards are the players making up the offensive tackle. The blocks on passing and running plays are provided by these players. When talking about football positions and what they do, this offensive football position is very important.

Hold the Fort Tight
Tight Ends are those players who play close to the tackles on either sides. They have to double up as a blocker and receiver as the game demands. In case this player gets away from the tackle, the player is called split end.

Split Wide Open
The wide receivers specialize in pass catching on the go. Further, they run pass routes and prepare way or 'get open' for a potential pass. They can be sometimes asked to block regardless of they being experts at passing. This is one of the very crucial positions on the line of scrimmage along with 7 others in traditional American football positions.

Full Back Up
A fullback is stationed behind the middle of the line. He fulfills running, short receiving and blocking functions. Typically, fullbacks create opportunities for running back to run while the ball is in that player's possession.

Run back? No Ahead!
Called halfback, initially, a player in this position holds and carries the ball on optimum running plays. This player plays as a short-yardage receiver a number of times. Running backs along with wide receivers are the fastest amongst the cult of offensive players.

Star of the Team
This player, the quarterback is in a very strategic position. The position is such that he can either take a snap which is handed between the legs of the center player or even take a running pass. He either himself storms towards the end zone after he gets the ball or he passes it to the running back, depending on the situation. Football positions and what they do, cannot be complete without the mention of this player.

Now we move on to the defense regarding football positions and what they do. Take a look!

American Football Positions - Defense
When you are looking at football positions explained, defense too has an important role. Here come the guardians of the team.

Begin with the Ends
There are two defensive ends and they take care of the two opposite boundaries of the defensive line. These players are primary to a team's defense. They attack the player passing the ball (from the opposite team) or they may even rush with the ball towards the boundaries of the line of scrimmage. The faster amongst the two defensive ends is on the left side of the quarterback. These are amongst the primary defensive football positions.

Nosing Around
Nose Tackle, which is also referred to as Defensive Tackle or Defensive Guard, comprises linemen who are side-by-side and are stationed between the defensive ends. Rushing the passer and blocking the running plays and taking the ball as close as possible to the center of the line of scrimmage. Sometimes a player is standing almost in nose to nose with the opponent team's center and then it is called nose tackle or nose guard.

Second Nosing Around
Also called a middle guard, a nose guard is a position straight opposite the center of the offensive. These players obstruct and prevent running plays in the direction of the line of scrimmage and they are usually very strong and of big built.

Backing the Line
Linebackers can safely be touted as the all rounders on the field. Depending on how the game is pitted, the job of linebackers vary from covering receivers and rushing the passer to blocking or defending against the run. There are three types of linebackers, strong side, middle side and weak side. The middle side linebacker decides the course of the entire defense ensemble and so he is sometimes called quarterback of defense.

Cornering the Opposition
The players in the position called cornerbacks create a cover for the wide receivers. They make all the efforts and avert threatening quarterback passes for scoring. They generally swat the airborne ball away from the receiver or if the need be, they themselves grab the pass. Sometimes blocking the rusher also comes in their task.

The Last Line of Defense
So we have almost come to the end of football positions and what they do. Final level of defense is the Safety. These players contribute by helping the corners for covering the deep pass. Farthest from the line of scrimmage, are two categories of safety players - Strong Safety and Free Safety. The free safety player is smaller and faster than the strong safety. On the contrary, the strong safety player is larger and stronger.

Poof! That was quite something! Tough to remember, isn't it? But for starters, ladies you can just remember the quarterbacks and Linebackers, as those football positions which hold the forte for offense and defense respectively, right?

The formations with these players keep changing as the game demands. Sometimes coaches experiment by altering the formations and adding new positions within the stipulated rules of the game! That's it ! I guess this article on football positions and what they do was helpful! I go off the field here!