How to Set Up a 3-5-3 Defense

Setting up a 3-5-3 defensive formation for football teams at the high school level or younger is a matter of matching player abilities to a few basic defensive strategies. Look at a mix of player's size, speed, game awareness and quickness to decide which ones will be best suited as linemen, linebackers, safeties, or corners.

Instructions

    • 1

      Place three players opposite the offensive line. This front line of the 3-5-3 are called linemen and they include the nose guard and two defensive tackles. Your tackles will be your largest and hopefully strongest, two players. Place them face-to-face with the offensive tackles. Place your next largest player at the nose guard in front of the center.

    • 2

      Position your next three players three yards stacked directly behind the three linemen. These are linebackers, the interior three of the five in the 3-5-3 defense, although sometimes only two of them are considered linebackers with the third being considered a strong safety. These three should be your next largest players, but they also need to be able to run laterally. These players need to know how to react to the quarterback, the running backs and the guards to determine if the play is a run or a pass and which way the play is going. On passing plays, they will cover the running backs and tight end.

    • 3

      Place your next two players outside of and slightly behind the three linemen. These are defensive ends -- the exterior two of the five in the 3-5-3 defense. These players need to possess enough speed to chase down a running back on an outside run or to run around blocking tight ends on a pass rush.

    • 4

      Set up two of your quickest players opposite the offensive wide receivers. These two players, called cornerbacks, need to be quick and agile and able to run with and react to the pass routes that the wide receivers will run. These are two of the three players who comprise the third layer of defense in the 3-5-3.

    • 5

      Place your fastest player in the middle of the field behind the linebackers. This is the free safety who will chase down any wide receiver that gets away from a cornerback or any running back or tight end that gets away from a linebacker.