Defenses in the NFL are squarely on the horns of a dilemma.
On one hand, they need to play two deep safeties to curtail the league’s explosive passing attacks. On the other hand, those same coverage shells have heavily contributed to the rejuvenation of rushing attacks around the NFL.
One of the ways in which they’ve combatted the trend is by blurring the line between safeties and linebackers with players who would have been labeled as “tweeners” in pervious years. South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori is the standard bearer for the S/LB hybrid this year, standing 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, but while he’s built like a linebacker he moves like a defensive back.