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re: Could someone with knowledge explain what exactly the star position entails?
Posted on 8/7/25 at 3:59 pm to Tigerbait8
Posted on 8/7/25 at 3:59 pm to Tigerbait8
Creative name for a nickel, no idea why LSU has a LB playing it. I think ideally it’s supposed to be a nickel/field/box safety hybrid that has autonomy and the ability to change his role/positioning after seeing the snap/play develop, but you need a very smart player that’s extremely skilled ala Honeybadger or Downs
1
Posted on 8/7/25 at 4:04 pm to SECCaptain
They use it because they’ve warped the fronts so much they have to have a player who can play run as well. We don’t use a true 3 or 4 man front, we play with a 4-3 style DT, a 3-4 style DE and a Hybrid DE/LB so we’re always going to have a covered end and have to use a force player on the outside. A true nickel corner isn’t reliable enough vs the run.
This post was edited on 8/7/25 at 4:10 pm
Posted on 8/7/25 at 4:15 pm to Tammany Tom
quote:
Honey Badger played that role, as well as anyone could possibly play it, in 2011.
Yeah, I was going to say him or Troy Polamalu with the Steelers in 2010 when he won Defensive Player of the Year in the NFL.
Posted on 8/7/25 at 4:21 pm to Tigerbait8
quote:Just Baker's name for Jack Linebacker. Jack of all trades. 3 Ps, Pressure, Pass coverage, Protect against the run.
what exactly the star position entails?
Posted on 8/7/25 at 4:42 pm to Madking
quote:
The reason they use hybrid types now is because of substitution issues hurry up offenses present.
You mean instead of substituting say a safety they leave the Star in to play that role?
hmmmm
hmmmm
interesting.
Posted on 8/7/25 at 4:50 pm to SammyTiger
Umm.. no
Posted on 8/7/25 at 4:53 pm to Madking
why you would want a hybrid lb/db other than you may want him to cover both roles situationally when you can’t substitute.
open to your interpretation of your own comment
open to your interpretation of your own comment
Posted on 8/7/25 at 4:53 pm to PurpleSingularity
Yep. It’s the Drop LB. Hybrid LB/Safety. I recall 1998 and most fans didn’t believe a player existed with the right mix of skills to play it.
Regular part of the game now and I saw an upboard post crediting Saban with inventing it. As much as I despised what Tepper did to the 1998 season, it looks like he actually may have been a visionary about 5-10 years ahead of his time.
Regular part of the game now and I saw an upboard post crediting Saban with inventing it. As much as I despised what Tepper did to the 1998 season, it looks like he actually may have been a visionary about 5-10 years ahead of his time.
This post was edited on 8/7/25 at 4:56 pm
Posted on 8/7/25 at 4:54 pm to Tigerbait8
It's a drop linebacker by another name 
Posted on 8/7/25 at 4:55 pm to SammyTiger
Well you can call any position whatever you want going by your logic but a safety plays deep most of the time and the Star never does so a normal person who uses normal football verbiage and designations wouldn’t call the Star a safety. Thats why it isn’t called another Safety or Star Safety. It’s called the Star Linebacker.
This post was edited on 8/7/25 at 5:02 pm
Posted on 8/7/25 at 5:04 pm to Madking
quote:
Well you can call any position whatever you want going by your logic
and by your logic you can call a nickel cornerback a OLB.
Posted on 8/7/25 at 5:05 pm to Madking
so who covers the attached tight end in man coverage, the safety like usual or the star
Posted on 8/7/25 at 5:07 pm to Tigerpride18
Depends on the formation and the call. Typically with how we lined up last season the Star was opposite the TE but at times would flip sides on blitzes mostly. We had Weeks or Penn covering TEs a lot, we dropped Swinson into coverage at times. Mostly our Star was on the slot WR on the weak side in coverage.
This post was edited on 8/7/25 at 5:09 pm
Posted on 8/7/25 at 5:09 pm to SammyTiger
Not really, the Star is out there because he can slide in and play run or walk out and play pass where the nickel can’t really set the edge vs the run. This is why they came up with the position.
Posted on 8/7/25 at 5:11 pm to Madking
quote:
Not really, the Star is out there because he can slide in and play run or walk out and play pass where the nickel can’t really set the edge vs the run. This is why they came up with the position.
And you wouldn’t want an OLB getting covering WRs all game.
Posted on 8/7/25 at 5:21 pm to SammyTiger
Right so you go with a hybrid who can cover more. Think about it in its evolution, once the 46 became popular it was countered with 3 wide so DCs starting using a safety to cover the slot but it’s hard to find one who can vs smaller quicker slot guys plus you can motion and tip the coverage so the nickel is popularized but then the run game evolved plus the hurry up offense led to the Star type position.
Posted on 8/7/25 at 5:39 pm to Madking
I guess that was a dumb question considering the tight end is on the strong side and his alignment is what designates the formation as strong.
star being weak side pretty much answers that question
star being weak side pretty much answers that question
Posted on 8/7/25 at 5:49 pm to Tigerpride18
Might not be a dumb question though, I’ve read and heard that defenses maybe changing in the near future to stop offenses from dictating alignment so much. More base looks that don’t shift using more hybrid type players at all positions.
This post was edited on 8/7/25 at 5:51 pm
Posted on 8/7/25 at 5:53 pm to Tigerbait8
Just ask Lou Tepper.
Posted on 8/7/25 at 5:56 pm to Galactic Inquisitor
The mention of Thomas Dunson’s name sends shivers up my spine.
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