In Cover 4, Are The Safeties Considered Playing Inside Zone or Outside Zone?

I'm wondering if I should put Deep In KO or Deep Out KO on my SS and FS as I play a lot of Cover 4.

Yes you want deep in ko

Thebossx23 said:

Yes you want deep in ko

This is the play. Of course, if you can afford Deep-Zone KO, it's nice to get your safeties to react promptly to a throw targeting just outside the numbers. If you're having problems with people throwing over the top, it's probably not something that ability will help with.

I find that the Deep-Zone KO's of any variety are a luxury, and don't deliver value. My reasoning here is that you're more likely going for a swat rather than a knockout on many of those targets, and the stock successful catch penalties for getting hit on an aggressive catch are pretty heavy even without abilities. You get much more return on Flat- and Mid-Zone KO's.

phatalerror said:

This is the play. Of course, if you can afford Deep-Zone KO, it's nice to get your safeties to react promptly to a throw targeting just outside the numbers. If you're having problems with people throwing over the top, it's probably not something that ability will help with.

I find that the Deep-Zone KO's of any variety are a luxury, and don't deliver value. My reasoning here is that you're more likely going for a swat rather than a knockout on many of those targets, and the stock successful catch penalties for getting hit on an aggressive catch are pretty heavy even without abilities. You get much more return on Flat- and Mid-Zone KO's.

I don't even try throwing over top anymore. My wrs will never catch it and higher probability of int over a catch. And that without the defender having kos and a height disadvantage.

Woodysky said:

I don't even try throwing over top anymore. My wrs will never catch it and higher probability of int over a catch. And that without the defender having kos and a height disadvantage.

You do have to set up the play, and then read the opportunity when it comes, rather than lobbing up 50/50 balls like you could earlier in the year. I set it up by virtue of my scheme. I grind out short completions and runs for first downs, and you'll see the safeties start playing shallower. At that point, you only need four things to catch a pass over the top: A favorable release, an extra tick in the pocket, an on-target throw, and your receiver to catch the freakin' ball in stride instead of that stupid  and unnecessary hop animation.