Defensive Positioning Guide – Madden NFL Mobile

This is a guide we made to explain how to properly position defense for best performance. We see a lot of people asking how to do this, so we figured they need a Defensive Positioning Guide.

Note: This is kinda subjective for some things, so you might do it differently, and that’s ok, but if you want to know how to optimize your defense, follow this.

Defensive Positioning Guide – Explanation

Free Safety: This is your coverage safety. They should have high zone and high awareness. They don’t need to be the best tackler or have insane measurables, but they need to be able to drop into zone and play deep. Examples: Ed Reed, Earl Thomas, FB Byrd

Strong Safety: This is your tackling safety. This guy should be a good tackler and have decent coverage stats but that isn’t necessary. Usually these players are faster, stronger (haha), and have stats that better resemble a coverage LB. Also, hit power is a key stat. They usually cover the tight end in 3-4 and 4-3, so they need to be able to lay a good hit on a stronger than average receiver. Examples: Bam Bam Kam

CB 1 and 2: Pretty self-explanatory. We prefer corners with high man, but some people like high zone coverage, it depends. Speed, awareness and jumping are key stats. Also play rec is pretty important too. Agility is the most underrated stat for corners. We accidentally left this out last time, but AGI is what leads to more INTs.

Nickel and Dime: No they’re not swindling you a little at a time, they just sound like it. These positions aren’t used often by me, but that’s ok. By putting a coverage safety here, you can improve overall. Putting a tall DB in the dime slot is a good idea because they are covering the tight end in dime packages and usually tight ends are tall. To us this seems like a brilliant idea. Dawkins would be the best out there. We also like Atwater. NTL works too with 102 HTP.

OLB 1: This is your right OLB. Use this slot for pass rushing linebackers with high-speed and acceleration. High finesse moves or power moves are a nice luxury as well. Von Miller is an awesome example. Also Combine Dupree. Dupree is our go to guy for 4-3 because he can cover as well. 4-3 OLBs need to be hybrids a bit. They still follow this same scheme, but they also need to have a bit of everything.

OLB 2: This is your Left OLB in game. EA did something right for once and fixed the thing we were so god damn pissy about when we last wrote this. Anyway, we use this slot for coverage LBs. This guy should have high zone coverage and good tackling. Also high awareness is a must. Thomas Davis, Sean Lee and Lavonte David are all top-notch options. Shaq Thompson is a great hybrid for 4-3 base defenses.

MLB: Ok for the first MLB slot, you should look to put a good coverage LB that has great awareness and solid tackling. Somebody like Kendricks or even RTTR Clay. This guy needs to be all over the field stopping the run and shutting down passing lanes so your opponent can’t spam tight end drags.

ILB 2: We like using a run stuffing LB for the second ILB slot, because in a 3-4 defense, you need someone to play rush defense and fill up the gap. Look for a bigger linebacker with super high strength and tackling. Ray Lewis seems like a good example to us. Also, boosting LBs might be a good choice for this slot.

Right Defensive End: Confusingly the slot is on the left side of the our Team lineup editor. Thanks Obama. Anyway, we like this guy to be slightly faster and have good finesse moves. Usually we user this DE, so we like to be able to get around the OT quickly and go in for the sack. Think FB Freeney. We also like TOTY Anapsah and CH Clowney here. The main thing is speed. BlockShredding isn’t super important for this guy IMO. Most people run to the left and this guy is mainly just a pass rusher. For 3-4 teams, consider 2 power rushers, or 2 bigger guys with higher BKS. We still like the idea of having one faster guy, but it’s not essential in 3-4. The main pass rushers in 3-4 is your ROLB.

Left Defensive End: We like this guy to be stronger and have good tackle and power moves. He should be over powering the OT on his side of the line and getting the sack or stopping the run, and so high BKS is a good thing to have as well. Typically we don’t user this end, we just let him do his thing. Example: JJ Watt is a good one we think.

Nose Tackle (DT 1): In 3-4 this position is known as the nose tackle. Typically the biggest, strongest guy on the field, the NT is responsible for stopping the run and sealing any wholes the Oline has made. He doesn’t need to get off blocks quickly per se, he just need to take up blocks. And eat them. Think: Eddie Lacy

(High BKS is actually a need here, but what we mean by taking up blocks vs getting off them is that he doesn’t need to be fast, he just needs to chew through the OLine and cause disruption, but he doesn’t need to get sacks)

Most top teams have SB MJG here which is also good. MJG is a stunting 4-3 interior DL. Meaning, he basically is a faster more agile NT. Not super great at pass rush, but he opens up the lanes for your other pass rushers to take down the QB. He also buries RBs alive. 3-4 teams should opt for Gilbert Brown ideally.

DT 2: This guy should be a bit faster and move agile. He is meant to disrupt the Oline and get through it and to the QB. He still needs to be big, but also needs high BlockShredding and Power or Finnesse moves. He is the pass rushing DT. We suppose his position is a bit more glamorous or sexy than the NT position, if you could say that about a 300 pound defensive lineman. Example: Randle or Dockett (We think MJG could work for either; he’s just a boss).

Anyway that’s it for tonight, we hope this is a useful Defensive Positioning Guide for Madden NFL Mobile. If you have any questions, please comment them, and good luck Maddening!