There are many important positions on the defensive side of the ball, but it’s hard to argue that there are any more important than the linebackers. The middle linebacker in particular is often referred to as the quarterback of the defense, which really goes to show how central they are to the defense. Depending on the defensive set you are using, you will vary in the number of linebackers on the field. Regardless of how many you have on the field, you can adjust the linebacker assignments during the pre-snap period and this guide will break down how you can go about doing that.
How To Shift Linebackers Pre-Snap
Both the defensive line and linebackers shore up the front lines of your defense, where having everyone in the right spots can really decide your level of success. We already told you how you can shift the defensive line pre-snap, but now we are focusing on the linebackers instead.
Adjusting linebackers before the player is quite similar to the defensive line, but this time you press right on the D-Pad instead. By doing this, another menu will show up as you can see above, with the left side looking very familiar and the right being quite different.
The left analog stick lets you pinch or spread your linebackers or set them specifically to the left or right. On the other side, the right analog stick is the more intriguing option that you can set after seeing the offensive set. By pressing down on the right analog stick, you can set all of your linebackers to blitz, while pressing up will set them all to zone if you had some set to blitz.
My personal favorite is to use the left or right option to get the LOLB or ROLB linebacker to blitz, which you can decide on depending on how the offense is lined up. You don’t want to blitz from a side where the receivers are stacked, so having the option is very helpful.
