The preseason has given us a glimpse at the changes made by new defensive coordinator Joe Barry. The Redskins‘ defense lacked talent and failed to execute many of the schemes installed by previous coach Jim Haslett. We’ve already seen a more aggressive defensive line, with Barry switching to a one-gap 3-4 system. But the Redskins’ defense had bigger problems under Haslett. The secondary constantly had coverage failures, leading to big plays for the opposition. Barry appears to have simplified things somewhat, reverting to a lot of “cover-three” coverage.
Cover-three is a safe coverage that has been around the league for decades.