The Eagle front — what is it?

The New York Giants have employed many creative fronts over the last few decades. Steve Spagnuolo used a NASCAR front consisting of four defensive ends across an even front. However, Wink Martindale used many five-man fronts when he coordinated the Giants’ defense (2022-23). One favorite of Martindale’s was the EAGLE front.

The Eagle front is similar to a Bear (TITE) front. It consists of three downlinemen inside the tackles and two EDGEs outside the tackles, creating a five-man front.

As we see above, Martindale used 4i-shades for width over the three techniques. Either usage would occupy all the interior gaps and force the offense to spill runs outside for the linebackers and force defenders.

However, defenses in nickel best have a quality force-nickel and safeties to fill/fit if the offense can get outside. Linebackers can also stack behind defensive linemen, which provides them an advantage against climbing offensive tackles.

The tight nature of the front also allows the backside 4i-shades to chase their pulling guards and make plays in pursuit, for their angle towards the play-side is advantageous against an offensive tackle.

The EAGLE front also makes it hard to achieve double teams on the nose when the 4i-shade’s engage the guard — which was excellent for Dexter Lawrence under Wink Martindale. Although it’s rare, the Giants aren’t averse to using the EAGLE front with Shane Bowen.

There are some quick limitations with the EAGLE front: There’s one more player on the line of scrimmage, which hinders backend coverage, and the pass rush isn’t always ideal since everything is condensed. Still, having a player like Dexter Lawrence as the nose tackle fixes that slight issue.