When the Arena Football League’s competition committee decided this past off-season to let the “Jack linebacker” out of the box, there was some guffawing by the fans and media.
This is one of the most significant rule changes the AFL has made in the last several years, except for the drastic move a year ago to institute the “platoon” system and lose the two-way players approach.
To help understand what the “Mack” and “Jack” linebackers do, and what the early effects the change has made, let’s examine what has transpired in the first two weekends’ games.
Simply put, the Mack linebacker may rush the QB straight on without stunting, twisting or drop-back coverage. However, the Jack linebacker, who in the past could not move until the quarterback released the ball or handed it off to a runner, can now move sideboard to sideboard within five yards of the line of scrimmage.
What a lot of coaches expected was better pass coverage and an opportunity for the Jack to make some big hits. The consensus was scoring would come down and the defense would gain a small advantage.
It was a nice theory, but in actuality the offenses outscored (60.25) eight opponents in the first week of AFL play compared to the 2007 first week (58.1). In the second week, offenses averaged 59.5 points this past week to 58.2 in 2007.
The only significant play in the first week by a Jack linebacker was that of Chicago’s DeJuan Alfonzo, whose interception and fumble recovery were big in the Rush’ defeat of San Jose. The veteran was shut out of any significant stats in the teams’ loss to Philadelphia on Sunday.
In the first week, the Jack had only a modest increase in the number of tackles. This proves the side-to-side movement allowed for more interaction against the offense. During the first six games last week, only four of 12 Jack backers made noteworthy contributions, including four interceptions, two pass breakups and one fumble recovery.
