Talk:Nose guard

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I reverted the merge of nose tackle and nose guard because:

• It was a cut and paste move, essentially.
• Which title is more common? Because that should be the one that everything should be merged to.
• Should it even be merged at all.

Zzyzx11 (Talk) 03:10, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

I've personally never heard of a nose guard before seeing the link in the Footbal defensive strategy page. I've always known it to be a nose tackle. Looking at Casey Hampton's bio on the Steeler's website, there are references to him being both a nose tackle and nose guard, tackle in the NFL, guard in college. I would say that it should be merged into tackle as I believe that is much more common, however with the further re-emergence of the 3-4 Defense, it might come clearer next year through commentary. One last point, the designation of NT suggests strongly that it is tackle, or else it would be NG, no? --Ritteke 17:45, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

There is a distinct difference between a nose tackle and a nose guard. A nose tackle is the defensive tackle in a 3-4 formation. Nose guards are the innermost defensive linemen in a 5-lineman formation, such as the goal-line formation, so that:

         3-4 scheme                  Goal-Line
         [LB]  [LB]               [LB]  [LB]  [LB]
   [LB]              [LB]       
       [DE] [NT] [DE]           [DE][DT][NG][DT][DE] 

--Jprg1966 March 15, 2006

In that case, the page is incorrect anyway, because it says, and I quote: "More often, the nose guard will be employed as the interior defender in the 3-4 defense. The nose guard lines up directly opposite the offensive center, or over the center's nose. "

--LiamW, June 5, 2006

The uses of the term "nose guard" on the Nose Tackle page and "nose tackle" on the Nose Guard page should be eliminated, and the two should be kept seperate, because, as previously stated, Nose Guards are the middle lineman in a 5-man front, while Nose Tackles are either the middle lineman in a 3-4 or, in the terminology of some specific coaches' defenses, the defensive tackle in a 4-3 who lines up against a double-team.

While players like Casey Hampton and Ted Washington play a Nose Guard assignment in their teams' respective goalline defenses, they aren't actually Nose Guards, because in base defenses they play Nose Tackle on 3-man lines, or, in the case of Ted Washington with the Bears and Hampton in college, Defensive Tackle on 4-man lines. Actual nose guards, who play over the center on a 5-man line in the base defense, only exist in High School football, and occasioinally under some defensive co-ordinators in college.

As to the referrence on the Steelers' website to Hampton as a nose guard in college, I chalk that up to the fact that Steelers.com has a reputation among fans of the team for being poorly maintained. Hampton played Defensive Tackle at Texas, in tandem with another NFL Standout, Shaun Rogers.

-JonB, August 22, 2006

Isnt a Nose Guard the middle lineman of a 5 down lineman scheme, whether it be a goal line or not? the 5-2 or 5-3 defense being predominant in High Schools.

Ed

Correct, Ed. Any defensive formation with five down linemen features a player in the nose guard position. However, he should only be listed as a nose guard (on rosters or in biographical articles) if that is the base defensive alignment.