Cover-1 aka “man-free” is the most commonly used form of man coverage. It involves 5 defenders matching up to 5 eligible receivers with a safety in the deep middle of the field and a “hole” defender in the underneath middle:
It might vary by opponent or situation, but by and large, the defenders in man coverage will play with outside leverage on routes between the numbers and funnel their receivers inside where the help is. Notice all three of the DBs on this particular example (in red) playing to their help in the middle:
Those help defenders try to read the route combination and the quarterback. Here, the hole defender was able to track the routes and the quarterback’s eyes and then make a play on the ball for the interception:
The Buccaneers offense used reduced splits on this play (receivers inside the numbers). But for an offense that aligns with receivers outside the numbers, the defenders matching up to them will generally play with inside leverage and use the sideline as their help:
On this example, let’s focus on those outside cornerbacks. Pre-snap, one was aligned inside and the other was aligned outside of his receiver. But both would ultimately play with inside leverage, taking away the middle of the field and forcing their receivers to the sideline:
The slot defenders inside the numbers would play with outside leverage, funneling their receivers to the middle:
This play was interesting, though, because the defender over the #3 inside receiver (safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson) wouldn’t follow his receiver inside. Instead, he let him go and the hole defender locked onto him: