While playing in the offense might suit some playstyles, holding down defense is equally important to stop your opponents from reaching the goal. If you are planning on taking on a defense role, then you need to learn the proper setup, best playbooks, and best playstyles to help you win. This guide will cover everything about playing in defense in College Football 26.
Best Defensive Adjustments in CFB 26
Let’s start off by working on your formation and adjusting it accordingly. Under Select a Play, pick the Formation tab and head to the Coaching section. We will first give you a quick look at the settings we have chosen, and also detail why we picked these options.
- Auto Flip Defense Play – Off
- Cornerback Matchup – By Speed
- Defensive Motion Response – Disable
- Option Read Key – Conservative (AI)
- Option Pitch Key – Conservative (AI)
- RPO Read Key – Conservative (AI)
- RPO Pass Key – Conservative (AI)
- Strip Ball – Balanced
- Tackling – Balanced
- Zone Drop Flats – 25
- Zone Drop Curl Flats – 5
- Zone Drop Hooks – 5
- Safety Depth – Close
- Safety Width – Pinch
The reason why we turn off the Auto Flip Defense Play Call is to prevent the blitz and linebacker from tackling from the right and, instead, coming from the left. Since many players tend to lean more towards tackling them from the left, this slight adjustment will help you position your team better.
The next setting we will change is the Cornerback Matchup. Change it to By Speed to line up your fastest corners with the fastest receivers. Next, we will also change the Defensive Motion Response and disable it. This will help your defenses not realign with the offense, and this is useful if you want to keep the formation you had already chosen.
Keeping Option Read Key, Option Pitch Key, and RPO Read and Pass Key to Conservative (AI) will keep the RPO focused more on the QB, but at the cost of keeping your dive left open. This is a small price to pay for a more streamlined defense that won’t mess up your formation, plus this will help you tackle the running back or the player who got pitched to more efficiently.
Zone drops will focus more on drop depths for various flats, and these are subjective for your playstyle. We have put up the measurements above since it offered a better output while pitching and took away the post-corner route. Changing the Safety positions will help bring your defense even closer, making it harder for the opposing team to pass through.
Also Read: Best 5 Offensive Playbooks in College Football 26
Best Defense Playbook and Play in CFB 26
For the above settings, the best defensive playbook from the 9 playbooks available is the 3-3-5 TITE. This is a high risk – high reward playbook, and it is more defense driven than other playbooks out there. Next, we will take a look at the best plays below.
3-3-5 Penny Cover 4 Quarters
At the start, use the middle linebacker to close the gap, then set up your controls as pictured above. This might leave the corner open, but under match principle, the safety will cover the corner and defend better. Just focus on guarding the middle of the field using this playstyle.
Another method you can try is pictured above for a smoother pass underneath while still leaving the corner open. But you don’t have to worry, as everything underneath will be taken care of, leaving the rest of the field open for you. You can try Switch Sticking to close the corners, but it is quite risky to do.
Also Read: How To Make an Online Dynasty in College Football 26
3-3-5 Mint LB Cross 3 Show 2
This formation might be a bit different from the previous year, but you got everything set up from the get go. This one is easier to follow, as all you need to do is make your quarterback contain the opponent and you are good to go. Just triangle (PS)/ Y(Xbox) the right stick to shade over the top.
Nickel 3-3 DBL MUG Mid Blitz 0
Since we have changed the cornerbacks by speed, press triangle/Y and move the left stick to press them into the opposing players. You can also press triangle/Y and hold down on the right stick to shade underneath or right stick up to avoid getting burned.
Also Read: Can you connect to Spotify in CFB 26?
Dime Rush DB Blitz
For this one, press triangle/Y and hold the left stick down to shut down corner routes or post corner routes efficiently. You can now bridge the gap in between to halt the opposing team even better. You can also place the outside cornerback in cloud flat and the outside safety in the deep half to cover the right side of the field, leaving you free to defend the left side only.
