Man and zone coverage splits
Man coverage assigns a defender to a receiver; zone assigns him to an area. 2025 was 69.0% zone and 31.0% man league-wide, with the Broncos the most man-heavy at 44.6% and the Vikings the most zone-heavy at 81.7%.
FTN charts the coverage shell on every dropback. Man and zone are the two families; the verified data also carries the specific shells beneath them. Most defenses run both and lean one way.
Why it matters
The two coverages produce different games. Against man in 2025, quarterbacks completed 49.4% with a CPOE of -2.81; against zone they completed 59.8% at +1.97. Individual passers split hard — across 22 qualifying quarterbacks, Geno Smith of the Raiders was +0.279 expected points per dropback better against man than zone, while Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs was -0.318. Separation-first receivers eat against man; zone beaters live in the space behind it.
The counter
Coverage tendencies shift week to week with the opponent, so a season rate is a prior, not a plan.
More football stats explained
- EPA (expected points added)
- EPA per dropback
- Success rate
- CPOE (completion percentage over expected)
- ANY/A (adjusted net yards per attempt)
- RYOE (rushing yards over expected)
- Target share
- Air yards share
- WOPR (weighted opportunity rating)
- aDOT (average depth of target)
- YAC over expected
- Separation
- Pressure rate
- Blitz rate
- PROE (pass rate over expected)
- Stacked box rate
- Half-PPR (and how it differs from full PPR)
- The usage gap (snaps versus production)
- Pythagorean wins
- Stickiness (what repeats and what does not)
- Snap share
- Pass-snap share
- YPRR (yards per route run)
- Availability (the “stayed” rate)
- Handcuff
- Play-action rate
- Pre-snap motion rate
- Drop rate
- Contested catch rate
- Interception-worthy throws
- Quarterback-fault sacks
- Intended air yards (IAY)
- Deep ball rate
- QB Composite Rating
- Screen pass rate
- No-huddle rate
- RPO rate
- Light box rate
- Throwaway rate
- Catchable throw rate
- Out-of-pocket rate
- Time to throw
- Aggressiveness
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