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Odd Mirror Fronts are Coming from College to the NFL

date
2026-04-21

Nate Tice

So that is one thing I've seen college teams do. And I would say the first team I ever saw do it was Jim Leonhard at Wisconsin and then Georgia were doing it in the way with Kirby. Where those were the first teams I really saw popularize it. And then I see now more and more NFL teams do it.

Context

Nate Tice's college-to-NFL scheme transfer: the odd mirror front — three-down line with a QB-spy and an RB-chaser behind it. Necessary in college because so many QBs run. Now spreading to the NFL.

How it works: tackle sets outside expecting a contained edge rush → DE goes inside instead → QB sees a rushing lane → mirror-guy screams over the top at full speed and gets him. Particularly effective vs. Mahomes / Josh Allen archetypes. NFL hasn't found a good counter yet — flooded passing lanes (because dropping seven), bait-the-QB-to-run coverage shells.

Jim Leonhard at Wisconsin is the originator (in Nate's tracking); Kirby Smart at Georgia ran it for years.

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