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Definition of free safety
: a safety in football who has no particular receiver to cover in a man-to-man defense
Examples of free safety in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web According to Pro Football Focus, McKinney lined up as a strong safety on 323 snaps, free safety on 271 and slot corner on 227 in 2019 for Alabama.
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Mark Inabinett | Minabinett@al.com, al, "Giants rookie Xavier McKinney strives to be as great as Nick Saban," 3 July 2020 That was an Ohio State secondary that relied heavily on press-man coverage and having a free safety with the capability of sideline-to-sideline playmaking.
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Stephen Means, cleveland, "Josh Proctor’s development could be the difference between an Ohio State national title and another playoff loss: Buckeye Take," 23 June 2020 In the last two seasons, Adams has played 889 snaps in the box (42.7%), 578 snaps at free safety (27.8%), 303 snaps in the slot (14.5%), 234 snaps on the line of scrimmage (11.2%) and 74 snaps at outside cornerback (3.5%), grading well at each spot.
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John Owning, Dallas News, "Film room: What kind of impact would a do-it-all safety like Jamal Adams have in the Cowboys’ defense?," 22 June 2020 Howell, 6-foot, 190 pounds, plays both on offense (as a receiver and running back) and defense (at free safety).
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Richard Obert, azcentral, "Hamilton safety Jack Howell commits to Colorado State football," 15 June 2020 Williams said the Buckeyes see him as a free safety right now, along with playing other positions in the secondary.
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Cameron Fields, cleveland, "Ohio State football targeting 2022 three-star safety Markeith Williams, who also has attention of Alabama: Buckeyes Recruiting Roundup," 8 June 2020 Going into the draft, Julian Love seemed the leader to step in at free safety.
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Mark Inabinett | Minabinett@al.com, al, "Giants use Alabama connections to target Xavier McKinney," 27 Apr. 2020 Elliott, at free safety, covered more ground but didn’t show top-end athleticism.
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Tyler James, Indianapolis Star, "Notre Dame football has many NFL Draft possibilities," 23 Apr. 2020 The Youngstown connection is why Clark made that call to Pelini, who had been a co-captain as a free safety at Ohio State.
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Eric Branch, SFChronicle.com, "A Dwight Clark call helped pave the way for Bo Pelini’s football career," 12 Sep. 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'free safety.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for free safety
The first known use of free safety was in 1958
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