# What are BCB and FCB on a football depth chart? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 3, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773 "2009-09-03T18:11:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/1 "2009-09-03T18:11:00Z")
They’re obviously some sort of cornerbacks but I can’t figure out the B and the F. Googling didn’t help. I’m sure I’ll :smack: when I hear the answer. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/2 "2009-09-03T18:14:58Z")
Probably has to do with nickel and dime coverages. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/3 "2009-09-03T18:20:01Z")
[I’d never heard these before, but I think I found the answer.](http://www.tomahawknation.com/2009/8/2/973239/progression-stagnation-or) “Boundary cornerback” and “Field cornerback.” > [@](#): > > The two cornerback positions are known as the FCB and BCB. For those who may not be familiar with the difference between these two, here is a easy way to remember courtesy of FSUn. The BCB is boundary corner, who typically plays the short side of the field all alone, while the FCB is the field side (wide side), and who typically gets help from the safety. No reason for head-slapping on this one, as far as I’m concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Drygon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@Drygon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drygon)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/4 "2009-09-03T18:20:40Z")
Field and boundary cornerbacks. The boundary back plays the short side of the field while the field back plays the wider side. ETA: Here at Virginia Tech it’s always a big deal about who the boundary cornerback is as they usually play with zero safety support and are usually one of the best players on the field. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/5 "2009-09-03T18:21:52Z")
Thanks guys. No headslapping here. I’d have never come up with field and boundary. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/6 "2009-09-03T18:44:50Z")
Whatever happened to weakside and strongside? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/7 "2009-09-03T18:47:45Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Whatever happened to weakside and strongside? Those are linebacker positions. The place occupied by the wideouts and cornerbacks is a universe entirely unrelated to our own. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/8 "2009-09-03T19:05:39Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Those are linebacker positions. They used to be universal. When did that change? ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/9 "2009-09-03T19:15:22Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Whatever happened to weakside and strongside? Weakside/strongside are fixed whereas wide/short side flip depending on where the ball is snapped from. I don’t know if the CBs flip sides as well. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/10 "2009-09-03T19:23:07Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Weakside/strongside are fixed Didn’t use to be. When did that change? ---
**Author:** ![Drygon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@Drygon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drygon)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/11 "2009-09-03T19:32:16Z")
I’m convinced that Bud Foster (Virginia Tech’s defensive coordinator) just makes position names up. On the d-line we have two Defensive Tackles a Stud and an End Our linebackers are listed as Mike, Backer and Whip For our secondary we’ve got the previously mentioned Boundary and Field Corners along with a Free Safety and a Rover ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/12 "2009-09-03T19:42:10Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Didn’t use to be. When did that change? Since always. Strong side is the side with more offensive players, more specifically the side where a single TE lines up. That almost always is the right side of the offense. Typically the offense doesn’t switch it up even if the strong side falls to the short side of the field. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/13 "2009-09-03T20:57:24Z")
I many offensive systems, a single cornerback will always line up against a particular wideout, wherever that is. This would preclude a CB from being labeled a strong- or weak-side player. In the OP system, corners are lined up based on the side of the field the ball is on, also not based on the TE’s side of the field. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/14 "2009-09-03T21:41:09Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > They used to be universal. When did that change? Sam, Mike, and Will. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-bcb-and-fcb-on-a-football-depth-chart/508773/15 "2009-09-03T22:36:48Z")
> [@Drygon](#): > > I’m convinced that Bud Foster (Virginia Tech’s defensive coordinator) just makes position names up. > > On the d-line we have two Defensive Tackles a Stud and an End > > Our linebackers are listed as Mike, Backer and Whip > > For our secondary we’ve got the previously mentioned Boundary and Field Corners along with a Free Safety and a Rover Not at all. I’d be willing to bet cash money that there are distinctions to all of these. There are [different types of DTs,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensive_tackle#Types_of_Tackles) and[different types of LBs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linebacker#Types_of_linebackers), and different different teams use different nomenclature. On my high school team we had a Wide End and a Close End on defense. They were both Defensive Ends, but they had distinct jobs. [This](http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Deconstructing-How-the-Hokie-D-becomes-deadlier?urn=ncaaf,178348#remaining-content) explains the role of the Rover in VT’s defense.