Nose Tackle

What is Nose Tackle?

A position on a defense in the center of the defensive line primarily responsible for disrupting the center of the offensive line. The nose tackle is often the largest player on the defense. Nose tackle tends to specifically refer to the middle lineman in a 3-4 defensive alignment, because he lines up directly over the nose of the football.

Also referred to as a "nose guard" or "middle guard".

Sporting Charts explains Nose Tackle

The nose tackle is the anchor of a defensive line. Generally, the responsibility of the nose tackle is to clog up as much of the middle of the offensive line as possible to allow the other defensive players to make plays. Nose tackles tend not to make a large impact statistically due to the nature of the position, but they can have an enormous impact on the offense's ability to run the football if they can keep the offense from opening holes for the running back. Nose tackles are often double teamed by the offensive line in order to move them in a preferred direction depending on the play call.