Often times yes, but this is because the linebackers are usually defending the middle of the field near the line of scrimmage, which is where RBs and TEs often run their routes
Often times the MIKE is tasked with covering the running back, assuming the RB is lined up in the back field. But the other linebackers would usually be covering the TEs if they are still close to the middle of the field. Most of the time a corner would be covering anyone in the outside.
most man coverages save for cover 2 man will have the SS covering the TE and whatever LB is closest to the side the RB runs to will take him in man coverage while the other drops to a zone in the middle of the field.
Many linebackers are. Or rather at least 2 or 3 linebackers on the field are expected to pick those players up usually. If you are running a 3-4 defense and your main edge rusher is a linebacker he is unlikely to cover a good TE/RB because his main skill isn't coverage. Its edge rushing.
4-3 defense has OLB's cover TE and MLB cover RB. If a blitz is called then Safeties tend to track them unless they're part of the blitz.
3-4 defense has ILB's covering RB/TE, if those two are stacked on one side of the field then you'll probably see an ILB and Nickel or safety come up to follow them, which doubles as blitz coverages.
2-5 also dumps TE/RB duties to ILB's, allowing the MLB to act as a QB spy. Same blitz coverages as 3-4.
5-3 defense is usually banking on the run in this instance so the overall formation will be tight anyways. If it's not tight then OLB will be given RB/TE coverage duties and MLB acts as a rover for runs.
These all follow the general football strategy that
the edge is set (either by DE or OLB in the case of a 3-4) so no run outside with luck.
this is man to man, defenses often play in zones at times to prevent big gains or disguise certain man to man matchups, layering coverage schemes, blitz packages, positioning and fakes to confuse the offense as much as possible. (making it rare to play a base unfiltered scheme at the NFL ranks)
No flag was thrown on the field prior to the play starting because the defense didn't wink back at the QB which hurt his feelings resulting in 15 yards of unnecessary roughness (this is a jest point)
ETA because I realized I only answered your main question adjacently but also not directly: Generally LB's are not athletic enough to cover the better TE's in the league but because RB's are often moving laterally compared to LB's straight line, it's possible for LB's to cover the RB out of the backfield. If plays persist longer than 4 seconds and the RB's route continues that long (RB Wheel for instance) then the RB would have clear separation on a LB but generally because they're moving from behind the line of scrimmage, it's unrealistic to expect that amount of protection on every play. TE's like Trey McBride and (younger) Travis Kelce are difficult for safeties/nickels because they're too big but also difficult for OLB's because they're so athletic. Until about 2018-2019, teams were more focused on stopping the run so having beefier LB's who can set the edge and act in run support was more important than hyper athletics pass coverage guys who might be inferior in run protection.
That also bears fruit in the manner of football strategy; if you can have a solid box (defensive line and LB's) then you can stop the run effectively and forcing the offense to beat you through the air. The fewer players you need to sacrifice to run defense, the more you can stick in pass coverage and get those turnovers potentially. Passing doesn't engage a lot of the defense either, they're 2-3 seconds long compared to 4-6 second running plays that the entire defense has to get involved in.
But they're not that much faster. The median 40 time for LBs (I'm too lazy to calculate average) is only 5 hundredths of a second slower than that of the RBs.
Often times yes, but this is because the linebackers are usually defending the middle of the field near the line of scrimmage, which is where RBs and TEs often run their routes
So what if it's man defense and the TE goes wide?
Often times the MIKE is tasked with covering the running back, assuming the RB is lined up in the back field. But the other linebackers would usually be covering the TEs if they are still close to the middle of the field. Most of the time a corner would be covering anyone in the outside.
most man coverages save for cover 2 man will have the SS covering the TE and whatever LB is closest to the side the RB runs to will take him in man coverage while the other drops to a zone in the middle of the field.
Many linebackers are. Or rather at least 2 or 3 linebackers on the field are expected to pick those players up usually. If you are running a 3-4 defense and your main edge rusher is a linebacker he is unlikely to cover a good TE/RB because his main skill isn't coverage. Its edge rushing.
It really depends on the defensive scheme.
4-3 defense has OLB's cover TE and MLB cover RB. If a blitz is called then Safeties tend to track them unless they're part of the blitz.
3-4 defense has ILB's covering RB/TE, if those two are stacked on one side of the field then you'll probably see an ILB and Nickel or safety come up to follow them, which doubles as blitz coverages.
2-5 also dumps TE/RB duties to ILB's, allowing the MLB to act as a QB spy. Same blitz coverages as 3-4.
5-3 defense is usually banking on the run in this instance so the overall formation will be tight anyways. If it's not tight then OLB will be given RB/TE coverage duties and MLB acts as a rover for runs.
These all follow the general football strategy that
ETA because I realized I only answered your main question adjacently but also not directly: Generally LB's are not athletic enough to cover the better TE's in the league but because RB's are often moving laterally compared to LB's straight line, it's possible for LB's to cover the RB out of the backfield. If plays persist longer than 4 seconds and the RB's route continues that long (RB Wheel for instance) then the RB would have clear separation on a LB but generally because they're moving from behind the line of scrimmage, it's unrealistic to expect that amount of protection on every play. TE's like Trey McBride and (younger) Travis Kelce are difficult for safeties/nickels because they're too big but also difficult for OLB's because they're so athletic. Until about 2018-2019, teams were more focused on stopping the run so having beefier LB's who can set the edge and act in run support was more important than hyper athletics pass coverage guys who might be inferior in run protection.
That also bears fruit in the manner of football strategy; if you can have a solid box (defensive line and LB's) then you can stop the run effectively and forcing the offense to beat you through the air. The fewer players you need to sacrifice to run defense, the more you can stick in pass coverage and get those turnovers potentially. Passing doesn't engage a lot of the defense either, they're 2-3 seconds long compared to 4-6 second running plays that the entire defense has to get involved in.
Yes. Generally it's
CBs-WRs
LB-RBS
S-TEs
Given how fast some RBs can run in the open field, I'd think they'd have a hard time keeping up.
But they're not that much faster. The median 40 time for LBs (I'm too lazy to calculate average) is only 5 hundredths of a second slower than that of the RBs.
Yes.
A TE yes, some are fast enough to cover RB as well