also: 3 technique · 3-tech
An interior alignment on the outside shoulder of the guard, and by extension the kind of player who plays there.
2 meanings, all below. Jump to the one you heard.
A defensive line alignment on the outside shoulder of the offensive guard, attacking the gap between guard and tackle. It is an attacking spot rather than a two-gap one: the alignment already puts him in a gap at the snap, so the job is to get up the field rather than to hold ground and read.
3 techniqueone technique, two technique, five techniqueA player archetype named after the alignment. A coach saying he needs a three technique is describing a body and a skill set, quick off the ball and disruptive rather than big and immovable, not naming a spot on a card. The number has become a noun.
3-tech, penetrating tacklenose tackle, one techniqueThe alignment exists at every level; the archetype mostly does not below high school, because a staff is placing whoever it has rather than recruiting to a body type.