By Roderick Rogers
August 21, 2024
Originally, press coverage in football was known as bump and run. Press coverage was designed to disrupt the route and the receiver’s timing in hopes the pass rush could get to the quarterback before he throws the ball. If you cannot either widen the release of the receiver or disrupt the route within the first three yards, then there is no point in being up tight to the line of scrimmage. Press coverage requires patience, eye discipline and some aggression.
Stance and Alignment
Stance is an important part of being a great press man defensive back. Notice that the defensive back is square to the in front of the receiver. Based on the alignment of the route runner, you should have either inside, outside or head up leverage. Inside leverage allows you to stop inside breaking routes such as slants, curls and dagger (digs) etc. Aligning outside of the receiver means you want to protect yourself from outside break routes. We coach defensive backs to line up head up with the receivers that we tag as movers. The reason why is this, on the snap of the ball, the route runner will step forward into the DB allowing the player to get hands on early.
Back to the stance, DBs in the tight coverage should have feet parallel and even with legs just outside of the shoulders on both sides. Knees should be slightly inside (leaning towards one another) with the pressure being placed on the inside of both feet. Some coaches allow cornerbacks to drop one foot slightly backwards like a staggered stance in off coverage. I do not prefer that stance because it says to the receiver that one side or the other, depending on which leg is back, will be easier to get the DBs hip open. I require the DB to have the square stance, with a determined leverage, and squatted with forward body weight meaning head over feet and knees.
Your head should be on the same level as the route runners' mid sections (abdomen, hip) with a flat back. Posture to me is extremely important. The eyes of the defender should be up and focused on the hips of the player he is defending. Things go wrong when the DB doesn't have proper eye discipline throughout the entire rep. Another important thing to remember is feet and putting most of the weight on the toe box (also known as the ball of your feet). Stay off the heels, stay off the heels, and for the last time, STAY OFF THE HEELS.
Your hands and arms should be either up or hanging slightly in front by the knees ready to strike if needed. The last part is a tight and hard press versus a soft and loose press.
The hard press is when you're within a yard of the line of scrimmage, tight on the receiver. This is an aggressive style of press, and the intention is for you to get your hands on right now. If you miss, after shooting the hands to disrupt the receiver, the rep can turn into a track meet on turf with you chasing the receiver throughout the rep.
The soft press allows you to align a yard or a yard in a half away from the LOS to give yourself space to stay on top. In this situation, you are allowing the receiver to execute all of the moves while you wait for him to start moving up field getting into the release. The route runner can do all his dancing early, but he has to eventually get into the release to stay on time for the quarterback. All you are doing with the soft press is resetting the line of scrimmage. You still need to get your hands on the receiver to get the quarterback and route runner out of rhythm.
Next post, I will talk more about the movement in press coverage such as kick step, motor, gather etc. Keep following our post to learn more about playing the technique which will help you improve your game. We have plenty to share about the defensive back position to assist you with becoming elite.
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