3 Pass Rush Scenarios For Your Defensive Linemen
by Football Tutorials
Once you’re d-lineman have mastered getting past their offensive counterparts, you need to teach them what to do when they’re in the backfield. You want them to be working off of instinct, simply reacting and doing, rather than thinking and analyzing.
For this post, we’re going to focus on three different pass rush situations: a free run at the quarterback, getting past a running back’s help, and reacting to the screen.
Step 1: Free Run At The Quarterback
Since we don’t want our quarterbacks taking hit after hit from our linemen, were going to setup an entire line of scrimmage, complete with linemen and quarterback, made of pop up dummies.
The center will be replaced by a coach with a football, and the pop ups will all be lined up as they would be in a game – with the guards slightly off the line, and the tackles a little bit further than that.
You’ll have four defensive linemen, all lined up and in position, and you’ll go through each one at a time, giving each player a chance to beat the pop up and tackle the pop up quarterback.
You can have them cycle through whatever moves you want them to work on, or simply let them do whatever move they like.
Step 2: Getting Past A Running Back's Help
Once they’re comfortable with this, we’ll put some extra pop ups in the backfield, to simulate a team leaving their backs in to help with protection.
Now the linemen will perform two moves in quick succession before tackling the quarterback. We don’t care what the lineman does here – anything from clubbing him, to running right over him, to jumping right over him – it’s completely up to the lineman.
Step 3: Attacking The Draw/Screen
Next is the draw/screen portion of the drill. This time we’ll have them all go at the same time, and you’ll line up at shotgun depth, receiving a snap from the center.
Now they’ll break into the backfield, and you’ll either call draw, or point to the right or left, indicating a screen.
On a draw, they’ll retrace their steps, going back up the field vertically, and on the screen, they’ll take off in the direction of that sideline for a good 5 yards.
Getting a lot of reps in this drill is great for getting your d-line comfortable in any situation, helping them build up the skills and instincts they’ll need to put fear in the heart of opposing offenses.
Next Step: If you're looking for more fun practice ideas for your youth football team, make sure you check out these 3 free youth football coaching reports, which include 42 killer drills designed specifically for kids 5-15!