Defensive Back Drills

Defensive Backs Defensive Backs

“The prerequisites for a great defensive back include better-than-normal speed, perfect body control, the toughness needed to stop the run, good hands, and confidence – plus an overall attitude that dares the offense to come his way.”

“While sure, aggressive tackling is important, a good defensive back must understand that he can’t miss any tackle, sometimes sacrificing a hard hit for a game-saving shoving out of bounds.”

Tom Bass

Defensive Back Drills

Defensive Back Drills for Agilities:

Speed and even more very good agilities abilities are essential for a defensive back in todays modern pass-happy football. To defend the pass successfully the defensive back needs to be able to recognize and react in fractions of a second to any direction change of the receiver. The agility drills for defensive backs include:
✔ Wave Carrioca
✔ Zig-Zag
✔ Backpedal
✔ Carrioca On The Line
✔ Backpedal And Weave
✔ Cone Drill

Defensive Back Drills for Tackling

Also the defensive back has to be a very good and secure tackler. If he misses the tackle it’s most likely that the opponent will score on that very play.
✔ Tackling Progression
✔ Open Field Tackling
✔ Sideline Tackling

Defensive Back Drills for Coverage

For great coverage the agility of the defensive back are essential, but it doesn’t stop there. The ability to play press coverage and reroute the receiver and force him to run his routes only the way the defensive back lets him and not the way he wants to, makes a good and agile defensive back a great coverage back.
✔ Press Drill
✔ Counter Punch Drill

Defensive Back Drills for Interceptions

The icing on the cake for every defensive back in coverage is not only to cover his receiver or zone, but to make the interception, which not seldom does make the difference in the game.
✔ Catching
✔ Turn Drill
✔ Tip Drill
✔ Backpedal Drill
✔ Bomb Drill
✔ Dive Layout Drill
✔ Stretcher Drill