The Lockdown U Blog | All Eyes DB Camp

Want An Interception? Start with a Stance

By: Chad Wilson – IG: @alleyesdbcamp

They say football is a game of inches. It is a phrase that is often overlooked and taken for granted. Many think it’s all about getting the necessary 10 yards for a first down or getting the ball across the goal line. I am here to tell you that it is more than just that.

Yes, the rules of the game of football are dictated by measurement. This is more so the case than any other sport as it is ruled by the measurement of yards. How do we get those yards? We get them by out executing the man in front of us and thus the team we are up against.

For defensive backs that execution comes in the attention to the details of what may be the most technical position that there is on the field (sorry offensive linemen). All too often I see young defensive backs take their stance before the ball is snapped for granted. Perhaps they have seen a NFL player who has been playing for a long time make a big play when he was not in his stance before the ball was snapped. That is always a mistake. That is similar to driving with one hand on the wheel the first time you drive a car. You are likely going to end up in a car crash.

For young, intermediate and even pros, winning snap after snap at the defensive back position begins with you aligning properly both with leverage but also with your stance. Whether you are in press or off, the key to ending the play with a play is starting the play with a winning stance.

I have noticed that defensive backs will take their stance less seriously when they are playing off as opposed to press. They do so because they feel that they have time when they are playing off. I am here to tell you that you are fooling yourself. The time you think you have will run out quick if you are not prepared to adequately handle the first few steps off the line by the wide receiver. Being caught off guard or unprepared to keep your leverage or depth vs. the speeding potential pass catcher will often lead to you making a donation to his stat totals.

For some guys its about looking cool and in control. Perhaps you think it makes you look goofy to always be ready. It’s similar to thinking that a guy is a nerd if he always has a pen, a pad and his textbooks when he comes to class. Years later when school is over and that nerd is looking down from his penthouse at you on the street corner, one of you is going to be goofy and it ain’t gonna be him.

The key to winning at anything starts with being prepared. For defensive backs, a big part of being prepared is aligning yourself before the play with a winning stance. Heed these words the next time you are in competition or you might get embarrassed and I hate to see it.

Check out this video below on the proper way to get in a stance when you are playing off. Enjoy:

When It Comes to Making Plays Control > Speed

By: Chad Wilson – Instagram: @alleyesdbcamp

It’s that time of year again where the talk of speed is heightened and everyone obsesses over 40 yard dash times. While the combine won’t happen this year, it won’t stop the mad rush to find out “what’s his 40 time?”

Of course, you need some speed to play defensive back at a high level. However, when it comes to actual game play, being under control as you move around on the field is more important than hitting your maximum MPH. I recently met with the owner of XPE Sports in Ft. Lauderdale Tony Villani. I have worked with him over the last four seasons prepping defensive backs for the combine. Over that span we have had several conversations over the movement of defensive backs and wide receivers.

Many a time, Villani heard me tell a defensive back during drills that smooth is fast. In his many years of working with college and pro athletes, Villani has found the same to be true. He has found it to be so true that he is developing a whole matrix to train athletes (football players in particular) how to run under control so that they can achieve maximum results while on the field. It is a system and thought process that I fully support.

Too often, defensive backs feel that they must reach maximum speed to make a play and they often find themselves out of gas when the ball comes. Football is game that involves constant change of direction. As such, working on being able to move in a smooth and efficient manner puts you in better position when the inevitable change of direction comes. I have seen many a defensive back under perform based on their workout numbers simply because they could not manage their physical excellence. Bottom line, a sports car will only perform as well as it’s driver.

A skilled driver knows when to accelerate, when to throttle down and how to take the curve. As you are performing your defensive back drills, do so with the thought of being smooth and under control. It does you no good to be the first one in the East if the ball is located in the West. Some of the best defensive backs you’ve seen were not the fastest ones on the clock but they were highly skilled at managing the speed they did have efficiently. Learning this skill will put you in position to make plays more often that if you turned everything into a track meet and found yourself on the ground the minute someone throws a curve into your sprint.

When Pressing Your Man Don’t Forget the Hand

By: Chad Wilson

This blog is called All Eyes DB Camp so you know what I think is important when playing defensive back but the eyes aren’t everything, just the most important thing. Some guys when they are playing press pretend that their arms got amputated.

Yes, I know that the wide receivers are more skilled these days in avoiding jams. I also know that defensive backs have put in a ton of time studying what to do with their feet when playing press. Despite all that, the whole reason that it’s called press is because you need to use your hands to press your man. The very word press would indicate the use of one’s hands, unless you are in Spain stomping on grapes to make wine.

The art of redirecting a WR into what and where you need him to go is going to involve your hands. I always preach the order of importance when it comes to press coverage is eyes, feet then hands but they do include hands. What I have come to notice more and more are guys abandoning the use of their hands in favor of the mirror throughout the route. Sure, this can be effective but you’ll be just that more effective if you start incorporating the use of your hands more often to throw off the receiver.

The very thing that that the wide receivers want to avoid are the hands of the defensive back making contact with and disrupting their path. If you watch how they train and what they drill against, it’s the hands of the defensive back. Because they are training against it doesn’t mean that we avoid doing it. It simply means we must get better at using it. If you are a team that runs a lot of Cover 4, you don’t suddenly abandon using it because your opponent practices against it. What you do is get better at executing it.

So my message to my defensive backs out there as you head into your offseason training is while you are peppering yourself with foot drills and ladder routines, spend a good amount of time working on striking the wide receivers with either two hand or one hand jams. Boxer’s definitely train their eyes and their feet to be effective in the ring but they are nothing if they don’t know how to throw a punch. The message is the same for defensive backs who are asked to play both in man and some zone coverages.

I have some great tutorials on press man in the All Eyes DB Camp member’s area that talk you through how you should use your eyes, your feet and yes, your hands when playing press man. Consider joining.

Check out the video below for some advice on how to jam wide receivers when you are playing press coverage.

Ladder Drills to Give DBs Better Feet

Use these basic drills on an agility ladder to improve your defensive back footwork.

By: Chad Wilson
IG: @alleyesdbcamp

Any defensive back or defensive back coach knows that you need good feet to be a solid defensive back. I would dare say that you need feet before you need speed as a defensive back. So how do you get good or maybe even great feet?

If you want great feet as a defensive back you do DB drills. I have been well known to say that. I am not a huge ladder guy and in fact I hate it when I see guys go grab a ladder and do 30 – 60 minutes of drills on it and think they’re all good. Ladder drills alone will not give you the defensive back feet that you want. I can go into why that is the case in a later article but in the interest of staying focused I will say that the ladder has a part in developing your footwork.

When I am training my athletes, I use the ladder strictly as a warm up. However, the repetition of doing these things over and over daily allows the athlete to develop some skills that are useful in game situations. With that in mind, here are the ladder drills that I like to use to help warm up my athletes and improve their footwork.

(1) One in Each

This is as basic as it comes with footwork. It’s primary focus is to get the athlete warmed up but also to rep them landing on the balls of their feet. Once you really get moving as a defensive back whether going forward or backward, the foot plant will be on the balls of your feet. This drill builds that into the athlete’s DNA.

(2) Two in Each

This further warms up the athlete and the progress through the ladder by putting two feet in each hole till they get to the end. This also preps them for landing on the balls of their feet while also quickening the pace of the foot strikes. This is crucial for a defensive back that is often changing direction.

(3) Two in Two Out

Start with your feet outside of the ladder. As you progress through the ladder, you put two feet in each hole then put two feet outside of the ladder before putting two feet in the next hole. Again this works balls of your feet contact but also works lateral movement of feet while teaching minimal ground contact time. This helps with coming out of breaks while in a shuffle or crossover run.

(4) Icky Shuffle

I don’t know if I will do this drill justice by explaining it in text. Fortunately for you, there is a video at the end of this article that will demonstrate it. This drill is basically a shuffle that sends the athlete from one side of the ladder through to the other side of the ladder while always having one foot in a hole with the other outside of the ladder. Again, check the video at the end. This like the two in two out drill, preps you for minimal ground contact time while adding the element of full body movement to increase the difficulty. This works your sudden change of direction footwork skills.

(5) Two in Two Out Facing the Ladder

This one is my favorite for DBs. Facing the ladder from the side, place two feet in each hole then two feet outside of the hole as you progress through the ladder. By the time you have reached the end of the ladder you would have put two feet in every hole. I love this ladder drill because it closely mimics the foot patterns that occur when you back pedal and break. It develops the core muscles involved in such a crucial move that DBs make quite often during competition.

Like I said, don’t go crazy with ladder drills as they are only a small part of your training as a DB. If you are stuck with just a ladder and a small patch of real estate with which to train with, you are best off incorporating the basic DB drills that I have in my Masters of the Basics Drill series along with your 4-5 ladder drills to raise your level of play.

Be sure to check out the video below for a demonstration of the drills outlined in this article.

Kick Slide Your Way to Better Press Man Reps

By: Chad Wilson

I see it all levels of football. A defensive back is lined up in press man, he panics on the wide receiver’s movement and then he just turns and runs. Once this happens, it’s a win for the wide receiver. The pass may not get completed but he has put himself in a great position to catch a thrown football than if you would have denied him the “free release”. In this article I am going to tell you how to charge the WR a fee for exiting the line of scrimmage and not giving him anything for free.

For those unfamiliar with the term, a free release is when you allow the wide receiver to go by you in press man without having to really change his path or disrupt his timing. Another term for this would be “opening the gate”. One of the big reasons this happens is because the defensive back may not have been taught what to do when the wide receiver declares his path and seeks to get beyond him. After this reading this article, you will no longer be able to make such a claim.

One of the best ways to widen a WR’s release at the line of scrimmage is to use a kick slide. Using a kick slide will stop you from crossing over and opening your hips too soon and allow the WR to go by you too skinny. If you have ever watched a basketball game and watched a player defend the man with the ball to keep him from driving to the hoop, you may have noticed a kick slide. This would involve keeping hips and shoulders square while taking shuffle steps to move with the ball handler. This is primarily the same when playing press man vs. a wide receiver. At some point he is going to want go by you the same way a basketball player with the ball will attempt to do vs. a defender so he can get to the hoop. The WR will want to get by you to get to the field behind you and to his landing point for the pass. The better that defender is at staying square, the less chance he has of getting crossed over by the ball handler which can be quite embarrassing.

A good kick slide will keep you in front of the wide receiver longer and give you a better chance of getting hands on him should he decide to change direction. To execute a solid kick slide, there are three key components.

(1) Good Stance

It all starts with your stance. If you are not properly prepared to move then you will fall behind the WRs release and your kick slide will likely never happen. A poor stance will make you panic and cause you to open your hips too quickly. So, it is important that you have your knees bent and your chest out in your stance. The bent knees prepare your thigh muscles to activate and push in either direction once the WR moves outside of your frame. The chest out keeps you in a power position so that you can move explosively left or right or throw your hands with power should that WR decide to come right at you.

(2) Kick at a 45 degree angle

While in some cases, it is good to slide left or right straight across, we don’t do that with a kick slide. Shuffling at a 45 degree angle is ideal in the kick slide so as to not get caught at a bad angle and end up in chase mode. By sliding at a 45 degree angle, you give just enough ground to stay close to execute a jam while not opening too much to allow the WR to explode past you. Being able to kick slide 45 degrees in one direction and then plant to move back in the other direction suddenly is a great skill. This skill must be practiced often and it involves good upper body mechanics. Once again, keep your chest out but also keep a rigid upper body. Don’t let your shoulders drift outside of your hips as you kick slide. Doing so will make it difficult to get your body to head in the other direction should you need it to.

(3) Don’t Crossover and Don’t Click

As you kick slide, it is important that you don’t bring your feet together. Clicking means having your feet collide with each other as you are shuffling. The reason you don’t want this to occur is because at that very moment that your feet are together, the WR may change direction and you won’t be able to. The same goes for crossing your feet over in your kick slide. Placing one foot behind the other to execute your slide could be detrimental if the WR changes direction while your feet are in that position. Should this occur, at best you will have to take one extra step to then change direction or even worse you fall down trying to change direction while your feet are crossed. It is always best to keep your feet apart while you are executing your kick slide.

Focusing on those three elements during your kick slide will keep you in a good strong position. This will force the wide receiver off the line he would like to run, disrupt the timing and the spacing of his routes. If you are doing that consistently then you are putting yourself in good position to defend the passes that are being thrown to your man.

Check out the video below that I made on having a great kick slide. For more information and detail on playing press technique the right way, join my member’s area where I have well over 100 videos on drills, technique, coverages, analysis and more. Click here for the All Eyes DB Camp Member’s Area

3 Ways to Affect the Game without an Interception

One of my secret pet peeves is hearing a defensive back who did nothing during a game tell me he couldn’t make a play because "they didn’t throw to my side".

By: Chad Wilson
IG: @alleyesdbcamp

One of my secret pet peeves is hearing a defensive back who did nothing during a game tell me he couldn’t make a play because “they didn’t throw to my side”. Every time I hear that, in my mind, I am thinking that’s a cop out.

True playmakers don’t think that way. If they practiced all week to play a game, they are damned sure going to get paid when game time comes. So whether or not the offense decided to actually target your side or your area, the fact still remains that an entire football game was played on the same field you were on so it’s time for you to show up. Simply running and staying with your man when a play has clearly gone elsewhere is not being the best you can be.

With that in mind, some defensive backs may not actually be aware of ways they can become a factor in the contest even when “their man” is not being thrown the ball.

(1) Have Good Coverage

Well, first of all, you can affect the game by providing solid coverage especially on a team’s top wide receiver. Taking away a team’s top weapon can severely hamper the game plan for an offense. However, this doesn’t just apply to man coverage. When you are in a zone, be where you are supposed to be consistently. Abandoning your zone to do someone else’s job is not the way to go. Being in your area and communicating well to your teammates can put them in the proper place as well. This can either set your teammates up for an interception or in most cases, set the front seven up for a sack. Either one of those results are a win for the defense and helps your team move closer to victory.

(2) Make Tackles

This seems elementary but some defensive backs, cornerbacks in particular, think their play is over the moment the ball is thrown or run somewhere else and not to their man. That is not the case. When the play goes away from you, it is time to leave your man, get to the football and make a play. Good things happen to those who run to the football. When a ball is completed or run elsewhere, there’s a chance that you can sprint to the football and scoop up a fumble before a member of the offense does. You never know when that fumble recovery turns into points that turns the game around. The next thing is getting off of blocks when the play comes your way and making tackles. For cornerbacks, just because your coach told you that you are sticking one man in particular in the game does not mean that you get to not doing anything else. Making no effort to defeat a block by the WR you are covering on a run play and allowing the ball carrier to get a first down is you not doing your job. It also sets up another chance for the offense to attack you and possibly get a key play in the game. There’s no joy in locking down your receiver if your team loses the game.

(3) Force Fumbles

Without a doubt, this is a huge way to affect the game. Anyone who watched Tyrann Mathieu play ball for LSU knows this. While offenses may have wanted to avoid him, they could not because Mathieu would show up on a run play, dig his hands into a ball carrier’s arms and rip the ball out. IN two seasons at LSU, Mathieu forced 11 fumbles and recovered eight of them. On top of that, he ran back two of those recovered fumbles for touchdowns in key games his final season. While teams were avoiding him, he didn’t just sit back and watch the rest of his teammates play, Mathieu ran into the middle of the action and either made tackles or caused fumbles. There are plenty of stats out there to suggest that a team that forces a fumble in a game wins a majority of them. The more, the merrier when it comes to fumbles.

Kicking back and taking the night off when plays aren’t coming directly at you is not the way to go. You only have but so many games each season and in your football playing career. Your mentality has to be go 100 mph every time your are blessed to take the field. Make the most of every contest and every opportunity. What you will learn once you adopt this mindset is that the ball has a way of coming to you when you hustle. Do all you can to get your team to victory.

This One Thing at Safety Can Help You Make More Plays

By: Chad Wilson
IG: @alleyesdbcamp

For the casual observer of the game of football and defense in particular, playing safety is easy. When folks compare what appears to be the job of a safety to that of a corner, the instant feeling is that it seems way easier than life on the island. I am here to tell you that it is not.

However, the purpose of this article is not to compare the two positions. For now just take my word on it when I say both positions are tough as hell to play especially in this day of age where everything, including the rules, are geared towards more offensive production.

What I will address in this article is one aspect of playing safety that many playing the position, including young ones, tend to neglect. That aspect is taking the proper angles. Many times, I see safeties getting wrapped up in what is happening in the backfield or directly in front of them and put themselves at a disadvantage when it comes time to execute their assignment.

One of the biggest places where this shows up is when playing coverages that require a safety to play deep like Covers 1, 3, 2 and 2 man. Focusing on Covers 2 and 2 man, it is important that safeties playing these coverages get depth on the hash when the ball is hiked so that in the event that a medium or deep pass is thrown, they are coming downhill or at worst, lateral to the thrown football to make a play. This seems elementary to most but here’s what happens.

Whether your defense requires you to read the release of the wide receivers or key the quarterback, many safeties get too distracted by what is happening and allow the action to slow down their pedal. When this happens, the safety fails to get the proper depth and then they are put at a disadvantage when the ball is thrown. Either their lack of depth now requires them to turn their back and run to the thrown ball or their angle to a medium throw is not what it should be and they have trouble defending the pass.

The trick in cover 2 and 2 man is to get enough depth to keep the routes being run underneath you and not allow them to get beyond your peripheral vision. Your peripheral vision is the part where you can see things out of the corner of your eye. If you allow the routes to close in on you too fast you will lose sight of one or more of the wide receivers. It’s almost like watching TV and having someone walk off the screen. If you can’t see them, you have no idea what they are doing.

When the safety loses vision of the wide receiver, he will then feel the pressure to open up towards that receiver. This opens him up to disregarding another route he may be responsible for. Often times this is all the quarterback is waiting for to make his throw. You open up left and he throws to right. If you are able to stay square longer on the hash then he has to hold the football and guess what you would do. The longer he holds the ball, the better chance the pass rush has to get to him and the longer the throw he has to make. The longer the throw, the more chance it would be off the mark and fall into your hands.

The same falls true for Covers 1 and 3 as a free safety as it requires you to have a deep middle of the field. Getting your proper depth there allows all the routes to stay in front of your and in your view. Now when the ball is thrown, you can take a more solid angle towards the ball to make a play on it.

So as you are practicing and playing coverages that require you to be deep, focus on doing just that. Get your depth in these coverages and watch how much easier it is for you to move towards the thrown passes and make plays. This will work. I guarantee it.

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5 Sure Fire Ways DBs Can Improve in Practice

BY: Chad Wilson
IG: @alleyesdbcamp

Practice, practice, practice. It makes perfect as they say. This could also mean that practicing wrong can make you perfectly wrong when game time comes. We don’t want that right? In this article, I will talk about five things defensive backs can do in practice to make it perfect in a positive way.

Right now, most of you are in the middle of practices daily for the games coming up on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I played this game so I know that practices can get monotonous, aka “boring” (file that way for your ACT / SAT exam). Going through the same drills, periods and plays every day can lull you to sleep, stunt your progress and lead to poor performance. That will happen only if you let it. Here are five ways to avoid this taking place with you.

(1) Bring Energy

Sure this sounds simple enough but make it a focus. Regardless of how you feel that day, if you are going to practice, make it a point to do it with energy. There are 24 hours in a day and practice is only two hours of it. If you can’t get hyped and focused for two hours then success is far away from you. Speak to yourself in the locker room as you get dressed. Don’t listen to the teammates that are saying they don’t feel like practicing. Joining in on those conversations will sap your energy from you. In fact, encourage them to bring energy with you to today’s practice. They may not like you doing that at first but when it yields positive results, they’ll change their mind.

(2) Set Goals

Most guys set goals for the season. That’s a big long term goal. Studies show that the best way to achieve long term goals is to set up short term goals to keep you on course. By setting goals for each practice, you give yourself something to reach for. Reaching for something keeps you focused and engaged. This will undoubtedly lead to better practices. Better practices lead to better games and that will certainly help you achieve your season long goals. So, take 5-10 minutes out of your day to set goals for that day’s practice. Say to yourself stuff like, I want at least one interception today, I want zero coverage busts or I want to touch the ball carrier on every play in the team period. Those are just examples but imagine wanting to be able to look back at the end of practice and say you accomplished most or all of those. Make practice goals.

(3) Take Mental Reps

This is where a lot of guys fall short. The only time most players are engaged and focused are when they are either in the drill or in the period taking reps. Some of the best learning you will do in practice is from watching others and listening to the coaches. Some guys are really good at certain drills. Watching them perform them while you are waiting for your turn can help you learn what you need to do to improve. Other times, there are players doing things wrong. Watching them and then listening to the coach correct them will prevent you from making the same mistakes when it’s your turn and wasting your reps. (ps, it angers your coach to have to repeat himself to multiple players). Learn while you wait by observing others.

(4) Focus on Detail

When it comes to playing defensive back, success comes from executing the little things. Having your eyes in the right place, placing your hands in a specific spot on a WR and using your feet in a certain way can make the difference in you being an inch away from an interception or actually making the play that wins the game. Focusing on the small details in every technique being taught or coverage being explained will eliminate all those inches that you will will be short of come game time. The more you execute the details, the more efficient and faster you will be on game day.

(5) Stay After Practice

Last but not least stay late and put in work. The best way to master a skill is to repeat it over and over again. How do you think you learned how to tie your shoes or ride a bike? Yes, you guessed it by doing it over and over again. The same applies to your defensive back technique. Is there something you are struggling with constantly? Help yourself by staying after practice for 10-15 minutes each day to improve. Is there a technique that is crucial to playing the kind of defense your team is running? Then stay after so that you can master it to the point of doing it without thinking or your eyes closed. Doing this after practice will make you better during practice which in turn makes you lights out when the game comes.

In closing, everyone wants the glory but few want the pain. Giving it your all in practice using these five things as a guide will 100% make your practices better. If you want the praise and the clout for being a baller on game day then you have to take the steps during the week to make that a reality. Give these things a try and let me know how it works out for you.

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Doing This In Practice Keeps You From Being a Great DB

By: Chad Wilson
IG: @alleyesdbcamp

We’re talking about practice. The word and term practice took on a whole new meaning when former NBA great Allen Iverson went on a rant in front of reporters about the lack of importance of practice.

Many misunderstood Iverson’s rant as blowing off practice as a key ingredient to success. Iverson was often misunderstood during his playing days. I’m obviously not here to try and tell you what was in Iverson’s head but for any of your familiar with it and took it the way that it was widely interpreted, I am here to tell you don’t do that.

Practice is an important element to a player and team’s success. In anything in life, preparation is key and that most definitely relates to the game of football. However, let’s not just skim the surface of that statement in this article. For defensive backs, there are some parts of practice that are more fun than others. 7-on-7 is probably the most fun, followed by team pass period and some contact loving safeties enjoy inside run if they are involved in it. However, in both my playing and coaching career, I have learned that the individual period is the part of practice that is most commonly disliked. That sucks you know why? Because the individual period is the most important part of practice.

Here are some of the reasons why players don’t like it. It’s early in the practice and you aren’t fully into things yet. The drills can be tiring. It often involves much of the same drills every day so it’s boring. The coach is typically able to watch everything you are doing as opposed to other periods where you may get away with being lazy. Here are the reasons why the “indy” period, as it is called, is the most important. It gets your juices flowing so you can perform to your best for the rest of practice. The drills build the strength and endurance of the muscles you need to develop. It allows you to practice drills repeatedly so that you can master them for the game situations. You get more attention from the coach therefore you are getting the best and most intense coaching of practice during this period.

I was a player once. I had those days when I was not looking forward to the indy period. However, I can say that I typically liked it more than most players. I realized early on that it was a chance for me to master certain skills to the point of not having to think about them in other parts of practice and more importantly in games. I did not like having too many things to think about in the game. The more singular my focus, the faster I was able to play.

Once I became a coach, the individual period took on a whole new meaning. As a coach, you see a whole lot of things your players can and need to improve on. This is the case even when you have a group of All Americans. As a coach, it is often a fight to get enough time in the schedule for your indy period. You are trying to correct as many of the mistakes in techniques that you can with a limited amount of time. I am here to tell you that there is never enough time when you are a coach. When the horn sounds to end the period, you always come away feeling like you didn’t get it all done. Therefore, you tend to get really pissed off when a player or players either go through the drills half assed or just plain mess them up wasting the limited time you do have.

If you want to end up on your coach’s bad side, try “dicking around” (that’s a legal football term) during his indy period. If your coach has a viable replacement for you, he will definitely look into using him. Your technique and knowledge of the system is a direct reflection on your coach. The individual period is where he teaches that the most. If you don’t look good, he does not look good and he will have to eventually get you out of there or severely limit your role.

If you want to reach your peak as a player, you have to take your individual period seriously. Play whatever mind game you have to with yourself to love it. What you do repeatedly in the individual drills and period is what you will eventually become. Going through the motions in your drills during the indy period will eventually make you a mediocre, half assed, going through the motions player. It’s only a matter of time before it catches up to you. If you want to be the best then seek a way to improve on those drills each and every time you do them. You can back pedal smoother, you can get out of your breaks faster and you can definitely catch the ball more consistently even if this is your 10th year playing the game. Start doing that from now and watch how consistency will start breeding results.

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Safeties Need This One Thing Over Everything Else

By: Chad Wilson – All Eyes DB Camp

I have written several articles about safeties and what it takes to be elite in this blog. Playing safety isn’t just about one thing but there is this one thing that I would take over everything else if I had to boil it down to just one. This article is about that one thing.

When people think about safety play they usually think about one of two things and that is either ball hawking or hard hitting. Don’t get me wrong, having those two things are definitely a part of making a player elite at the position . However, I am talking about that one thing you need over everything else. Furthermore, having those two things I just mentioned are born out of the one thing I say you need over all the others and that is intelligence.

You can be the hardest hitter and have the best hands but if you don’t know where to line up, where to go to and what is coming, those things are literally useless. You won’t often find yourself in position to get that big hit on a ball carrier or wide receiver without intelligence. Furthermore, lack of intelligence may cause you to hit a player the wrong way or go for the big hit instead of the pick. Lack of intelligence will often have you in the wrong spot so those great hands that you have won’t see the kind of action that could help your team much.

There’s nothing worse than a defense that can’t line up right in the secondary or continuously busts coverage. While coverages can get busted for a number of reasons, they seem to get busted less often when a safety or both safeties are working with a high IQ. Many times corners get zeroed in on what’s right in front of them. After all, their job could demand that they get in a WRs face and be everywhere he goes. That can make their focus very microscopic and they may miss things. That’s when a safety has to come in and give the alerts, check the coverages and redirect a cornerback’s focus.

Of all the positions in the secondary (corner, nickel and safety) playing safety can be the most difficult one for a freshman. Safeties are literally the last line of defense and must make sure that everyone is lined up right and alert them of what may be coming. This should be an indication to you that experience and intelligence is key when playing safety.

So how do you acquire this intelligence? The same way you acquire all intelligence and that is through study. Some safeties have been playing football for such a long time that they can pick things up cerebrally. Other safeties may have spent some time playing on the offensive side of the ball so they can recognize the movement of an offense and figure out what is coming. Whether you have these traits or not, you can certainly do yourself some big favors by studying your opponent and offenses in general.

Studying your opponent allows you to pick up on their tendencies and give your teammates a clue of what’s coming. You must know your team’s playbook inside and out. You also have to know the game plan each week. A safety fully aware of the game plan is a defensive coordinator’s best friend. After all, the rules don’t allow the defensive coordinator to be on the field with you so guess who’s the coordinator? The safety. There may be times where the coordinator has made a mistake or the offense has done something unexpected. A high IQ safety can fix it on the fly simply by knowing the game plan, the opponent and the playbook.

Having the ability to make the quick changes, notice the movements of the offense and what the entire unit should do about it makes everyone better. Most of all, it makes the safety better and thus he’s able to make more plays consistently. Kansas City’s Tyrann Mathieu is not out there balling off of his elite speed and outstanding measurables. His 5’9″ stature and mid 4.5 speed is not what athletic freaks are made of. What allows the “Honey Badger” to be everywhere the ball is located is his elite football IQ. If his play doesn’t inspire all players short and tall to crack open the playbook and rev up the film study then being elite is just not your thing.