Chad Wilson
April 9, 2025
The idea of press man coverage is to disrupt the timing and route of the wide receiver. To do this, your hands will often come into play, as they help redirect the receiver. However, many young DBs use their hands incorrectly. In this article, we’ll fix that.
It’s camp season, which means a lot of one-on-one reps. The offseason is the perfect time to sharpen your man-to-man skills, especially press man coverage.
Once the regular season begins and schedules tighten, there isn’t always time to get extra one-on-one reps. Savvy defensive backs use the offseason to polish their technique and refine their craft.
As I watch young DBs at camps and 7-on-7 events, one thing becomes clear: a lot of them rely too much on their hands. It may surprise you to learn this, but your hands are actually the last part of the press man process.
Great press man defensive backs know the order of operations: eyes, then feet, then hands. For your hands to be effective, your eyes and feet must do their job first.
Step 1: The Eyes
Before the snap, your eyes should be locked in on the wide receiver’s hips. The hips provide a central point for the entire body. Where the hips go, the receiver follows.
Many defensive backs make the mistake of watching the receiver’s hands, feet, shoulders, or head—all of which can move rapidly and cause confusion. The hips, however, move at a much slower pace. Since the hands and feet can’t go anywhere without the hips leading the way, your eyes should focus on the hips at the line of scrimmage and throughout the route.
As a famous song once said, “The hips don’t lie.”
Step 2: The Feet
When your eyes are focused on the right target, your feet must move to put you in position. Many young DBs struggle with this. Instead of using their feet to mirror the receiver’s release, they panic, open up too quickly, and start running down the field.
While this might seem logical, it often leads to trouble. Good wide receivers know how to manipulate a DB’s movements. They use deceptive and explosive releases to disguise their true intentions. A defensive back who turns and runs too early will get fooled.
When a DB realizes he has been fooled, he often overreacts and uses his hands to compensate. This usually leads to two outcomes:
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The DB lunges with his hands, freezing his feet and ending up in a trail position.
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The DB grabs the receiver’s jersey, drawing a penalty.
Training your feet to match a receiver’s release is a major key to being successful in press man coverage.
Step 3: The Hands
Once your eyes are in the right place and your feet are moving correctly, then and only then should your hands come into play.
Focused eyes allow well-trained feet to put you in position, setting up proper hand strikes that disrupt both the timing and shape of the route.
Before drilling yourself on hand usage in press man coverage, you must first master eye discipline and footwork.
In the great-tasting cake of press man coverage, your hands are the icing—and we all know the icing comes last.
Want to know how to train your eyes and feet so your hands can be lethal? Pick up a copy of my best-selling book, 101 DB Tips. It’s packed with outstanding information to help you lock down receivers and become the playmaker you need to be.
Click here to get your copy: 101dbtips.com
Chad Wilson is the owner of All Eyes DB Camp and author of "101 DB Tips". He played college football at the University of Miami and briefly in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks. Over his 15 year high school football coaching career, he tutored over a dozen Division I defensive backs and as a trainer has worked with NFL All Pros, first round draft picks, college football All Americans and Top 10 ranked high school football prospects.
