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I wanted to give you an idea of how we set up the drill with our coaches and the pace of it. So as you can see, coach is not trying to fool anyone; he is making his intentions real obvious so the wide receiver can make their reads and react accordingly.
Okay, so phase one of how you install this—and this is the main phase—the wide receiver needs to identify the overhang, run a three-step slant aiming at the overhang’s back heels, with the intention of running behind him so the overhang cannot see him.
If the overhang continues on the path to the other side, this is a huge coaching point so the wide receiver doesn’t get covered by the overhang defender. It makes it much easier to sit in grass if the overhang can’t see him.
Obviously, now if the overhang or the coach in this instance stands put or sits in the hook-to-curl area, the wide receiver will stop halfway between the cornerback and the overhang defender, step to the quarterback, and flash his hands, just like in the perfect drill.
If the overhang defender travels out to the flats like he is playing cover three, then the wide receiver will run behind him regardless of the depth. The deeper, the better actually, and as soon as the overhang crosses his face, the wide receiver is supposed to sit down, step to the quarterback, and flash his hands.
Again, this is day one, so we aren’t harping too much on the little nuanced details; we’re just trying to get the basics down. It is a huge coaching point to sit right away after the overhang defender crosses the face of the receiver so the receiver doesn’t travel into the next defender's zone.
Now, after you do this for a few weeks, the coach or the overhang defender will start getting trickier, moving faster, maybe even start deceiving them a bit—going out, then coming back to the hook-to-curl. But it is crucial that you don’t move beyond the first phase until you have this part down perfectly.
Now, we also teach this for digs, since at the lower levels we don’t teach them to travel across the field. They just get behind the outside linebacker, turn inside, and settle in between. Step to the quarterback and flash his hands. We run digs on four verts and shallow pretty regularly.
As you can see, you really don’t have to overcomplicate things. During warm-ups, work on the mental side of the game. When you see that they are ready to take the next step, you can go full speed during a ton of other periods in practice. Just make sure there’s a wide receiver coach focused on teaching these key points throughout. You’ll actually be surprised how quickly it sinks into their heads.
Once they realize they have the power to run these routes to get themselves open, the faster they can sit and grasp, the more likely they are to get the ball from the quarterback.
Alright, that’s it. Thanks for joining me. Again, if this has been helpful, please like this video and subscribe. I’m not going to be the guy that tells you to "smash the button" and all that crap. Please just do the right thing—help me out, and hopefully, I’m helping you out. We’ll see you on the next one.