Reading Defense

is there any videos that test you on how to read defenses like for example: it shows you a defense pre snap and post to see if there in a shell or not and then you guess the defense and it gives you the answer after? if not does anybody have any offensive tips on reading defenses?

Zenoth said:

is there any videos that test you on how to read defenses like for example: it shows you a defense pre snap and post to see if there in a shell or not and then you guess the defense and it gives you the answer after? if not does anybody have any offensive tips on reading defenses?

I'm not the greatest at this but I'll try to break down what I do

Pre-snap: Safeties first. 1 high = man cvg or cover 3 (possibly disguised cover 2 but that is rare). 2 safties high cover 2/2 man under, 3 could, 6, 9, 4 (which is why most people base align or use a 2 high shell

Corners 2nd: in cover 4 they are 7+ off, in 2 they are closer. Check the cb over slot receiver, if head up probably man. In cover 6/9 the cbs are offset, so one will be at 7+ and one will be closer.

third, protections, and where blitz might come from.

Post snap, if there is a blitz gotta know where the hot read is if i'm not blocking extra and get it out asap. 

secondly watch how the safeties rotate, even if it is 2 high one can rotate down, and rotate back. A lot of time you can ID a receiver that most likely will be open pre snap. 

Hope that helps, obviously the biggest teacher is reps and experience. There is a couple of videos that break down what I just talked about, but for visual learners it'll definitely be beneficial to watch too

TheNickSix said:

I'm not the greatest at this but I'll try to break down what I do

Pre-snap: Safeties first. 1 high = man cvg or cover 3 (possibly disguised cover 2 but that is rare). 2 safties high cover 2/2 man under, 3 could, 6, 9, 4 (which is why most people base align or use a 2 high shell

Corners 2nd: in cover 4 they are 7+ off, in 2 they are closer. Check the cb over slot receiver, if head up probably man. In cover 6/9 the cbs are offset, so one will be at 7+ and one will be closer.

third, protections, and where blitz might come from.

Post snap, if there is a blitz gotta know where the hot read is if i'm not blocking extra and get it out asap. 

secondly watch how the safeties rotate, even if it is 2 high one can rotate down, and rotate back. A lot of time you can ID a receiver that most likely will be open pre snap. 

Hope that helps, obviously the biggest teacher is reps and experience. There is a couple of videos that break down what I just talked about, but for visual learners it'll definitely be beneficial to watch too

alr thank you for this in depth break down

Zenoth said:

is there any videos that test you on how to read defenses like for example: it shows you a defense pre snap and post to see if there in a shell or not and then you guess the defense and it gives you the answer after? if not does anybody have any offensive tips on reading defenses?

Simplify things.  There are really only 2 types of defense they can play, man or zone.  Match defenses behave very similar to man coverage.

Pre-snap you can get some information on what they MIGHT be in, but post-snap is where you identify what they are ACTUALLY in.

I like to look at the outside CBs, if they follow the WR it's man to man, if they drop to a spot it's zone.  Put a WR on a drag, and you can watch to see if the defender follows him (man) or passes him off (zone).

You attack man coverage with man beating routes.  You attack zone using route concepts, most of which are applicable against any type of zone.

 Don't worry too much about precisely what defense they are running, just get used to determining whether it's man or zone.  

After you get comfortable with that, look to see whether they are playing hard flats or deeper dropping underneath zones.  If they play hard flats, you can throw curls/corners/crossers behind them easily.  If the underneath zones drop deeper you can throw drags/flats/zigs underneath.  

Some players will play mable coverage which takes away the short and intermediate sidelines, in which case you should attack the middle.  

If you want to know exactly what zone coverage they are running, you can look to see if the outside cbs play short zones, in which case it is c2 or possibly c3 cloud.  If the outside cbs drop deep it's either c3/c4.  Only very good players will play hybrid coverages, which you will be able to pick up on once you get a lot of reps vs a variety of defenses.

It sounds like a lot, but remember it's basically either man or zone...pretty simple stuff.

DJONES13 said:

Simplify things.  There are really only 2 types of defense they can play, man or zone.  Match defenses behave very similar to man coverage.

Pre-snap you can get some information on what they MIGHT be in, but post-snap is where you identify what they are ACTUALLY in.

I like to look at the outside CBs, if they follow the WR it's man to man, if they drop to a spot it's zone.  Put a WR on a drag, and you can watch to see if the defender follows him (man) or passes him off (zone).

You attack man coverage with man beating routes.  You attack zone using route concepts, most of which are applicable against any type of zone.

 Don't worry too much about precisely what defense they are running, just get used to determining whether it's man or zone.  

After you get comfortable with that, look to see whether they are playing hard flats or deeper dropping underneath zones.  If they play hard flats, you can throw curls/corners/crossers behind them easily.  If the underneath zones drop deeper you can throw drags/flats/zigs underneath.  

Some players will play mable coverage which takes away the short and intermediate sidelines, in which case you should attack the middle.  

If you want to know exactly what zone coverage they are running, you can look to see if the outside cbs play short zones, in which case it is c2 or possibly c3 cloud.  If the outside cbs drop deep it's either c3/c4.  Only very good players will play hybrid coverages, which you will be able to pick up on once you get a lot of reps vs a variety of defenses.

It sounds like a lot, but remember it's basically either man or zone...pretty simple stuff.

thank you thank you

Basically you look at the safeties. But after the play they show what defense called anyways. Players mainly play 1 defense