AFM RSS Feed Follow Us on Twitter       
AMERICAN FOOTBALL MONTHLY THE #1 RESOURCE FOR FOOTBALL COACHES
ABOUT |  CONTACT |  ADVERTISE |  HELP  



   User Name    Password 
      Password Help





Article Categories


AFM Magazine

AFM Magazine


The Drills Report: Minnesota Wide Receivers Drills

© More from this issue

Click for Printer Friendly Version          

At Minnesota we believe there are keys to playing the wide receiver position in our offense. The topics that I would like to cover all build on one another with one being no greater than the other.

The topics I would like to discuss with you are:
1 Route Expression.
2. Release Techniques.
3. Ball Catching.

Route Expression

Our offense relies heavily on our receivers getting good vertical stretch, running precise routes, and being able to create separation from defenders by transitioning in and out of breaks quickly. We emphasize to our receivers that we want to drive in and run out of cuts. What this means is that we want to get to top speed as soon as possible once the ball is snapped.

As we reach our break point, we want to ‘snap’ our chest down over our toes while keeping our eyes up, staring through the defender. The snap aspect of the breakdown phase is used to redirect our momentum from going forward to going down into our break point. It is key to keep the head and eyes up to maintain body balance and to keep the defensive back from jumping the route. We use the Angle Cut Drill (See Diagram 1) and the five-yard Finish Cut Drill (See Diagram 2) with our receivers.

Diagram 1: Angle Cut Drill

Diagram 2: Finish Cut Drill

Angle Cut Drill
Purpose: To demonstrate the proper body position to get in and out of cuts at different angles.

Procedure: Players line up at first cone. On the coach’s command, as players reach the cone, they should begin to drop their hips and butt while pumping their arms to quickly decelerate and explode to the next cone. As the player drives to the next cone, he will have to adjust his body position to ‘running in and out of cut’ depending on the angle of the next cut.

Finish Cut Drill

Purpose: To demonstrate to the players the correct way to run in and out of a cut without taxing their legs.

Procedure: Players line up five yards from break point in two-point stance. On coach’s or quarterback's command, the wide receiver runs to the breakpoint (five yards from the start).

Coaching Points: Instruct players to get good push off the line. You want to emphasize the aspect of running in and out of the cut, pumping arms, and exploding out of cut to keep separation while locating the ball.

As the wide receiver snaps his shoulders down, he should begin to drop his butt and drive his plant into the ground making sure to keep it within the framework of his body at all times. The plant foot is defined as the foot opposite to the direction that you wish to break. The wide receiver should concentrate on maintaining arm movements that stimulate the movement used when running which we term ‘banging the drums.’

Most receivers will drop their arms or stick them outside the framework of their body. This slows the transition out of the break and gives obvious clues that will tip off the defender. During the breakdown phase of the route, we do not want to lose much of the speed that we have built up during the drive phase. Rather, we want to downshift until we have our speed under control to execute the cut allowing the receiver to ‘run out’ of the cut. The WR should begin to transition out of the break once his plant foot is firmly into the ground.

The receiver should open his shoulders and snap the ‘chin’ to the quarterback allowing him to continue to run out of the cut. To help our receivers with the aspect of driving the plant foot and ‘banging the drums’ we use the Four Cone Drill (See Diagram 3).

Diagram 3: Four Cone Drill

Four Cone Drill

Purpose: To demonstrate proper body position to effectively run in and out of break.

Procedure: Players line up at first cone. On coach’s command, player runs a controlled speed to next cone. As players run a controlled speed to next cone, they should begin to drop their hips and butt while pumping their arms to quickly decelerate and explode to the next cone.

The key to this phase is the receiver getting his chin to the QB. We believe that by teaching this, you force the receiver to focus the eyes faster and keep and maintain separation.

Release Techniques

When facing press technique, the wide receiver must be able to execute an effective release. This release occurs on the line of scrimmage that we term as the primary release. When the defense attempts to play press technique on a wide receiver, they believe they are better than the receiver. We teach our players to take this personally and attack them from the outset. The primary release we teach is the ‘chop.’ We teach this release to our receivers in a three-step progression.

The first step in the progression is to bring the back foot forward slightly past balance of the front foot and across the line of scrimmage. We then want to jab step with our front foot attacking his leverage. We refer to this as ‘inching up,’ meaning that we are inching up on the defensive back with short, quick, aggressive steps. We do this to attack the defensive back and get him off balance and to force him to react to us. If done correctly the defensive back has to show you something or he will get beat for sure. We always want to be the aggressors.

The second step in the progression is to locate the defender's hands and break and control the post arm. We term the post arm as the arm the defender will use to execute the initial stab on the receiver. To be able to control and break the post arm, the receiver must get his eyes focused on the defender's hands to identify which arm he will use in the initial stab.

As we begin to break the post arm, we want to use the arm to the side of our release to gain control of the post arm. We instruct our receivers to aim to gain control of the post arm between the wrist and the elbow. We use this as our control because this is the weakest point of the arm. By gaining control at this point, you will be able to control and throw the defender off balance.

In the final step in the progression, we want to use the arm opposite the release to violently chop the ‘catch’ arm of the defensive back. We term the catch arm as the arm the defensive back uses after the initial step has been given. This chop must happen within the framework of the body. We do not want to get overextended and open ourselves up to the defender. After we have executed this final phase we want to establish our vertical line and get into our route. By establishing the vertical line, you force the defender to open his hips putting him into a trail position, thus leaving him at the mercy of the wide receiver.

The key coaching point of the chop release is to attack the defender with short, quick aggressive moves up the field. The more aggressive we are the less aggressive the defensive back will be.

Ball Catching

All receivers need confidence in order to catch the ball consistently under pressure. Proper practice and preparation are prime factors in developing confidence. We teach our receivers that you always want to catch the ball with your eyes first. Meaning that before your hands have a chance to touch the ball, you must first locate it with your eyes and track it all the way into your hands.

By attacking the football in the air, the wide receiver will be able to accomplish this task a majority of the time. By catching the football within the framework of the body, it will allow the receiver to have a better chance to run after the catch thus increasing his big play ability. When the ball is in the air, the receiver must have the ‘my ball attitude.’ This means that he is going to do whatever it takes to make the catch regardless of what type of throw it is or where the throw is.

When teaching receivers the intricacies of catching the football, we give two basic starting points. The first being if the ball is from the numbers up, squeeze the thumbs and forefingers of both hands together forming a triangle. The second rule is if the ball is from the mid-fingers or lower, press the little fingers of both hands together forming a cup for the ball. One of the drills that we do to improve our receivers’ ball catching skills is the Picture Catch Drill (See Diagram 4).

Diagram 4: Picture Catch Drill

Picture Catch Drill

Purpose: Improving our receivers’ ball catching skills.

Procedure: Four receivers pair with four quarterbacks, facing each other about 10 yards apart. The coach controls the drill with five commands:

Ready: Alerts QB to get in throwing position.
Go: Quarterback releases ball to receiver.
Catch: Receiver catches ball and holds that position until next command.
Tuck: Receiver secures ball away and keeps head and eyes locked into ball.
Toss it back: WR tosses ball back to QB.

In this drill we emphasize the receiver looking at the the ball all the way into his hands. Upon the ball reaching the hands, we instruct the receiver to firmly catch the ball, looking at the position of the hands on the ball all the way to the tuck position. This drill allows the receiver to learn to track the ball all the way into his hands.

George McDonald is the Wide Receivers Coach at Minnesota. He previously served as the OC at Western Michigan. McDonald also coached at Ball State, Bucknell, Northern Illinois and Stanford.





NEW BOOK!

AFM Videos Streaming Memberships Now Available Digital Download - 304 Pages of Football Forms for the Winning Coach



















HOME
MAGAZINE
SUBSCRIBE ONLINE COLUMNISTS COACHING VIDEOS


Copyright 2024, AmericanFootballMonthly.com
All Rights Reserved