Defensive Line Pursuit

Running Lateral Pursuit
In this drill, each defensive lineman moves laterally, down the line of scrimmage, always keeping the ball carrier in his vision. When the ball carrier turns and drives toward the line of scrimmage, the lineman makes the tackle.

At the command "Hit!," the ball carrier turns and starts to run toward the sideline The defensive lineman shuffles down the line of scrimmage, keeping his hips facing up the field and not turning his body to the sideline. The defensive lineman stays a step behind the ball carrier at first. This drill should be run at half speed

At some point before reaching the sideline, the ball carrier turns and attempts to run straight up the field. When the defensive lineman sees the ball carrier make his cut, he shortens his stride, bends his knees, and makes a tackle, using the techniques taught in the open field tackling drill.

As with the other tackling drills, all defensive linemen should have an opportunity to make a tackle moving in both directions. The ball carrier and the tackler should change positions after the tackle has been made.

When the players become more proficient in running the drill, it is fun to allow the ball carrier to take, cut, and try to make the defensive lineman miss the tackle.

Wide Pursuit
The object of this drill is to teach the defensive linemen where to pursue on wide running plays to the right and the left. The only defensive lineman who is blocked is the defensive end on the side to which the ball carrier is running. The drill is designed to be run by a five man line, which allows all defensive linemen to practice at the same time even if the team alternates between a 3-4 and a 4-3 set.

As the ball carrier starts running wide toward the sideline, the offensive tackle on the side of the run tries to hook block the defensive end who is lined up to his outside.

At the snap of the ball, each of the five defensive linemen steps forward, hitting the shoulder pads of the offensive man in front of him with both hands, and then locates the ball carrier and determines the direction of his run.

The defensive end on the side of the run reacts to the hook block, making certain that he holds his position and does not start to widen until the ball carrier has crossed his nose. Once he sees the ball carrier moving to his outside, the end pursues down the line of scrimmage, staying one or two steps behind the ball carrier.

After the two defensive tackles and the nose tackle make contact with the offensive players in front of them, they determine the direction of the run and start moving down the line of scrimmage in the direction of the ball carrier. Once they move down the line to the next offensive player, they take a pursuit angle toward the numbers on the field. The defensive tackle on the side of the run goes live yards deep, the nose tackle 10 yards deep, and the defensive tackle on the side away from the run 15 yards deep.

The defensive end on the side away from the direction of the run charges across the line of scrimmage. He goes upfield until he is even with the running back who is moving away from him. Once he reaches this depth, he then starts to chase the ball carrier, tracing his path. In chasing the ball carrier, the defensive end insures that the offense does not attempt to run a reverse.

The man with the ball runs wide, toward the sideline, until he reaches the numbers, then turns straight up the field, running in that direction for a full 20 yards. Each defensive lineman should touch the ball carrier as he runs up the field. Because this is a drill designed to teach proper pursuit, the ball carrier should not be tackled.

It is important that each defensive lineman have an opportunity to pursue to both his right and his left. This is a good drill to run at the end of practice, instead of running wind sprints, because it also aids conditioning.

Draw Play Pursuit
A draw play is an offensive play that starts out looking like a drop-back pass, then becomes a run after the defensive team has reacted to the potential pass. The offensive linemen drop back as they do on a pass play and attempt to block the rushing defensive players away from the ball. The quarterback starts his pass drop. As he comes even with the two halfbacks, who have set up to pass block, he hands the ball to one of them. The back with the ball then runs up the field

The most important technique for defensive linemen to learn is that once they see that the play is a draw, they must turn and pursue the ball carrier on the same path they were using to rush the passer

If the defensive end was rushing to the outside, he stops and retreats back to the line of scrimmage, staying outside the offensive tackle. If his rush had taken him inside the offensive tackle, the defensive end then comes back on the same path.

The nose tackle usually has committed his pass rush to the right or left of the center. The nose tackle stays on that side when he sees the draw develop, then retreats back to the line of scrimmage.

If the defensive linemen react to the draw play in this manner, it becomes much easier for the rest of the defensive team to know how and where to react in order to stop the play.

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Play Football The NFL Way is the ultimate football manual for coaches and beginning players who want to learn the basics of football correctly. Author Tom Bass is a former NFL coach with more than 20 years of experience with the Cincinnati Bengals, San Diego Chargers, and Tampa Bay Buccaners.

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