Diagnose. React. Tackle. Corner Play At Its Best.

By Will Cinelli, The Scouting Academy

On most Thursdays FirstDown PlayBook brings you a special treat here on the Coaches Community website. We feature a breakdown of personnel and technique provided by our friends over at The Scouting Academy who are our go to experts in this field.

One of the most challenging aspects of playing defense in the modern NFL is that defenders are consistently challenged to make plays in space. One missed tackle and all of a sudden it’s 6 points for the offense. If you have guys on your defense like Jaire Alexander, though, you can disrupt an offense’s rhythm and get them behind the sticks.

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Here we take a look at Alexander making a play behind the line of scrimmage on an attempted screen. Step one of this play is Alexander’s ability to quickly key and diagnose. With his eyes turned in he sees the #3 receiver on a bubble screen and the QB quickly spinning to throw the screen.

Once Alexander has made the diagnosis, his reaction is almost instantaneous. There is no hesitation or false step. If there was, the outside receiver makes this block. Instead, Alexander is by him before he can even get a hand on the Packer DB.

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The final step, now, is you have to make the tackle. Alexander does a nice job of coming to balance with proper pad level. He aims for the near hip and explodes out of his hips to strike the receiver well and bring him down for the TFL.