Good Linebackers Have A Plan But Can Adjust

By Will Cinelli, The Scouting Academy

Thursdays here on the FirstDown PlayBook Coaches Community website we feature a breakdown of personnel and technique. This is provided by our friends over at The Scouting Academy who are our go to experts in this field

One of the keys to playing good defense at any position is the ability to have a plan, but to be able to adapt that plan as conditions on the ground change. Here’s Titans LB Rashaan Evans using his mental processing ability to react quickly and alter his plan to make a play. 

Originally, Evans is tasked with blitzing the A gap. On his way downhill, though, he sees the LG pulling around. So Evans plants hard and gets over the top with the pull. Because he executes this maneuver effectively, the Titans are in great position. The pulling OG has three Tennessee defenders waiting for him. So even if Evans just took on the guard’s block, he’s put his team in good position to succeed on this play. But, we probably wouldn’t be showing you this play on Teachtape Thursday if that was all that happened, would we?

No, Evans goes above and beyond simply putting himself in good position, now he’s going to go make the play. In a one-on-one with the guard, Evans uses his athletic advantage to avoid taking the block one head-on. He combines a hard plant and a nice club move to get leverage on the guard. Now with the leverage advantage and the guard off-balance, Evans uses quickness and power to strain through contact and tackle the ball carrier.