The Scouting Academy Looks At Off Man Technique

By Will Cinelli, The Scouting Academy

Each Thursday here on the FirstDown PlayBook Coaches Community website we will 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!

“Off Man” coverage is a great way to get some of the advantages a defender might get by playing zone, while still maintaining many of the pluses that man coverage gives you.

Tre’Davious White, the corner at the bottom of the screen begins the play off at 8-9 yards of depth. This allows him to be patient and lets him watch the receiver in his route but also see the QB, his drop, and his release. This allows him to perfectly time his break and undercut the receiver’s route.

More All 22: NFL LB Eric Kendricks

This player demonstrates his athletic ability here as well, as he plants and drives on the route with the burst and explosiveness to get there. White also has good ball skills, which are certainly helped by his ability to track the ball in the air the whole way.

Compare this to a press man corner who would have to key only the receiver to know when to get his eyes back to attempt to find the ball and track it to make a play. This scheme marries well with the player’s skill set here, resulting in the interception.