Responsibilities of the Defensive Tackle in Football

Series Summary

The game of gridiron football is an icon of Americanism. From its roots in early versions of rugby football brought over the Atlantic from England, football takes it place alongside baseball as the most American of sports. Though its name is somewhat deceptive, and in fact logically unsound, football is the most widely watched sport in the United States, and its championship game, whose name is not known only to those who have been living on the moon for the last fifty years, the super bowl is the most watched television event in the United States. The sport is the caretaker of the Greatest Game Ever Played, the NFL championship game from 1958, which hosted 15 then future hall of famers and historic names such as Johnny Unitas, and continues to delight audiences with its mix of complex strategy and physical play.

In this free video series, our expert Sean Hobson will show you how to play the defensive tackle position in American football. He will show you how to get into a good stance, and how to fire off from both a three point or four point stance. Sean will also show you how to make contact after the ball is snapped, and how to move with the defender to pursue a tackle. He'll even show you some sweet football moves including the spin move, the bull rush, the rip move, and the outside swat & swim move. Finally, Sean will teach you how to keep good balance as a defensive tackle in American football.

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Sean Hobson, for Expert Village. What we want to talk about now is the importance of the defensive tackle. The defensive tackle is a very important part of your defensive line. They are the people that try to get penetration in to the defensive backfield; they'll try to get big stops in the backfield or at the line of scrimmage tackling the running backs coming through. They'll also try to get penetration in the backfield and try to sack your passer. You've heard the reference to a four man rush. These are one of the big guys that will rush in. These guys have to shed blocks and get in to either stop the run or stop the pass. The defensive tackle is the one that can blow up plays quicker than anybody. By the time they get in the backfield a play could be disrupted because they want to sweep to the outside and if you get your tackle in there he could stop the play dead in the backfield. So, defensive tackles have to be quick, they have to be able to explode off the line, they have to stay lower than the offensive man and they have to get a good push. The deeper the push of the defensive line, the better your plays will be. The defensive tackle is a very important part."