How to Read Quarterback's Drop in Football

Video Transcript

"Hi this is Sean Hobson for Expert Village. Now we talked earlier about good stance, good back pedaling and opening up your hips. One of the most effective things you can do as a good cornerback while in the middle of your back pedal is that you've got to pick up the quarterback. Now you're not necessarily staring in the backfield to see where the quarterback is going with the throw, but what you are reading is you can learn a lot from the play. If you see the quarterback in a three step drop, than typically he is going to make a short pass. If he is in a five step drop, typically he is looking to go further down the field. So what I want to do is, when this receiver comes off the line and I take my back pedal I want to pick up the quarterback and find out what's happening. If he drops three steps real quickly, then this guy is probably going to go inside and I'm going to know to cheat this route to the inside. But if I see that quarterback dropping deep in a five step drop, then what I want to do is, I'm probably going to drop back faster and open my hips quicker because he's going to be going long down the field. So in order to make yourself an effective cornerback, you can read the receivers but you can also read the quarterbacks and tell whether they are going to go deep down the field or short and that's going to make your job a lot easier as cornerback."