How to Be a Good Cornerback in Football

Cornerbacks defend an opposing team's wide receivers. Receivers range from tall, physical athletes to small, shifty speedsters, forcing cornerbacks to make adjustments. In addition to keeping up with a variety of wide receivers, cornerbacks are expected to provide run support, stepping up to tackle large, powerful running backs. Becoming a good cornerback means improving your awareness, technique and football fundamentals.

Instructions

    • 1

      Know your assignment on every play and always execute the called play. Cornerbacks typically play either man-to-man coverage, in which they defend one opponent, or zone coverage, in which they defend an area on the field. Cornerbacks will also occasionally blitz the quarterback. Follow through on your assignment and know where you have help from safeties and linebackers.

    • 2
      Cornerbacks stay low to the ground, making quick steps backward while eyeing the opponent.

      Use proper backpedaling and hip movement when in coverage. Cornerbacks initially face the line of scrimmage when covering a wide receiver. The best cornerbacks can backpedal quickly, swivel their hips in the direction of a receiver's cuts and break forward in an instant to break up a pass. Cornerbacks also must rotate their hips in order to chase down a wide receiver who runs a deep route. Maintain a low center of gravity while backpedaling and keep your weight on the balls of the feet, enabling you to break quickly in the direction necessary. Use drills that involve backpedaling to a cone 10 yards behind you and either breaking forward or spinning your hips around and running back for a deep ball.

    • 3

      Keep an eye on your receiver and avoid looking into the backfield at the quarterback. Watch the receiver's hip movements to identify his intended route. If a receiver breaks to the inside and you have help over the top from a safety, sprint in front of the route and take away the underneath pass.

    • 4
      NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders was known for being a supreme defensive playmaker.

      Develop your pass catching skills as if you are a wide receiver. A defense's job is to get the ball back for the offense. Nothing gets the ball back quicker than a turnover. Top cornerbacks are known for being playmakers who create turnovers. If you have mastered being in the correct position, the next step is making the interception on a ball thrown in your vicinity. Work with a quarterback in practice. Have him throw you a variety of passes and practice catching the football while running backward looking over your shoulder and also while sprinting forward, maintaining focus on the ball while breaking in front of another receiver.

    • 5

      Recognize when to jam a wide receiver at the line and when to give him a cushion. In short yardage plays or plays in which your defense is blitzing, play close to the line of scrimmage to get a good jam on the receiver. Within five yards of the line, you can obstruct and shove the receiver. When the offense needs a huge chunk of yardage, play off the line, giving about a 10-yard cushion to the receiver. This helps you prevent any long passes from being completed to your side of the field.

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      Because cornerbacks often give up size to a running back, they are best served tackling the runner's legs.

      Practice making open-field tackles. Cornerbacks rarely get involved in huge scrums down in the trenches. Instead, they make their living tackling ballcarriers in the open field. Well-rounded cornerbacks can attack the runner on the edge of the line and make hard, sure-handed tackles to prevent a large gain. In practice, perform tackling drills. Start 10 yards away from a ballcarrier and watch as he makes a cut to either side of you. Proper open-field tackling involves staying low, taking short, quick steps that let you react to the ballcarrier's movement, keeping your arms ready and back straight, wrapping up the ballcarrier below the waist and driving him to the ground.

    • 7

      Watch cornerbacks at the highest level perform. The NFL is full of cornerbacks who excel in many aspects of the position, from pass coverage to run support. Studying how a cornerback moves, how he reads an offense and his technique for pass defense and tackling will help you improve your own skills.