Blitz pickup and hot routes

Setup

1. Contact level: thud. Blocks are full speed to contact and both players stay up. Nobody goes to the ground and the QB in the red jersey is never touched.
2. Full helmet and shoulder pads, and a coach watches every rep. Count the thud time towards the week's full-contact limit.
3. Offence: five linemen, QB in the shotgun, RB beside the QB, a slot (H) and a wide receiver (X). Defence: four linemen, two linebackers (M and W), a strong safety (SS) and a corner.
4. The defence picks a blitz from the coach's cards. Free rushers stop 2 yards from the QB.
5. Mark the line of scrimmage with cones. The diagram shows one blitz; the rest of the team is left off.

How it runs

1. Before the snap the QB names the Mike ('54 is the Mike!'). That sets who the line and the RB count.
2. The line blocks the four down linemen and the Mike. The RB checks inside to outside: A gap, B gap, then the edge, and takes the most dangerous rusher.
3. If the defence sends more rushers than there are blockers, one comes free. The QB and H both see it, and H runs the hot route into the space the blitzer left.
4. The QB throws hot within about 1.5 seconds. If the free rusher reaches the 2-yard stop first, the rep counts as a sack.
5. When nobody blitzes, the RB checks, then releases to the flat as a safety valve.
6. 12 to 16 reps with the defence mixing 4-, 5-, 6- and 7-man rushes.

Coaching points

• Count the rushers before the snap: if there are more than the blockers, someone is hot.
• RB: step up and take on the blitzer square with hands inside, head up and back. Never cut-block in this drill.
• RB: eyes inside first. The A-gap blitz gets to the QB fastest.
• QB: throw hot off the free rusher, not off the route. Ball out before the rusher arrives.
• H: see the safety drop down pre-snap, expect the ball early and turn upfield after the catch.
• Linemen: stay on your man. Hands inside, never grab outside the shoulder pads (holding).

Common mistakes

• RB checking the edge first while the linebacker runs free through the A gap.
• Two blockers taking the same rusher and leaving one free.
• QB holding the ball to look downfield with a free rusher coming.
• H running the normal route instead of the hot, so the QB has nowhere to throw.