In the NFL, everybody is the best of the best. What separates the best from the average players are the intangibles. One of the most important intangibles is being smarter than your opponent. I believe that the best way to accomplish this is to learn the basics of effective football film study.
Here are some things to look out for when studying film.
Focus on your position-specific opponent. When you’re studying film of your opponents focus on the players you’ll be competing against. For example, if you’re a cornerback, focus on the quarterback and the wide receivers. You shouldn’t be watching film like a casual spectator; you’re watching to develop an advantage that will make your job easier on game day.
Watch for player-specific, pre-snap give-aways. In college at UCLA, we (the defensive backs) would try to disguise our coverages to make it look like we were playing Cover 3 every play, pre-snap. But when I recently looked at some of my old game film, I noticed that on several occasions my body language pre snap gave away the disguise. We were really playing cover 2 and I was creeping to soon to cover the half in a Sky call. I wonder if our opposition noticed that.
Watch your opponent’s favorite moves. Knowing the receiver's favorite moves and tricks can help you not only anticipate them, but it can help you prepare for how to deal with those moves too. For example, if you’re a Free Safety, does the weakside tackle lean back so far it appears he is ready to fall down? If so, chances are it's going to be a pass.
If you’re prepared to handle your opponents favorite move, that could make the difference between you making a play, and giving up one.
Watch for tendencies. It’s likely that your coordinator or position coach has already provided you with tendencies for different down and distance situations for your opposition. If not, why not take notes and observe the tendencies for yourself? It's your job to keep your job. There is ALWAYS somebody that wants your job. Work hard not only to earn the spot but keep the spot!
Watching film can provide the edge you need to make more plays on game day.
When it’s second-and-short, for example, what plays do they tend to run more often than others? If there’s an assortment of plays that they run in certain situations, what pre-snap keys are there that you can use to accurately predict which one they’re going to run?
Who’s your block threat? If you’re a Strong Safety, and you’re able to read a key that tells you a certain play is coming your way, who’s going to be blocking you? This is critical, because if you can correctly anticipate who’s going to be blocking you, that’s half the battle, if you think about it. What do I mean? Well, as a former defensive back who played both Cornerback and Strong Safety, I can tell you that I would take-on a running back blocker completely different than a pulling guard. I would take the lead back high and hard forcing the play back inside to my help. I would explode into the outside knee of any pulling guard keeping my leverage and reducing the running lane. Man, the offensive linemen really hated me at UCLA for crushing so many legs.
Use your scouting report wisely. Focus on the plays that your coaches have uncovered as high tendency plays in certain situations. For example, if a team tends to run the ball 70% of the time on first down, watch the film to get an idea of where you need to be aligned to be in position to make a play.
Also, if a team runs a specific play often, you obviously want to be as prepared as possible to stop that play. If you’re on offense, if the other team runs Cover 2 most of the time, which plays are best against cover 2? Look at the technique of the safeties. How good are they at getting off the hashes and making plays on the ball? Which safety has the best and/or worst ball skills?
What do you normally look for when you watch film? What might I have missed in this post? Leave me a comment!
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