Offensive Linemen Drills - Picking Up the Blitz

Quick feet separate the elite linemen from the rest. Your ability to pick up an oncoming blitzer will make the difference between you going to the next level or not. Linemen need to have good field vision and the ability to read defenses along with quick feet and explosion. This drill focuses on the physical part of picking up a blitz, quick lateral movement and explosive blocking.

As a linemen, you need to be able to move laterally quickly to be an effective pass blocker. Ladders are nice for quick feet drills, but linemen need to cover ground quickly in large steps, not like the little boxes of agility ladders. For this reason this drill is set up over 8 yards, the goal being to cover the distance in as little time and as few steps as possible.

The Set Up

Set up two cones 8 yards apart. Place a sled at one cone facing out at a 45 degree angle. If you do not have access to a sled, do this indoors and place a barbell by one cone. If you don't have access to that type of facility, Get yourself a heavy bag of concrete, tape it up really well and place that by the cone. If you use concrete it's best to do the drill outside.

The Drill

Get in your stance in front of the cone that does not have an object beside it. Come up quickly out of your stance and shuffle over to the other cone as quickly as possible. Stay low, bending at the knees and use big steps to cover ground quickly. When you get to the other cone, explode into the sled or clean and press the barbell or bag to simulate the movement. With a bag, you can actually clean and throw the bag out, just make sure it's taped up really well.

The Benefit

By forcing yourself to shuffle quickly, bent at the knees, you closely simulate how you come off the line and look for oncoming blitzers. Also, by already being bent at the knees you create more force when you explode into the other player. This drill will teach you quick lateral movement the way linemen need it, in large, powerful steps. You can modify the drill by placing one sled or bar in front of you to simulate an initial block laid on someone before moving to pick up the blitz.