The first step to being a star pass rusher
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How quickly a defensive player reacts to the snap — the "get-off," as Green Bay end Aaron Kampman describes it — is more than just key to notching sacks. Those with a zippy first step possess a highly coveted trait that can single-handedly change a game's complexion.
"It sets up everything on the back end," Packers defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila said. "If I can get that good first step, I already know there's going to at least be a pressure on the quarterback or something good is going to happen.
"I try to time it. If I can get my first step and the tackle is still in his stance, now he's more in recovery mode. He's moving backward."
During a mid-June interview, Packers coach Mike McCarthy recalled a 2006 match-up against Miami in which Dolphins end Jason Taylor got left tackle Daryn Colledge "twisted up" with his burst en route to a first-quarter sack-and-strip of quarterback Brett Favre. McCarthy immediately shifted his entire blocking scheme and designated a running back to help Colledge, who was starting in place of the ailing Chad Clifton (food poisoning).
"It just shows you how one guy like that can change the game," said McCarthy, whose team allowed one more Taylor sack in a Packers victory. "You have to take care of those guys."
The value of players with quick first steps like Taylor was reaffirmed this offseason. Minnesota sent first- and third-round draft picks to Kansas City for Jared Allen and then signed the NFL's 2007 sack leader to a contract extension with $31 million guaranteed — a league record for a defensive player. Allen's deal broke the mark of $30 million paid the previous year by Indianapolis to fellow end Dwight Freeney.
Jacksonville was unable to acquire that kind of impact pass rusher before the draft. So the Jaguars made a bold move, trading up 18 spots in the first round to No. 8 to select an end who showcased his speed at the University of Florida.
"Just look at the ball and go — it's natural," Derrick Harvey said last month at a Jaguars mini-camp. "You've got to be born with it."
From the mouths of babes ...
Harvey will soon discover that successfully utilizing a quick first step at the NFL level is as much about technique and desire as genetics. In defenses where ends have gap responsibilities, offenses can exploit pass rushers who don't incorporate other moves besides charging up-field.
"The first step is good but it can only get you so far," said Gbaja-Biamila, a speed rusher who has averaged double-digit sacks over the past seven seasons. "If (opponents) know that's all you're going to use, they play for that and ride you by. It becomes ineffective. You've got to pick and choose when you're doing it."
Some pass rushers looking to pounce have the tendency to jump offsides on a hard count or tip their hand before the snap.
"Using the proper (blocking) technique and studying film is one of the best ways to combat quickness," Dolphins tight end Anthony Fasano said. "You pick out keys and certain tendencies, like where they stand or put pressure on their foot."
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| Vonnie Holliday learned from one of the best in Reggie White. (Doug Benc / Getty Images) |
Conversely, defensive players spend hours scouring video in search of their own edge. Now-Dolphins end Vonnie Holliday remembers watching film as a Packers rookie with the late Reggie White, who retired in 2001 as the NFL's all-time sack leader.
"Reggie would say, 'Did you see that? Rewind it. The quarterback holds his heel up and drops it just before the snap,'" Holliday said. "When we're watching film on quarterbacks and centers, we're looking at their every movement and analyzing it to see if there's any indication about when the ball is going to be snapped."
Down-and-distance, as well as formations, provide other tips in anticipating the snap count.
"If a receiver is in motion, most of the time they're not going to go on two," Kampman said. "There are just different things where you can say, 'I bet the ball is coming now.' You anticipate and that makes a huge, huge difference."
Gbaja-Biamila has even asked quarterback Brett Favre for advice.
"He said there's usually no hard count in a two-minute situation because (the quarterback) is just trying to get guys in line and move the ball," Gbaja-Biamila said. "If they hard count, they could set off their own guys to jump. I usually get to the line ready to go."
Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said his team covets pass rushers who "anticipate the snap and get off on the ball quickly time in and time out." But scouting that quality isn't as easy as reading a stopwatch. Among the NFL's top 13 sack leaders last season, six were drafted between rounds three and five.
"There are different ways to time how fast a player can get to the quarterback," Packers general manager Ted Thompson said. "We do it at the (NFL Scouting Combine) with a drill where you rush up the field, go around a dummy and cross a cone. They do this drill in the spring (at pre-draft college workouts) where a defensive back backpedals to see if the defensive end can close ground.
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| Aaron Kampman's secret to success? Practice, practice, practice. (Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images) |
"But I'm not sure it's something you can measure. It's something you can see."
And something that can be developed. Kampman, who lasted until the fifth round of the 2002 draft, laughed when asked how he bettered his first step coming out of college.
"Repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition and more repetition," he said.
That includes offseason drills designed to make his body react to the snap "even if it's just someone holding a football and you're on your belly, back or side so you have to have a ground start. You can do all kinds of different things to get in awkward positions to make your body react to different stimulus of wanting to go."
While watching a play review as a Kansas City Chiefs assistant, McCarthy saw renowned offensive line coach Alex Gibbs draw a circle and dollar signs around the defensive end. Gibbs then inked an even bigger circle with more dollar signs around the left tackle.
The moral wasn't lost on McCarthy.
"You've got to have a good left tackle," McCarthy said. "It just makes life so much easier. If you don't, you have to worry about (speed rushers). It changes a lot of the things you do offensively."
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