There are really only two main routes that you should account for when attempting to defend against the tight end. Those two routes are the post route and the corner route. There are many other ways to utilize the tight end in the passing game, but these two routes will consistently do the most damage. In this article, SportsGamer's going to take a look at a couple quick adjustments that can be made to better defend against an opponent who likes to go to their tight end.
In this image, Tony Gonzalez of the Kansas City Chiefs is running a corner route. This route is difficult to defend because the angle at which Gonzalez breaks towards the sideline will create extra separation from the defender.
This time Gonzalez is running a post route. The post route is difficult to defend against because a simple high pass will typically send the tight end into a leaping animation as he catches the ball over the defender. The key to slowing down both of these routes is to try to find some ways to put defenders underneath of these routes.
One of the easiest ways to tell which part of the field that your opponent is most likely to attack is where the ball is placed on the field before the snap. In this picture the Chiefs are starting this play on the right hash mark. By starting on the right hash mark it will be in our best interest to try to defend against the tight end by preparing for the post route. The reason we don't have to worry as much about the corner route as much is because there is a limited amount of space on the right side of the field to make a catch. Quarterback Damon Huard drops back to pass and delivers a strike to Gonzalez as he moves towards the right sidelines.
Gonzalez leaps into the air and makes the catch. Unfortunately, the catch was made out of bounds. As you can see, the timing and precision needed for completing a corner route on the short side of the field takes a lot of skill.
The Denver Broncos have come out in the 4-3 DE Contain. Obviously, the two defensive ends assigned to contain the quarterback are not necessary when playing against a Damon Huard. However, the reason that we chose this play is because our middle linebacker currently does not have an assignment that we'll need to use. The linebacker's ineffective assignment against a team like the Chiefs enables us to change him in any way possible before the snap.
Our opponent remains on the right hash mark, so we change our middle linebacker's assignment to now perform a Hook Zone to try to defend against the post route.
Huard against fire the pass the Gonzalez as he runs his post route. The middle linebacker is lurking underneath and in perfect position to make a play. The pass from Huard was tipped and eventually intercepted thanks to the solid coverage downfield.
Now our opponent is starting back in the middle of the field. We know that either route from the tight end is a possibility in this position. However, this time we're going to take a chance by trying to defend against the corner route. In this image we change the middle linebacker's route to a Curl Zone to try to thwart any thoughts our opponent has about hitting Gonzalez near the sidelines.
Immediately after the snap our middle linebacker begins making his way over towards the sidelines. As the ball approaches our middle linebacker is in solid position for us to leap into the air and knock away the pass. Our linebacker's exceptional position on the tight end allows us to easily knock away the pass.
While both the corner and the post route can be defended in a number of ways, other routes can be defended with only a single pre-snap adjustment. Whenever you want to figure out what works best against certain routes just head into practice mode. We would suggest running the route that you want to try to figure out how to stop over and over again until you find a defense, or a defensive adjustment, that you know will work. Remember, the best changes on the field are the ones that don't force you to sacrifice in other areas.
