Stalk Blocking Technique?

We try to teach our guys to mirror the defender once they get fit. Quick feet and lateral movement - pester him. We don't care about driving the defender - just cover him up. Finish the block when the defender makes a move but make sure the hands (and more importantly, the elbows) stay in. Quick feet and hands are the key.

With that said, stalk blocking the perimeter is always tough because they have to sustain the block for so long. We have made the choice of varying our perimeter blocking scheme to help with that. We will stalk some times and then change it up. We will twist the slot and flanker (in a twins set) to get angles. We will double the CB and then release to an ally pursuer. We will double a slot defender and then work to the CB. We teach a technique of working upfield, letting the CB pursue and then gaining an angle and blindsiding him when the ball arrives. We will block safeties and let the corners run and attempt to tackle. These are just examples - but we developed some of these answers because we had problems sustaining blocks on the perimeter. We felt that we needed to set up playaction routes as well as vary the blocking scheme in order to change the read of the perimeter defender in an effort to create some level of passiveness on their part.

We work mostly footwork in drills. Keep the feet narrow ie under your shoulders. Most kids ,as they approach the target, have a tendency to jump and widen their feet, which in turn causes them to stop moving.

Drill: WR- back to coach, hands behind back, face mask at defenders numbers.
Defender- look at coaches finger movements. Concept: defender is to move in the direction the coach points. Receiver is to keep a narrow base while maintaining a good blocking posture - feet narrow, knees bent, face mask in their numbers.

I tell the kids to make the defender aviod you. Just get infront of him and stalk him wherever he goes. We drill our backs to see the Receiver and make a cut. When you force the defender to choose a side, it leaves a running lane open.

Our aggressive block is our cut block. We also use a push crack techique in which you attack the head up defender. If he bails we veer to defender #2. Concept: If the head up defender bails he is a late force defender. The most dangerous man would be the next defender inside.

For me the basic point of the stalk block is: Did the defender make the tackle? I don't care if you drive him to the sideline or simply shadow him. DON'T ALLOW YOUR DEFENDER TO MAKE THE TACKLE.

It is as simple as ABCD.

Alignment: Where is my block? Is he a hard or soft corner?

Bead: Aiming Point (outside # vs soft corner and inside # vs. hard corner). Threaten his technique. Break down 3 yards from the DB, and stalk him (But square to LOS and in a good football position.)

Contact: Strike a rising blow into the breastplate of the shoulder pads with the heels of the palms, Thumbs up, get his shoulder pads up and him, on his heels. If you bounce off strike again and again until you stick.

Drive: Put the DB on the ground if possible but get him moving. We teach to take him where he wants to go because Our RB's kept running into the stalk blocks when we gave them a 2 way go.

thanks. It's always a work in progress. One of the problems is deciding how to call it. Tag it in the huddle? Let the players decide on the field based on defensive alignments? Communication between sideline and field pre-snap?