Pass-Pro Reads: The Rusher Does 1 of 4 Things

Pass protection feels chaotic until you realize the rusher's options are limited. Once you've set to your spot on a 45° angle and you're square, he can't just teleport to the quarterback — he has to do one of a handful of things, and every one of them tips itself. Your job isn't to predict; it's to react to the surface he gives you.

Coach Jay frames it as the rusher doing one of four things. Set to your spot so he becomes predictable, cover the whole man (not a single target), and answer what he shows. Great moves are so explosive they have to tip themselves before they happen — find the trigger and jump it.

Coach Jay’s cues

• Make him declareGet to your spot and stay square so the rusher has to reveal his move instead of running free.
• Bull rushPower straight through — anchor: hop the feet back, build a triangle, inside hand lower than his. It's what you want him to do.
• Speed rushEdge and acceleration around you — your 45° set already put you on his path; ride him past the pocket.
• Speed-to-power / counterHe sells speed then converts to power, or fakes outside and comes back inside — cover the whole man, feet before hands, and answer the surface he gives.

How to do it

1. Set to your spotTwo kick-slides on a 45° angle to the point between the rusher and the QB. Square and condensed.
2. Cover the whole manDon't lock your eyes on one target — see his whole body and react to the surface he presents.
3. Identify the moveBull, speed, speed-to-power, or counter — let it reveal itself; great moves tip themselves first.
4. Answer itAnchor the bull, ride the speed, re-fit the counter — with independent hands at strike distance.

Drills to train it

• Spot / head-shake drillSet to your spot; partner head-shakes and keeps coming. Cover the whole man and answer what he actually does.
• Four-read circuitPartner runs bull, speed, speed-to-power, and counter in random order; you set and answer each.

Common mistakes

• Guessing the move pre-snap and committing early.
• Locking eyes on a single target instead of covering the whole man.
• Not getting to a spot — sitting in front of the man and "just moving your feet."
• Over-setting to speed and getting beat back inside on the counter.

The 'block the whole man / respond to the surface he presents' read and the 'great moves tip themselves' coaching come from the Paul Alexander pass-pro school Coach Jay's method descends from.

Questions linemen ask

How do you read a pass rusher?

Get to your spot on a 45° set and stay square so the rusher has to declare. Then cover the whole man — don't lock onto one target — and react to the surface he gives you. He can only do a few things (bull rush, speed rush, speed-to-power, or a counter move), and great moves tip themselves before they happen, so you can find the trigger and jump it.

What are the moves a pass rusher can do?

Coach Jay frames it as the rusher doing one of four things: a bull rush (power straight through), a speed rush (edge and bend around you), speed-to-power (sell speed, convert to power), or a counter (fake one way, come back the other). Set to your spot, stay square, and answer the one he shows.

Related technique