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Click here to see the video: Football Defensive Back: Role of the Cornerback

Dennis Hill: Another very important position on the defense side of the ball is the defensive cornerback. T.J. is in the defensive cornerback position. His responsibility is primarily pass coverage against the offensive wide receiver who will be the widest man on the offensive line of scrimmage. T.J. is modeling an appropriate cornerback stance.

You'll see that it is very important, that T.J. has his head straight and is looking at his man. It's very important that T.J. has his nose over his toes and I'll explain this in greater detail in a few moments. T.J.'s responsibility is to follow this man as closely as possible, he is prepared and poised and ready to move in any direction. He can move backwards, he can move inside, he can move outside. The reason he's aligned slightly inside the offensive player is, T.J.'s goal, as a cornerback, is to force his man to the outside, which creates an easier coverage lane and puts T.J. between the offensive receiver and the quarterback throwing the ball. The alignment for T.J. when he's playing man-to-man coverage is he should be one yard inside his man and five yards off the line of scrimmage to properly create a buffer to make sure that he can cover his man.

If, however, you notice that your cornerback is a better athlete than the offensive player, you can ask him to play a little bit tighter, effectively shortening the buffer zone that he has between the offensive wide receiver and creating slightly more tension and a much more difficult responsibility for the offensive player.