In our post on what scouts look for in the center position we talked about, well, what NFL scouts look for centers. But now what?
Pittsburgh Steelers’ Two-Time Pro Bowl/All-Pro Center Maurkice Pouncey. (ICON Sports)
I think we need to take it a step further and take some action on this info!
Agreed?
If you’re like most guys that have dreams of playing pro football, you might have to train yourself.
To help you out, I’ve compiled a bunch of drills that you can do.
But not just any drills. These are drills that will help you get better at most of the specific things NFL scouts look for when they’re looking at centers.
>>Related: Bet You Didn’t Know NFL Scouts Look for Some of this Stuff…
A lot of drills out there require equipment of some kind. But to help those on a budget, the drills listed below require little-to-no equipment to be purchased.
Disclaimer: If you’re injured, or have health issues, please consult with a doctor before doing any of this stuff. I, nor Get2TheLeague.com is responsible if you hurt yourself, or tear-up your mom’s house trying to do these drills.
With that said, let’s continue.
Lateral Agility/Quickness/Footwork
The drills in the video below will help you improve your lateral movement ability, knee bend and flexibility, pass blocking technique, explosion, and more.
>>Related: Specific Stretches for Football that Can Give You an Advantage on the Field
The world famous dot drill. Great drill to do to warm up before your workout.
In the below video, you’ll find some ladder drills that you can do to help you develop better lateral agility and better footwork overall.
The good thing about the ladder drill is that you don’t really need to buy a ladder; you can put tape or something on the ground and get the same results.
The video below introduces the 2-3-2-3 drill, which’ll help you with your lateral agility and quickness. They’re using speed hurdles on the video, but you should be able to find something (or make something) around the house that you can use instead.
The video below shows you how to do the the mirror shuffle, mirror angle kick slide, slide run, and backward shuffle drills, to help you with your agility.
The plyometric drill in the video below can be done just about anywhere. If you don’t have a platform around the house you can use, you can always do this one on the bench you use for the bench press at the gym.
The drills in the video below can be done without a band, but having a band will make the drills much more effective.
Knee bend
There’s a document from Hawgtuff.net that you should check out that covers this topic.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DOCUMENT
At the top of the first page, you’ll see a drill called the “Shuffle-touch drill” which is designed to help you develop the habit of bending at the knees, while helping you with flexibility, as well.
The drill underneath it on the sheet, the “no hand slide drill” will help get the knee bend and pass protection technique that scouts wanna see.
Actually, there’s a bunch of drills on that sheet that can help you out in multiple facets of your game, so skim through the whole document.
Run Blocking
If you’re training yourself, you might be able to use some instruction on how to get your run blocking techique right. The video below takes you through some drills you can do to get better at run blocking.
You might have something you can use around the house to substitute for the block pad. If not, they’re not that expensive. I’ve seen them online for $50, on the low end.
This video takes you through all the steps in the run blocking progression.
Pass Protection
Coach Brian Callahan, with some pass blocking fundamentals.
Some pass protection drills you can do.
Might be hard to find a wall you can throw medicine balls against, but the drills in the video will definitely help you get better in pass protection.
Pulling/Trap Blocking
This coach in this video breaks down the technique behind pull blocking. (Courtesy footballcoachingsecrets.com)
This drill is great for working on pulling. (Courtesy O-LineWorld.com)
This video goes over the basic technique of executing a trap block.
You’ll need three other people involved, plus a couple bags (unless you can make something up around the house to use).
This drill will get you comfortable with executing a trap block.
This drill’s just like the one above, except this one is for plays where the man you’re trapping is in closer proximity.
Hip Explosion
The exercises mentioned in our article How to Tackle Hard in Football will help you develop the explosion that scouts look for in centers.
You should be able to do the first and last drills on the video below without equipment.
The second drill requires a sled, but you might be able to put something together around the house or in the backyard that you can use instead if you don’t have access to one.
It’s often overlooked, but hip flexibility plays a huge part in developing explosion in your hips. Increasing the range of motion in your hips is crucial. The drills in the video below can help you with that.
By the way, if you have any other drills that can help centers, leave em in the comments!
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