Wide Receiver Drills
Page 2

This page offers more football receiver drills in the following categories:

- Ball Handling
- Concentration
- Blocking

All the wide receiver drills on our first page are Ball Handling football drills.

Ball handling drills focus on the main thing - Catching the football and holding onto it. Concentration football receiver drills helps players catch the ball in traffic. And, of course, the wide receiver blocking drills can help open up your running game when your receivers block out those DB's.

Interested in ongoing Football Plays and Drills info? Join our Monthly "Football Tips" Newsletter and receive a FREE Special Report for doing so. Just fill in your Email Address and Name below:

Wide Receiver Drills - Ball Handling

Objective - Teach wide receivers to make their route cuts decisively and finish each route. Helps develop hand/eye coordination.

Action - After deciding which route to run, place a cone where the cut should be made and position your receiver about 3-4 steps from the cone. The receiver starts to quickly run in place with hands pumping (as if running the route). At the QB's signal, receiver finishes the last 3-4 steps, makes the cut at the cone and catches the football. After the catch, the receiver should tuck the ball and head upfield.

Coaching Details - Teach receivers to snap their heads around quickly to better locate the ball. Be sure they have their hands in proper position to make the catch cleanly. Once they get this part of the route down, you can run the entire route out of your offensive sets.

Objective - Work on developing quick hands.

Action - Have the players lie on their backs while the coach stands at their feet and flips the ball to them. The receiver can only raise his arms up to catch the pass.

Coaching Details - Give each receiver a good amount of reps on this wide receiver drill. Make sure they get their hands up fast.

Objective - Teach hand/eye coordination and how to react quickly to the football.

Action - Line up receivers on a yardline with the coach about 7-10 yards away and facing them. The coach randomly throws the ball to each receiver with a shovel pass. Anytime a player drops the ball, he's eliminated.

Do this wide receiver drill with the players standing and then down on one knee to get them used to bringing in a low ball. You can increase concentration by having all eliminated players do pushups while they're waiting for the drill to end.

Coaching Details - Make sure receivers are looking the ball in and catching the football with their hands, not cradling it into their body.

Objective - Similar to the "Eliminate!" drill, except now we're teaching players how to dive, catch and fall when going after a low ball.

Action - Position receivers in a kneeling position about 10 yards from the coach or QB. Throw the football so the players have to stretch out as they dive for it.

Coaching Details - Teach your receivers to land on their sides when completing a diving catch. Give them practice diving to the right and left sides.

Objective - Improve skills at catching the difficult or poorly thrown pass.

Action - Receivers run 10-yard out or in routes. Have the coach or QB throw passes that are either high, low or behind the receivers.

Coaching Details - Emphasize quick location of the ball and getting the hands into position to make the catch.

Wide Receiver Drills - Concentration

Objective - This wide receiver drill will teach receivers to catch in traffic, then get upfield.

Action - Line up two dummy bags (with some space between them) about five yards off the line of scrimmage and about 5-7 yards inside of where the wide receiver lines up. A third bag should be about 5 yards behind the first two.

At the snap, the receiver runs a short in route, the quarterback delivers the football, the receiver makes the catch and then turns upfield. He should run through the two dummy bags, then make a move on the third bag.

The players holding the first two bags should hit the receiver as he makes the catch. A key to this wide receiver drill is that the receiver must make the catch and then explode through the first two bags before making his final move to get around the third bag.

Coaching Details - Teach your players to maintain proper catching techniqe and to stay focused on the ball, not the defenders. This will help them become better in "traffic" during games.

Objective - Teach receivers to catch while a DB is blocking their vision.

Action - Split the receivers into 2 lines at the sideline. The lines are about two yards apart. The quarterback or coach is about 10 yards away near the numbers. The line closest to the QB will be the defenders and the other line has the receivers.

At the snap, the receivers run across the field while the defenders stay in front of them, blocking their view of the quarterback. After about 5-10 yards of this, the QB then throws the ball to the receiver, but "through" the defender so the receiver has to find it, then catch it.

Coaching Details - Emphasize to your receivers that they must keep their concentration off the DB and on the football. Don't allow them to break down their catching technique just because the catch is a tough one.

Objective - Teach receivers to catch while a DB is blocking their vision.

Action - Align two lines on a line of scrimmage facing each other and about 10-15 yards apart. One line will be the receivers and the other line is the defenders. The quarterback is positioned about 10-15 yards back and at the point where the two lines will meet.

The wide receiver drill starts with the first receiver and first defender running across the field toward each other (the receiver will run a bit behind the defender to avoid colliding). The defender should wave his hands, trying to distract the vision of the receiver as the quarterback throws the ball to the point where the players will cross.

Coaching Details - Teach your players to maintain proper catching techniqe and to stay focused on the ball, not the defenders. This will help them become better in "traffic" during games.

Wide Receiver Drills - Blocking

Objective - Teach receivers to block defensive backs.

Action - The receiver breaks off the line with the look of a deep flag route (to get the DB backpedaling). Once the DB recognizes the run play and slows down to make his move, the receiver needs to make contact for the block.

Coaching Details - During this wide receiver drill, teach your players to watch the defensive back's feet. Emphasize the need to get close to the DB during the initial drive upfield. Also, look for proper blocking form - hands inside, wide base, head up, butt down.

Objective - Teach receivers to block defensive backs.

Action - Position your wide receivers in pairs about five yards apart. One player of each pair will be the receiver and the other will be the DB. On coach's signal, have the receivers block as the defensive backs try to get around them. After 5-10 seconds, have players reverse roles and repeat the drill.

Coaching Details - Teach your wide receivers to keep good body balance so they can stay positioned in front of the defender. The feet shouldn't cross. Don't turn the hips.