One of the most common complaints from observers, especially when a flag hits the field, is that the cornerback could have avoided the penalty by simply turning his head. But sometimes turning your head isn’t an option. It’s a feel and positioning thing. And when those things don’t meet up, sometimes the corner has to go in blind and play the receiver.
Take the deep pass Saints cornerback Ken Crawley broke up to Kelvin Benjamin early on against the Carolina Panthers for example. Crawley was sitting back in a deep zone and it didn’t look like Benjamin was moving very fast. Crawley didn’t expect him to be the targeted receiver.
But Crawley took a look back at quarterback Cam Newton after flipping his hips, which allowed Benjamin to get a step on him, and he saw the quarterback loading up to pass. Crawley had to quickly turn around and play Benjamin’s hands to force the incompletion. If he had turned around to locate the ball, it likely would have taken him out of position, and the pass would have been complete.
“If I’m beat, and I’m on a real fast receiver, I just play the man, play his hands,” Crawley said. “If I got good position on him, I turn my head.”
It’s easy to scream that a cornerback should have turned his head as the ball was coming in, but it’s not always that easy. The ability to make a play on the ball starts with being what players call being in phase, which is another way of saying they are step-for-step with the wide receiver.
Often players will try to take a peek back at the ball to find it. If it looks like it’s going over their head, they’ll get back to the receiver and play their hands. If it’s short or isn’t perfectly placed, that’s often when opportunities come to make a play on the ball.
When that happens, the corners can feel the receiver slow down, and most receivers will put their hands out long before it arrives. Some receivers know how to disguise their hands, but that’s a trait typically only found in elite receivers like Odell Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown. For everyone else, the hands are typically a good tell.
“When a guy is running full speed, and he slows down, turn your head, the ball is short,” said safety Kenny Vaccaro, who often covers receivers out of the slot. “Some guys just panic and hit the guy. Others take advantage of it. You see all the corners that have a lot of picks. They know when to turn and look. Some guys turn and look every time.”
