This is the reason why Jets' Darrelle Revis thrives in press coverage, says Buster Skrine FLORHAM PARK — During cornerback Buster Skrine's rookie year with the Browns, in 2011, his position coach was Jerome Henderson. The Browns played a lot of press coverage, close to wide receivers at the line of scrimmage. To show Skrine and Cleveland's other cornerbacks how to effectively defend at the line, Henderson put on film of Darrelle Revis. "He was like, 'Y'all want to know how to press? Watch Revis,'" Skrine said. Before joining the Browns, Henderson was the Jets' defensive backs coach in 2008. He assisted with that position group in 2007, Revis' rookie year with the Jets. Henderson saw how Revis blossomed into an elite cornerback. And during those film study sessions in Cleveland, so did Skrine, who is now Jets teammates with Revis. Through four games, Revis has justified the Jets giving him $39 million fully guaranteed this past offseason. He has two interceptions and three fumble recoveries, and is an important part of a dominant defense. Skrine, the Jets' slot corner, gets to watch Revis' press coverage skills up close now. He notices exactly what he did on film four years ago — that Revis' ability to play laterally while in press coverage separates him from so many other corners. "He works lateral," Skrine said of Revis' press technique. "When you're a corner and you're working laterally at the line, it's harder for a receiver to get back on track. So he throws receivers off their line. If a quarterback sees a receiver off his line, he's not going to throw it over there. That's why Revis doesn't get a lot of targets. "A lot of guys end up playing press, and they'll just open up [their hips] and they'll just run with the receiver. Revis is getting hands on you every time within that first five yards." So instead of simply pressing up on a receiver at the line, and then turning, letting the receiver run his route, and attempting to track him, Revis often favors a more physically aggressive (and more challenging) approach to press coverage. By squaring up with the receiver, moving side to side, and bumping the receiver, Revis aims to make the receiver go around him and adjust the planned route. As Skrine said, this can disrupt the receiver's timing with his quarterback. The seconds (or even fractions of a second) it takes the receiver to adjust and resume his normal route means valuable time (and timing) lost for the offense. "The receiver tries to hold that line, just so they can come in and out of breaks [during the course of the route]," Skrine said. "If they get pushed to the sideline, you know there's only so many routes they can run. One thing Revis does well is he's good at the line, so he always makes the receiver run a hump." By this, Skrine means the receiver must curve his route to get around Revis — a hump shape in an otherwise straight or angular pass pattern. "If the receiver has to run a hump, that's like two seconds," Skrine said. "[Revis] always makes receivers run around him. He always has huge bumps in his [receivers'] routes. If you watch film, you see receivers running five yards in and trying to get back straight. By the time you do all that, the quarterback has looked you off. He's going to the next progression." Said Jets receiver Eric Decker: "If you look at the release of a quarterback, it's three, four seconds. So if you throw off any kind of timing, that's what this game is about. It's small windows. If you can get the quarterback to hold the ball for another half second, that can lead to disruptions, whether it's sacks, whether it's incompletions." Playing laterally like Revis does in press coverage is "definitely easier said than done," Skrine said. "A receiver is not just going to let you put your hands on him. But to be consistent every play like that, that's why he makes the big bucks. "You've got some guys that are really good at it, but then you've got some guys that are inconsistent at it. He's probably the best press corner in the NFL." The keys, Skrine said, are Revis' hip movement and hand placement, along with his strength as a 200-pound corner — bulkier than many players at the position. "There's not a lot that do it the way he does," Decker said. "He's just smart that he knows every receiver and what their strengths are. He's patient. He does just kind of step laterally and just wait for you to make a move. That, with his smarts and his instincts, just make him a great press corner, to be able to stay square and get [his] hands on players. "He does everything. He can play that way [laterally]. He'll quick jam you and he'll bail [out and run with the receiver]. He does a good job of mixing it up. He's not just a stay square pressing guy. He's able to do a lot of different things. That's what makes it hard for wide receivers. That's why he's Revis Island. That's what makes him the best corner, for sure."
Revis is a such a professional. His technique is just perfect as they describe. His style reminds me of a lot of Ty Law which is amazing because they are from the same town. I had to laugh at this part of the article though because they basically described Dee Milliner
Nice, I was just about to click the link to the article, then saw this....... Dude's a stud I still say that 2009 season is the best I've ever seen someone play CB in the 30 years of really watching / understanding football (and not just sacks and touchdowns)
After reading the article what I find even more impressive is that he plays that style and hardly ever gets called for illegal contact He must have really good technique to not constantly be bumping receivers past the 5 yds limit. Either that or he gets the benefit of the doubt from refs, which I find unlikely since those guys love to throw flags against DBs
The only defense is Ty Law assaulted receivers anywhere he wanted on the field not just within five yards
I don't think he does it after 5 yards, he does it at the line of scrimmage and makes them run the hump after the initial bump, which would take the receiver out of the route after the 5 yards, at least that's how I understand it. Either way, it's a good article and really shows the intricate details that separate the players at that level.
In the hockey world Ty would be considered a 4th line Goon. The rule changes would make Ty an average CB in today's NFL.
Skrine has been a very strong addition. Kid owns the flats and is breaking up plays in coverage often. Seems like he has a really good radar and nose for the ball. I like players that find the football; Skrine is one of those guys.
The rule changes would make almost any cornerback from that era an average cornerback since it's not how they grew up playing the game. Corners now are accustomed to it.
I re watched 3 1/2 quarters of the Miami game yesterday and his name comes up a lot for the d. Blitzes Tannehill 3x before the half, breaking up 1 pass by hitting Tannehills arm. He has an overall outstanding day in London...all around the football. I think Skrine was Gruden's 'grinder' (whatever that means?) for the Monday night game against the Colts too. Instant upgrade over Kyle 'where's the ball?' Wilson
I'm pretty sure Gruden's 'grinder' is the player he jerks to while the camera isn't on the booth. Nobody works harder than that guy.
Revis has great technique but the thing that puts him over the top into the all-time great category is his sleight of hand and the refs unwillingness to call borderline holding penalties. He uses his hands better than any CB I've ever seen. He'll just pinch a guys jersey for a half second and put him slightly off his route and he almost never gets caught when the guy separates and leaves a big elastic expanse of jersey for the refs to pick up on. His timing is amazing. It's one of about a half dozen things he does as well as anybody in the game at CB. Everybody else good does like 4 of them but Revis has the full half dozen.
He didn't win DPOY that year because he didn't have the 'sexy' numbers like Charles Woodson. Robbery.
after I saw a preseason interview with buster showing and exploring a reporter the intricacies of playing CB, i felt he was going to be good. He understands the position and techniques and also got skills to compliment
Dudes outstanding. Gotta love him. At his best Darrelle Revis beat 'em all to the punch at the line of scrimmage. Fought them. For him to do what he's done within the modern passing rules is awesome. He woulda beat them down all over the field, all game long, in Law's era and before. Ty Law was a mentor for Darrelle.
Woodson had more turnovers that year. Revis didn't because QB's were scared of how many turnovers he would actually generate and didn't/couldn't throw on him.
When Deon Sanders as at his height SI featured him on the cover and went into good detail on how he defends WRs. Deon's most impressive talent was his arm strength and ability to sustain jams on WRs at the LOS. He was surprisingly strong, very quick, and almost impossible to get around cleanly. He was the best in the NFL of forcing WRs off their routes (he was pretty good at shutting them down after too). Almost word for word how Buster describes Darrelle.
