Editing Cornerback (section)

==Single/man-to-man coverage==
In single or man to man coverage, the cornerback is responsible for a particular receiver assigned to him. As the play begins, the corner may either attempt to "jam" the receiver at the line, play a step or two off of him, or concede a few yards and play with a "cushion". Cushions can range from a yard or two, to forty yards in a "prevent defense" situation. Cushion is just how far off the defender plays away from the offensive player he is assigned to defend. When lining up in front of the receiver to "jam" him or playing just a few steps off, it is important that the corner keeps his body in front of the receiver's body. The easiest way for a corner to be in position is to line up slightly inside of the receiver and the ball, and keep his eyes looking between the receiver's hip and his knees. If a cornerback loses focus on his receiver, the receiver will run straight past him, and then it leads to corners having to use the cushion technique. Generally, cushions are smaller in single coverage and larger in zone coverage.

Single coverage in the "[[Glossary of American football#R|red zone]]" – the area between the twenty-yard line and the goal line – is usually designed to prevent receivers from slanting towards the middle of the field.  These types of routes are difficult to stop in the red zone because this area is usually congested with bodies colliding, crossing, and weaving in different directions. Although illegal, defenders are easily picked or screened by opposing receivers and sometimes by their own teammates; this is illegal yet difficult to enforce in short field, congested situations. To avoid this, it is often favorable for cornerbacks to either: "switch" assignments, where he will agree beforehand to trade assignments with one of his fellow defenders if the receivers criss-cross as the play begins, or alternatively,  if a corner may instead line up very close to the receiver at the line of scrimmage to force or "jam" him toward the sideline (outside) without violating the 5-yard no-touch rule. Corners often refer to this second style of coverage as the "man under" technique.

Single coverage, or man to man coverage usually employs relatively few techniques. However, they are often initially displayed to resemble one another as much as possible to disguise the true motives of the defense, and be interchangeable as well. Although terminology for single coverage can vary, a few generic terms have been included to establish a general understanding of cornerback philosophy and how his function relates to the rest of the defense.

===Loose man===
Loose man requires cornerbacks to play off the receiver with a five to ten yard cushion. He usually does not touch the receiver and tries to keep his head on a swivel in order to move in whatever direction the receiver decides to shape his route. Typically with loose man coverage, the cornerback has little or no help from the safety in defending against the receiver.

This defense is used to discourage deeper passes, but often allows short yardage passes. A loose-man defense looks to create confusion for the quarterback by using [[blitz (football)|blitz]]es. The idea is to disrupt the coordination necessary for short routes, which leads to drops or poorly thrown passes stalling the drive. However, accurate quarterbacks with a quick release of the football can exploit this and routinely make 3 to 5 yard completions to receivers.

===Man up===
By far the most challenging, the man up technique grants the wide receiver a relatively free release as the corner shadows him stride for stride everywhere he goes. The cornerback's objective here is to position himself between the quarterback and the receiver, without knowing where the receiver is going. As the ball is snapped the corner will initially ignore the quarterback, turn and run with the receiver and hope the ball does not drop out of the sky before he can react to it. Corners must also hope the receiver does not change directions when it is time to sneak a peek at the quarterback in effort to discover where the ball is.  A wet field makes this coverage extremely difficult. In addition, a perfect throw is hard, if not impossible, to stop. This coverage is usually reserved for the elite cornerback with superb coverage skills.