Dante Cephas and The Art of Beating Press Coverage

In two stat-packed seasons in the MAC, Penn State’s WR transfer addition proved he could consistently create separation.

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On paper, press coverage and jam technique sounds optimal for defenses. Get your hands on receivers early, knock them off their stems, aggravate ‘em, and mess up the timing of the entire play. It’s aggressive. It’s proactive. It’s literally in your face. Well, not your face, but the receiver’s face.

But, like everything else too good to be true in life, choosing to play press coverage is a risk-reward proposition for defensive coordinators. Whiff on your offhand jam? Oh boy…the wideout is gonna be looking at your toasted defensive back in the rearview or the stadium Jumbotron all the way to the painted promised land. Choose to play “press-bail” – a bit of a bluff technique in which it appears pre-snap the corner is about to get physical but instead hits a full sprint backward at the snap of the ball – well, you better hope your inside help sees the slant coming.

Dante Cephas – Penn State’s newest offensive addition and a two-time first-team All-MAC weapon – has proven time and time again he can beat press coverage despite not possessing Herculean strength or Bowser speed in Mario Kart, thus creating massive separation in a small space. How, you may be asking? With advanced footwork at the line of scrimmage and obsessive attention to detail…which we’re about to outline for you.

Defensive coaches in the MAC were willing to try anything to slow down Kent State’s explosive offense (although it is worth noting that absolutely nobody plays defense in the MAC). Thus, Cephas saw his fair share of cornerbacks lined up nose to nose with him. Kent State’s extremely wide splits – a hallmark in former HC Sean Lewis’ ‘FlashFast’ offense — were a bit of a double-edged sword. With the wideouts lined up outside the numbers, they had limited space to work outside releases, buuuuut this also created natural 1v1 matchups everywhere on the field.

Despite being snuggled against the sideline on roughly 75-80 percent of the snaps we scouted, Cephas still managed to beat defenders off the line of scrimmage with supreme efficiency thanks to his thick catalog of releases. Our first exhibit (below) comes in the first quarter of Kent State’s game against NIU. This move is so subtle you might need a magnifying glass, so let me give you a second to either grab one or have Jeff Bezos send you one in an unneccessarily large box…

Note: Cephas is at the bottom of the screen.

Smurf-colored Kent State decides to call a shot play off play-action here, basically 3 verticals. QB finds his favorite matchup amongst the 1v1s across the board, and shocker, it’s Cephas.

As the ball is snapped, Cephas quickly realizes he hasn’t been “jumped” and the CB hasn’t bailed, either. This likely means he will get “1-hand-jammed” as soon as he releases either inside or outside. Running a Go route, Cephas naturally releases toward the sideline. Knowing the CB is trying to punch the front of his near shoulder, notice how Cephas gives a slight dip in his left shoulder once he evens with the defender. This move causes the CB to overextend and fall slightly off balance while #14 turns on the jets and immediately looks to “stack” the defender — getting directly in front of the CB to wall him off and maintain a step in front at all times. The rest is history.

Moving on to exhibit No. 2…Cephas (top of screen) is a technician with his inside jab.

I know what you’re thinking: Why’d you show this? Lemme explain.

So this probably goes without saying, but I’m gonna type it anyway. Like I mentioned a few paragraphs ago, wide-split offenses like Cephas starred in at Kent State are great because they create natural 1-on-1 situations for receivers. But, and this is a key ‘but’, all those 1-on-1’s are worthless if you can’t win those 1-on-1’s consistently. And to win routes consistently, there’s often some gamesmanship involved (recall Cephas’ attention to detail).

Cephas likes to set up his releases all game long and play chess against the DBs tasked with guarding him. This offense ran a lot of in-breaking RPO routes to the boundary: slant, glance, bang-8 post. Cephas knows the defender is expecting an inside release…Cephas also knows that he is running a hitch into press coverage, so 99.9% chance he is not getting the rock. Most players would use this play to rest up and get their breath back, but Cephas sees this as an opportunity to gather information on the CB. As the play begins, the speedy WR hesitates before fully committing to a single jab step inside, even turning his head slightly inside. If Cephas was running a Go here, he’d be so open the QB could punt it to him…but he hitches up at 5 yards, toying with the DB’s head.

While that play above might’ve looked like nothing, it planted seeds in the mind of the defender that led to the explosive play clipped below three plays later — Cephas runs right by that same CB who was expecting a stop or hinge route.

Lastly, Cephas shows some elite-level nuances in release and route running in this next clip.

Versus Ohio in 2021, Cephas encounters a ‘press-bail’ corner. Immediately realizing this, Cephas knows the inside jab is borderline pointless because the corner isn’t responsible for it anyway. Running a 12-15 yard stop/hinge route, the corner “matches” to him and begins trying to keep both Cephas and the QB in his vision. BUT, much like that annoying guy on the interstate, Cephas masterfully stays in the corner’s blindspot and even throttles down a tad to ensure the CB doesn’t turn and run with him too early.  Cephas stops on a dime without the defender knowing and it’s an easy pitch and catch.