Football Glossary

The words on the call sheet and in the film room, explained in plain English.

70 Terms · 7 Categories

Positions

Who lines up where, and what each position is asked to do on a typical snap.

A formation is how the offense lines up before the snap. It hints at what's coming, so defenses study it closely.

The route tree is the basic set of paths a receiver can run. Teams number and name them differently, so these are the common names.

A coverage is how the defense guards passes. The number usually tells you how many defenders split the deep part of the field.

A run concept is the blocking plan and the path the ball carrier follows. The names tell linemen who to block and where the ball is going.

Pressure is how a defense attacks the quarterback: who rushes, from where, and who drops into coverage instead.

The flags you'll see most. Yardage and rules can differ between youth, high school, college and pro football.