Film Room Dissects Why Yannick Ngakoue's Cross-Chop is so Effective
Indianapolis Colts' pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue has been one of the most productive pass rushers in the NFL since 2016, amassing 55.5 sacks in his six seasons. The star pass rusher can win in a multitude of ways, but he does have a go-to move that he uses quite often.
Ngakoue is a special athlete that can utilize his impressive blend of size, speed, and bend to fool opposing offensive tackles in the pass game. The one move that he has used constantly over the years, to great success, has been the cross-chop. For a cross-chop to be effective, a pass rusher must complete these four crucial steps:
1. Sell speed off of the line
2. Convert speed to power and step on the offensive tackles' toes (metaphorically)
3. Jump back to the outside while using the left hand to break the outside arm of the offensive tackle
4. Finish the play
In today's film room, I will use Ngakoue's game to help break down this move step by step to show exactly why he is the Cross-Chop King.
Step 1: Sell the Speed
The first step in just about every successful pass rush move is to explode off of the line of scrimmage. The key to being a great pass rusher is making every single rush look the same, so this move should look similar to any other snap (such as a dip and rip or a long-arm, for instance).
As you can see in the pictures below, Ngakoue is staying on his landmark and showing speed at each tackle's outside shoulder. He has to sell this speed rush in order to create space for step two. Ngakoue does this phenomenally well in these two pictures.
Step 2: Step on the OT's Toes
A common pass rush move for defensive ends is converting speed to power. On that move, defensive ends start their rush like they are attacking the outside before readjusting to a bull rush into the tackle's chest plate. What the defensive ends are doing on a cross-chop is selling that speed to power (if that makes sense).
Ngakoue, in these two pictures, fires out of his stance like he is going to use his speed around the corner. He then readjusts inside, showing that he is going to bull rush the chest of the two offensive tackles. This in turn makes the tackles quickly react by bringing their hands more inside, which sets up the third step of this pass rush move.
Step 3: The Euro and the Chop
Now, step three is by far and away the most important step here. After the first two steps are completed, the offensive tackle should be bringing their outside hand back inside. Once that happens, the defensive end then euro-steps back to the outside while chopping the outside/left hand of the offensive tackle with their left hand.
By doing this, the defensive end is essentially creating a lane to the outside of the tackle. The offensive tackle is losing their outside leverage (if the chop hits) and it should create an opening. In both of the pictures below, Ngakoue has effectively chopped away the outside hand of both offensive tackles and is beginning to work his way around the corner.
When I asked Ngakoue today what the key was to a perfect cross-chop, he responded with:
"Just key the wrist and chop!"
Step 4: FINISH
Step four is certainly something that you would hear from a defensive line coach on the sideline. A player could be perfect on the first three steps, but it is always about how you finish the play. After the defensive end knocks the tackle off-balance with the chop, the end still has to bend around the corner and finish the rep.
Luckily, Ngakoue has hardly been a player that doesn't finish his rushes. His 9.25 sacks per season shows that he constantly finds ways to get to opposing quarterbacks. In these two pictures below, he is starting to bend around the corner en route to the quarterbacks.
The Finished Product
Put each of these steps together and it is truly a work of art. The fascinating thing about rushes like this is that each of these steps takes place in a matter of maybe 1-2 seconds of game time.
When the clips are played out in real time, it is so fast that it is hard to even catch all of the steps. Ngakoue has this move down to a science, and it is scary how effective it has been in his six years in the league.
The Bottom Line
Yannick Ngakoue is an uber-talented pass rusher that has been wreaking havoc on the NFL with his cross-chop move over the past six years. While the Colts used to be on the receiving end of a lot of these moves, the star pass rusher is exactly what the team needed on their defensive front.
Ngakoue is an excellent pass rusher that should help the Colts quite a bit in 2022.
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