Why Is Agility Important in Football?
Agility is important in football because the ability to stop, start and change directions quickly and unexpectedly gives players a greater chance of eluding the opposition and completing plays. Every snap of the ball involves challenges between opposing players. Players on offense make nimble, evasive moves to get by would-be tacklers, and players on defense use power and agility to work around blockers and make tackles.
National Football League prospects are subjected to agility, speed and strength testing as part of the NFL scouting combine, and test results influence a player’s draft placement, position choice and salary negotiation. As an ongoing component of every team’s training camp and practice sessions, agility drills are repeated to improve quickness and retain elite-level speed and directional-change ability.
Russell Wilson, selected in the 2012 NFL draft as a quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, is known for his outstanding agility. He can pull the ball down and change direction suddenly to avoid a sack, and then he uses his speed and cutting ability to take the ball up the field. Defensive players are challenged with the task of containing him and preventing him from using his elusive moves to get out of trouble and gain yardage. From a defensive standpoint, Russell Wilson is a dangerous player because of his agility.
