If you’re struggling defensively in College Football 26, chances are, drags are a big reason why.

Drag routes are one of the most common and frustrating concepts in the game. You’ll see them out of bunches, trips, tight formations, spread sets—basically every formation imaginable. If you sit in soft zone or backed-off man coverage without adjustments, your opponent can spam drags all game long, rack the catch, and consistently pick up 5–10 yards. Having enough CUT 26 Coins can be very helpful.

The good news? There are multiple reliable ways to take them away. The key is understanding your tools and knowing the trade-offs that come with each one.

Why Drugs Are So Hard to Stop

Drags attack underneath coverage. They slip under hook zones, outrun soft man coverage, and force defenders to choose between the shallow route and deeper crossers behind it. Offenses often pair a drag with a deep crosser or post, creating a high-low read that stresses your defense.

If you overcommit underneath, you give up something deep. If you play too safe over the top, the drag becomes an easy completion.

So let’s break down the best ways to handle them.

1. Shade Your Coverage Underneath (Simple & Effective)

If you’re running Cover 3 or Cover 4, the simplest solution is shading your coverage underneath.

When you shade down:

Hook zones play more aggressively at around 5 yards.

Flat defenders react quicker to short throws.

Drags get contested much earlier.

This adjustment alone can shut down lazy drag spam. The quarterback may still complete the pass, but he’ll take a hit or be limited to minimal yards after catch.

The Trade-Off

Shading underneath opens space behind those shallow zones. Deep crossers, posts, and intermediate routes become more dangerous. That’s where your awareness—and your user defender—come into play.

If you know the drag is coming from one side, shade underneath and manually cover the deeper route yourself.

2. Use Your User to Mask the Weakness

Shading underneath is strong—but incomplete on its own.

If your opponent runs a drag paired with a deep crosser, you can:

Shade underneath.

Use the hook defender.

Take away the crosser yourself.

Now the offense’s first two reads are gone. That forces them into longer progressions, giving your pass rush more time to get home.

The biggest defensive advantage in this game is making your opponent uncomfortable. When their first read isn’t there, mistakes happen.

3. Custom Zone Stems (Advanced Adjustment)

If you’re in Cover 2, shading underneath can create problems. Your outside corners turn into hard flats, which opens the classic Cover 2 hole shot.

Instead of shading the entire defense, use custom zone stems.

You can:

Manually lower a specific hook defender’s depth.

Adjust only the zones you need.

Keep your cloud flats intact on the outside.

Lowering a hook zone to 5 yards allows it to contest the drag without sacrificing deep integrity. It won’t erase the route entirely, but it tightens the throwing window significantly.

This is a more surgical approach compared to global shading.

4. Three-Recs (Three Receiver Hooks)

One of the most underrated tools against drugs is the three-receiver hook—often called a “three-rec.”

These defenders react aggressively to the inside receiver in trips formations and play short routes extremely well—especially when shaded underneath.

If you have a three-rec hook in your coverage:

Let the CPU control him.

Don’t overuse that area.

Trust him to carry the drag longer than a normal hook defender would.

Three-receiver sets are excellent in send-three Cover 3 looks. They allow you to focus your user on more serious threats while the CPU clamps down underneath.

In certain formations, you can even use bluff blitz adjustments to create a three-rec defender if one isn’t naturally assigned.

5. Quarterback Spies (Hidden Bonus)

A QB spy isn’t just for stopping scrambles.

Spies sit in the short middle area and can disrupt quick drag throws. While they won’t cover the route forever, they shrink the immediate throwing window and create hesitation.

If you’re already worried about mobile quarterbacks, adding a spy gives you dual value:

Short middle presence

Scramble containment

It’s not a primary drag solution, but it’s a useful complement.

6. Shaded Man Coverage (With Safety Help)

If you know exactly who’s running the drag, you can simply man him up.

Best option: Cover 2 Man shaded underneath.

Why Cover 2 Man works:

Safeties provide deep help.

Corners and linebackers aggressively jump shallow routes.

You don’t get burned over the top as easily.

What NOT to Do

Do not shade underneath out of Cover 0.

That’s asking to give up a touchdown. Without safety help, aggressive underneath leverage means one double move or deep crosser can ruin your drive.

If you’re playing man against drugs, make sure you have safety support.

7. Smart User Play (The Final Layer)

Sometimes the simplest answer is the best one: use the drag yourself.

In Cover 4 Drop, for example, you can:

Shade underneath.

Slightly adjust zone depths.

Manually sit in the drag lane.

Once the route moves outside the hashes, your hard flats often take over. That allows you to switch off and help elsewhere.

The goal isn’t to cover everything perfectly—it’s to eliminate the quarterback’s first read and force progression.

If you consistently remove:

The drag

The deep crosser

You’re dictating the offense instead of reacting to it.

When You Don’t Need to Stop the Drag

One final point: not every drag needs to be erased completely.

If your opponent gains 3 yards, that’s fine. What you can’t allow is:

8 yards plus YAC

Easy rhythm throws

First-read comfort every snap

Sometimes limiting the rack and forcing a checkdown is enough.

The Complete Toolbox

To summarize, here are your main anti-drag tools in College Football 26:

Shaded underneath zone coverage

Custom zone stems

Three-rec hook defenders

Quarterback spies

Cover 2 Man shaded underneath

Smart user control

Individually, they’re solid. Combined, they’re frustrating for your opponent.

Drugs are powerful because they’re easy. Your job is to make them difficult.

Force deeper reads. Tighten windows. Make quarterbacks hesitate.

Do that consistently, and drag spam won’t feel nearly as unstoppable anymore. Having a large amount of cheap CUT 26 Coins can be very helpful.