Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

One of my favorite clips is from Jim Mora where he deadpans to a reporter "You think you know, but you don't know..."

 

I try to have that clip first and foremost in my mind whenever I give my impressions posts.  I can give my take on what I think happened on a play or given series of plays, but the most I'm doing is giving a small fraction of what happened or what I think was supposed to happen, largely based upon the end result.

 

This is from yesterday's MMQB, penned by Lions OL Geoff Schwartz.  It shows just how complex OL play is and why, though they are on the TV screen for the bulk of the play, we fans still can't tell what's going on outside of the most general sense.

 

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/07/11/geoff...roit-lions

 

A sample...

 

Quote: 

I’ve played for six offensive line coaches in the NFL. You might think OL play is simple enough that the coaches are basically teaching the same things. Nope. Only two of my OL coaches taught the same technique. Ironically, these also have been my favorite OL systems.

Everything linemen do in a system is for a purpose and has a reason. I can get down with that. So I’ve had to adapt to various ways to pass block. Some OL coaches teach strong inside hand, some want vertical sets, some want a jump set at 45 degrees. I’ve been taught two-hand punch, independent hand usage and outside hand punch. I’ve been taught three different ways to stop a bull rush and different aiming points on zone plays. How difficult could it be to pull right? Well, if you’re pulling on power, some schemes take the guard inside (but always outside of the double team) and ask him to “swab out” anything in the hole. Other schemes, if the guard sees it’s congested inside, then he adjusts and pulls around the blocks. It’s all madness. So you have to adapt and obey. You find out what the OL coach demands. You follow that.

(Emphasis added)

 

It's the nuggets like these that keep (or should keep) me and other fans humble when we give our takes on the game.  This gives a glimpse as to why Bortles would say what he said last year (about fans questioning playcalling is like a kindergartner questioning a college professor).

You mean, just yelling "block somebody!" isn't the preferred method for NFL Coaches?

 

I kid, but you are so very right. A lot of times, a blocking schemes has as many reads for the blockers as for the RB, if not more. Granted, there are some obvious winners and losers on a given play, but to think that you can look at a play without any insight as to the play and come up with a correct diagnosis is folly.

Also from the article...Pirk...Predator...remember the big Cut back vs. one cut RB debate a few years back?

 

Quote: 

Traditional Outside Zone starts with the running back chasing the inside leg of the TE. That’s the landmark he's given to stay on course. His read is the DE, back inside to the DT. If the DE plays with the OL, which they’re typically coached to do in the scheme, then he looks inside to see how the DT is playing. If the DT is also running with the OL, and maintaining his gap integrity, then the running back cuts even behind him. This is where you commonly hear “one cut.” The RB has been on his angle, running towards the inside leg of the TE, but once both the DE and DT have committed to running laterally with the OL, he cuts the ball behind them. A common way of saying this is that he “cuts back,” but coaches in this scheme don’t like that term. They like to say “cut up” because the best running backs in this scheme get vertical when they cut up, they don’t start running backwards from the flow of the offense, otherwise the defenders from the backside will catch up to them. The nature of this scheme is that the outside defender will play outside, defending his “contain” responsibility, and so the RB will never truly get outside of the defense. Some RBs get to know that, and will cheat by cutting up too soon, but this ruins the flow and integrity of the play. The best RBs “press the line,” which means they stay on that angle for as long as they can, which then helps bring defenders towards them, brings defenders to the offensive line (we work as a unit, and their ability to stay on track for as long as possible is crucial to our success on this type of play), and will end up defining the read much better for them.