OL School: A Primer for Knowing What to Look for in the Draft

[SuperSpck]

Offensive Line School-- Blocking Basics
Like the QB thread before it, this is a nice introduction to what the offensive line does. It's filled with a lot of basics, but with the draft approaching and the offensive line a continual position of need we know that the Cardinals will be looking for another big man up front (which is different from the ladies, who like guys who are big in the front; Zing!).
It's for those afraid to ask (don't be) or those who never thought about looking before and don't know where to start.
We're a good community so if you've got a favorite tip, article, video, or sxt to add then I'm begging that you do.

Individual Principles
Proper Stance

1. The feet should be around shoulder width, but not wider than.
2. Once the feet are set, the lineman drops into a squatting position, the weight should be on the balls of the feet, not the toes or heels. It’s about total balance. Also, if you’re leaning too far in our out in anticipation of the play you could be giving something away. Toes should be forward, if you point them to where you’re headed you could be giving away state secrets inadvertently.
3. The shoulders should be parallel to the ground and the back flat with the shoulders elevated just slightly.
4. Hat should be up and ready, but not cranked so it’s at an uncomfortable angle.

Offensive linemen usually line up in three different stances, depending on the situation of the game. Experienced players usually have a favorite stance, or even have modified a stance to something he’s more comfortable with.

• The 2-Point

The two point stance has the lineman in a stance where the fingers are not touching the ground. The hands should be slightly extended in front of the body, palms down, fingers flexing, elbows tight to the body, knees bent, and slightly bent over at the waist.
You’ll see this stance in obvious passing situations.
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• The 3-Point Stance

The three point stance continues from the two point stance. The player bends over at the waist and places the three forward fingers of the strong hand to the ground (usually this is the hand facing toward the ball). The strong side foot (the same as the hand) is behind the other foot with the ball of the foot touching the ground. The player drives off with the forward-most foot first.
This is your early/manageable down stance.
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• The 4-Point Stance

In the four point stance the player places the second hand to the ground as well. The weight ratio between the hands and feet will be 50/50. This stance is often used by linemen in obvious running downs to keep the line low and firing out at the opponent.
Pass blocking (and pimpin’) ain’t easy from this stance.
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Drive (or run) Blocking -- Learn how to spot it.
At snap the offensive lineman explodes across the line, driving into the defensive lineman. The offensive lineman should try to drive the defensive lineman back off the line.
Technique (it’s all about getting your Che right)

• Begin the drive block with a short step up with your back foot. Leading with the front foot messes with your balance.
• Maintain a wide base, stay low and keep your feet spread apart.
• Take short rapid steps.
• Keep shoulders square and your back straight.
• Keep your head up and your eyes look at the numbers of the guy you’re pushing. Make contact with the middle of the defensive lineman's body.
• Continue driving with your feet on contact, never stopping your forward movement.
• Push and control using forward motion, with both arms and hands.
• Keep your elbows close to your ribs (to get maximum leverage and force).
• Push out and up with the palms of both hands. If he can’t get good contact with the ground he can’t get good leverage.
• Allow your legs to do the majority of the work.
• Push your hips forward and upward the instant your hands make contact. This helps you raise the defender up and off the spot.
• Keep your legs under you and drive the defensive lineman back with short choppy steps. Big steps can screw up your balance.

You’ll know you’re looking at a strong lineman if they’re able to jar a defender. A lot of guys get into tugs of war, which is fine, but the guys that stand out are the ones who can rock defenders where they stand. The strength in drive blocking comes from the legs.

Different types of blocks
Angle block -- Like math, but with more meat
It’s easier for offensive blockers to block a defensive player from the side rather than straight ahead.
The goal is to stop the defensive player's penetration across the line of scrimmage at the same time the blocker is attacking the exposed side of the defensive man's body, driving him down the line away from the area where the ball will be run.

This block is best used for blocking a defender lined up in the inside gap or to the inside in front of another offensive blocker on the line of scrimmage. If you’re lucky and lose him you can have some help.

Hook Block
This is a good block if your man is lined up to the outside. This requires the blocker getting his helmet aligned on the outside hip of the defensive man.
The goal is to stop the defensive player's penetration across the line of scrimmage. At the same time the blocker is attacking the outside hip of the defensive man's body, driving him back to the inside.

Double-Team
In a double-team block, two offensive players block one defensive player. I’m working on a crayon diagram for Shane P )

The first block is the "Angle" block where we are going to have the offensive player block inside on a defensive player who is lined up in the inside gap or a defensive player who is lined up in front of the next adjacent offensive player.
The second block, the "Hook" block, will be used by the offensive player when he is assigned to block a defensive player back to the inside, who is lined up head up or on his outside shoulder.

Pass Blocking
At snap

• A lot of this is protection dependant, but generally you’ll step backwards starting with the outside foot and continue to fall backwards with the goal of creating a nice pocket for the QB to throw from.

• You want to be able to slide backward as naturally, but as quickly as possible all while keeping a wide base and good knee flex. You don’t want to lose leverage or balance by getting up too high.

Shogun turned me on to Anthony Davis during his last year at Rutgers. He’s one of the smoothest droppers I’ve seen in a long time and I was heartbroken when the 9ers grabbed him. Time will tell if he’s a consistent NFL starter, but in college in pass sets he looked amazing.
This is a fair video that shows what he did and didn’t do well coming out:

• Hands should always be up and out in front. Remember you’re only dropping back so far, once you’ve hit that mark that is your spot, do what you have to in order to keep that spot. Pee on everything to mark the territory as yours, just don’t let him past. A lineman gets praised for having good hands when he’s always using them. Defense trys a slap? The hands can move away fast enough to get him to wiff -or- if he does connect the blocker has enough strength and quickness to get them back up into position fast enough to not lose the advantage.

• The defensive lineman is going to come calling. It’s OK to let him have the first move. That move usually has an opening in it in which the defender is off-balance. That’s when you get your by jamming back hard with your hands. A two-hand punch and grab is a good way to get him off his rhythm and then hold and steer him around. As long as your hands and arms are in the framework of your body there should be no holding call. This is where long arms give a massive advantage. If you can keep the defender away from you so he can’t break off then it buys a ton of time. You can also just keep two-handing his pads repeatedly, it depends on the player and the scheme.

• If you have an aggressive defender, who is trying to go around you on either side, drive your hands into him and force him in that direction. Use his momentum against him. The trick is to keep forcing him wide, if you let up too soon then he could be in the perfect position to dip under and be right in line with the QB’s drop.

• Technique is paramount. As a coach I know says “technique doesn’t get tired”.

Team Principles -or- Zone vs Man vs Wild
These will be quick, it’s a primer after all. This doesn’t even scratch the surface of how complex this stuff really is.
You want to be aware of what scheme a college uses when you’re looking at a player; a guy could look good but it could be enhanced by the scheme, or a player may blossom when exposed to a different playbook.

• Zone blocking

In zone you’re either covered or you’re uncovered pre-snap. If it stays that way at snap you help the man next to you playside. On run plays the uncovered man helps double for a moment then slides up to the second level. Alex Gibbs has a very specific version he’s brought to a number of NFL teams. This scheme favors fast lineman with great agility and the ability to move well in small spaces. In college there is no better offensive line scheme then the one Kirk Ferentz runs at Iowa.
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This is another video from the same group as the Davis video (it’s really hard to get video of lineman and I’m not in the mood to cut any of my stuff right now). Remember you’re watching just the line.

• Man Up

This is as it sounds, you get the guy you’re assigned to. This scheme favors giant people made of meat with amazing strength. These are the guys who like to run block. The Cardinals tried like sin to get this kind of thing going when they had Shelton, Kendall, Grut, Big, and Clements -or- when it actually works, like with the Minnesota Vikings (although they, like most NFL teams have zone plays too).
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• Mix it up

Like I said, a lot of teams use both man and zone, depending what their needs are.
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Spacing
The space between offensive linemen is called a split. Teams have different splits for different plays, but some teams like to play wider then others. Like zone and man blocking the splits are often part of the offensive line identity. The wider the split the more athletic the player has to be to be able to effectively cover the distance. Spread and Option teams tend to use wider splits whereas teams running pro systems tend to have more conventional splits.

If you want to learn more about it or see a guy in a sweet sweet hat then follow the rabbit:
http://smartfootball.blogspot.com/2008/10/linemen-splits.html

Awareness (stunt and blitz pickup)
Usually awareness comes a terrific sense of anticipation augmented by film study.
You should be looking for someone who can adjust to exotic blitzes and looks on the fly. How does he reach with faced with an extra blitzer? What happens if he gets off stride, how does he recover?

 

[Cardiac]

Another good read.

 

[SuperSpck]

Q&A with Muth is cool.

BenM: I'd be interested in hearing more about how line calls get made. Who makes what calls, and why? Obviously this is a very broad subject, but a basic breakdown would still be very interesting.


Muth: The center is the captain of the ship. As soon as he walks up, he'll identify the Mike linebacker. This isn't always a true middle linebacker; 3-4 and 4-2 schemes don't have a true middle linebacker, so the center makes his call based on offensive formation or game plan (sometimes you call the Mike to the tight end, sometimes the game plan says that a certain player is always the Mike). Once the Mike is identified, the play can take shape.

If it's a run, the center will announce where he is going first. Usually he's involved in some sort of combination block so he'll say something like "Scoop 54." The first word of the call tells which guard he is working with. All calls are designed as front-side or back-side calls. The technique of a block might be the exact same, but it will have different names to distinguish each side. The number identifies what linebacker the combination is working to. You can say what number you're working to because people are constantly calling out numbers on run and pass plays, whether they're back-side or play-side, so a number doesn't give anything away.

Once you know who the center is working with, and which linebackers they're going to, the rest of the play falls into place. After the center, the general rule is that the closer to the point of attack you are, the more say you have in making calls (this goes out the window if you have a big experience gap, like a rookie playing by a seven-year veteran).
For instance, if it's an off tackle play to the right, the center will get the ball rolling and no one can call him off. From there, the right tackle can make a call to direct the right guard, and the left guard can make a call directing the left tackle. Tight ends are usually told what to do by the tackles regardless of how close to the point of attack they are.
Passing plays are more complicated and probably deserve their own article, maybe in the offseason.

Anonymous Lurker10047: What does an offensive line coach teach a rookie about how to block? It's so under-discussed you could start anywhere -- use of hands, stance, reads and tells, gear/pads, conditioning/training, recovery from mistakes, snap timing ... I'd be thrilled with any of it.

Muth: Pretty broad question, so I'm just going to go over some of the advice that helped me the most, and what I would tell anyone who wanted play offensive line at any level:

• Run-play foot work: Your first step is always the most important. You want a quick, powerful, and deliberate first step. That may sound easy, but it isn't. It's much easier to step underneath yourself from a three-point stance than it is to gain just six inches, which is about what you want on running plays. If you get that first step in the ground quickly, you can get a second step in the ground, which is where your power comes from. I don't know the physics of it, but that second step is the key to getting movement, and no one ever gets the second step in the ground before contact without a good first step.
• Hands: Quick and accurate is better than powerful. If you throw your hands, there will be enough snap to at least jolt a defender. For every highlight reel punch that results in a defensive end buckling, you see 10 guys get their hands knocked down because they have too much wind up.
• Wide base: You have to be able to move with a wide base. Your feet should never be closer than a foot apart. Of you can't keep a wide base, you're going to be on the ground too much.
• Film and Conditioning: These two go in the same category. Both are vital but aren't really stressed in the NFL -- you either want to do them or you don't. It doesn't matter how much someone else yells at you. At the highest level, the position coaches have too much to worry about without worrying about motivating lazy players. They can always find someone else.

 

[ARodg]

The second step is the power step because the first step is your leverage and angling step.

The first step is to get your body moving the right way and to get lower than your man, then you start to move him with short choppy steps starting with the second one.

If you try driving with the first step, as well as angling and leveraging you get screwed up and fall flat on your face.

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Also the first step is usually where contact is made. A battle of momentum that neither side usually dominates. The D-lineman typically has the advantage because they're faster but the O-lineman usually start to win after that because they're stronger. The question is do they win fast enough that they move the defender out of the whole before the running back gets there. The other question being do they keep their man on the block and away from the whole.