Question about run blocking...

Looking at this play:



We get a favorable alignment by the Ravens after the audible. The FS drops into coverage rather than showing blitz. The DE takes himself out of the play by not closing the gap between he and the QB/RB before the hand off but I'm really curious as to how much Rawls is looking at how the DT is lining up over Britt here.

DT shading inside Britt at the 1 (or is that the 2 tech? 1 is center's shoulder, 2 is guard's inside shoulder?) making it easier to seal the edge for the cutback. So my question is, does Rawls already have the cutback in mind as his first option? How much of this is decided by Rawls pre-snap?

Thanks in advance.

edit - actually, the FS drops back after the alignment change by the offense, not the audible from Russ but you get what I meant (i hope).

Another one...



Outside zone, right? Anyways, the cut block from Britt tells me that Rawls is expecting that cutback to be there if Okung can get to the LB (and it is). I loved this play.

Laloosh":1lovwpou said:

Looking at this play:

We get a favorable alignment by the Ravens after the audible. The FS drops into coverage rather than showing blitz. The DE takes himself out of the play by not closing the gap between he and the QB/RB before the hand off but I'm really curious as to how much Rawls is looking at how the DT is lining up over Britt here.

DT shading inside Britt at the 1 making it easier to seal the edge for the cutback. So my question is, does Rawls already have the cutback in mind as his first option? How much of this is decided by Rawls pre-snap?

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

I doubt he's paying too much attention to pre snap alignment, primarily because so many things can change at the snap- slants, twists, gap exchange with blitzing backers. General rule is you stay on your original path as long as you can, make one cut and then you're upfield. For whatever it's worth, I don't really see this as a 'cutback' either. He ends up crossing the LOS at the original RG-C gap. The DT just flows so fast to keep his gap covered that he also runs himself out of the play. Which is part of the play design of course. Stretch the gaps, leave lots of room on the backside for either Rawls or RW. So Rawls just heads straight up field once he's pushed it far enough to the front side to give him space between him and the DE. With so much room on the backside, there's no reason to ride Britt's arse as he typically would.

Side note-notice the little shake Rawls gives right behind Okung. He's trying to get that LB to jump to the outside to give Okung a chance to seal that lane. It wasn't a lot but it looks does make him hesitate just a little bit and Okung locks him up. Unfortunately the other ILB does a good job getting over the top of Lewis's block and making the tackle. Otherwise, it's up to the FS to take him 1v1.

Laloosh":1ot6wq93 said:

Looking at this play:


Another one...

Outside zone, right? Anyways, the cut block from Britt tells me that Rawls is expecting that cutback to be there if Okung can get to the LB (and it is). I loved this play.

Click to expand...

Yes, outside zone. You can see Rawls original path is to the outside leg of Gilliam. Same rules as my first response. You push the original path as long as possible then make your cut up field. In this 2nd case, it's the DE pushing Gilliam back while main keeping outside leverage. Rawls gets as far wide as is reasonable, foot in the ground, up field.

Another side note: cut blocks tell you it's outside zone rather inside zone. You shouldn't ever see cut blocks on an inside zone as it clogs up running lanes.

But you can see the correlation in terms what they're trying to do with these two plays you've gif'd. The overall concept is to stretch the gap between the frontside force and the backside pursuit. In the first play, it's the threat of RW keeping it on the read that holds the backside, in the 2nd it's the cut blocks.

Thanks Dizzle, that was great!

Laloosh":3mnuhvfp said:

Thanks Dizzle, that was great!

Click to expand...

Made absolute sense.
:th2thumbs:

Go Hawks,
BillA

No wonder the naked bootlegs work so well. Did you see how much green Russ had in front of him on a PA?