Breakdown Sports

This is a series post with lots of play diagrams. Where it lacks depth, it hopefully makes up for with breadth. The goal of this post is to demonstrate the many run game nuances that are at your disposal, outside the very basics that you can find almost anywhere. I will point out some key attributes for the plays, but for the most part the diagrams will stand alone outside a brief description. This post is limited (out of necessity) to strongside plays that are given directly to the RB. It does not include FB runs, or QB runs, or H-Back, Wing, TE, or WR runs. It also doesn't include option plays. Those are things for future posts. Why did I select an I-formation, which is mostly going out of fashion, and how do I expect this information to be utilized? The I-Formation is a classic 2-back set that, by the time it was implemented, had the benefit of a lot of football history. It is also a highly adaptable run formation, along for offsets, for H-backs, and other aspects that allow es...

Baltimoreravens.com John Harbaugh wrote a piece for the Baltimore Ravens website about why football matters, particularly at the youth and High School level. I think it's well stated and something I very much agree with. The Michigan head football coach, Jim Harbaugh, also agrees with it, and recently posted it to his twitter account. But I thought it was important enough to bring here. LINK That, in my opinion, tells an important part of the story, but not the whole story. It tells a fundamental aspect of the player and coach perspective of football, particularly for younger players. But football means a lot of important things to a lot of people, even for those whose playing days are done or never began. One of the things that I have done throughout the past few years is ask people "why is football important to you?" I have my story which has its time and place to tell, about how even the portion when I wasn't playing, profoundly changed and shaped my lif...

I've compiled a decent amount of work focused on these two teams this year. For those interested in some of the X's and O's and schematic things. Here's the links: Ohio State Thought I'd start a thread for those interested in what OSU runs, and that sort of thing. I should have two more posts come out today/tomorrow sometime, which I will link on here. I'll give a brief breakdown of each link so you know what you're clicking before you click it. Hopefully this is alright, and if you have any questions for me in regards to breaking things down, feel free to ask. Apologize as well for linking previews, but again, it helps me track readership better than I can on SBNation, and my goal is to start writing more non-Michigan-centric content and start getting further in depth with the other B1G teams. Here's a general look at OSU's Flood play, which is probably their favorite way to attack defenses deep, something like this will be a play OSU will like...

One of the big issues Michigan has been having is in pass protection. If I went into all the complexities and calls of all the different pass protections, you would quickly realize why young players have trouble with this part of the game (to go along with the vast complexities of the run game). There is a reason that offensive linemen are often considered the smartest guys on the field. Well, we're going to go over the basics just to try to get you up to speed a little bit. For briefing sake, there are three different types of blocking schemes: man, gap (zone), and combination. Man Blocking BOB. Big on Big; Back on Backer. This is a man blocking scheme that is optimal for many teams because of its ability to get a hat on a hat, an offensive lineman on a defensive lineman, and a back on a preferred LB (if a back is in to block). First let's look at a world where 5 person blocks exist. Whoever is the uncovered lineman is will be the "double read" blocker. The OL al...

Ceiling: 9                 Ranking: 7.75                  Floor: 3.75 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Parkway (Bossier City, LA) Size: 6'2" - 235 lbs. Composite: 5 Star, #1 ILB, #14 Overall 247 : 5 Star, 98, #1 ILB, #13 Overall Rivals : 5 Star, 6.1, #1 ILB, #17 Overall Scout : 4 Star, #5 ILB, #41 Overall Favorites: Alabama, Clemson, Ohio St (assumed favorite), USC Other Notable Offers:  Auburn, Florida, FSU, Georgia, Indiana, Miami, Michigan St, Nebraska, ND, Ole Miss, Oregon, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, UCLA, Wisconsin Strengths Size Hits extremely hard Very aggressive down hill player/ Blitz ability Great athlete in pursuit Great instincts at the MIKE position. Reads plays extremely quickly, gets downhill with a lot of speed, and slices through the line well. Hits hard, accelerating through contact and finishing players backwards. Continues to...

Ceiling: 8                 Ranking: 6                  Floor: 3.5 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Parkway (Bossier City, LA) Size: 6'1" - 210 lbs. Composite: 3 Star, #76 OLB 247 : 3 Star, 81, #86 OLB Rivals : 3 Star, 5.6, #37 OLB Scout : 3 Star, #40 OLB Favorites: Michigan State (Commit) Other Notable Offers: Boston College, Kentucky, Syracuse, Purdue Strengths Athletic Fluid hips for a LB prospect Good coverage instincts Has good athleticism for a LB. When sent blitzing, he gets downhill quickly. Does a nice job flowing down the line. Can find his way through the wash. Displays fluid hips for a LB prospect, both on offense and when dropping back in coverage. Looks relatively comfortable in underneath coverage for a high school player, has the hip flexibility to cover at the next level. Has good instincts in the pass game, anticipates routes before they full...

Ceiling: 9                 Ranking: 7                  Floor: 4.5 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Parkway (Bossier City, LA) Size: 6'2" - 190 lbs. Composite: 4 Star, #3 Dual, #235 Overall 247 : 4 Star, 94, #1 Dual, #98 Overall Rivals : 4 Star, 5.8, #5 Dual, #186 Overall Scout : 3 Star, #24 Dual Favorites: LSU (Commit) Other Notable Offers:  Alabama, Auburn, LSU, OSU, South Carolina,   Arizona St, Arkansas, Baylor, Indiana, Miss St, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas A&M Strengths Has very good arm strength. When able to set his feet he gets get zip on the ball, very little hang, gets to the receiver fast. When able to step into clean pocket he can make any throw. Capable of putting touch on the pass, but again, needs to have clean pocket to step into. Can do a good job of keeping proper shoulder angle and ladder growth (this is when you see a QB do quick...

Ceiling: 9                 Ranking: 8.25                  Floor: 5 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: De La Salle Institute (Chicago, ILL) Size: 6'5" - 290 lbs. Composite: 4 Star, #4 OT, #49 Overall 247 : 4 Star, 97, #5 OT, #42 Overall Rivals : 4 Star, 5.9, #13 OT, #97 Overall Scout : 4 Star, #6 OT, #52 Overall Favorites: Ohio State (Commit) Other Notable Offers:  Michigan, Michigan St, Notre Dame,  Arizona St, Arkansas, Cal, Florida, FSU, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Miss St, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Purdue, Tennessee, UCLA, Vandy, Virginia, Wisconsin Strengths Mammoth body that moves well, especially forward. Can pull around the line as his straight speed is good for his size. Great, great down blocker. Gets under pads of kids that are much smaller than him, get into body, latches on, and drives. Very physical player...

Ceiling: 7.5                 Ranking: 4.5                  Floor: 3 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Thomas Jefferson (Clairton, PA) Size: 5'8" - 175 lbs. Composite: 3 Star, #94 S 247 : UR Rivals : 3 Star, 5.5 Scout : 3 Star, #69 S Favorites: Indiana, Iowa St, Michigan St, Syracuse Strengths Very good athlete, very quick and has good top end speed. Quick first step and lateral movement. Reckless when tackling, not afraid to throw his body around. Good instincts when coming down in run support. Breaks down well when runners try to side-step him. Runs through QB or RB upon contact. Weaknesses Very, very small. Not only short, but does not possess long arms. Tends to leave feet and launch into ball carriers. When he doesn't launch, he tends to bend at the waste and put the crown of his helmet down; when he does this his feet stop and he typically gets run ove...

Ceiling: 8                 Ranking: 6                  Floor: 4 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Thomas Jefferson (Clairton, PA) Size: 6'4" - 220 lbs. Composite: 3 Star, #41 OLB 247 : 3 Star, 87, #48 OLB Rivals : 3 Star, 5.7, #29 OLB Scout : 3 Star, #28 OLB Favorites:  Michigan (Commit) Other Notable Offers:  Arkansas, Boston College, Florida St, Illinois, Miami (FL), Michigan St, Northwestern, Ohio St, Oregon, Pitt, Virginia Tech, West Virginia Strengths Wraps up well on contact. Good fundamentals when tackling, wraps up and keeps feet driving. Long arms and good wrap make him very good at tackling from the side. Good athlete and good speed for his size and position. Ideal height for SAM. Very explosive north/south, more of a downhill player than sideline-to-sideline. Aggressive to the ball, never gives up on a play. Weaknesses Often stands up to hi...

Ceiling: 8                Ranking: 5.5                 Floor: 4 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) Size: 6'1" - 200 lbs. Composite: 3 Star, #103 RB 247 : 3 Star, 81, #92 RB Rivals : 3 Star, 5.5 Scout : 3 Star, #77 RB Favorites: Boston College, Florida State, Michigan State, Nebraska, Wisconsin Other Notable Offers: Cincinnati, Illinois, Kansas, Purdue, Rutgers, South Carolina  Strengths Good initial burst, quick to get up to full speed. Good stop/start quickness, pushes defenders past him and gets back up to speed with good burst. Plants foot solidly in ground and gets running north/south with strength behind his shoulders. Has a good shoulder lean upon contact. Keeps feet churning when still square to LOS. Falls forward when going down. Uses his left hand well to stiff arm defenders and scrape away tacklers hands. B...