Let's Speak Technique - Club Block

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Along the offensive line, it is important to have various techniques and calls that can optimize player strengths, match ups, and angles, and give the opponent different looks. A "Club Block" is a backside combination block in which the backside end man on the LOS (EMOL) will work immediately to the second level, and the blocker inside of him will work out to the end.


Club Block

2014 49ers Playbook

In our case, we'll use it as an exchange block between the Back Side Guard (BSG) and Back Side Tackle (BST) as well as between a Back Side TE (BSTE) and BST, with the caveat that it is always the EMOL that is releasing directly to the 2nd level.


To Provide a Pass Look

My first experience with a Club block was back when I was part of a Single Wing Offense. Recall, the Single Wing is an unbalanced formation, where the backside player is a tight end


Wikipedia

Because the strength of the formation is so one-hand dominant, most of the pass game is based off play action flowing that direction. What this means is the TE on the backside of the play is often releasing directly to the second level and across the formation in a vertical direction.

To add to this, a lot of the weakside run action comes from counters and end-arounds which features a pull from the backside G. So effectively, the TE releases immediately to the second level, and the BSG first gains depth, and then works playside.

By executing a Club block, you often can then fairly easily reach the weakside LB, who is staying patient on the backside because he is seeing that G work out toward the End. Typically another player outside who will have responsibility for the TE in coverage will also stay put backside in case the TE is releasing for a pass. And then you also get Big-On-Big with the Guard and the DE.

All and all, you get a fairly straight forward way of holding the backside of the defense and anyone reading "high hat" from the TE from flowing playside.



Though a combination of BST and BSG doesn't provide the same pass threat, the idea was fairly common with draw plays as well. That's because that backside action still provided benefit in giving the defense a unique look, causing them to hesitate. The guard has a better angle to keep the DE to the outside of the formation (a primary risk on a draw play is a DE crossing a tackle's face and running right into the ball carrier on his path) and the tackle often has a cleaner path to the LB (doesn't have to deal with a 2i) so that the offense can form levels in the defensive front.


Lead Draw - 2014 49ers Playbook

Backside of Iso and Duo

The backside of Iso will look the same as the backside of the Lead Draw above. In this case, the downside is you don't get the weakside double you'd typically get on Iso. On the plus side, your backside G isn't trying to fight through the tackle to get out to the WILL, so this backside club block can hold the WILL while the BST works immediately to him.

Where you see the Club Block most often in recent years is on the backside of Duo. The idea is the same as Iso though. Like Iso, Duo will typically feature a backside Double up to the WILL.



But if you are having trouble with the WILL getting over top of that combo or the tackle preventing that double from getting vertical, you can call a "Club" and get out to the second level while the RB probes the front side, reading the MIKE.



On the Backside of Wham

When "Wham" becomes "Influence Wham". We've talked previously about the benefit of influence blocks. This has the benefit of widening the DT for the Wham/Trap block, while also slowing down the backside of the defense for the same reasons described above in Iso/Duo (especially if you run your share of T-Lead/G-Lead).

But as Nebraska showed, you can also run it as part of a "Wham Read". Here, Nebraska isn't trap/wham blocking the backside DT, but instead "blocking" him with the QB read. One of the early iterations off zone read was "midline read". This is another way of getting to that midline, but with a little better angles to keep the end backside and influencing the backside of the play.

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