Breakdown Sports

Previously, we looked at why throw back plays work. Next, we looked at OSU taking advantage of the throw back in their play against Minnesota This post will look at different version of the throw back that can be added to your playbook. Elsewhere - Leak Everyone has talked about leak, but at least on my blog, I've never explicitly wrote about it. So let's say this is the chance. Here is a diagram of leak: 2016 Falcons Playbook There are lots of iterations of Leak now, but I want to point out a few things that I like better than others.

As a defender, you are tasked with reading your keys in order to properly diagnose the play and fulfill your assignment. Gap responsibility and run fits and execution all start with properly seeing what is happening in front of you, and based on what the offensive line does, will change your path to success. But offenses know this. To a degree, and offense does what it does because that's the easiest and most efficient way of finding success. Other times, they find success with mind games, by showing something and doing another. This post is going to look at "False Blocks", the art of pass setting on runs and false pulls.

Alright, fine, let's talk the concept du jour. What's the concept du jour? It's the play of the day. But really it's about RPO - Run-Pass Option. Ever since the 2018 Super Bowl football has been all about the RPO. I've talked about it a little bit in the past, first with Illinois , and then tagged onto an OSU post recently . But I want to provide a little more depth because there still seems to be some confusion and misconceptions. And to do that, I want to first lay the ground work for the basics. This first post is going to try to set a foundation with explaining "the read game".

I wanted to quickly go over a play design I really liked but didn’t work out due to poor execution in the Ohio State spring game. One thing I think that happens quite often in football is fans complaining about play calling. If the play call works, it was a great play call; if it doesn’t work, it was a bad play call. There is some truth to that in retrospect, but it’s rarely because of the play design or the conceptual idea behind the play. What I want to look at today is the tunnel screen and then the slip screen off the tunnel screen action. Hit them with: And once they cheat:

Indiana heavily utilizes the screen game to act like a rushing attack. In fact, a lot of their success comes off of screen misdirection and screen action, both things that are commonly associated with the run game. By doing this, they create conditions exactly what the spread offenses was designed for: to stretch offenses laterally as well as vertically. For defenses, this means a couple things, they must be extremely disciplined with their eyes and they must tackle in space. Brief Screen Primer A brief background on screen blocking first. The lineman that release depend on who isn’t covered and which defenders present a risk to the ball in the air or the receiver. This means any defender that will try to get in an alley between the passer and receiver must be cut down or washed away. Preferably on any outside screen you’ll have at least one blocker sealing off the inside to outside pursuit, another acting as a lead blocker in the alley, and another acting as a support blocker, whic...