OFFENSIVE LINEMEN typically just want to get out there and hit somebody. The excitement of being pitted one-on-one against another player sometimes overtakes the precision, timing and fundamentals involved in offensive-line blocking.
And, while your linemen may love to block for your rushing attack, they also need to know the intricacies of blocking and setting up a pocket for your passing game. Tactics and philosophies are much different when it comes to pass protection.
Some linemen may not think pass protecting is all that difficult because it’s not as “smashmouth” as run blocking. But, when performed effectively, it’s every bit as thrilling and exciting to give the quarterback enough time to hook up with a receiver for a 50-yard touchdown pass as it is to spring a running back for a
35-yard touchdown run.
Be sure your linemen are devoted to pass protecting and spend valuable practice time teaching the fundamentals. Your linemen need to know the ins and outs of being solid pass protectors.
Those ins and outs are broken down into five areas:
1. The Set
2. Relative Position
3. Body Position
4. Lateral Movement
5. Separation
Perfecting each of these areas requires knowledge, preparation and a fundamental approach.
winning the set
Everything in football begins with the stance. Pass protection is no different. A great stance is one that allows a lineman easily to move forward, backward, right or left. The stance must allow the lineman to get set with the least amount of wasted motion.
The stance that allows for this kind of movement is the one when the player’s feet are at shoulders’ width (or a bit wider) with a toe-to-instep relationship and the weight on the insteps of both feet. The down hand is placed straight on the ground just inside the right knee (for players in a left-handed stance this is reversed). On the down hand, have all five fingers on the ground. This forces the player to get more bend in their knees, which creates a flat back and locks in the lower back allowing for explosive movement.
This stance allows the lineman to distribute evenly his weight and makes for easier movement in all directions. It is critical for the lineman to be in a stance that evenly distributes the weight on the insteps of both feet and the down hand.
In order to “win the set,” the offensive lineman must be able to set quickly and firmly while getting his eyes on his target before the pass rusher attacks. Being in a poor stance greatly inhibits the chances of setting quickly enough to react to a pass rusher with superior athletic abilities.
Winning the set in pass protection is essential because it allows the lineman to make the first meaningful contact with the defender. Simply leaping out of the stance and getting hands on a defender doesn’t mean the lineman is going to complete a successful block. Being in a position to strike or to counter the rush of the defender is a product of a lineman’s pass protection set.
Winning the set also cuts down on the number of sacks allowed. Almost always when a sack occurs, a lineman was in an improper set. Either he was too slow in his set (due to a lack of effort) or he was fundamentally poor. It is important that an offensive lineman gets out of his stance under control, setting firm, and not drifting or leaning in one direction.
Fundamentally, the initial set should involve two steps—the footwork is determined by the alignment of the defender and where an offensive lineman’s help is—but it’s always in a sequence of two steps. For instance, if there is an offensive tackle with a defender aligned on his nose, then he wants to take a quick inside step to take away the inside rush and drop his outside foot. If there is an offensive tackle with a wide alignment, then he wants to step with his outside foot first followed by his inside foot.
A good pass set also cuts down the angle of the pass rusher. The wider the pass rusher is aligned, the greater the angle is between the offensive lineman and the defensive player.
The offensive lineman decreases this angle with his set. The wider the defender is aligned, the deeper and wider the initial set of the offensive lineman must be. The same holds true in that the closer the defender is aligned, then the flatter the set of the offensive lineman must be.
Relative position
Relative position is the spot between the defender and the quarterback. In its simplest form, pass protection is keeping oneself between the pass rusher and the QB. Worst case scenario is that the offensive lineman makes the defender run slowly over him to get to the QB.
In order to gain relative position, an offensive lineman must set to the “spot.” The spot is the intersecting point between the pass rusher and where the QB is setting up. It is an imaginary line that runs from the inside shoulder of the pass rusher straight to the QB.
Setting at the spot, or the intersect point, forces the pass rusher to make a decision — he must decide whether he will rush inside or outside, since the shortest route to the QB (a straight line) has been taken away by the pass set of the offensive lineman.
In keeping and maintaining a good relative position, the lineman must keep his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage for as long as possible. Square shoulders increase the angle the pass rusher has on the QB and it forces the defender to bubble (or widen) his rush to the outside, which buys the offensive lineman more time.
When an offensive lineman gets to the point that he must turn his shoulders, the block turns into a run block and the offensive lineman forces the defender out and away from the QB. Specifically, here is how offensive tackles and guards maintain relative position:
Offensive Tackles. The OT sets so he intersects the pass rusher at the “spot” and forces the pass rusher to bubble his route to the QB. This helps create width of the pocket. Ideally, the OT has his inside leg up and outside leg back.
As the OT engages the defensive end at the intersect spot, his outside leg should split the crotch of the DE while at the same time maintaining his shoulders square to the LOS. This inside-out position allows the OT to take away the inside rush and force the pass rusher into a more predictable move.
Offensive Guards. The OG sets nose-to-nose with the defensive tackle. The OG fights his man at the LOS and gives up very little ground. This creates the depth of the pocket.
Setting nose-to-nose allows the OG to be in a good relative position because it keeps a shaded DT from capturing the OG’s outside shoulder. If the DT captures that outside shoulder, he could collapse the pocket.
Body Position
Having good body position in pass protection is getting oneself in a configuration that enables that lineman to set firm and under control. At the same time, it allows him to move laterally in either direction.
While many try to stress that a good pass-protection stance should look like sitting in a chair, it’s almost impossible for a lineman to keep his body in that position and be able to move.
A better description of a lineman’s stance is that he’s sitting on a bar stool.
It begins with a heel-to-toe relationship. The inside foot is up and the outside foot is back. The inside foot is up because it takes away the initial inside move and allows the lineman to set firmer in his pass-protection stance. If the lineman keeps his feet parallel, he is susceptible to losing balance and easily is cast aside by the pass rusher.
Knees should be bent slightly and the weight is on the insteps of both feet — not the toes. This allows the lineman to move laterally in pass protection.
Head and shoulders should be back to keep them out of the block. If the head and shoulders are in the block, then the lineman is leaning forward too much and is vulnerable to being pulled by the pass rusher, as well as it inhibits the lineman’s ability to move laterally.
To stress this, tell your linemen never to allow their heads to get over the knee of their inside leg.
Prior to striking the pass rusher, the hands of the offensive lineman are to be held low and close to the body with the thumbs up close to the bottom of their jersey numbers. Holding the hands here allows a lineman to strike up and out, generating more of a controlled and powerful punch. The biggest reason why offensive linemen drop their heads and lean forward in pass protection is due to having their hands too high.
In keeping with the bar-stool analogy, the final aspect of being on a bar stool is a wide base. The base should be wider than shoulders’ width apart with a heel-to-toe relationship with the feet. The inside foot is up and the outside foot back. Having a wide base is functional because it allows the lineman to put his weight on his insteps of both feet.
Also, don’t allow your players to be rigid in their body position. The lower body should be relaxed with very little pressure on the knees. Having his weight on his insteps helps to accomplish this and it’s also necessary to enable the lineman to move laterally.
Lateral movement
If relative position is the most important key to pass protection, then lateral movement is a close second. As mentioned previously, to move laterally the weight must be distributed on the insteps of the feet and not the toes.
When moving laterally, the lineman cannot allow his weight to transfer to the outside of his foot. This affects balance, which makes it difficult to make a quick change in lateral direction. If a lineman is leaning to the outside with his weight shifted in that direction, he’s not going to be able to get back to protect against an inside move from a defensive lineman.
Lateral movement requires two types of steps — kick-steps to the outside and post-steps to the inside. Just like short, powerful steps are important in run blocking, the same holds true in pass protection. When a player takes a kick-step, it normally shouldn’t be more than 8 to 12 inches at a time.
When performing a kick- or post-step, it is crucial that the foot being stepped does not come off the ground for a long period of time. Getting a lot of air under steps causes the lineman to be susceptible to the bull rush as the player’s solid base is compromised.
Properly performing a kick-step starts with the offensive lineman getting his ankle in front of his knee. He is to land on the instep of the foot that is stepping. Tell your linemen that when they are kick-stepping, they want to drive the ball of their ankle into the ground. This ensures the ankle is getting in front of the knee. It also ensure the lineman is landing on the instep and not the outside portion of the foot.
When kick-stepping, the lineman does not step with the post foot. Instead, the post foot is dragged on the ground as he kick-steps. This is referred to as “grabbing grass” with the post foot. It is important to note that when grabbing grass with the inside foot, the offensive lineman only drags the foot the same distance that the kick-stepped foot moved so as not to bring his feet together while moving laterally. Bringing feet together takes away a lineman’s knee bend and his base, both of which compromise balance and inhibits lateral movement.
When a pass rusher makes an inside move, the offensive lineman must post back inside. This involves transferring the weight back to the instep of the outside foot and pushing off back to the inside. As the offensive lineman is pushing off and grabbing grass with his outside foot, he steps with the inside or post foot. The post-steps, like the kick-steps, are no longer than 8 to 12 inches.
When post-stepping, the inside foot remains up and the lineman must fight to keep the pass rusher as flat down the LOS as possible. Not keeping a firm inside presence with the post leg leads to dropping the inside leg, which causes the offensive lineman to bail out with the inside foot, creating a seam for the pass rusher to attack.
Separation
Separation is broken down into two areas — separation between the offensive lineman and the pass rusher; and separation created by the pocket of pass protection between the pass rush and the QB.
Separation between the offensive lineman and the pass rusher is created by the punch and lock-out of the offensive lineman on the pass rusher.
The punch is one of the most intricate skills that a coach must teach. As stated earlier, the hands should be held low with the thumbs close to the bottom of the jersey numbers. The first thing to stress when teaching the punch is to make sure your offensive lineman don’t take a huge wind-up with their arms. This exposes the chest to the pass rusher and leads to the lineman leaning forward.
The punch is a quick snap-off, not a big wind-up. Starting with the hands low, the lineman punches up and out. This generates a great amount of power and it helps keep the head and shoulders back.
When punching, the energy of the punch should be released from the elbows and the latissimus muscles, not the shoulders. As the lineman punches, his shoulders and head moves back and his hips are sinking. This helps maintain proper balance and pass-protection demeanor. If the head, shoulders and hips are moving forward, the lineman loses balance and easily can be pulled by the defender.
The timing of the punch also is relative. The lineman wants to measure his punch, much like a boxer. He measures the punch for the distance between himself and the pass rusher at which he would no longer need to reach out to touch the pass rusher without over-extending.
After learning the technical areas of the punch, teach your linemen about the target areas. When engaged in drop-back pass protection, teach your linemen to focus their eyes on the inside armpit area of the pass rusher. Targeting this area keys the offensive lineman as to what type of rush he is going to see. Whatever move the pass rusher intends to make, the inside armpit is an immediate indicator of those intentions.
Ideally, an OT targets his outside hand to the middle of the numbers of the pass rusher and his inside hand on the point of the inside shoulder pad. This ensures an inside-out position creating the desired relative position. The OT snaps a quick, short punch to the targeted areas, forcing his head and shoulders back and locking out his arms.
For an OG or center, the hand placement is different. OGs and centers target their hands for the bottom of the pass rusher’s jersey number with both hands. This is an underhand grab punching up and out.
Of course, the chances of a defensive lineman giving your offensive lineman a nice, big target to punch is rare to unlikely. So, it is imperative you work with offensive linemen to become efficient using each hand independently to punch a moving surface. Work on drills in the offseason to develop eye concentration and hand-eye coordination.
The other purpose of separation is to emphasize the importance of creating a clean and clear pocket for the QB. The offensive line is responsible for the parameters of the pocket.
The dimensions of a pocket should provide the QB with enough room to allow him easily to throw the ball in any direction. As as rule, the pocket looks like something like a half moon and provide 4 to 5 yards of cushion for the QB. With the tackles stretching the wide rushers on the edge and the guards and center fighting at the LOS, natural passing lanes open for the QB to throw. At this point, the linemen get to experience that thrill of creating the time for the QB to complete that game-changing, long passing strike.