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Conversation With NFL Draft Scout’s Chad Reuter-Part II

0 Comments read Matt Waldman
Clemson's DeAndre McDaniel plays a position that Chad Reuter says has an underrated difficulty to evaluate. Photo by whateyesee13 http://www.flickr.com/photos/whateyesee13/

If you thought ESPN analyst Matt Williamson’s path to becoming a paid evaluator of talent was unusual, consider NFL Draft Scout.com senior analyst Chad Reuter. The Wisconsin native learned about the craft of personnel evaluation from a decade of interactions with NFL scouts and general managers.  Although he lacks a football background, he managed to transform a hobby into a job because of his tremendous analytical skills, sincere passion for the game, and a veteran scout’s work ethic.

In this multi-part conversation, Reuter and I spent a couple of hours discussing a variety of topics related to player evaluation. In Part I of this conversation, Chad and I discuss why he enjoys studying offensive line play, evaluating technique versus results, and balancing these two behaviors with the craft of projecting a player’s future in the NFL. In this portion of our discussion we cover his path to studying football as a full-time job, a defensive position that is difficult to evaluate, and why “instincts” and “intangibles” may not be innate after all.

Waldman:Tell me about your background and how you got into this profession.

Reuter: I came into it kind of backwards. I’m not Mr. Athlete by any stretch. I was not a player. But I knew enough about the game. I think most athletes who get into scouting or work in a front office have the initial advantage of having played, but then they have to learn how to analyze what they are seeing when they are watching film. Obviously some of them may know their position, but they don’t know all of the positions. I came in backwards. I had the analytic skills and then I applied them to football.

I had a fan site called Packerdraft.com and I started in in 2000. I started applying my analytic skills to football in terms of what was being seen on the field, but also looking at the data side – analyzing trends and trying to figure out what some of the numbers really mean.  So I started doing that and it earned me opportunities to work with teams doing some consulting.  After a few years of that, I left my state government gig to do this full-time.

Waldman: What was that gig?

Reuter: I was a research analyst for the department of transportation. My education is in economics and public policy analysis.

Waldman: With that kind of education and position you must have a fairly extensive understanding of statistics.

Reuter: My job was more or less to ferret out information that was helpful for our decision makers in the building – not just putting a bunch of numbers in front of people. I spent a lot of time pointing to things that some people said had merit, but actually didn’t. Most of the time I was telling people that statistics could be misinterpreted and used to mislead people than actually used to help!

(Laughter)

I find it also being the same thing I do with football. Continue reading →

Conversation with NFL Draft Scout’s Chad Reuter Part I

0 Comments read Matt Waldman
NFL Draft Scout Senior Analyst Chad Reuter and Matt Waldman discuss the science, craft, and art of talent evaluation.

If you thought ESPN analyst Matt Williamson’s path to becoming a paid evaluator of talent was unusual, consider NFL Draft Scout.com senior analyst Chad Reuter. The Wisconsin native learned about the craft of personnel evaluation from a decade of interactions with NFL scouts and general managers. Although he lacks a football background, he managed to transform a hobby into a job because of his tremendous analytical skills, sincere passion for the game, and a veteran scout’s work ethic.  In this multi-part conversation, Reuter and I spent a couple of hours discussing a variety of topics related to player evaluation. In this portion of the conversation, Chad and I talk about offensive line play, evaluating technique versus results, and balancing these two behaviors with the craft of projecting a player’s future in the NFL. 

Waldman: Are there any positions you enjoy evaluating more than others?

Reuter: I’m an offensive line guy. I love watching the line. I think it is one of the more under-appreciated positions in terms of scouting because it is not just about the physical or mental characteristics of the player. There is also a lot of differences with what coaches want.

Waldman: What are things the average person should appreciate more about line play? Continue reading →

ESPN Analyst Matt Williamson Part II

0 Comments read Matt Waldman
ESPN Analyst Matt Williamson discusses his ascent from watching film for a high school recruiting firm in exchange for lunch to working for the Cleveland Browns as an NFL scout. Photo by U.S. Coast Guard http://www.flickr.com/photos/coast_guard/5435865047/sizes/l/in/photostream/

ESPN analyst Matt Williamson is a former NFL scout for the Cleveland Browns. He agreed to talk about a variety of topics in a three-part interview at The Rookie Scouting Portfolio. In Part I, Williamson discusses an emerging NFL offensive trend with personnel and then explains the difference between scouting for a football team and a media conglomerate. In this post, Williamson tells the story of his ascent to football’s biggest stage despite never playing the game.

Waldman: Tell me about your football background.

Williamson: I never put pads on in my life. I came from a rather nonathletic family. I played baseball and basketball like every kid, but I was never picked for an all-star game. I was never the first kid picked for a team. I am slow. But the love for football was always there.

When I was six years old and we would go on vacation I got preview guides and just read them the whole time. That’s all I cared about. I was a huge Steelers fan growing up here in Pittsburgh, and obviously football is “sort of big” in this town. I’m sure that had something to do with it.

Waldman: How did you get into scouting?

Williamson: I went to school at Pitt at Johnstown. Throughout college my neighbor owned a swimming pool servicing company. It was a really small organization all based on service. Every summer I would  come home and work for him. Over those five summers I gained more and more responsibility and eventually I was running my own crew at the end.

I was a creative writing major. When I graduated, my grades weren’t great and I didn’t have a great direction. I didn’t know what I was going to do. So I bought the swimming pool company. The owner was an older guy and I got a great price on it. I was my own boss when I was 22 years old and I had an employee or two. It made money and allowed me to do whatever I wanted during the winters. Continue reading →

YouTube Chalkboard: Six WRs Who Will School You

0 Comments read Players, Wide Receiver
My vote for college football's 2010 catch of the year: A.J. Green's gritty catch vs. Tennessee. Green has the potential to join the ranks of elite NFL receivers because he's a budding technician in addition to an athlete. Photo by Tennessee Journalist

Wide receiver can be a difficult position to evaluate because there are three general factors that contribute to a player’s success in the NFL: Athleticism, technique, and the mesh of his skills within the team’s offensive system. Here are six NFL WRs with lessons to share through the lens of YouTube highlights. 

Welcome to a master class on receiving. Our guest lecturers will be Tim Brown, Isaac Bruce, Austin Collie, Derrick Mason, Sterling Sharpe, and Reggie Wayne. You’re familiar with their body of work. Now it’s time to examine them under the microscope.

At first glance, these six receivers appear to have different games to the naked eye. Brown and Sharpe were often seen as physical wide outs with strength, balance, and speed. Tackle breakers who turned slants and crosses into long scores. Collie is regarded as a slot weapon with great hands and smarts to find openings in zone to get yardage after the catch. Mason and Bruce are seen as crafty route specialists with dangerous speed and quickness. I believe most people see Wayne as the ultimate possession receiver.

What I did not fully realize was that during their careers they were all listed between 5’10”-6’1″ and 188-201 lbs.

In an NFL environment where there is a demand for the impressive size-strength-speed combos of Miles Austin, Vincent Jackson, Terrell Owens, Andre Johnson, and Calvin Johnson,  is it necessarily a slam dunk that you take these players’ best seasons over the ones who will be teaching class today?

You can nitpick minor differences in stats or take into account the surrounding talent and arrive at a different opinion. However in most cases, you’re making a mistake if you do.  With the exception of Collie, whose career is too brief to compare, the career portfolios of Bruce, Brown, Sharpe, and Wayne indicate that “bigger-stronger-faster” doesn’t mean “better.”

Buying Back Real Estate

Our first instructor is Sharpe, who 3-5 years ago delivered a coaching session to an Oklahoma State receiving corps that included pupils Dez Bryant and Adarius Bowman. The former Green Bay star demonstrates on this YouTube excerpt that “open” shouldn’t be defined as only a clear gap of space between the body of a receiver and a defender. This is a fundamental truth you will see played out with the other receivers’ highlights in this post.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/uxYmGYMr01g]

Notice how Sharpe emphasizes the importance of a receiver catching the ball with his arms away from his body. Another tendency Sharpe mentions is the common response young receivers have that is false: we’re comfortable with this technique. Sharpe is correct; annually we’ve seen early-round receiving prospects who cannot manage to execute this technique successfully.

What Sharpe is essentially saying is that in college football, receivers are more frequently targeted when they have a definite gap between themselves and a defender. One of the reasons is the lower skill level of quarterbacks throwing to them.  Pinpoint accuracy is more often a bonus rather than a requirement at the college level.

Another factor is that most college receivers don’t get a consistent chance to make plays in tight coverage. With the collective accuracy of quarterbacks at a lower level than NFL passers, there are fewer opportunities for receivers to hone this technique in college football. The result is naturally a greater adjustment curve for those receivers who do enter the pros.

Derrick Mason: A Crafty Agent of the Sterling Sharpe Real Estate Firm

Sharpe’s lesson about “buying back” position from a defender after the break is an important part of route running. Since Sharpe’s career doesn’t have a lot of highlights on YouTube, Derrick Mason has some great examples. Note how frequently he gets position on the defender in tight coverage.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/-3dWoak69HM]

1:29 – Although not shown in this video, Mason trails the Vikings CB after his break. However, you can get a glimpse of what he does to get ahead. First, Mason places his hand behind the back of the corner and lags just enough at the defender’s back shoulder to force the CB to consider a back shoulder throw. This setup gives Mason the opportunity to burst ahead of the corner. Paired with a small shove to the chest, Mason’s move jerks the CB’s head back and this helps the Ravens receiver get position as the ball arrives ahead of the defender. This technique was far more craft than athleticism.

On this touchdown reception against the Steelers, watch how Mason doesn’t bring his arms away from his body until the last moment of the pass. Imagine those nature videos of a frog catching insects with its tongue and you’ll see how it closely resembles the refined technique of a polished receiver. This practice allows a receiver to cover more ground at a faster rate than holding the arms out for the ball while tracking its trajectory.

The base athleticism of quickness and leaping ability are certainly there in this reception, but most of this is technique refined through years of coaching and practice. To the naked eye it’s an athletic play. To the football-savvy, it is great execution of technique.

Tim Brown: Setting up breaks 

You’re going to notice on several of these highlights similar hands techniques that Mason demonstrated.  But the primary focus is to watch how effectively Brown sets up his breaks early in his routes. Brown’s highlights reveal that effective pass receiving in the NFL has a lot to do with getting the early advantage in tight coverage.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/KyazfF5vkFM]

0:17 – Brown earns separation in this wheel route within the first five steps.  The Raiders WR forces the DB to account for his inside move before breaking hard to the sideline. The most important thing Brown does on this route is to initially break hard in an east west direction rather than veering down field. Most younger receivers with a less refined game will make the mistake of breaking vertically too soon.

Brown’s horizontal break does two things:

  1. If the DB tries to close the gap down field by angling his chase diagonally to get ahead of or cut off Brown, the WR can adjust his route inside for a big play. These contingencies are often a part of a pass and catch combo’s rapport.
  2. If the DB follows Brown horizontally as shown on this highlight, the WR should consistently establish separation with his back to the chasing DB as Shannon Sharpe coached Dez Bryant and Adarius Bowman.

Brown then catches the football just like Shannon Sharpe demonstrated early in the video; extending his arms outside and away from his body to snare the pass.

0:27 – This simple slant is just a quick demonstration of a release technique I’ll cover in a forthcoming post: forcing the coverage to account for his outside contact with a jab step outside before bursting inside and across the defender’s chest.

0:54 – This route is against off-man coverage. The defensive back is playing about seven yards off Brown. This play is a great example of how a receiver is trying to get the defender to raise or turn his head. When a DB raises his head or turns his head in the opposite direction of the eventual break, the WR earns an advantage.

Brown initially drives hard off the line of scrimmage with his head down and shoulders forward. This form influences the defender’s back pedal. As the receiver approaches the top of his route he raises his head and shoulders and begins the slightest turn of his upper body to the outside.

This movement, and a very quick head fake coordinated with a jab step with his outside foot forces the DB to bite outside as Brown turns inside on his break. The receiver’s move turns the DB around and he crosses the middle of the field wide open.

1:26 – This is a classic double move that most college receivers don’t do very well because they don’t carry out the initial move well enough to sell it. Watch how Brown initially sells the out by making a hard jab step inside to set up the initial break outside. This is what forces the DB to bite hard on the initial move and sacrifice his distance and reaction time to Brown’s second break to the inside. Few young receivers sell the initial move as if it is a real route. They think of a double move as two moves when it is actually more like three or four.

1:34 – Although the CB in off-man coverage is back-pedaling with his back to the sideline early in Brown’s route, the WR doesn’t simply turn outside. He reinforces the CB’s position by giving a shoulder fake inside before breaking outside. This is what gives Brown so much open space after his break. These small shoulder fakes, head fakes, and jab steps are simple techniques that almost every receiver uses, but with varying degrees of success.

When I post some of the instructional links that I’ve found, you’ll see aspiring high school players who use these moves but their execution is far less refined and it makes them less believable. It should reinforce the point that “simple” is not always synonymous with “easy.”

Isaac Bruce: “Hands, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes (Knees and Toes)”

The producer of these highlight compilations of Bruce’s 14-year career begins with a great find of Bruce playing special teams. The rookie blocks a punt against the Packers something I’ve seen from former rookie gunners like Hines Ward and Brandon Lloyd.

The best part of the blocked punt is that Bruce reveals a technique often used to beat the jam: slipping the shoulders under contact. Watch these videos and learn how a smaller player uses technique to beat the jam as well as any big-bodied receiver in the game.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/A357wjcgOBw]

2:28 – At the right end of your screen you’re going to see Bruce releasing from the slot and dip his outside shoulder under the DB in coverage on this corner route that breaks to the back of the end zone. The shoulder dip is set up with a hard-driving release from the line and the combo of these two techniques puts the DB in trail position early.

This early trail position forces the DB to focus on making up ground with Bruce inside of him. The WR’s subsequent break outside forces a harder change of direction for the DB and creates the separation. However, as with many of the routes we saw from Tim Brown, it wasn’t what happened at the break, but how the break was set up.

5:45 – While we won’t see the receiver’s break from the first camera angle, Bruce runs a deep post from the slot that results in a 27-yard completion and a 77-yard touchdown. However what you do see is how Bruce sets up this break with a sharp dip outside, getting his head, shoulders, knees, and toes pointed diagonal to the sideline long enough to force the shallow coverage to turn outside as well as the safety over top.

If you pay attention, you’ll notice a lot of star receivers in the college game that don’t create this alignment with these four body parts when they try to set up a break. Maybe you’ll see a head fake, a shoulder fake, or a jab step. However, a complete sale of a seam route that forces the safety to widen his zone isn’t common. It requires patience, confidence, and attention to detail.

We don’t see the safety over top turning outside with the first look, but when the camera angle following the trajectory of the pass returns to Bruce, it is easy to see that the safety misses Bruce because the set up of the receiver’s break took him out of position to cut off the play. The safety is already trailing Bruce’s break inside as the ball arrives and the  last line of defense misses the diving wrap for the Rams receiver’s legs.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/9pARL8uMRcA]

0:55 – This is a replay of a touchdown pass against the Jets against off-man coverage. Bruce runs through contact using a variation of a rip move that you’d see a defensive tackle use to get past a blocker. Bruce economizes this move by using the same arm to hit and rip the defender to run through. This is a practiced technique that is clearly second nature to Bruce based on its execution.

Austin Collie: Winning Early

Austin Collie was not regarded as a fast prospect. But I saw a lot of examples of him open on vertical routes at BYU. Collie also had one of the fastest 20-yard shuttles and 3-cone drills of the 2009 draft class at the position. Most importantly, that quickness shows up on the field in pads.

The highlights below illustrate the importance of “winning early” in the NFL and then a receiver using his body to maintain that advantage through the length of the route. You’ll see this on plays in this highlight package other than the one I detail below. When a receiver capable of getting behind a defender early is in sync with Peyton Manning – one the most prepared, aggressive, and accurate passers in history – it is an example of what a great fit within an offensive system looks like.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/9Inl0bEJHUU]

1:22 – Collie has the initial speed to get the DB to trail him early from the slot and this helps the receiver sell his break inside by demonstrating great form with his knees and hips as he goes into his break. At the same time, Collie uses a great head fake to the outside once he reaches the top of his break.

This move leaves the Patriots defensive back on the ground. Once again, the head fake is a simple, fundamental technique, but Collie’s mastery of the move in terms of its timing on this play in conjunction with other crisp technique is the difference.

Reggie Wayne – A Master Practitioner Putting it All Together

Wayne is one of the best technicians at his position playing today. I could spend all day marveling over the  rare physical feats of players most other media profile and Wayne would never be in the conversation.  However, the Colts primary option rightfully belongs in the elite tier of NFL wide receivers.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/pll6vzSeyHw]

0:32 – Wayne demonstrates why being the first to establish contact in man coverage often gives the aggressor the advantage in the battle. The Colts receiver gets behind the defender quickly because he foils the CB’s position to jam with his arm. Wayne’s use of his arm to block the CB’s path allows him to run through contact to get behind the opponent early.  Since Wayne and Manning both recognize this single coverage, the pass is thrown quickly down field so enough touch can be used for the receiver to run under it.

0:39 – Wayne’s knowledge of the zone coverage (appears to be Cover-2) and how to play it is key on this play. Less polished receivers will simply run to the open spot and rely on the quarterback to thread the needle. Instead, Wayne sets up his ultimate destination by faking the slant. This draws the CB inside before Wayne releases down field.

This initial fake of the slant forces the safety to maintain his original position and it delays the defender’s reaction to Wayne long enough to give the Colts receiver an extra step or two in the open zone. Although Wayne has to dive for the ball because of his initial fake, he gains extra room to make the play.

It’s the little things like this extra fake that separate young players like an Austin Collie or a veteran like Wayne who had a promising start to his career from a Jacoby Jones, a Craig Davis, or a James Hardy, all prospects who had more desirable physical skills but weren’t immediately or consistently productive.

The best part of the play might be Wayne’s hands technique. Look at the hand position with palms up and fingers forming a web-like pattern that converges on the football. This slight angle of the hands helps a receiver cover a greater surface area of the ball with his hands because the quicker more fingers can touch the ball, the faster his hands will slow the ball’s movement to grip it.

This is why on this diving catch that Wayne could manage to tuck the ball with one hand under his arm while in the air and parallel with the ground. Without this angling of the hands, the ball only touches the first two fingers of each hand (at best) and the ball is more likely to slip through the receiver’s grasp.

1:09 – Look at the angle of Wayne’s hips and knees as he drops into the top of his break on a perimeter timing route against the Jaguars corner in off-man coverage. Good form.

1:15 – This post route for a TD versus the Cowboys is  another great example of Sterling Sharpe’s words of wisdom regarding body positioning. Wayne gets his back to the defender, shields the opponent from the ball, and then attacks the ball at the last moment with his arms extended from his body with an explosive reach.

2:21: This might be one of the better examples of technique versus athleticism that I will show you in this post. Wayne’s opponent is Champ Bailey, the star cornerback whose athleticism prompted the saying, “Water covers two-thirds of the earth, the other third is covered by Champ Bailey.”

Bailey is bigger, faster, and as experienced as Wayne. But the WR and Manning know how to turn Bailey’s physical advantages against him. The key is the location of the throw.

Manning throws Wayne open on this route by placing the ball behind Bailey. One of the reasons this strategy succeeds is Wayne, who baits Bailey into trying to cut off the route at the top. Wayne finishes the play with the late hands technique we’ve discussed with Mason and Brown, but used with a different purpose.

Wayne doesn’t bring his hands to meet the ball until the pass is close enough to catch. In this case, the late hands aren’t used to help Wayne continue running to meet the ball; the technique is used to avoid tipping off Bailey to the placement of the throw.

3:00 – Wayne double-clutches the ball on an over the shoulder catch against Cortland Finnegan of the Titans, but because he used his hands first to catch the ball rather than immediate go for the trap to the chest, the ball bounces off his hands rather than his chest. This gives Wayne a second chance to control the ball. Good technique with less than perfect results breeds optimal second chances.

3:02 – Wayne scores on this fade-stop against the Giants, setting up the reception by looking to the ball as if he’s going to catch it over his inside shoulder. This look sets up the last-second break back to the ball.

There is nothing physically imposing about Wayne, Collie, Mason or Bruce, and neither Sharpe nor Brown were considered big receivers for their time. Their games were built on executing the offense with precision and that rapport comes from the smarts and technique built on consistent and intense preparation.

Prospects entering the NFL with a higher level of technician in them are more favorable to me than most elite athletes without these tendencies. The reason should be more obvious: if they have the base level athleticism to compete in the NFL and they’ve already shown evidence of their smarts and work ethic to hone the craft of playing the position, then they are more likely to make a smooth transition to the rigors of professional football.

Grinding Tape: Chad Spann – Stiff arms and Green Dogs

0 Comments read Players, Running Back

[youtube=http://youtu.be/j8QX4ylcekk]

NIU RB Chad Spann led the NCAA Divison I-A with 22 rushing touchdowns in 2010. That’s one more than LaMichael James and two more than Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton.

Recently, I had the chance to watch tape with the 2010 MAC MVP. This week we discuss two plays where there are problems with the execution, but the end results are positive due to quick -thinking from Spann and the offense.

As Spann breaks down these plays we learn about the art of a good stiff arm, why balance has as much to do with a runner’s head as his feet, and the meaning behind the term, “green-dogging.”

2nd and 5  1:00 1st QTR

Waldman: This zone-read from a three-receiver set has some confusion between you and the QB with the exchange. Describe what’s difficult about this exchange.

Spann: Like I said before about zone-reads, if the backside defensive end we’re reading shuffles down the line of scrimmage, it means he’s playing me and not the quarterback. So the quarterback should pull it.

Zone-read 2nd and 5 1:04 1st QTR

Spann: On this particular play what I see is the backside tackle getting up to the second level and he’s almost in the way of the defensive end trying to get there. You can see the defensive end trying to push him because the tackle is in the way. This is also what our quarterback sees.

Blocking scheme for zone-read: Note backside tackle getting to second level and RDE working off him.

Spann: So he can’t really tell whether the guy is up the field or if he’s coming down the line of scrimmage. So the quarterback holds onto it a little too long in his read and he tries to pull it late.

Position of DE working off backside tackle (RT) creating confusion for QB & RB with the exchange.

Waldman: What are you thinking on this play?

Spann: I’m thinking the same way that he is – that I’m going to hit it right inside the backside tackle and guard because the tackle has beaten the guy inside. So that’s what I’m thinking as well, but the quarterback sees it too late and tries to pull the ball. But I already have my arms wrapped around it and I’m trying to make this cut. So by accident, and with a little bit of athleticism, he pulls me back outside.

Waldman: You know, I didn’t even notice that on this play. I just saw what appeared to be a miscommunication with who was going to take the ball. On first blush, it appears as if you’re trying to back up after you plant your feet, but you’re saying that he gives you a tug in the other direction?

Spann: He has his hands wrapped around the ball and I have my arms wrapped around his arms. So by him trying to pull his hands out or pull the ball out, he’s going to naturally try to tug on me, which is why my shoulders turn like that. And that gave me the ability to see the hole and the backside defensive end [who came down the line too far, which allowed me to] make this cut.

QB pulls RB just enough before exchange is complete to orient RB's path to defeat DE.

If [the quarterback] just gave it to me I would have kept going down that same path and I would have gotten hit by that defensive end. But since there was a little bit of a miscue, he was able to point me in the right direction. It gave me the ability to stop, start, and get a stiff arm on that defensive tackle and get six yards.

Spann and defender's paths after exchange.

Waldman: What I really like about your run is how you lower your shoulder into the oncoming defensive lineman who is cutting back towards you and then the stiff arm to knock the defender to the ground as you turn the corner at the line of scrimmage for what becomes a six-yard gain. The balance is really nice considering that you told me earlier that you got hurt on the play before…

Spann cuts inside LB in flat to turn corner for six yards.
Spann dragged down by WILL and MIKE LBs at end of six-yard gain.

Spann: Yep. On the first down play, which was a zone-read corner blitz, they jumped off sides. I got a hip pointer on that play [Author’s note: Spann was hit helmet-first onto his right side by the blitzing corner] but I stayed in after that. It really hurt, but I played the whole game. I sat out a little bit of this series because of it.

Waldman: That explains the broadcast crew showing you on the bike…As a spectator, you know something is wrong with a player when the team is blowing out the opposition and I still see him riding a bike to stay loose at the end of the game.

Spann:(Laughing) Oh yeah, the whole game…

Waldman:  Now back to this play, tell me more about that stiff arm. When you execute a stiff arm where are you trying to place it?

Spann: The facemask. Right in the face! It sounds cocky, but that’s where I aim for it. I’m not the biggest guy and I don’t have the longest arms, but like I mentioned in our Q&A about running between the tackles, is that you have to keep your pad level low and the most important thing is that you have to keep your head up because wherever your head is your body will follow. If I’m trying to run over somebody and my head’s down I might run through him but I’m going to go down, too.

Waldman: That explains a lot about balance and why it is a difference between big backs that don’t break tackles and smaller backs that do.

Spann: It’s the same thing in a situation with a stiff arm. If I can push your head back that means I’m going to push your arms up, too. And if I can push your arms up it means you’re not going to be able to get a grip on me.

So you’ll see when I get a guy right in his face then his hands will go straight up in the air and then I’ll try throw him to the ground because when the head comes back I try to throw him because they are going to go down regardless and I’m trying to get as far away from him as possible. So usually I’ll stiff-arm him all the way to the ground to make sure that they can never get a grip on me.

Spann: If you watch the defensive end you’ll see him jerk a little bit when I throw him down. That’s the whole point – I’m trying to snap his head back.

Waldman: So is there a difference between how a smaller back uses a stiff arm compared to a bigger back?

Spann: Bigger guys use stiff arms to keep a defender away from them. Their arms are long enough to hit them with a stiff arm and they can’t get a hold of him because they can’t make up the distance of the arm length.

[As a smaller back] I don’t have that luxury. So I have to invite them in so I can punch them in the face. It’s violent I know, but I have to do it almost as hard as I can so he’ll lose his body control for a second while I’m still running in the same direction. I have to throw them down because if I don’t they’ll be able to recover and still grab onto me as they are going down.

[Author’s note: Here are some classic examples of stiff arms]

[youtube=http://youtu.be/imAZrOkDDp4]

2nd and 9 5:49 2nd and QTR

Waldman: This is a touchdown pass where you are pass blocking from the backfield. Toledo runs a stunt where the LDE loops behind the NT towards the gap that you’re in and both LBs blitz.

The MLB takes off immediately up the middle but the LB on your side of the formation delays his just enough that you’re already looking at the stunting DE and miss the LB coming through the gap behind you. Nevertheless, the QB gets the throw off for a score.

Who was your first choice to block on this play and why?

Spann: I remember reading your question yesterday and then breaking this play down to one of my roommates. This is a “50” front. We have a noseguard and we have a guard uncovered and we have a stand up defensive end on our left side.

Four-receiver (3x1) set vs. 50 front (DE on viewer's right side is standing up).

Waldman: So what is the pass protection scheme for this front?

Spann: What we do [to block this play] is that we have a man side and a zone side. Wherever the A-Gap player is the quarterback is going to get to the line and he’s going to say something to point out that player’s direction.

If the A-gap player is to the right, the quarterback is going to say, “Rip, rip, rip, 88.” That’s our cadence. The “88” doesn’t mean much, but the “rip” means that the A-gap player is to the right and that is going to be our man side. If he were to the left, the quarterback would say, “Liz 88, liz 88.”

With this slide protection if it’s a “Rip Call,” the left side is going to be center, guard, and tackle while the right side is going to be guard, me (RB), and then tackle.

In this particular formation against this defensive front, which we call a “50,”  the quarterback is going to keep [the protection call in a way] so I don’t have to travel very far. It just makes sense to keep me here rather than go all the way to the backside to go get this standup defensive end.

Because he calls a rip, the left tackle is going to kick to the stand up defensive end. The left guard should kick to the five-technique. The center is going to take the nose, but he still us going to have to slide left. If that nose comes right, then it’s the guard.

LT, LG, C, and RG slide to left in this blocking scheme. Spann takes first LB blitzing through. RT takes DE (five-technique).

But because the nose is inside of the guard, the guard is going to step down with the center so at the snap of the ball you’re going to see four guys move to the left – the left tackle all the way to the right guard are all going to slide to the left.

If that nose guard stays to the left side of the center, the center is going to stay with him and the guard is going to come back and look for anything to the right. The right tackle is going to kick to the five-technique on the other side. My responsibility is whichever one of those linebackers blitz on my side. That’s me.

Waldman: So the front dictates the blocking scheme. How would a different front change your assignment?

Spann: If it were more of an even front, and say the middle linebacker was on my side and the WILL was still on that side, too, then it is whoever comes first is my guy. Or say they zone blitz off the edge, then whoever comes first is my guy and will have somebody else pick them up.

On this particular play they are running Cover-0 and they are blitzing the middle linebacker and they are stunting the defensive end.

This [stunt] isn’t picked up correctly, which is why your question was kind of confusing with what you saw.

[Author’s note: I saw a delayed blitz with one of the linebackers, but Spann corrects me in the explanation below]

That delayed linebacker blitz that you see, we wouldn’t look at it as a delayed blitz, but to the naked eye or someone not really paying attention…I mean someone who wouldn’t really know…

Waldman: That’s okay, don’t worry about it…(laughter)

Spann: (laughter) Sorry about that.

Waldman: it’s okay, I’m here to learn.

Spann: Okay. So No.32 (the OLB in the diagram) who “delay blitzed,” is actually in man coverage on me. He’s following me. So wherever I go, that’s where he’s going. And when he sees me step up to block. He does what we call “green dogging.”

Five-Technique next to standup DE stunts toward RG (on viewer's left); MLB blitzes to RG and Spann expects to pick this up. OLB in man coverage with Spann opts to Green Dog since Spann's blocking alleviates OLB of an assignment.

He sees that I’m blocking and since he has no other responsibility besides me, he comes and triggers for a blitz. That’s normally what delayed blitzes are. It’s where a defender sees an opportunity because his only responsibility isn’t a factor, so he just comes and puts pressure on the quarterback.

Waldman: So how does this Green Dog play out paired with the stunt?

Spann: [This is how] this stunt should be blocked from left to right:

  • The tackle should still kick out to that stand up guy.
  • The guard should kick out to the five-technique.
  • The center and guard block down like I said [before].
  • Whoever blitzes I got in that gap.
  • The tackle’s got that other five-technique.

When the left guard sees his guy cross his face on that stunt, he should turn his eyes and look back.

Waldman: But that doesn’t happen…

Spann: He was the youngest guy on our offensive line – a sophomore in his first year starting – so we had a little bit of inexperience. In fact, the only person who was a full-time starter [last year] was the left tackle. Everybody else was new – everybody else was a red-shirt junior on the line except for him; he’s a sophomore and he was a little bit inexperienced.

So when he saw his guy cross his face like that on the stunt he should immediately stop, turn, and help the center because the noseguard is coming back that way. Then the center should be able to pass that noesguard off to the guard as he picks up the looper [the stunting DE].

How pass protection should have been executed: LT kicks to stand up DE; LG sees DT stunting so he double teams NG withe the C; the C comes off double-team to block the stunting DT; the RG picks up blitzing LB; RB helps with blitzing RB or first LB through the hole; and RT picks up DE across from him.

Now the center never got off the nose to pick up the looper [stunting DE]. So the guard who was supposed to pick up the looper couldn’t because the blitz was in his face and he doesn’t know who is coming into his gap and he has to protect his gap…

Waldman: …It’s a domino effect in this sense with what happens with the left guard.

Spann: Yep. So the left guard doesn’t pick up and then the center can’t get off [the noseguard/A-Gap] to get the looper. Now the tackle sees the looper coming because he’s looking at the noseguard, but he’s looking through the noseguard to see the looper coming and he’s not seeing the linebacker blitzing, who should be his responsibility.

He ends up picking up the linebacker, but he looks at the looper for too long. And I’m looking at the looper because I should be helping out there because he’s unblocked. And when I reach in to help out there, my linebacker green dogs. So when he green dogs, and I finally see it, I turn and give him a shoulder and the ball is out [of the QB’s hands].

Waldman:There really are a lot of contingencies that an offensive player has to know in order to pass protect. It’s a nice play (a deep seam route from the slot for a 33-yard touchdown) considering what happened and you give your quarterback just enough time to get rid of the ball and make an accurate throw. Thanks for the explanation because I see the stunt, but I couldn’t tell whether that was a delayed blitz. Now that makes total sense. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Spann: No problem.

Remove The Beer Goggles (A Sober Look at Terrelle Pryor)

0 Comments read Players, Quarterback

I’m going to give you a ton of analysis on Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor. But if you subscribe to the “Keep It Simple Stupid,” approach, here’s an executive summary:

All NFL prospects have physical talent. All NFL starters have technical skill. However, few NFL prospects in a given year become NFL starters because they don’t develop the techniques to play the position beyond the college level.  The problem this presents to NFL personnel staff is that they have to project a player’s potential and physical talent. It is a significant part of that equation. As we have seen year after year, physical talent can be intoxicating if taken in large doses. And if you’ve ever been drunk, you understand how your judgment deteriorates.

Here’s a visual summary of what could happen to an NFL personnel staff as they view Pryor’s physical skills over time.

Terrelle Pryor as seen by NFL in 2010 (photo courtesy of Scott Stuart)
Terrelle Pryor seen by some optimistic NFL GMs and owners in early 2011 (photo courtesy of Sabot Images)
Terrelle Pryor as seen by QB-needy NFL team in July 2011 (photo courtesy of Andrew Morrell Photography)
It all boils down to this phenomenon.

Physically, Terrelle Pryor has the tools to become a phenomenal NFL quarterback. But I took a hard look at his game for the 2011 Rookie Scouting Portfolio just in case he declared for the 2011 NFL Draft. The analysis ahead is what would have been included in the 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio if Pryor played for Ohio State through his senior year. It is my take on Pryor’s performance against Wisconsin on October 16, 2010.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/WtBRDMzkQi0]

Statistically, Pryor was 14-28, for 156 yards with no touchdowns and 1 interception through the air. On the ground he rushed for 56 yards on 18 attempts. He was sacked twice and fumbled the ball once. His receivers dropped one pass. Wisconsin won this game 31-18 in Madison. My overall score for Pryor in this game was a 40 on a 100-point scale. This equates to a street free agent who would benefit from playing in another league before trying to enter the NFL.

I’ll begin with overall strengths and weaknesses and the rest will be a more thorough breakdown:

Strengths:

Pryor has all of the physical tools to become a dominant NFL quarterback.  He is also improving with his passing mechanics. When he’s focused and in rhythm, he can throw accurate passes with decent form. However, his improvement still remains in the basic stages of development. He is still far from consistent with his mechanics. His greatest strengths are his size, speed, and vision as a runner. He is excellent at avoiding pursuit in the pocket or as a runner in the open field. He’s big enough to run through arm tackles or hits and he has the agility to make sharp cuts and dips. If he learns how to refine his conceptual and mechanical technique as a passer he could develop into a great prospect. Right now he’s a dynamic athlete with a strong arm rather than a dynamic passer.

Weaknesses:

As good as he is at making defenders miss and buying time behind the line of scrimmage, Pryor lacks the ability to manipulate the pocket with tight movements. His tendency to scramble from one side of the field to the other actually creates more pressure and forces Pryor to either tuck and run, make quick throws into coverage that aren’t wise, or continue scrambling. Most of the time his choices heighten the risk of a sack, tire him out, and increase his chances of getting hit. This is far more evident against top competition and will only become a greater problem in the NFL if he doesn’t learn how to work the pocket more efficiently.

Pryor routinely throws the ball across his body, especially when flushed from the pocket. His passes tend to sink on him because he will over stride into this release. Right now he is not NFL-ready. He will need a simplified game plan with talented players around him to have initial success as a pro quarterback, and that will only come after he develops his footwork. If he can develop better footwork and learn to maneuver the pocket, he could become a much more accurate passer. Then Pryor might have a shot to learn the conceptual part of the game and develop better judgment as a field general.

Right now, he’s a long-term project, at best. He’ll need to exhibit a fantastic work ethic and vastly improved maturity to stick with a team long enough to earn long-term consideration as said project.

Accuracy: 2pts out of a possible 23pts.

  • High completion rate (>60%) – 5pts: No
  • Deep Accuracy – 2pts: No
  • Intermediate Accuracy – 7pts: No
  • Short Accuracy – 5pts: No
  • Accuracy moving right – 2pts: Yes
  • Accuracy moving left – 2pts: No

Analysis: 

Pryor’s first attempt came on OSU’s opening offensive play from a 1×2 spread set with backs flanking each side of him in the shotgun. His primary target was DeVier Posey on a 12-yard in-cut. Pryor started down his target from the snap to his release, delivering the ball on-target for the first down and a total gain of 14 yards. On the play, Pryor demonstrated a quick release with his delivery and the ball landed in the receiver’s midsection in stride. This pass demonstrates there is potential for Pryor to become a solid thrower of the football in the intermediate range of the field.

However, Pryor’s timing on a 7-yard curl on 2nd and 7 with 8:57 in the first quarter was off. His pass arrived after the receiver made his break, which allowed the defensive back to jump the route and nearly intercept it. Pryor also stared down this primary receiver from snap to release and if he’s going to make this a habit, he needs to exhibit better anticipation on these timing routes. If an NFL quarterback stares down a receiver, he’s only going to be successful if the play is a quick-hitting pass or his accuracy and anticipation are pinpoint.

On a 1st and 10 throw from the opposite hash with 8:36 in the first quarter, the ball seemed to come off Pryor’s hand poorly.  The ball was low, short and did not come off his hand with velocity. His target Posey had less of a chance to catch the pass than the zone linebacker, who nearly got a hand on the ball.

On the next play, Pryor threw the ball about four yards behind Posey on a designed throwback after rolling left. Posey ran a crossing route and was targeted in the middle of the field. The play was obviously designed for the opposing defense to chase Pryor and abandon their position so Pryor could use his athleticism to create an opening in the secondary and hit Posey on an easy pass. This is the kind of throw Pryor will have to make in the NFL with some level of accuracy if an NFL team is going to use his athleticism to beat defenses.

On a screen pass to RB Dan Herron on 1st and 10 with 11:46 in the half, Pryor exhibited some touch on the pass, but he nearly placed too much arc on the ball it was a rainbow-like throw. In the NFL, this kind of lollypop thrown with fast, instinctive, and smart defenders, could result in an interception or Pryor’s RB getting creamed. The raw potential to develop touch is there for Pryor, but at this stage of his development he should already be better with touch passes than he is.

Although he was not accurate earlier on a designed roll to the left, he was much better on a designed roll to the right. He rolled right, dropped three steps after the roll, planted his back foot, and completed a 24-yard corner route to his receiver Dane Sanzenbacher. Pryor exhibited good timing with his release if he can develop this kind of crisp execution with all of his throws, he’ll become an NFL quarterback. However this is the best throw I saw after five attempts.

Pryor followed up with good accuracy on another designed boot; throwing on the run while rolling right. He hit is WR Sanzenbacher for a 20-yard completion on a crossing route near the sideline with 2:36 in the third quarter.This and the corner route will be the types of throws on the move that will keep some NFL teams interested in his potential to develop into an accurate passer. The big “if,” will be how hard Pryor will work to attain that technical proficiency.

Once again, we see that Pryor is an effective thrower of the ball when moving to his right on a two-point conversion that cut the lead to 21-18 in the early fourth quarter. This is the third nice pass he threw moving to his right. This time Pryor exhibited good touch on a play action roll right and throw back to the left, hitting his tight end in the front corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion.

However, it became clear in this game that Pryor was not proficient throwing while on the move to his left on 1st and 10 with 6:47 left in the game. On a designed boot left, he overshot his RB on a drag route, hurrying the throw due to pressure coming near him. Pryor’s feet weren’t in sync with his release. The feet and the arm have to work in harmony in order to develop sound and accurate mechanics. Pryor will need to do a lot of drills to develop this kind of footwork and mechanics. Right now, it’s not second-nature to him. Otherwise, his footwork would have been smooth in this fourth-quarter pressure situation. The media likes to talk about heart, guts, and other intangibles that make players winners. These are real things, but good technique is the foundation for a player to exhibit the qualities that inspire and endure.

Another mechanical problem showed up on the next play. Pryor’s stride was too wide on a pass to his receiver at the first down marker in the left flat. This caused the ball to sink too low for a reception. On third down of the same series, Pryor’s throw was slightly better, but still too low on a designed roll left that finished with a short drop and throw. Pryor then under threw another pass to Posey with 3:03 in the game – a deep in-cut. On 4th and 3 he under threw Posey on a short curl at the sideline, but his receiver made a nice catch. This series of poor throws should be an indication to NFL personnel staff that they won’t be able to use Pryor’s athleticism until he develops more consistent footwork on the move – even with plays where they cut off half the field by moving him to one side.

However, Pryor has moments that will potentially intoxicate some NFL personnel. One of them came with 1:48 left in the game on the play after he took a sack: a 26-yard completion of a deep in-cut. This was Pryor’s best pass of the night, hitting his receiver Sanzenbacher under the safety and in stride. An overzealous evaluator could take a snapshot of this play and proclaim Pryor as a prospect with potential to make big plays in big moments after dealing with adversity.

A counterargument would be that this was a play where his receiver was wide open and a lot of time to deliver the ball. It was clear in this game when Pryor had time, was moving to his right, or standing in the pocket, and his receiver was wide open, his accuracy is good. Give these conditions to 95 percent of the major college QBs, and you’ll see accuracy as well.

Pryor’s final throw was an under thrown pass in the middle of the field that the undercutting defender intercepted. Pryor had time to throw, but did not put enough on the ball. He had this problem all night. He didn’t step into this throw and it needed that kind of velocity to get 25 yards down field. It was short by five yards.

Arm Strength: 11 points out of a possible 11 points.

  • Deep velocity – 2pts: Yes
  • Deep distance (>40 yards) – 2pts: Yes
  • Intermediate velocity – 5pts: Yes
  • Velocity on the move -2pts: Yes

Analysis: 

Pryor’s first pass, the 12-yard completion of a square-in that resulted in a 14-yard gain, showed good velocity. On 2nd and 9 with 12:22 in the half, Pryor demonstrated good arm strength on a deep streak down the left sideline. He threw the ball 50 yards from the opposite hash and the pass arrived on target. However, the defender had the best position on the ball, nearly intercepting it.This was more about Pryor’s decision-making than his arm strength. A 50-yard throw from the opposite hash that arrives on-target is a sign of great physical potential to pay the quarterback position in the NFL. However, you need to know when to make that throw and that comes with excellent presnap understanding of the defense and the ability to disguise your intentions. Drew Brees doesn’t have Pryor’s arm, but he could make that throw successfully as well as other deep passes far more often because he understands when and when not to try it.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/XLRBiQ7kdzg]

Pryor demonstrated nice zip on a 1st and 10 curl route for 12 yards in the right flat to Posey with 3:04 in the third quarter. Although the velocity was good, the lack of good mechanics with his feet caused the ball to be low, forcing the receiver to dive for the ball.  There was a lot of open space for the receiver to run after the catch if the accuracy were better.

Later, Pryor vastly over threw a deep streak to Posey, delivering the ball on a line drive that covered 55 yards in the air, falling five yards out of the end zone.

There’s not much that needs to be said about Pryor’s arm strength. It’s pro caliber. He can throw from the opposite hash, he can throw the ball with velocity in the intermediate range, and he can throw for distance. However, his arm strength won’t show up in a positive way if he can’t develop consistently sound mechanics with his feet. Passes will continue to be off-target in every conceivable way (late, long, short, low, etc.) until he has control of his frame as he releases the ball.

Delivery: 6 points out of a possible 16 points.

  • Delivers from a variety of platforms – 2pts: No
  • Catchable ball (touch, spirals, etc.) – 4pts: No
  • Quick release – 4pts: Yes
  • Compact delivery – 4pts: No
  • Good drop depth – 2pts: Yes

Analysis:

Pryor’s first attempt on the opening offensive play, the 12-yard in-cut, was an on-target delivery. He demonstrated a quick release that was over the top. His feet seemed well spaced as he threw the ball. On a pass to the FB in the flat with 13:48 in the first quarter, he did a nice job with his five-step drop, getting good depth. Again, his release was quick. The feet could be a little closer together, but on these passes his footwork was passable.

Although Pryor delivers some of his passes with good velocity and a quick, over the top release, the quality of his passes are wobbly and they lack that fine touch to drop between defenders. His timing and accuracy are inconsistent because he consistently doesn’t throw a tight spiral and his passes tend to wobble. I think this has to do with his footwork. He sets his feet reasonably well, but he tends to over stride during his release. When moving to his right, Pryor does a much better= job of keeping his feet under him than when he’s moving to his left. However as mentioned earlier with his accuracy, Pryor’s footwork fell apart in the fourth quarter and the quality of his passes followed. I would probably be too generous with awarding Pryor a positive score for a compact delivery, because he has a tendency to over stride.

Pryor’s footwork in the pocket is still in its development stages as a passer. He appears stiff with his drops or any attempt to slide and still maintain a good throwing stance as the pocket constricts. If he wants to play in the NFL, he won’t have nearly as many picture perfect pockets to operate from and he’ll need to have great footwork ingrained into him before he gets under center.

Decisions: 0 points out of a possible 14 points.

  • Avoids locking onto one receiver – 3pts: No
  • Plays with controlled aggression – 2pts: No
  • Manipulates defense with eyes – 2pts: No
  • Makes effective presnap reads – 2pts: No
  • Throws ball away to avoid sacks – 3pts: No
  • Checks down judiciously – 2pts: No

Analysis:

On a 2nd and 22 play action pass from the I formation with 13:49 in the first quarter, Pryor lacked patience in the pocket and the result was a check-down at inopportune time. He dropped five steps from center, looked down the middle of the field ,and then rushed a throw to his FB in the flat who was covered tightly at the line of scrimmage. As soon as the FB made the reception, the defender dropped him. There was as WR running a shallow cross who was open at the opposite hash and if Pryor waited just a beat longer, he could have completed a pass to a teammate with room to run.

There were several things Pryor lacked on this play:

  1. The ability to look at multiple receivers (locking onto one receiver).
  2. The conceptual understanding that dumping a 2nd and 22 pass to a tightly covered fullback was not much better than taking a sack and probably not as good as throwing the ball away (controlled aggression and checking down).
  3. The ability to move know that the WR was running open on the cross and use his initial lock-down of the fullback to his advantage (manipulating with his eyes).

Pryor is already operating a basic college offense. The fact that he’s making questionable decisions in it doesn’t bode well for the NFL.

On the next play, a 3rd and 21 with 13:01 in the first quarter, Pryor was too hesitant with his down field options and then forced a throw into tight coverage that was nearly intercepted. Pryor initially dropped from shotgun and looked down field to his right before turning back to the left. Hew waited too long, double-clutching the ball until he tried to force the ball to his WR Sanzenbacker on a corner route. If he throws the ball earlier, the receiver wouldn’t have been forced to fight for the ball between two defenders. Instead, Pryor’s lack of anticipation allowed the safety to come over the top and catch the ball. Fortunately for OSU, the Wisconsin safety landed out of bounds.

Once again, Pryor demonstrated a lack of patience on a 2nd and 10 crossing route with 8:30 in the first quarter. The play began with a designed roll to the left and ended with a throwback to DeVier Posey. Pryor threw the ball about four yards behind his receiver, who was in the middle of the field on his cross. If Pryor waited for Posey to clear the next window to the flat, he could have had an easier throw to a wide open player rather than attempting a throw across his body.

Pryor had two receivers running crosses of different depths on 2nd and 9 with 3:41 in the half and he once again made the wrong decision. The quarterback stared down the shallow cross to Posey, leading the receiver into the linebacker. However, he didn’t see that his receiver Sanzenbacher was open on a deeper cross 15 yards down field.

Pryor made another poor decision to throw the ball across the field after getting flushed to his right. He the ball across the field to the opposite hash to his receiver Brandon Saine with 4:00 in the game. The pass was nearly picked off as two defenders were able to cut off the receiver on the play.

The only patience I saw from Pryor in this game came as a runner on a play around right end for an eight-yard gain behind his pulling lineman with 6:28 in the third quarter. He’s going to be woefully predictable as an NFL quarterback if he doesn’t improve his ability to read the field and make quick, aggressive vertical throws. Based on the plays that have transpired thus far in this ball game, including the corner route he released late into double coverage that was intercepted, it’s very clear that he hesitates to pull the trigger on these plays when he first sees, if he sees them at all.

Ball Handling: 5 points out of a possible 8 points.

  • Play fakes – 1pt: No
  • Center exchange – 2pts: Yes
  • Pump fakes – 1pt: Yes
  • Ball security while running – 1 pt: No
  • Maintains ball security when hit – 2pts: Yes

Analysis:

Pryor attempted an option pitch on a pistol formation run heading to left end, but he bounced the football off the fingertips of his tailback for a loss of 12 yards. On a 1st and 10 run of 22 yards with 9:50 in the first quarter, Pryor switched the ball to his left arm once he cut to the sideline. Good awareness of how to protect the ball.

On a 3rd and 10 with 8:26 in the first quarter, Pryor used a decent shoulder fake before climbing the pocket and delivering a pass over the middle to his receiver just inches shy of the first down marker. Although the replay booth overruled the completion, the shoulder fake was a nice move to set up the throw. If he can develop more consistent footwork and patience to go with this type of fake, he’ll look more like a veteran player.

There were moments during Pryor’s 17-yard scramble with 12:18 in the half that he held the ball low while in the pocket. With defenders around him, Pryor needs to stop carrying the ball like a loaf of bread with his non-sideline arm, especially as he approaches the sideline with defenders in pursuit and close the ball. He may have a big hand, but carrying the football this way is dangerous. He cost his team possessions in the NFL if he doesn’t fix it.

Pocket Presence: 5 points out of a possible 18 points.

  • Climbs pocket effectively – 5pts: No
  • Willing to take a hit to deliver the ball – 2pts: No
  • Senses pass rush – 5pts: Yes
  • Manages outside pressure – 3pts: No
  • Managers pressure up the middle – 3pts: No

Analysis:

Pryor’s footwork in the pocket is still in its development stages as a passer. He appears stiff with his drops or any attempt to slide and still maintain a good throwing stance as the pocket constricts. In fact, he really doesn’t slide as much as he bursts a few steps, makes a halting stop, and then tries to throw. This hampers his accuracy. Pryor needs to learn to climb the pocket with better footwork that doesn’t consist of  running and stopping.

Pryor showed this exact issue on a 3rd and 10 pass over the middle with 7:30 in the first quarter. It took a near-amazing catch attempt to even get the replay booth to examine if the result was a completion.

Pryor gained 17 yards on a 3rd and 9 passing play with 12:17 in the half when he dropped back, felt the pocket begin to constrict, and took off to the left flat. He broke a tackle attempt by the DE off the left edge and quickly getting to the left sideline, eluded a cornerback at the sideline with a nice little dip away from the defender, and then tight-roped the boundary. Although a nice play, a better pocket quarterback climbs this pocket and finds a receiver down field with the amount of room that was available to Pryor. Unfortunately,  the first thing Pryor did to react to the pressure was drop his eyes from his receivers and look for place to run.

This is very Atlanta Falcons-era-Michael Vick, and will inhibit his ability to operate from the pocket if he doesn’t work to improve it.

Pryor got tripped up by the right DE coming clean around the edge on 3rd and 9 with 3:38 in the half. Pryor felt the pressure and tried to climb the pocket a step, but he did not climb far enough. This is another example that Pryor’s feel for pressure is not refined.

On 3rd and 8 from a 2×2 shotgun formation with his RB flanking his right, Pryor dropped against Wisconsin’s four-man front and scanned down field with four yards of space between him and the closest offensive linemen blocking a defensive lineman. As another second passed, the left defensive end got up field but was still well contained by the left tackle and Pryor could have climbed this deep pocket to either make a throw, throw the ball away, or break the pocket through a nice gap to the left flat. Instead, Pryor rolled right and nullified his offensive lineman’s work. His poor choice freed the three Wisconsin defensive linemen getting blocked on the right side to release and chase.

This was particularly helpful to RDE J.J. Watt, who was double-teamed until Pryor’s poor decision in the pocket gave the DE optimal position to release and use his speed to beat the offensive linemen around the corner. Pryor had to then reverse his field to the left to avoid Watt, but this opened the lane for two more defenders and forced the QB to throw the ball across his body. Fortunately for Pryor, all of this worked. His WR Sanzenbacher had worked back to the middle of the field from a deep seem route up the right hash, giving the QB a target to hit 14 yards down field.

While I liked Pryor’s composure to find the receiver, he created a lot this pressure himself. More times than not, his lack of ability to manipulate the pocket with tight movements will hurt him in the NFL.

Another example of Pryor’s reckless play in the pocket came on 3rd and 6 with 0:54 in the third quarter. Pryor lines up in the shotgun in a 2×2 receiver look with his back flanking him to the right against a four-man defensive front with the linebackers set deep. He drops from his snap looking right, feels the pressure up the middle and climbs the pocket to the right, just past this oncoming DT.

Pryor correctly anticipates that the RDE getting blocked by the RT will slide off the assignment inside and sack him. What Pryor does to avoid this is truly amazing, but hard for me to imagine he could do again: he suddenly changes direction with a dip inside the DE and ducks under his right tackle so close that you can’t see space between them as he goes by. Pryor then comes out the other side, runs to his right, looks down field with the DE redirecting his pursuit, and throws a looping jump pass across his body towards the middle of the field. The pass covers nine yards and his receiver Sanzenbacher makes a leaping grab in front of coverage for the first down. While I have doubts he’ll be able to execute in the NFL if he continues these tendencies, I’ll stay open to the possibility if he can develop better conceptual skills to diagnose defensive tendencies and vastly improved footwork to become more consistently accurate.

Pryor was sacked second time with 2:10 left in the game when he tried to slide back and to the left of the RDE. Moving backwards is a common tendency for athletic quarterbacks in college football. Tim Tebow. Mike Vick. Donovan McNabb. Vince Young. All guilty. The key is to learn to step into the pocket. If he learns to do this, he’ll be in a much better position to prevent negative plays as an NFL quarterback.

Scrambling: 5 points out of a possible 5 points.

  • Positive yardage when breaking the pocket – 2pts: Yes
  • Positive yardage when pocket collapses – 1pt: Yes
  • Capable of big gains as a runner – 2pts: Yes

Analysis:

The Buckeyes have a designed run for Pryor where he’s in the shotgun. They flank a back to Pryor’s left and use an unbalanced line to the left with a tight end, a wing back, and a receiver all bunched to that side. At the snap, the tailback and the entire offensive line slant right while the quarterback follows his wing back and receiver into the flat on the left. The play looks a lot like a quick WR screen by the time Pyror begins to turn the corner.

Pryor got a huge area off the left flat to run, gaining 10 yards before he even had to use a blocker, much less change direction. He was quick enough to dip outside the block and eliminate the angle of a corner that broke down too soon, getting to the sideline for a 22-yard gain.

When Pryor scrambles, he runs a lot like Daunte Culpepper or Ben Roethlisberger early in their careers. He broke the pocket on a 3rd and 7 with 8:55 in the first quarter once he saw the linebackers drop deep, showing good acceleration as he weaved through the flat. He finished the run by lowering his shoulder into safety at the marker and then ran over the defender for the first down.

Pryor gained 17 yards on a 3rd and 9 passing play with 12:17 in the half when he dropped back, felt the pocket begin to constrict, and took off for the left flat. He broke a tackle attempt by the DE off the left edge and quickly got to the left sideline. He then eluded a cornerback at the sideline with a nice little dip away from the defender and then tight-roped the boundary for the rest of the yardage.

He took an option read around right end, dipping away from one defender and using a stiff arm to push the other to the ground, but he was tripped up by that player, limiting his gain to five yards despite a lot of open space in the flat ahead of him.

Pryor is still a better runner than he his a passer at this stage of his career. On a designed keeper off right guard with 10:50 in the third quarter, he burst through the hole, veered to the right flat, and then slowed down and spun away from a defender reaching for him to get another 3-4 yards on a 13-yard gain and a first down, putting OSU in the red zone.

As we have seen with Ben Roethlisberger, Vince Young, Daunte Culpepper, Donovan McNabb, and Steve McNair, quarterbacks that run the ball a lot eventually wear down and get hurt. Either they become better pocket passers deliver production with greater efficiency and economy or they tend to fall apart and lose the athleticism that earned them an opportunity. Pryor may be able to make winning plays outside the pocket in certain situations, but in order to get to those situations he’ll need to produce inside the pocket on a consistent basis.

Grinding Tape Part III – NIU RB Chad Spann

0 Comments read Players, Running Back

In Part I of the Grinding Tape Series, Mid American Conference MVP Chad Spann explained the concepts behind plays that require a running back to understand blocking schemes, defensive tendencies, and reading keys.

In Part II, he revealed how quickly a runner needs to be able to process information to choose a hole, ball security protocol, and the importance of minimizing surface area to become a strong, after-contact runner.

This week, Spann discusses the difference in a runner’s pre-snap location in very similar-looking shotgun sets with very different blocking schemes, and what a back is looking at to determine the path of his run.

1st and 10, 10:00 1st QTR

Waldman: You do a nice job bouncing this run outside. You take the play behind your fullback’s lead block and get the left corner for a six-yard gain. Take us through the design and execution of this running play.

Spann: This play is once again our inside zone. The fullback is lining up on the right side, but this is not the way we normally run it. Our fullback is normally going to line up either back side or he’s going to start on the front side and come back to the backside when the ball is snapped. Every time, he’s going to cut this defensive end, which is going to give me a start at a cut back if there is one.

Waldman: This time he motions from the slot to a split position over the tight right tackle and tight end.

Pre snap look of inside zone play.

Waldman: As with the running plays we’ve looked at earlier in the game,  is the A-gap/one-technique DL the primary key for the blocking scheme?

Spann: Yes. On this particular play we’re going to double team again like we always do against that A-Gap player, the one-technique. That A-gap player is going to be double-teamed by the center and guard. Whoever had leverage is going to take over the block by himself and whoever can get free is going to come up and get the MIKE linebacker (No.32). The front side tackle has the defensive end and the tight end is going to take the stand up linebacker, which is the SAM (labeled as the OLB below).

Post snap blocking on inside zone.

Waldman: On this play the one-technique gets occupied rather quickly by the center, which allows the right guard to get into the defensive backfield and get his hands on the MIKE LB (No.32). What is the strategy for the DL lined up over the left guard – the three-technique?

Spann: That  guard and tackle on the backside are going against the three-technique and they double team him to the WILL linebacker (No.42). If the three-technique tries to cross the face of the guard, the backside tackle is going to come up and get No.42 and the fullback is going to come back and cut the defensive end to give me a lane. That’s not how we plan for it to happen, but that’s a possibility.

Waldman: So what is the primary hole for you on this play?

Spann: It is a B-gap play, which means we want it to hit the front side B-gap. We want the center and guard to mash that A-gap player down and have the center take over the block and the guard get up to the MIKE linebacker. And that’s where the hole should be (over right guard). That’s not always where it goes, because one thing that can kill zone plays is penetration and that’s what Toledo is trying to do – get gap penetration – and they did.

Toledo gets good gap penetration over center and right guard, which forces cutback.

Spann:  Their penetration jams up my holes a little bit and forces me to make this cutback, which normally I’ll get in trouble for making this big of a cutback…

Waldman: But you do a nice job of it (laughter). . .

Spann: . . . Yeah, I make a play out of it. And you see me again with the ball in the “wrong” hand, but initially this was supposed to be a front side play and by the time I make my decision with where I’m going to go I already have the ball in my right hand.

Waldman: But as you mentioned (see Part II of this analysis) earlier, you don’t want to change ball hands in traffic. At this point you do a nice job of accelerating past the Will LB (No.42) to get the corner.

Spann beating Will LB (No.42) to the corner on the cutback behind FB's block of DE.

Waldman: The key to this cutback from what I see is that the WILL LB (N0.42) took his initial steps towards the B-gap (right guard), which gave you room to get the corner on your cutback. The MIKE linebacker (No.32) had to free himself from the guard and get through the mesh. By the time he does, you have the corner just past the WILL.

Spann gains six yards after taking the backside corner.

Waldman: You turn the corner and stay inside the numbers to possibly work off the wide receiver’s block. The WILL does manage to run you down with the help of the MIKE and the free safety who delivers a head-on shot that you manage to meet with good pad level to deflect much of the blow.

1st and 10, 5:36 1st QTR

Waldman: This formation is a shotgun set with four receivers and no tight end or fullback. Three receivers are split to the right and a single receiver is wide left.

Zone-read play from shotgun, pre-snap.

Spann: In contrast to the last shotgun play where I was closer to the quarterback’s feet, this one is the zone-read play where I’m going to back up a little more.

Waldman: Why the difference with your pre-snap positioning in the formation?

Spann: It’s because this play doesn’t only to hit front side. It could hit backside. It could hit right up the middle.

So I’ve got be deep enough to read where this hole is going to be because we are doing true double teams unlike the last shotgun play, which was a full zone. I need a little more space to make these reads because my track  is going to be more downhill than it is going to be east and west.

The depth between me and the quarterback and my path is the huge difference between the last play and what I was trying to get across with the last shotgun play.  You’re going to see me come closer and downhill than going straight through the mesh.

Waldman: Before the snap, the outside receiver on the right motions to the hash to create a more conventional bunch look and this brings the strong safety into the box next to the MIKE linebacker. Tell us about the blocking scheme and of course, that A-gap defensive tackle who is almost directly over the center.

Zone-read blocking from shotgun set.

Spann: On this play we have the A-gap player front side, which means once again we’re going to double team him to the play side linebacker (the WILL). The tackle is going to be one-on-one with the defensive end back side because it is a zone read. Because the A-Gap player stays right where he’s at and he doesn’t try to shoot outside the guard, the guard is able to get up to the linebacker instead of the center doing it, which means the hole is going to be where the guard was.

Spann getting the ball and bouncing to left end.

Waldman: This play doesn’t windup going off the guard. You actually bounce this outside. I’ve always been curious what specifically a running back is viewing to determine the direction he takes on a run. Are you looking at the defense, your linemen, open space?

Spann: I’m not looking at the defensive linemen and where they are going. I’m looking at the helmet placements of my offensive linemen. That is what tells you which way to go. If your offensive lineman has his helmet on the right shoulder of the defensive lineman then your cut is going to be inside and to the right of that offensive lineman. Now if it’s to the left then you’re going to go inside because wherever his helmet is the opposite direction he’s trying to push him.

Waldman: To make sure I get it,  you’re following the helmets and wherever the helmet is. If the helmet is inside, you’re going inside. If the helmet is outside then you’re going outside.

Spann: Yep. On this play because of the helmets and the fact the  guard gets off clean to the linebacker, the play is supposed to be inside the guard.

Now that defensive end beats our tackle inside and that isn’t supposed to happen.  But because I have that extra depth in my initial stance I can read that and I see that happen as I try to hit that hole where the defensive end comes out.

I see it, I react to it, and I know I can get outside of it. So that’s my reading and reacting and I get around the corner for a seven-yard gain (see below).

Next week, we’ll discuss the art of the stiff arm, the pain of hip pointers, and the craft of pass protection.

Speed In Context

0 Comments read Matt Waldman

Jerry Rice is a perfect example of speed in the proper context. 

Speed (noun, verb, sped or speed·ed, speed·ing. –noun)

1. rapidity in moving, going, traveling, proceeding, or performing; swiftness; celerity: the speed of light;the speed of sound…

6. Slang . a stimulating drug, as caffeine, ephedrine, or especially methamphetamine or amphetamine.

Legendary NFL owner Al Davis coined the phrase Speed Kills. Because the long-term demise of the Oakland Raiders can be attributed in part of Davis’ addiction to speed over anything else, there’s no shortage of irony in his statement. However, Davis is just one of many in the NFL whose beliefs and actions indicate that they are intoxicated by speed. It has become the football equivalent of beer goggles.

I have been studying college and NFL games 60 hours a week, 8 months a year since 2005 and one of the things I have learned is that speed should not be regarded solely as a physical attribute. The NFL may be one of the most physical games in the world, but the strategic side of the game beyond the quarterback position is overlooked more often than it should.

NFL players have to be strong at processing information quickly. They have to understand the roles of their teammates, the tendencies of their opponents, and how to anticipate what is going to happen before the play even begins. They also have to have strong technique that they can execute without thinking about it. There is still a far greater variation physical talent in college football than in the NFL and this is why college teams can dominate with far simpler schemes. Pro football has very little variation in physical talent, which is why a back like Reggie Bush cannot make the same kinds of reversal of field runs with success with the Saints that he did at Southern Cal.

Because the strength, speed, and agility gap is so much narrower in the NFL, anticipation, precision, and consistency of technique becomes vital. Take an RB with 4.4 speed in a workout and put him in a situation where he doesn’t have the blocking scheme, offensive verbiage, audibles, or defensive tendencies under his fingers, and he’s going to hesitate because he’s thinking rather than reacting. You can reasonably add between 0.2-1 seconds of hesitation time to that 4.4 workout speed and what you get is a fast player who plays slow. The less knowledgeable and confident a player is with his role the more likely this hesitation time has a compounding effect on his quickness and accuracy of execution and the overall effectiveness of his teammates relying on him.

In contrast, a player with strong technique, knowledge of his role, and knowledge of his opponent has little to no hesitation in his execution. This is why there are numerous examples of RBs or WRs with 4.6 speed who can make big plays. NFL Quarterbacks talk about the game “slowing down” after they accumulate a better understanding of the demands of the position in the pros. However, the game doesn’t really slow down, their reaction time speeds up because the confusion with the playbook, technique, and defensive schemes are no longer creating hesitation. This is no different with any other position.

Speed is not just a number on a stopwatch. Imbibe those times with moderation.