Posts tagged studying NFL games

ESPN Analyst Matt Williamson Part I

ESPN analyst Matt Williamson joined Matt Waldman to talk football. Williamson, a former college director and NFL scout, shares his story and perspective on the game in this multi-part conversation. Photo by Jayel Aheram

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 this post, Williamson discusses an emerging NFL offensive trend with personnel and then explains the difference between scouting for a football team and a media conglomerate.

Waldman: What is a positional trend in the NFL that you believe is really making a league-wide impact?

Williamson: One thing that I think is really becoming more prevalent and I think that we’ll continue to see much more of it is hybrid offensive players. People that come to mind are Aaron Hernandez, Dallas Clark, Reggie Bush, and Percy Harvin. Now Harvin doesn’t count as much as those others, but the rest of those guys are all in really good offenses with smart quarterbacks – which is absolutely a necessity.

The problem they present to defenses is how do you count them? If you are a defensive coordinator and Reggie Bush is on the field with a fullback, a tight end, and two wide outs are you going to call Bush a running back and just play a base defense against him? Okay, that’s cool… Continue reading

Emerging NFL Talents: RB James Starks

What most people don't think about with James Starks is that he hadn't played football for nearly two seasons. Photo by tyle_r http://www.flickr.com/people/tyle_r

Although my takes on the players in the next series of posts might be useful to fantasy owners, these aren’t fantasy football articles. I’m not projecting stats. I’m writing about talented players whose portfolio of work reveals techniques and behaviors that I think translate well to the NFL game. At the end of the year, you might look at the stats and conclude that the quantity of the production wasn’t eye-catching for each of these emerging talents. However, I believe their work will be impressive enough for opposing teams, fans, and more astute fantasy owners to take future notice.

Let’s play a game.

Below are the career stats of every starting running back (not counting short-term subs) for the Green Bay Packers since former running back coach Edgar Bennett was himself a Packers running back.  Look at the stats of these four runners and see if you can find a broad pattern when it comes to the team’s organizational decision-making. Continue reading

Emerging NFL Talents: RB Ryan Mathews

Despite an injury-plagued rookie year, Ryan Mathews led the NFL in rushing touchdowns greater than five yards. Photo by Garrett Johnson.

Although my takes on the players in the next series of posts might be useful to fantasy owners, this isn’t a fantasy football article. I’m not projecting stats. I’m writing about talented players whose portfolio of work reveals techniques and behaviors that I think translate well to the NFL game. At the end of the year, you might look at the stats and conclude that the quantity of the production wasn’t eye-catching for each of these emerging talents. However, I believe their work will be impressive enough for opposing teams, fans, and more astute fantasy owners to take future notice.

Unlike Eric Decker and John Beck, Ryan Mathews’ 2011 breakout potential is a no-brainer. If not for a high ankle sprain in Week 2, Chargers head coach Norv Turner foresaw a 250-carry, 40-catch rookie year from the heralded Fresno State prospect. Last year, Mike Tolbert did a fine job splitting the load with Mathews as the lead back. But for those people who believe Tolbert will be a hindrance to Mathews’ production, consider the skills both runners bring to the team. Continue reading

Emerging NFL Talents: QB John Beck

Mike Shanahan thought John Beck was the best quarterback in a draft class that included JaMarcus Russell, Kevin Kolb, Brady Quinn, Troy Smith, and Trent Edwards. Hardly a great group in hindsight, but you could say the same about Tom Brady's class with one noted exception, Brady's fellow sixth-round classmate. Photo by simplistic.designs http://www.flickr.com/photos/simplistic-designs/

Although my takes on the players in the next series of posts might be useful to fantasy owners, this isn’t a fantasy football article. I’m not projecting stats. I’m writing about talented players whose portfolio of work reveals techniques and behaviors that I think translate well to the NFL game. At the end of the year, you might look at the stats and conclude that the quantity of the production wasn’t eye-catching for each of these emerging talents. However, I believe their work will be impressive enough for opposing teams, fans, and more astute fantasy owners to take future notice.

Prologue

Once upon a time there was a Division I college quarterback. He had the minimum physical dimensions for NFL consideration, but he wasn’t an athletic phenomenon. The school he played for was a major program, but it was not a known commodity for quarterbacks. The lack of these quality bullet points on this player’s resume contributed to a lower draft stock. A noted exception were those who study film closely. These tape grinders saw a quarterback with an exceptionally quick release, good accuracy, and solid decision-making. Some of these analysts, (specifically this one) rated this quarterback among the top 3-4 in this class.

It didn’t make much of a difference. The quarterback was a sixth-round pick for a team that needed a better passer. But as with most sixth-round picks, that quarterback was waived.  The team didn’t regarded him as a player to develop. While this is speculation on my part, said player likely didn’t receive enough reps to even make an impression. Six years later, the team that cut our hero made a trade for a signal caller who turned this franchise around – much in part to a new head coach who I think might have taken a greater interest in our hero if the timing were right. But reality dictated that for the next five years this team would falter in large part to inconsistent quarterbacking. Continue reading

Emerging NFL Talents: WR Eric Decker

Eric Decker's rookie total was the grand sum of 6-107-1, but he's an emerging talent to remember. Photo by Jeffrey Beall http://www.flickr.com/photos/denverjeffrey/5300408094/

Although my takes on the players in the next series of posts might be useful to fantasy owners, this isn’t a fantasy football article. I’m not projecting stats. I’m writing about talented players whose portfolio of work reveal techniques and behaviors that I think translate well to the NFL game. At the end of the year, you might look at the stat-lines and conclude that the quantity of the production wasn’t eye-catching for each of these emerging talents, but the quality of work they did was impressive enough for opposing teams, fans, and more astute fantasy owners to take notice.

WR Eric Decker, Denver Broncos

One of my favorite receivers from the 2010 draft class, Decker’s game is well-suited to the NFL because he consistently demonstrated skills at the University of Minnesota that are commonplace requirements for a successful NFL receiver. What you’re going to see repeatedly from Decker in this highlight package is the following:

  • Good initial set up of breaks
  • Defeating press with use of hands and shoulders
  • Winning real estate early in the route
  • Maintaining real estate later in the route
  • Receptions after contact
  • A “my ball mentality”
  • Functional strength
  • Functional speed

Most people during the 2010 NFL Draft were enamored with Decker’s classmate DeMaryius Thomas. Personally, I have always thought Decker was the better player. Continue reading

Execution

Tony Gonzalez has enjoyed a long and productive career because as his athleticism has declined he still executes strong technique. Photo by Chemisti http://www.flickr.com/photos/chemisti/457300762/

While researching YouTube highlights for my last blog post, I came across a series of short videos on fundamentals for wide receiver and tight end. One set of these videos features former Packers, Chiefs, and Vikings tight end Paul Coffman, who does a fantastic job of demonstrating fundamental techniques for blocking, releases, routes, and pass catching. The other set has current NFL pros demonstrating the same fundamentals.

The difference between the two is that Coffman’s videos feature middle school and high school students executing these techniques. This may seem boring in contrast to the NFL stars, but there’s something to be gained from watching both, which is the vast difference in execution.  This seems obvious, but it is vitally important when evaluating players. Coffman’s kids are still learning these techniques while the pros make everything look easy and effortless. 

But “simple” and “easy” aren’t synonymous without years of practice. This is something to remember every time you watch a college athlete or young NFL player. Those prospects who make fundamentals look easy closer to becoming refined pros than those who are simply athletes with raw positional skills.  Continue reading

YouTube Chalkboard: Six WRs Who Will School You

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

[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.

Grinding Tape Part III – NIU RB Chad Spann

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.

Grinding Tape: NIU RB Chad Spann Part I

Chad Spann began his career as a walk-on and ended it the MAC MVP.

This is the first in a series of posts will feature a film study session I had with former NIU RB Chad Spann, 2010’s Division-I leader in rushing TDs and the Mid-American Conference’s Most Valuable Player.

If you don’t know about Chad Spann, you’re probably not alone. He wasn’t drafted in April. However, that doesn’t make him an unworthy pro prospect. He’s a smart and tough runner who began his career practically begging for a shot from any Division-I team. He began the summer of his freshman year as the ninth RB on the NIU depth chart, but by the end of August he was the No.2 RB. After a strong college career, he’s once again in a similar situation as the underdog. If there is a player who is could follow a career trajectory similar to Priest Holmes, Spann has the skills to potentially do it.

I had the opportunity to interview Spann for the New York Times Fifth Down Blog last spring. In addition to the interview, Spann generously agreed to spend a couple of hours with me over the phone to break down one of his games. He chose  his three-touchdown performance against Toledo – a game where he played a significant part of the contest with a hip pointer – as the one for us to review. A few days before our meeting I emailed Spann a list of plays from the game that I wanted to discuss and when the time came, we sat in our respect homes and queued play after play.

If Spann shows the same kind of patience on the field in a training camp that he showed with me during our call, he’s going to be a find for an NFL team with enough foresight to give him a camp invite. Most impressive was the way in which Spann communicated his role, the responsibilities of his teammates, and the actions and reactions of the defense both pre- and post-snap. Spann was instructive, insightful, and his knowledge demonstrated a good counterpoint to the overstated generalization that the running back position is mostly instinctive. There are enough analytical requirements of a good runner that it is a fallacy to imply that the position doesn’t require thought or preparation.

The initial post is a Q&A discussion of two plays from the first series of the contest. Note Spann’s ability to describe his teammate’s assignments, what he’s trying to read from specific defenders, and what he’s doing very early in the run to set up his teammates so they can return the favor and set him up for a nice gain. This is something that will become more evident with future posts.

What this session reinforced for me is that few running plays ever work exactly as designed.

1st and 10 14:55 1st quarter – One-yard gain

Pre-snap look 14:55 1st quarter

Spann: This is our first play from offense. We have a two-receiver set with both receivers to the left in “21” personnel [2 backs, 1 tight end].

The fullback lines up on the wing almost as if he was an H-back. We’re running a zone play to the weak side (away from the tight end). This is actually a variation of our inside zone play. Instead of our fullback blocking back side he’s going to stay front side and he’s going to lead up on the ‘backer…

Waldman: This play didn’t work out as drawn up. Will you explain what was supposed to happen?

Spann: What is supposed to happen ideally is that we’re working a lot of double teams.  My pre-snap read is to look at what the A-gap defender is doing in terms of his technique. On this play he is play side. That is the first thing that I look at. Now I look at that because we’re going to double team him with the play side guard and center. We’re always going to double team the A-gap player. They are going to double team him to the middle linebacker (No.32) (below).

Now in this front where we have both receivers to our left the defense adjusted what they were doing and bumped the receivers over. Instead of going corners over they brought the corner down into the box as if he was a linebacker. What should happen is that our line should adjust and make the cornerback the backside linebacker (the FS drops before the snap), No.42 the MIKE linebacker and No.32 the play side backer – or the WILL.

That’s how it should happen, but we had a miscommunication upfront where No.42 – now the MIKE linebacker -was unblocked. That’s why the play wasn’t that big of a gain. The front side guard should have been double-teaming up to No.42…

[Author’s Note Instead, the guard stumbled out of his double-team and this freed the linebacker (No.42) to make the play on Spann who tried to hit the hole between center and right guard.]

Waldman: So at what point do you see that you’re going to have to make an adjustment? Is it at the point of the exchange or even before that with the cornerback moving into the box?

Spann:  What we’re taught is that we have an initial read and a primary read as we’re running zone. My initial read on this play is the front side defensive tackle, which in this case is the A-gap player – the one-technique. My primary read on inside zone plays is also the one-technique/A-gap player. So in this case, he’s both my initial and primary read and he’s going to tell me which way the play is going to go. If [this defensive tackle] tries to cross the guard’s face then the play is going to hit up the middle where the center is going to come off the tackle and get the MIKE linebacker (as diagrammed above).

If the defensive tackle says where he’s at the double team should push him back the other direction and I should be able to hit it play side B-gap where it is supposed to hit (below).

If one-technique (DT) doesn't cross the guard's face...

So that’s what I know going into the play and when I see [the defensive tackle/one-technique] at the beginning of the play. So when the ball is snapped, I’m reacting to either the one-technique going outside the B-Gap or staying where he’s at…that’s the first thing I’m looking at.

I already know what could happen so that gives me the ability to look at the next level a little bit earlier. Now I know exactly what is going to happen to that A-gap player so I keep the ball play side. But he drives back into the hole and I have to make the cut back.  Since we didn’t block it correctly…

Waldman: …The result is a short gain.

1st and 10 13:14 1st Quarter

Waldman: This is a run to right end from a two-TE Pistol formation where you follow your pulling guard to the flat.

12 personnel from the pistol - NIU's Bounce Play

Spann: This is “12” personnel (1 back, 2 tight ends). We’re in the pistol with two receivers to the right. This is our bounce play. It’s set up to look a lot like our power play. We run it mostly out of “12” or “21” personnel.

It’s supposed to look identical to Power except we’re either pulling a guard and a center or a tackle and the center. My steps on this play are identical to Power if we were just running Power Right, except I’m going to take two steps in and then I’m going to start rolling with the pulling tackle and center on this play (below).

Initial post-snap look with RB taking two steps towards line to bait LBs.

Waldman: Tell me about the importance of these first two steps to begin the play. I’d imagine it helps you set up a good distance to follow your pulling linemen, but does it also help set up the defense?

Spann: Absolutely. If you watch Nos. 32 and 42 – the two ‘backers on this play – the whole point of me taking those two steps is to bring them into the line of scrimmage as close as possible. So now when I make this cut – the cut outside on No.32 – he’s out of position to make that play (below).

After two steps towards line, Spann cuts outside and forces No.32 to chase.

Now he’s chasing me rather than being there to make the play. It’s supposed to suck them inside so they get caught up in line and they have to weave through the center and the guard to get to me. I’m going to follow this center’s block. Usually the tackle who is pulling is going to kick out and I’m supposed to follow the center who is pulling up field and usually that cut will be between the two. Sometimes the tackle will get up field and cut somebody inside and I can get to the outside. Normally both linemen split and I make that cut in between them.

Power as blocks develop outside.

Waldman: When the center makes a diving cut to the linebacker’s feet, you accelerate, charge forward to the line of scrimmage, and then leap over the linebacker’s diving attempt to hit you. For the defender it’s either dive at you or fall from the cut block. You land two yards ahead of the line of scrimmage with a backside defender wrapping your waist while quickly lowering your pads and ducking under the oncoming safety for one more yard (a gain of three).

Spann: We’ve run it better – watch the Minnesota highlights and we were hitting this play very well.

In Part II we study a zone read and a shotgun play that appears very similar presnap but for a small difference in the RB’s stance. We’ll also talk more about pressing the hole, the thought process behind ball security, and concepts behind gaining yards after contact – plus some love for RB Edgerrin James.