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please describe zone blocking


novascotiadiesel

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In normal blocking the blockers are assigned to block certain people or positions. In zone blocking they are just assigned to block a certain area. Just like man defense and zone defense. Man defense you cover a certain player, zone you cover a certain area.

Its basically just block whoever comes near you.

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All the assigned blockers block in a certain direction. If there is a man lined up to the left of a lineman and there is a run right, that lineman ignores him and allows the next to pick him up...

If there is no one for the lineman to block on the front lines, they go and engage a linebacker. I could get more technical on it, but...

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I don't have the benefit of true game tape, and I wasn't quite old enough to fully understand football during most of Gibbs' first tenure here so I cant tell you about his schemes, but zone blocking is a product of Bill Walsh's offensive system, which is why you see it in Denver, Green Bay, and Seattle today. It involves the entire line shifting, as a whole, towards the direction of a run (assuming that there is minimal or no pulling on this particular play), and instead of knowing that you've got the nose guard, or WMLB, or peeling back and chipping a rusher if nobody crosses your face, (or any other examples of standard blocking), you "defend" an area of the field where you are going to be positioned, taking on the closest defender to you. This is a flexible blocking scheme, meant to give the running back flexibility in where he can go. Generally, the goal of zone blocking is to open two or three holes for the back to read and choose, as opposed to concentrating on making sure a back hits a specific hole that every lineman must make sure to be responsible for an assignment. On a play with a pulling lineman, the same is done, except that the guy that is pulling will take the first man to show in whatever area he has to cover, instead of eyeing someone down ahead of time and going and getting him.

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I knew what zone blocking was prior to this thread. However it did get me to wondering what the advantages and disadvantages of both systems are. I suppose one advantage for a slasher like Portis is that zone blocking gives him a choice of which hole he wants to run through. For the life of me I couldn't think of any reasons a coach would want to avoid such a system but I suppose there have to be some drawbacks.

Any other ideas as to the merits or drawbacks of zone and/or other blocking schemes would be greatly appreciated.

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Originally posted by novascotiadiesel

thank you very much for the insight greatly appreciated, dont get to watch games i guess this better utilizes what portis has to offer, but one more question does it suit the talents of our o line?

I believe it does b/c several guys on our line like Ray Brown and Derrick Dockery arent the fastest and most agile of linemen. Zone blocking usually has no pulling or anything that would require them to use a lot of speed and quickness, I think it better utilizes our line.

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The zone blocking scheme requires a different kind of lineman, more athletic. If you run zone blocking, you'd better be deep on the line too, since the amount of movement and activity, with cuts and jewel protections and the like, will inevitably lead to injuries. Just as Mark Schlereth.

26 is right, outright speed isn't stressed as much, but you'd better be able to move quickly and adjust to having poor body position and awkward angles to take.

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Originally posted by Yusuf06

I knew what zone blocking was prior to this thread. However it did get me to wondering what the advantages and disadvantages of both systems are. I suppose one advantage for a slasher like Portis is that zone blocking gives him a choice of which hole he wants to run through. For the life of me I couldn't think of any reasons a coach would want to avoid such a system but I suppose there have to be some drawbacks.

Any other ideas as to the merits or drawbacks of zone and/or other blocking schemes would be greatly appreciated.

I think the most obvious drawback is the offensive lineman working in concert. As you know, the hallmark of zone blocking is 2 offensive lineman double teaming a down defensive lineman. One obvious problem arises as to who is going to be responsible for the LB. If there is a miscommunication, then you've obviously let the LB go free. Basically, I think you need your lineman (usually the guard-tackle duo) to be in sync.

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In high school , I played tight end and my blocking assignment was normally: gap, down, backer...no one was in the gap or down on me. The DE was in front of me, so I would rip past him and take the backer...the wing back next to me would take the DE because the DE was in his gap...and that is called ZONE BLOCKING...

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Originally posted by cphil006

In high school , I played tight end and my blocking assignment was normally: gap, down, backer...no one was in the gap or down on me. The DE was in front of me, so I would rip past him and take the backer...the wing back next to me would take the DE because the DE was in his gap...and that is called ZONE BLOCKING...

i was a center in high school and 90% of my assingments were also Gap, down, back. I loved it easiest thing to remember in the world......

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