Protection Schemes

In our protection schemes, we are simple.  We like to block "Bigs" which is big-on-big as the 1st element of the protection.  We put our big guys on their big guys.  Whichever side the back is set, he has responsibility for the linebacker to that side, and the center has the linebacker away from the back.

One of the exercises we do to emphasize the time factor in protection is placing a cone 7 yards off the line of scrimmage to mark the QB's drop.  We will place a defensive end in his alignment and time how long it takes him to get to the cone.  Usually takes about 1.8 to 1.9 seconds.  When we place simply a bag in front of him and take away his angle of pursuit, the time now changes to about 2.1 seconds.  For most of our passes, we want the ball delivered around 2.8 seconds.

I tell the QB's they need to throw the ball within 2.8 seconds or they will be sacked.  We tell our offensive lineman to give the QB 4 seconds to throw the ball.  If you really think about it, how hard is it for a lineman to block his guy for 1 second?

The protection is a critical part of the attack, but it is not that complicated or difficult.  In our slide protection, we slide the lineman into a gap-protection scheme and the R-Back blocks the 5-technique opposite of the call.

If we want to play-action pass, we give an "Act" call.  Our numbering system puts our odd numbers to the left and even numbers to the right.  If we call "Act 3, the offensive line hears "Act," and automatically slide away from the call.  On the "Act 3" play, the line slides to the right.

The last protection scheme is what we call "Solid."  We take our best offensive blocker and single him up on the defensive end.  He blocks by himself and is locked onto that guy, while the rest of the offensive line slides away from him.  The R-Back takes the linebacker to that side.

We have various other protection schemes for our Roll Out, Sprint Out, and Naked concepts.  I am looking for discussion on these 3 protections in particular.  If you would like to share some of your knowledge, I am eager to talk football.