So, @Zotts had a REALLY good idea: if the Football Understanders around here were willing to put up guides for the positions they know the most about, that could be fun and informative for... prrrretty much everyone who reads 'em.
Since I've already written up one for the OL, I'll get the ball rolling and if anyone wants to make a similar thread for another position, cool! If not: fair enough. I'm not the boss of you; I'm a rando on the internet. But it WOULD be pretty cool, and you'd get SO many Internet Points for doing it. Consider it, fellow posters. Consider it.
BTW, I *absolutely* do not claim to be an expert on O-line play -- my experience is limited and out of date, and I welcome corrections or additions from people who ARE actual experts.
Also, if you've already read this in the other thread, by all means feel free to skip it here. There are only very minor tweaks.
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When you're watching an OL recruit's tape, what judgments should you be trying to make, and what are the concrete things can you look at to make 'em?
* How athletic is this player?
- In the run game, do we see him pulling (or otherwise blocking in space -- usually for screen passes) on a regular basis? If so: does he move quickly, get to the right place at the right time, and then crunch someone's bones rather than just sort of... getting in the way? That's an A+ play.
Just getting in the way is perfectly fine! But if you want an A-*plus*, you gotta crunch ‘em like the Cap’n.
Also: by "pulling," I mean he's running parallel to the line of scrimmage, about 1 yard behind it, in the direction that the play is supposed to develop.
- In the pass game, is he able to mirror an athletic pass rusher, or does he struggle to change direction?
NOTE: In both the run game and the pass game, it's a red flag if you ever see him lunging towards a defender -- he should ALWAYS be making contact from an athletic and firmly upright position. There's a little wiggle room there in the run game -- lunging is perfectly fine in goal line situations, for example -- but as a general rule the OL should be taking *at least* two short, choppy steps and then engaging the defender from, again, a balanced, athletic position.
NOTE 2: Also, if you see him pulling and the word that comes to mind is "lumbering" instead of "running," BIG red flag. You can maybe live with that for a GARGANTUAN tackle, but otherwise? We want athletes, not big strong fat guys.
* How quick are his feet?
- In the run game, do we see him routinely crossing a defensive player's face to make a reach block? If yes: his feet are PLENTY quick enough.
A reach block means that, once the ball is snapped, he gets himself across the opponent's *entire body* IN A HURRY and walls the opponent off from accessing a gap that the defender *should* -- just based on the way the defense is lined up -- very much have access to. And he’s doing it without any help from a fellow lineman — this is him, solo, using quickness and strength and technique. (Some reach blocks are more impressive than others, but they're all pretty hard!)
Not every recruit, at least at the high school level, will even have the OPPORTUNITY to put a reach block on tape -- some high schools don't run the right kind of offense for it. So if you don't see any reach blocks, don't sweat it.
- In the pass game, does he struggle with the speed rush?
This is more or less self-explanatory. For tackles in particular -- and again, almost every HS lineman we recruit is gonna be a tackle -- what you're looking for is: is he getting beaten around his outside shoulder, and at a relatively flat angle, by edge rushers? If yes, our boy has problems.
* How strong is he?
- I mean... you'll know. The really strong dudes will absolutely put a bunch of "STRONG LIKE BULL!" reps on their highlights, where you don't need any special knowledge to see it.
- But when in doubt, a good question is: in the pass game, how much stopping power does his one-handed punch seem to have?
In a perfect world, you'd never HAVE to use just one hand -- a perfect pass-rushing rep would see you, among other things, striking with two hands, latching on, and steering the defender wherever you pleased -- but nothing in life is perfect. Sometimes you're gonna go "oh shit!" and have to strike with one hand so you can buy a little time to reposition.
It's probably a bad sign if he's striking with one hand ALL THE TIME, but like... the defense is allowed to have good players too,
*How are the vibes?
This one is subjective as hell. But:
- Does he, in general, share Mike Leach's opinion that "the violence is the best part?" Does he loooove to finish blocks? Is he *chippy*?
- Moving on to football IQ (although some of these are heavily entangled with athletic ability): does the coaching staff ask him to do lots of different things? Is he good at handling stunts? Does he have a well-developed set of tools for dealing with different kinds of pass rush, and is he able to adjust on the fly *without* a trip back to the sideline to consult with a coach? How much does he change his pass set based on the opponent and the situation, and does that, uh... work out well for him, or not so much?
On the "football IQ" front -- even if you answer "no" to every single one of those questions, that is NOT a red flag for high school recruits. Not every recruit will have access to great coaching, and a lot of these are coaching-dependent.
You'll also notice that some of these would require full-game tape to even START to answer. And we generally don’t have that for recruits. Such is life!
As I said above, this list could CERTAINLY benefit from additions or corrections coming from more knowledgeable posters -- I'll be happy to edit it with any such material.
Since I've already written up one for the OL, I'll get the ball rolling and if anyone wants to make a similar thread for another position, cool! If not: fair enough. I'm not the boss of you; I'm a rando on the internet. But it WOULD be pretty cool, and you'd get SO many Internet Points for doing it. Consider it, fellow posters. Consider it.
BTW, I *absolutely* do not claim to be an expert on O-line play -- my experience is limited and out of date, and I welcome corrections or additions from people who ARE actual experts.
Also, if you've already read this in the other thread, by all means feel free to skip it here. There are only very minor tweaks.
---------------------------------------------------------
When you're watching an OL recruit's tape, what judgments should you be trying to make, and what are the concrete things can you look at to make 'em?
* How athletic is this player?
- In the run game, do we see him pulling (or otherwise blocking in space -- usually for screen passes) on a regular basis? If so: does he move quickly, get to the right place at the right time, and then crunch someone's bones rather than just sort of... getting in the way? That's an A+ play.
Just getting in the way is perfectly fine! But if you want an A-*plus*, you gotta crunch ‘em like the Cap’n.
Also: by "pulling," I mean he's running parallel to the line of scrimmage, about 1 yard behind it, in the direction that the play is supposed to develop.
- In the pass game, is he able to mirror an athletic pass rusher, or does he struggle to change direction?
NOTE: In both the run game and the pass game, it's a red flag if you ever see him lunging towards a defender -- he should ALWAYS be making contact from an athletic and firmly upright position. There's a little wiggle room there in the run game -- lunging is perfectly fine in goal line situations, for example -- but as a general rule the OL should be taking *at least* two short, choppy steps and then engaging the defender from, again, a balanced, athletic position.
NOTE 2: Also, if you see him pulling and the word that comes to mind is "lumbering" instead of "running," BIG red flag. You can maybe live with that for a GARGANTUAN tackle, but otherwise? We want athletes, not big strong fat guys.
* How quick are his feet?
- In the run game, do we see him routinely crossing a defensive player's face to make a reach block? If yes: his feet are PLENTY quick enough.
A reach block means that, once the ball is snapped, he gets himself across the opponent's *entire body* IN A HURRY and walls the opponent off from accessing a gap that the defender *should* -- just based on the way the defense is lined up -- very much have access to. And he’s doing it without any help from a fellow lineman — this is him, solo, using quickness and strength and technique. (Some reach blocks are more impressive than others, but they're all pretty hard!)
Not every recruit, at least at the high school level, will even have the OPPORTUNITY to put a reach block on tape -- some high schools don't run the right kind of offense for it. So if you don't see any reach blocks, don't sweat it.
- In the pass game, does he struggle with the speed rush?
This is more or less self-explanatory. For tackles in particular -- and again, almost every HS lineman we recruit is gonna be a tackle -- what you're looking for is: is he getting beaten around his outside shoulder, and at a relatively flat angle, by edge rushers? If yes, our boy has problems.
* How strong is he?
- I mean... you'll know. The really strong dudes will absolutely put a bunch of "STRONG LIKE BULL!" reps on their highlights, where you don't need any special knowledge to see it.
- But when in doubt, a good question is: in the pass game, how much stopping power does his one-handed punch seem to have?
In a perfect world, you'd never HAVE to use just one hand -- a perfect pass-rushing rep would see you, among other things, striking with two hands, latching on, and steering the defender wherever you pleased -- but nothing in life is perfect. Sometimes you're gonna go "oh shit!" and have to strike with one hand so you can buy a little time to reposition.
It's probably a bad sign if he's striking with one hand ALL THE TIME, but like... the defense is allowed to have good players too,
*How are the vibes?
This one is subjective as hell. But:
- Does he, in general, share Mike Leach's opinion that "the violence is the best part?" Does he loooove to finish blocks? Is he *chippy*?
- Moving on to football IQ (although some of these are heavily entangled with athletic ability): does the coaching staff ask him to do lots of different things? Is he good at handling stunts? Does he have a well-developed set of tools for dealing with different kinds of pass rush, and is he able to adjust on the fly *without* a trip back to the sideline to consult with a coach? How much does he change his pass set based on the opponent and the situation, and does that, uh... work out well for him, or not so much?
On the "football IQ" front -- even if you answer "no" to every single one of those questions, that is NOT a red flag for high school recruits. Not every recruit will have access to great coaching, and a lot of these are coaching-dependent.
You'll also notice that some of these would require full-game tape to even START to answer. And we generally don’t have that for recruits. Such is life!
As I said above, this list could CERTAINLY benefit from additions or corrections coming from more knowledgeable posters -- I'll be happy to edit it with any such material.
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