The Elements of Pass Protection [ARTICLE]

The Elements of Pass Protection

by Ken Wilmesherr :: Offensive Line - Grossmont College

Pass protection is perhaps an offensive lineman's toughest challenge. Understand offensive line play is unnatural task, which is a skill that is acquired through many hours of hard work and dedication. To be an effective pass blocker an offensive lineman must take pride and have the confidence in his ability to protect the quarterback. The goal of every pass blocker is to strive to trust their technique. As long as they are sound in their fundamentals and technique it should not matter what the defender does.

There are four areas in measuring the success of offensive linemen in pass protection.

1. The number of times the quarterback is flushed out of the pocket.
2. The number of times the quarterback is hurried.
3. The number of times the quarterback is hit.
4. The number of times the quarterback is sacked.

When teaching pass protection it is imperative your offensive linemen understand the launch point of the quarterback. Why is it important? The launch point of the quarterback will change the pass rush angles of the defenders. The angles will even change from a 3 technique to a 5 technique, and so on depending on the depth of the quarterbacks drop.

In pass protection the objective of an offensive lineman is to keep his body between the defender and the quarterback's launch point while maintaining the proper pass pro demeanor and relative position. What is relative position? The offensive lineman is keeping his rear-end to the quarterback while maintaining inside leverage and keeping the shoulders and hips square. What is inside leverage? Keeping the post foot just outside the foot of the defenders inside foot while maintaining inside leverage and never setting past the midline of the defender. Remember a great pass blocker must be disciplined in his technique while being patient but aggressive.

A key to pass protection is how fast the offensive lineman can get from his three-point to his two-point stance without any wasted movement (the snap-up). As a coach you must train the eyes of your offensive linemen on where to look. Give them a target (inside or outside target, etc.). Offensive linemen must not lean on the defender (leaning on the hands and the head must not follow the hands); they must maintain the proper center of gravity, center of mass, as well as have a good base of support. The feet must be outside the hips throughout the pass block, the knees must stay within the ankles and the hips inside the knees (the cylinder). If the knees rotate outside the ankles the shoulder and hip will open up thus creating a soft hip and soft shoulder.

Play on the insteps of the feet with the toes slightly out (toe out). Why on the insteps? If a pass protector plays on the balls of his feet he will fall forward unable to redirect his center of mass. If the pass protector plays on the heels of his feet, which is the most vulnerable part of the foot his mass is falling backwards and he will open up his hips and his shoulder because the foot will rotate out. Also, it is important to understand that the body is a cylinder and a pass protector must stay within his cylinder in pass protection. Once the pass protector is out of his cylinder he will loose power and balance. In other words the pass protector pass blocks with his hips. It is important to remember that every pass set is broken into four parts: Feet, Landmarks, Punch, and Knee bend.

The Post Foot Set Foot Stagger The Post Foot: The Post Foot is the inside foot; on the right side is the left foot. Linemen on the left side will use their right foot as their post foot. 70% of the weight should be on the hip of the post foot (70/30). Teach right and left handed stances.

The Set Foot: The outside foot. All cleats should be planted in the ground playing on the insteps and slightly toed out, while keeping the knee inside the ankle. If the weight is on the ball of the set foot the offensive lineman will be caught leaning and will be off balance. In pass protection having the ability to redirect and having balance is the key.

There is a 4 step sequence that must take place for any pass block to be successful.

THE SET: The set is the most important part of pass protection. It is important that an offensive linemen get into their proper pass protection demeanor as soon as possible (the snap up and time of domination). Understand the different sets being taught. These are the sets I teach: power set, vertical set, settle set, short set, and jump set. The set is achieved and depends on the ability of the offensive lineman to move from his stance to the proper set position as quickly as possible. Understand the set system and the step patterns within the set system being taught. What is a set system? The set system is the step pattern which is determined by the pass protection scheme, the defensive structure, and the alignment of the defender. When setting, set to a stagger and maintain the post staggered position throughout the set. Play on the insteps with the toes pointed out slightly for balance.
THE MIRROR: After initial contact it is imperative offensive linemen maintain the proper pass blocking demeanor. Keep shoulders and hips square; do not bail by dropping the post foot if the offensive lineman drops the post foot he is internally opening up the hips thus creating a soft hip and shoulder. When an offensive linemen sets his post foot and set foot have to be on the same angle if not the hips and shoulders will internally or externally rotate thus creating a soft shoulder and creating a rush lane for the defender, Use the hands to fight, which keeps the defender off your hip, and creates space and time. Maintain a base of support, center of mass, and center of gravity. Maintain the post, set stagger with the feet. When in the mirror stage of the set understand the quarterback's launch point and maintain relative position. Inside move of a defender – power step and 6 inch slide step (slide to base or equal and opposite steps). The weight should be on the post foot, lead with hip while staying within the cylinder creating relative position on the defender. Control the inside shoulder of the defender and anticipate a counter. Have a slight shoulder tilt with inside shoulder up, which will help create balance. Outside move of a defender – kick slide maintaining relative position do not set past the midline of the defender. If the feet are too narrow the offensive lineman will loose leverage and power. Maintain a base of support with positive shin angles and stay within the cylinder. Keep the feet on the same angle if not the shoulders and hips will external rotate. Have a slight shoulder tilt with the outside shoulder up, which will help create balance.
THE PUNCH: Maintain balance, base of support, and leverage when delivering the punch. The punch must be upward and out. The punch is short extension and must be explosive. When punching the defender never lockout the elbows or you will loose power in the punch. It is imperative the punch needs to be timed. The key is to be patient when delivering the punch, don't lean on your hands, keep shoulders back, tuck chin. A key coaching point is to not have the head follow the hands when delivering the punch. Never punch off the post foot always punch off the kick foot. Use the post foot for power and the set foot for balance. Maintain a post stagger relationship. The punch starts at the shoulders and extends through the elbow, wrist, and hands. The punch is an extension of the body and creates space and time. When punching relax the upper body if not the upper body becomes too ridged. The only time the upper body becomes ridged is when the punch is delivered. Don't lean forward during the punch. Maintain the bent knee position for power in stopping the rusher.
THE RECOVERY: After initial contact with the pass rusher the offensive linemen will have to regain or adjust their position on the pass rusher. Keep relative position (inside out position) as well as keep shoulders square. Linemen must have the ability to redirect their feet after the initial contact. Keep the eyes on the landmark. After the blocker sets and punches, he now has to maintain contact with the rusher, allowing as little closure to the quarterback as possible. Once contact is made, hook-up maintaining inside hand leverage (the exception is a tackle blocking a wide, up field rusher). What is inside leverage? The inside leverage position is having the elbows in, thumbs up (thumb lift) at 12 o'clock with hands inside the framework of the defender. If the thumbs are down the elbows will bend thus creating a loss of power, and separation. Maintain inside leverage by keeping the hands into the chest of the pass rusher.

When teaching any type of pass protection drill have a redirect within that drill. Also, work on bad position drills. By teaching bad position drills in pass protection your offensive linemen will understand how to counter the bad position and work back to relative position.

The Passing Area

The passing area is 9 yards in depth from the line of scrimmage and 3 yards in depth from the line of scrimmage to the passing area. In between is the combat zone.
In pass protection schemes the tackles have the width of the pocket.
In pass protection schemes the center and guards have the depth of the pocket.
The goal in any pass protection scheme is to keep defenders out of the passing area.
By flattening and stretching defenders offensive linemen can keep defenders out of the passing area.