Offensive linemen in the zone

By Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

There are videos on the Internet of Alex Gibbs detailing the intricacies of the zone-blocking scheme he made famous for those who have a spare six or 10 hours.

Or, you could allow Jack Bicknell Jr. to explain it in capsule form over the next few minutes. He is the Steelers' new offensive line coach, and he has coached a zone-blocking scheme, most recently in Kansas City.

The Steelers long have used a power-blocking philosophy with double-teams and specific holes assigned for runners to hit. A zone-blocking philosophy uses more of a flow of blockers to the right or left without specific defensive players assigned for them to block. They cut off the backside (away from the flow) -- often with the cut block that has so annoyed defensive players -- and block whomever is in front of them. The back looks for daylight wherever it might appear and cuts it up, cuts it back or heads around the corner.

Save that previous paragraph for future reference. Now, here is Bicknell on zone-blocking in a nutshell:

"It's basically, exactly what it says. [Blockers] are going to go to an area, primarily. The philosophy behind the play is that the running back can hit it in a lot of different areas, depending on what the blocking scheme is.

"The reason I like it is, if you have a running play and the defense knows how to fit it and where the ball is going, it's tough in this league in my opinion, to be successful with that.

"But, hopefully, with the outside zone, you're spreading the whole field, similar to a zone-read type of concept in college -- of course we don't want to run the quarterback. How can we spread the field and at least make it hard for them to fit? Here comes the safety, he doesn't know exactly where to fit -- 'if I fit too far outside he may cut it up, if I fit in here, he may get around the edge.'

"Those are the things that are exciting to me. The philosophy is we want to try to cut the backside, cut off the pursuit there, run guys on the front side and, hopefully, there are some seams for the running back."

READ MORE: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/offensive-linemen-in-the-zone-697499/

I'm looking forward to this zone blocking then throw some counters and traps in.

effyou515 wrote:

I'm looking forward to this zone blocking then throw some counters and traps in.

The way I see it, it can be any worse.  

Quote :

Zone-blocking, Bell's patience looks like nice fit

By Gerry Dulac / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The outside zone-blocking schemes the Steelers will implement this season require more than just the offensive linemen to be lighter, athletic and able to run to the edge.

The scheme also requires a running back who is patient, has vision and can cut back against the flow. Just like Le'Veon Bell.

Bell, the team's recent No. 2 draft choice, said he ran the stretch play repeatedly at Michigan State and thinks his style is a perfect fit for a zone-blocking scheme.

"You got to be patient," Bell said. "That's what coach [Kirby] Wilson is always teaching me. It's something as a runner I've always been blessed with. I'm a patient-type of runner. A lot of guys look at me and think I'm a big, physical guy, but I'm more patient than anything. That what makes me successful up to this point."

Bell showed how effective he might be in a zone-blocking scheme with one carry Wednesday in the afternoon practice. Bell cut back against the flow on a stretch play and got to the sideline for at least 30 yards before he was tackled out of bounds.

"That's why they drafted me -- to come out here and make some plays," Bell said.

The purpose of the stretch play is to get the defensive linemen and linebackers flowing vertically to the sideline, eventually creating a gap in the defense for the running back to find. The Steelers want to use more of that this season after spending a number of years trying to stop it with Houston's Arian Foster and Baltimore's Ray Rice.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/steelers-notebook-zone-blocking-bells-patience-looks-like-nice-fit-697618/#ixzz2ajaIzvOy

Wallace108 wrote:

effyou515 wrote:

I'm looking forward to this zone blocking then throw some counters and traps in.

The way I see it, it can be any worse.  

i'm old school Steeler fan who likes the smaller more athletic o-line men.

Sounds like the new scheme is working well in camp. Bell is also doing really good behind it too by cutting back and getting big gains.