Great article on zone blocking

As someone who does not understand all of the nuances of offensive line play, I found this article by Chris Gasper in today's Globe rather informative.

It simplifies the responsibilities of zone blocking and explains why it can be so successful.

Thanks for posting. I had guessed some of that, but the bit about sealing off the defender was interesting; I thought that was something that Linemen would be trying to do anyway. I imagine the hardest bit is working out who to block and then how quickly to disengage for the second level block.

Here's a decent little PowerPoint on zone blocking:

http://fastandfuriousfootball.com/Coaching Material/fball gibbs alex gibbs zone coaching points.ppt

There are also some good playbooks out there - the 2003 Pats and 1997 Jets - that were once available out on a Bears site, but aren't anymore. You can find the Pats one on eBay, but I can't find the Jets anywhere online. The Jets one is particularly interesting, as it (at least appears to) give some of Belichick's game tape breakdown secrets for players. I'm not surprised the Pats one was pulled though, as it contains elements the Pats still put in use.

Yes, that was a tremendous article. As we point out this morning, it's really nice to have reporters now who are more interested in teaching us something about the game rather than just taking gratuitous shots at the head coach.

Definitely a good read, I love how the duo of Reiss and Gasper have turned the Glob's Patriots' beat into a must read!

Thanks for the posts. The article and the powerpoint presentation are both very interesting and informative.

Fantastic post thanks so much!

The powerpoint presentation was excellent. Thanks! Zone blocking sounds pretty hard to learn; as was mentioned in the article, there must be occasions when someone gets left completely unblocked.

Can we expect a 1200+ yard season from Maroney, due to his familiararity with zone blocking? That would be awesome, along with the new weapons at WR.

scott99 said:

Can we expect a 1200+ yard season from Maroney, due to his familiararity with zone blocking? That would be awesome, along with the new weapons at WR.

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I think it depends on how well the line picks up the scheme. BB typically drafts/signs intelligent players and Dante is a great coach so I think they will pick it up but it is not a sure thing to expect 1200 yards.

Also, thank you for posting the ppt presentations. Fastandfuriousfootball.com is a great resource.