JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Hawk Stock: Offensive Line Review | Hawkeye Nation
this item complete with grades, play diagrams and more, from HawkeyeGameFilm
this item complete with grades, play diagrams and more, from HawkeyeGameFilm
Hawk Stock: 2011 Offensive Line Review
- Thread starter JonDMiller
- Start date
Good run down. I have seen some of the same things. JF is a lot like King. Being so undersized means he has to basically execute and read perfectly. He hasn't come close to this standard. Of course, as the coach's son, he won't really face any threat to his job, but it might take his graduation to get the line back to the point where Iowa stops having the kind of interior breakdowns we have seen over the last two seasons.
Shaky interior line and a QB that doesn't handle pressure well is a bad combo.
Shaky interior line and a QB that doesn't handle pressure well is a bad combo.
HawkPhreek
Well-Known Member
It's amazing how blitzing and mixing up your defense can put pressure on an OL. Too bad the Oline didn't know what was coming every play
HawkPhreek
Well-Known Member
Got to admit the execute thing maybe laugh. If we can execute perfectly on both sides of the ball. Us as coaching staff will try not to blow it with terrible game management. Should lead us to six or seven wins over chumps with Iowa fans are ok with. So lets go get em.
big10fan
Well-Known Member
Or Yanda
HawkPhreek
Well-Known Member
Just beat me on the Yanda but he was a transfer those don't work out!
i usually like these breakdowns. but as a football coach and as one that really has studied the zone blocking scheme i can see that this guy doesnt understand how zone blocking works. the combo block in a zone scheme doesnt work like he showed it. every player basically reach blocks and tries to replace the player on their playside so the can get to the second level. you dont have players making for the second level on the snap. zone blocking is about creating defensive flow to 1 side and the sealing the player so the back can make 1 cut against the grain. it is a scheme that takes a lot of practice and is kind of like synchronized swimming but when you dont have behemoth lineman it can work great when done effectively.
hawkeyegamefilm
Well-Known Member
If you do coach and use a zone blocking system then you know it's not a static thing. Was just trying to show some basic examples of some the areas Iowa's lineman struggled & succeeded in. It'd be impossible to cover every variation of how a play might develop so I just picked some very basic circumstances.
Take a look at the pictures again. On the combo block the tackle stops at the first level defender first before going to the LB to the "play side". Often the tackle stays with that block and drives the DT to the 2nd level guy. All I did was show a basic combo block which every zone scheme includes. Iowa(and every other zone team) often uses the exact combo block I diagrammed there. It's hard to diagram & explain that which ever side the LB shows, the guy on that side peels off and moves to the LB.
Iowa will have the guard try to cut the DT on that backside reach block a fair amount the time. Not every single zone play is blocked the same. Go take a look at the Michigan St film where Iowa has Scherff repeatedly try to reach Worthy on that backside block all by himself with no help on a simple zone play. He fails to handle him with a reach block, so he tried cutting next time, which also failed. Zone blocking isn't a static thing & Iowa seems to change little things game to game.
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every zone play includes combo blocks but that type of a combo block is a man combo. down blocking for a combo is rarely if ever used in zone schemes. iowa incorporates some man schemes but the majority is zone so i just think those schemes should be the main ones. the ones diagramed were of a man nature.
hawkeyegamefilm
Well-Known Member
Yeah you're right it's not a good example if I'm trying to point out the zone combo blocks. Mostly only see that look from Iowa on short yardage and goal-line sets. Would have been better to just draw up the basic-guard center combo. Paragraph below describes that block anyway. Stole the -- technique off a couple sites. Seems like a decent way of indicating 1 of the lineman will slide off. Basic C-G combo down to the second level:
Although I was surprised how effective the Iso looks were this year, especially when Rogers got in the swing of things.
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i do agree that grading a line is hard especially in a zone scheme. so many things are dependent on the players to your right and left that it sometimes makes it hard to see who screwed up. also if the back makes a bad cut the line can look bad.
i would say that the line underacheived for what many expected out of them and the guards seemed slow on the backside against the good dts. but over all i believe that they developed each week.
this is a blocking system that molds to the defense and that is why the quickness and smarts are more important than brute strength. i felt that as a line we werent as quick as past lines and that showed against good teams.
i also believe a big thing is the loss of julian from last year as i thought he was the leader of the line and i dont think one really developed this year. but again something hard to grade on a line.
i would say that the line underacheived for what many expected out of them and the guards seemed slow on the backside against the good dts. but over all i believe that they developed each week.
this is a blocking system that molds to the defense and that is why the quickness and smarts are more important than brute strength. i felt that as a line we werent as quick as past lines and that showed against good teams.
i also believe a big thing is the loss of julian from last year as i thought he was the leader of the line and i dont think one really developed this year. but again something hard to grade on a line.
