Offseason doldrums are in full swing and my hands are shaking from withdrawal. For those like me who need a fix, here's a little taste of actual football discussion.
------------------
Texas is building an Offensive Line that emphasizes mobility and brains over pure size and strength. The concept is to optimize for zone blocking and engaging defenders in space. The 2018 OL was undersized by FBS standards: 300, 325, 305, 305, 295 across the front from the official roster. In reality Sam Cosmi was down to 286 by season’s end. You have to keep in mind that the model here is the Mike Shanahan Denver Broncos who were even more undersized compared to their peers. The 1998 Superbowl champs had an OL that went 285 lbs (Texas’ own Dan Neil), 287, 286, 291 and 300. Zone blocking also uses different types of RBs who might not look great on paper but are very productive within the scheme. See the long list of whodat backs who became stars at Denver.
https://www.hogshaven.com/2012/5/31/3054498/digging-deeper-mike-shanahans-one-cut-and-go-running-backs
With Herman, like Shanahan quickness and agility are required to beat a DL to the spot on a reach or cutoff block, to maintain balance and leverage in outside zone blocking and to engage LBs and DBs in space. Good footwork and proper weight distribution are required to ride a defender in the direction he chooses to move. This blocking style is a lot like Judo – help the guy keep going in the same direction with technique. It’s a sharp contrast to the typical blocking scheme which is more like Sumo Wrestling and the ideal body types are just as different.
Basic gap or man blocking runs to a defined gap and tries to block the play accordingly. The OL engage their assigned defender and try to push them away from the hole. They sometimes have an angle advantage when blocking down but they must move the defender in the correct direction to make the play work. One big advantage Is that gap blocking does not usually require the ball carrier to read and pick a hole. QB power and QB counter are the primary examples of gap blocking in Texas' offense.
Zone blocking also assigns a defender to block but the requirement is to engage them and push them in whichever direction they choose to go. This allows the OL to create an angle advantage with the flow on most plays. Helping someone to move requires less power than opposing their movement so smaller linemen are acceptable if they can use balance and quickness to gain leverage. The RB must have superior vision because there is no defined hole; he must pick a gap, make one cut and hit it decisively. Shanahan made a living off of backs with that set of abilities that were not highly valued otherwise by the NFL (see Selvin Young).
Tom Herman’s OL at Ohio St was not particularly large: 311, 305, 291, 303 and 305 on the 2014 team. His recruiting at Texas shows he will take a few guys over 300 lbs but not if they are carrying a lot of bad weight. For reference, Javonne Shepherd was down to 318 per the NSD press conference. Herman asks his OL to get directional leverage on DL and pick off smaller, quicker defenders on screens and swing passes. They MUST have good feet.
This contributed greatly to success on screens, the tunnel screen in particular. One underappreciated advantage of zone blocking is that OL accustomed to executing it in the run game tend to do a better job of executing zone protections on passing plays.