Zone blocking scheme outdated?

[barrett]

Originally Posted by TexanJedi

Bama runs a zone scheme. Maybe he's not a prototypical Denver-style lineman, but he comes from a ZBS background, ironically run by Joe Pendry (under Saban). The Texans have a bad habit of not always playing the best player so I can't hold that against him.

when has this happened? we've never had good enough depth for good players to not play.

[TexanJedi]

Originally Posted by barrett

when has this happened? we've never had good enough depth for good players to not play.

Sage Rosenfels not playing (over Carr), Green over Slaton for a while, Anyone over Myers, DelJuan Robinson last year, Weaver over Bulman, getting rid of a perfectly good Sam LB in Danny Clark.

I'm not saying that these guys playing would have equaled playoffs (our coaching staff seems slow to make adjustments when something does not work and that kills this team), but clearly guys like Weaver, Myers, and Green were playing because of the money they were signed for. I mean how can Caldwell or White be worse than Myers?

[barrett]

Originally Posted by TexanJedi

Sage Rosenfels not playing (over Carr), Green over Slaton for a while, Anyone over Myers, DelJuan Robinson last year, Weaver over Bulman, getting rid of a perfectly good Sam LB in Danny Clark.

I'm not saying that these guys playing would have equaled playoffs (our coaching staff seems slow to make adjustments when something does not work and that kills this team), but clearly guys like Weaver, Myers, and Green were playing because of the money they were signed for. I mean how can Caldwell or White be worse than Myers?

Those are terrible examples. Green started 1 game when Slaton was a 3rd round rookie who had never played a down of NFL football.

Robinson and Buhlman were questionable upgrades last year but still got more of a chance from this staff than anyone else in the NFL ever gave them.

And you say anyone over myers, but do you realize that we started Mike Briesel last year for 16 games? That should tell you what our interior OL depth looked like last year. And Myers salary is not high, but if Myers was playing because of salary then why was Studdard also ahead of White and Caldwell at G. Or Brisiel for that matter. It's because those guys are currently not very good.

We have some personnell issues, but they're about not having good enough players. It has nothing to do with not playing our best guys.

[HPF Bob]

Those with long memories may recall how the Ravens used to routinely brutalized the Broncos whenever the two teams met. Considering Kubiak is essentially running the Broncos playbook and Ryan is running the Ravens', the result in hindsight might have been more predictable.

I wouldn't pronounce the ZBS dead. Very ordinary RBs still have very good days using it. However, the ZBS was dealt a big blow when the cut block was outlawed. Cutting defenders neutralized some of the height/weight differential that made lighter ZBS lines effective against the big bullies of the league. With that gone, lines have to rely on quickness and positioning instead of opening holes by getting defenders down on the ground or getting them more concerned about their knees instead of the ball carrier.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

However, the ZBS was dealt a big blow when the cut block was outlawed.

I dunno did I miss the memo they circulated ? I knew the "chop block" was illegal, but didn't know the NFL had also made the cut block illegal ?

[kravix]

Im pretty sure the cut block is still "legal", but they put some restrictions on it which renders it not as effective. Something about going below the waist on engaged linemen, I think......

[Mike]

Here is the cut blocking rule:

Cut blocks can be legal in the free blocking zone, which is the six-yard by eight-yard zone centered on the football. Cut blocks are illegal in the open field. It also is illegal to cut block a player that is already engaged in a block with another player.


Lance Z had some great insight this AM on why we had so many issues Sunday. Part of it was disguising who the Mike LB was, and showing overloads to a different side of the line, causing the protections to slide towards the overload, then bringing the blitzers who were playing games from the other side.