RB Pass Block - What is the general assignment? (1 Viewer)

[ConstruxBoy]

In last night's game, there was a play right after Selvin Young was hurt that Andre Hall came in on a 3rd down. At the snap of the ball, Hall went to the far right of the pocket to help the OT pass block (although he didn't seem to do much blocking there). In the meantime, a defender blitzed up the middle and chased down Cutler for a sack.

My question is: Do you think that Hall was told to go to the right edge of the pocket to pass block? Or is it more likely that he made the decision to do that out of habit and didn't "read" the blitz up the middle? Do you think it is his job to read the blitz, or is that really the QB's job to read and then audible to change the protection?

I know that we won't ever know what really happened, unless Cecil finds out somehow. But I've sometimes seen RBs stay right near the QB to pass block and other times seen them go to the edge like Hall did. I'm wondering whether people think or know if that is a called protection scheme or whether the RB just does whatever he wants.

Thanks!

 

[W1cked]

Maybe he was nervous and just made a mistake. It was MNF and he was replacing a guys who just left the game with an injury at that time could very well have been thrust into the starting RB job. Not making excuses but allot of rookie RBs struggle with pass blocking.

 

[CalBear]

In last night's game, there was a play right after Selvin Young was hurt that Andre Hall came in on a 3rd down. At the snap of the ball, Hall went to the far right of the pocket to help the OT pass block (although he didn't seem to do much blocking there). In the meantime, a defender blitzed up the middle and chased down Cutler for a sack. My question is: Do you think that Hall was told to go to the right edge of the pocket to pass block? Or is it more likely that he made the decision to do that out of habit and didn't "read" the blitz up the middle? Do you think it is his job to read the blitz, or is that really the QB's job to read and then audible to change the protection? I know that we won't ever know what really happened, unless Cecil finds out somehow. But I've sometimes seen RBs stay right near the QB to pass block and other times seen them go to the edge like Hall did. I'm wondering whether people think or know if that is a called protection scheme or whether the RB just does whatever he wants. Thanks!

I noticed that play at the time, and I felt it was Hall's assignment and he blew it. Assignments have to be fluid, because you don't necessarily know where the blitz is going to come from (or whether it will come at all), so you have to read the situation and figure out who to pick up. Sometimes the QB has a specific blitz assignment (run away from/beat this guy), but that wouldn't be the case on a blitz up a huge hole in the middle like that one.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

In last night's game, there was a play right after Selvin Young was hurt that Andre Hall came in on a 3rd down. At the snap of the ball, Hall went to the far right of the pocket to help the OT pass block (although he didn't seem to do much blocking there). In the meantime, a defender blitzed up the middle and chased down Cutler for a sack. My question is: Do you think that Hall was told to go to the right edge of the pocket to pass block? Or is it more likely that he made the decision to do that out of habit and didn't "read" the blitz up the middle? Do you think it is his job to read the blitz, or is that really the QB's job to read and then audible to change the protection? I know that we won't ever know what really happened, unless Cecil finds out somehow. But I've sometimes seen RBs stay right near the QB to pass block and other times seen them go to the edge like Hall did. I'm wondering whether people think or know if that is a called protection scheme or whether the RB just does whatever he wants. Thanks!

I noticed that play at the time, and I felt it was Hall's assignment and he blew it. Assignments have to be fluid, because you don't necessarily know where the blitz is going to come from (or whether it will come at all), so you have to read the situation and figure out who to pick up. Sometimes the QB has a specific blitz assignment (run away from/beat this guy), but that wouldn't be the case on a blitz up a huge hole in the middle like that one.

I'm leaning toward this view, but I'm not positive. It's likely that he was suppose to provide the protection and just didn't read the situation, but I've also seen RBs go to the edge of the pocket so that they can peel off into the flat after a couple of seconds as a safety valve. I would imagine that kind of thing is a called play.

 

[smcindoe]

I always thought the backs didn't have specific assignments (i.e. block that guy, no matter what), but rather had to choose who to take based on what blitz/rush was coming. Typically they would take the inside guy since he'll get there sooner. So in this case, Hall may have misread that nobody was coming inside and went to help with the closest guy, who was on the edge.

Was it a delayed blitz?

 

[CalBear]

In last night's game, there was a play right after Selvin Young was hurt that Andre Hall came in on a 3rd down. At the snap of the ball, Hall went to the far right of the pocket to help the OT pass block (although he didn't seem to do much blocking there). In the meantime, a defender blitzed up the middle and chased down Cutler for a sack. My question is: Do you think that Hall was told to go to the right edge of the pocket to pass block? Or is it more likely that he made the decision to do that out of habit and didn't "read" the blitz up the middle? Do you think it is his job to read the blitz, or is that really the QB's job to read and then audible to change the protection? I know that we won't ever know what really happened, unless Cecil finds out somehow. But I've sometimes seen RBs stay right near the QB to pass block and other times seen them go to the edge like Hall did. I'm wondering whether people think or know if that is a called protection scheme or whether the RB just does whatever he wants. Thanks!

I noticed that play at the time, and I felt it was Hall's assignment and he blew it. Assignments have to be fluid, because you don't necessarily know where the blitz is going to come from (or whether it will come at all), so you have to read the situation and figure out who to pick up. Sometimes the QB has a specific blitz assignment (run away from/beat this guy), but that wouldn't be the case on a blitz up a huge hole in the middle like that one.

I'm leaning toward this view, but I'm not positive. It's likely that he was suppose to provide the protection and just didn't read the situation, but I've also seen RBs go to the edge of the pocket so that they can peel off into the flat after a couple of seconds as a safety valve. I would imagine that kind of thing is a called play.

If that were the call, the guard would have picked up the blitzer. Of course, it's possible the guard missed the assignment rather than Hall, but given his inexperience, I'd expect it was Hall's miss.

 

[moleculo]

In last night's game, there was a play right after Selvin Young was hurt that Andre Hall came in on a 3rd down. At the snap of the ball, Hall went to the far right of the pocket to help the OT pass block (although he didn't seem to do much blocking there). In the meantime, a defender blitzed up the middle and chased down Cutler for a sack. My question is: Do you think that Hall was told to go to the right edge of the pocket to pass block? Or is it more likely that he made the decision to do that out of habit and didn't "read" the blitz up the middle? Do you think it is his job to read the blitz, or is that really the QB's job to read and then audible to change the protection? I know that we won't ever know what really happened, unless Cecil finds out somehow. But I've sometimes seen RBs stay right near the QB to pass block and other times seen them go to the edge like Hall did. I'm wondering whether people think or know if that is a called protection scheme or whether the RB just does whatever he wants. Thanks!

I noticed that play at the time, and I felt it was Hall's assignment and he blew it. Assignments have to be fluid, because you don't necessarily know where the blitz is going to come from (or whether it will come at all), so you have to read the situation and figure out who to pick up. Sometimes the QB has a specific blitz assignment (run away from/beat this guy), but that wouldn't be the case on a blitz up a huge hole in the middle like that one.

I'm leaning toward this view, but I'm not positive. It's likely that he was suppose to provide the protection and just didn't read the situation, but I've also seen RBs go to the edge of the pocket so that they can peel off into the flat after a couple of seconds as a safety valve. I would imagine that kind of thing is a called play.

If that were the call, the guard would have picked up the blitzer. Of course, it's possible the guard missed the assignment rather than Hall, but given his inexperience, I'd expect it was Hall's miss.

It's possible that Cutler missed the blitz too - isn't he the one who wold be calling the blitz?

 

[ConstruxBoy]

I always thought the backs didn't have specific assignments (i.e. block that guy, no matter what), but rather had to choose who to take based on what blitz/rush was coming. Typically they would take the inside guy since he'll get there sooner. So in this case, Hall may have misread that nobody was coming inside and went to help with the closest guy, who was on the edge.Was it a delayed blitz?

Not really delayed that I remember. And when I was in high school, you were always taught to block inside-out. So I'm guessing that Hall just didn't read the blitz.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

In last night's game, there was a play right after Selvin Young was hurt that Andre Hall came in on a 3rd down. At the snap of the ball, Hall went to the far right of the pocket to help the OT pass block (although he didn't seem to do much blocking there). In the meantime, a defender blitzed up the middle and chased down Cutler for a sack. My question is: Do you think that Hall was told to go to the right edge of the pocket to pass block? Or is it more likely that he made the decision to do that out of habit and didn't "read" the blitz up the middle? Do you think it is his job to read the blitz, or is that really the QB's job to read and then audible to change the protection? I know that we won't ever know what really happened, unless Cecil finds out somehow. But I've sometimes seen RBs stay right near the QB to pass block and other times seen them go to the edge like Hall did. I'm wondering whether people think or know if that is a called protection scheme or whether the RB just does whatever he wants. Thanks!

I noticed that play at the time, and I felt it was Hall's assignment and he blew it. Assignments have to be fluid, because you don't necessarily know where the blitz is going to come from (or whether it will come at all), so you have to read the situation and figure out who to pick up. Sometimes the QB has a specific blitz assignment (run away from/beat this guy), but that wouldn't be the case on a blitz up a huge hole in the middle like that one.

I'm leaning toward this view, but I'm not positive. It's likely that he was suppose to provide the protection and just didn't read the situation, but I've also seen RBs go to the edge of the pocket so that they can peel off into the flat after a couple of seconds as a safety valve. I would imagine that kind of thing is a called play.

If that were the call, the guard would have picked up the blitzer. Of course, it's possible the guard missed the assignment rather than Hall, but given his inexperience, I'd expect it was Hall's miss.

I agree that it's much more likely that it was Hall's miss.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

In last night's game, there was a play right after Selvin Young was hurt that Andre Hall came in on a 3rd down. At the snap of the ball, Hall went to the far right of the pocket to help the OT pass block (although he didn't seem to do much blocking there). In the meantime, a defender blitzed up the middle and chased down Cutler for a sack. My question is: Do you think that Hall was told to go to the right edge of the pocket to pass block? Or is it more likely that he made the decision to do that out of habit and didn't "read" the blitz up the middle? Do you think it is his job to read the blitz, or is that really the QB's job to read and then audible to change the protection? I know that we won't ever know what really happened, unless Cecil finds out somehow. But I've sometimes seen RBs stay right near the QB to pass block and other times seen them go to the edge like Hall did. I'm wondering whether people think or know if that is a called protection scheme or whether the RB just does whatever he wants. Thanks!

I noticed that play at the time, and I felt it was Hall's assignment and he blew it. Assignments have to be fluid, because you don't necessarily know where the blitz is going to come from (or whether it will come at all), so you have to read the situation and figure out who to pick up. Sometimes the QB has a specific blitz assignment (run away from/beat this guy), but that wouldn't be the case on a blitz up a huge hole in the middle like that one.

I'm leaning toward this view, but I'm not positive. It's likely that he was suppose to provide the protection and just didn't read the situation, but I've also seen RBs go to the edge of the pocket so that they can peel off into the flat after a couple of seconds as a safety valve. I would imagine that kind of thing is a called play.

If that were the call, the guard would have picked up the blitzer. Of course, it's possible the guard missed the assignment rather than Hall, but given his inexperience, I'd expect it was Hall's miss.

It's possible that Cutler missed the blitz too - isn't he the one who wold be calling the blitz?

That was part of my question. Does a QB call a protection audible when he gets to the line and sees a blitz coming?

 

[moleculo]

It's on Hall:

link

Missed block, big run. Andre Hall was in the doghouse. Having just come in for injured running back Selvin Young in the third quarter, Hall failed to pick up a safety blitz by Vincent Fuller. Jay Cutler was sacked and the Broncos had to punt.

"Oh, man, it was killing me," Hall said. "I knew I had the gap and they had me down. I missed a big block. I'm still hurting off that. I had to redeem myself."

On the next series, the Broncos asked Hall to run instead of block. He exploded for a 62-yard touchdown run. He said he would give the ball from his first touchdown to his mom.

 

[Diamond]

In general, RBs are taught to read the blitz from the inside to the outside, meaning they are supposed to pickup anyone coming up the middle before they go for anyone coming off the corner. That can change depending on the play call, obviously (ie: RB running a route, etc). But I think that was Hall's block and he missed it.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

It's on Hall:

link

Missed block, big run. Andre Hall was in the doghouse. Having just come in for injured running back Selvin Young in the third quarter, Hall failed to pick up a safety blitz by Vincent Fuller. Jay Cutler was sacked and the Broncos had to punt.

"Oh, man, it was killing me," Hall said. "I knew I had the gap and they had me down. I missed a big block. I'm still hurting off that. I had to redeem myself."

On the next series, the Broncos asked Hall to run instead of block. He exploded for a 62-yard touchdown run. He said he would give the ball from his first touchdown to his mom.

Thanks!!