Protection Schemes – Talking O-Line

Often times when watching football, fans will hear one of the commentators say… “the Offensive line needs to communicate and get their protection schemes down.” What does that mean exactly? In this segment of Check the Technique we are going to look at the Offensive Line, the differences in the positions and what “protection schemes” mean exactly. To help with our understanding, we have reached out to Roman Oben, a 12 Year NFL veteran who played for 4 different NFL teams. Roman was the starting Left Tackle for the Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002.

The first thing that we have to note is that when speaking of protection we are talking exclusively about Pass Protection. When Offensive lineman run block, they aren’t protecting they are firing off the ball and trying to open up running lanes. They love to play downhill and get physical with their defensive counter part. Instead, we are going to focus on the differences and responsibilities of each position, what the Tackles do in relation to the Guards and what each member of the O’ lines main responsibility is. It is commonly known that the Left Tackle is the best athlete with the best footwork on the Offensive Line. His duties are to protect the “Blind Side” of a right handed QB. NFL defenses are structured to create pressure away from the Tight End, or the Weak Side, due to the fact that there is typically one less blocker on that side of the line. The Weak Side of the play is the offenses left side, hence the Left Tackle.

I asked Roman to touch on some of these topics to give us clarity from a players perspective and here are some of the things that he shared.

When looking at the positions on the line, the Left Tackle is the most athletic. He has to deal with the guy who is the designated pass rusher for the defense. His biggest attribute will be footwork and athletic ability. The Left Guard is the best puller, especially on power plays & screens. In pass protection he has to deal with the guy who is the best interior pass rusher for the defense (Pat Williams & Tommy Kelly for example). His biggest attribute will be footwork, athletic ability & strength. The Left Guard will be the second best athlete on the line. The Right Tackle & Right Guard are the best pure run blockers. A successful running game must start with a good Center & Right Guard.

When looking at the O-line regarding Pass Protection, the Guard and the Center are responsible for the depth of the pocket and the tackles are responsible for the Width. The idea for the O-Line is to create a Pocket for the QB that isn’t too narrow or collapsed. The QB doesn’t like to have to move or reset his feet, nor does he want to have guys obscure his passing lanes.

If you look at what the defense is trying to do, best case scenario is they can create pressure with only their front four down lineman. In a 3-4 defense, they disguise who the 4th rusher will be and that is the job of the QB to identify who the Mike Linebacker is. In many cases the Defense will rush 5 and then you have 5 O-Lineman vs 5 D-Lineman. When the Offensive Line has a man who is too much to handle with just one blocker, they will “Slide Protect”. Slide Protection is like a Zone Defense in Basketball. When the player comes into a certain Gap he has an O-Lineman who is responsible for him with assistance from the guy next to him.

In the end, the most important thing is creating a pocket, giving the QB throwing lanes and ensuring to pick up the appropriate blitzing defender.

We hope this gives you some insight so the next time you’re watching your favorite team play, you have a better understanding of how the game is played…inside the trenches!