Category Archives: Player Positions

They Stand Firm in the Gap: The Offensive Line

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As you will recall from our post discussing the basic parts of a football team (See, Three with Three:  The Parts and Subparts of a Team), the offensive line is the part of the team that lines up to face the defense.  It must work as a single unit to be effective. The line protects the quarterback and creates the windows of opportunity that allow great plays to be made.  Without a championship caliber offensive line, you simply will not have a championship team.

The Offensive Line

There are five members on the offensive line.  The center is in the middle.  Immediately on his right is the right guard, and the next man on his right is called the right tackle.  Similarly, the man immediately on his left is called the left guard and the next man is the left tackle.  If you were the quarterback standing behind the line, this how the offensive line would be placed in front of you:

The center is the leader of the offensive line.  It is his job first of all to transfer the ball from himself to the quarterback securely at the appropriate time.  Sometimes, the quarterback is immediately behind the center, and sometimes he is further back in what is called the “shotgun” position.  Either way, the center has to snap the ball to him securely all the while ignoring the fact that as soon as he lets the ball go, a member of the defensive line is going to come crashing into him.  In addition, the center directs the other linemen on adjustments that need to be made to the offense’s plan based on the defense’s formations.

The right and left guard need to be excellent blockers.  In order to block, they must be able to contact a defensive lineman and use their hands, arms and shoulders to move the defensive lineman out of the way, or in a specific direction to create a running lane.

A block against a Ravens player by Pittsburgh Steeler Cedric Wilson; 2006 photograph by Keith Allison; from WikiMedia Commons through Flickr

The right and left tackle typically are the biggest and most athletic linemen.  They have to stop the defensive pass rushers and linemen who attempt to come around the edge of the offensive line to tackle either the ball carrier in a running play or the quarterback in a passing play.  This responsibility can encompass a great deal of territory to protect!

Jordan Gross, an offensive tackle, working on a point after touchdown play. 2006 Photograph by Jim Greenhill from Wikimedia Commons.

One tackle is called the “blind side” tackle; that is, he protects the “blind side” of the quarterback.  If a quarterback is right-handed, his left side needs extra protection because when he gets ready to throw, his head will turn toward the right, making his left-side blind.  Similarly, if the quarterback is left-handed, his right side needs extra protection.  Because the quarterback is facing away from his blind side, he is much less likely to tell that a tackle is coming from that direction and take action to avoid it.  This is why the blind side tackle position is also an important position on the offensive line.

Time to Wrap It Up!

Basically, the offensive line consists of five players, the center, the right and left guard and the right and left tackle.  Their job is to protect the quarterback and create running opportunities on a running play.  They work as a unit, and the success of the offense literally rides on their shoulders.  Today is Thanksgiving, and there are three spectacular games scheduled -  the Green Bay Packers versus the Detroit Lions, the Dallas Cowboys versus the Miami Dolphins and the San Francisco 49′ers versus the Baltimore Ravens.  While you are watching one or all of these games, take a few plays to simply watch the offensive line.  Those observations will give you a new appreciation of what the offensive line does.

Until next time, may your games be exciting and your team win!

Nancy

Three With Three: The Parts and Subparts of A Team

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I hope you had a chance to enjoy some of the great football that was on this past weekend.  I know I did!

 

Full Moon Over Cleveland Brown Stadium

Today’s post provides a broad overview of the make-up of a football team.  Basically, every team has three parts:  an offense, a defense, and special teams.  The offense is responsible for scoring, the defense is responsible for preventing the other team from scoring and special teams are involved in the various facets of the kicking game.

11 men on the field per side

A team is only allowed 11 men on the field, regardless of which part of the team is on the field at a given time.  Originally, a team of 11 men “played both sides of the ball,” ie., the same men played both offense and defense.  Over time, that practice changed so that, instead, different people, for the most part, play on the offense and defense.  By contrast, offensive and defensive players often play on special teams; the only position reserved exclusively for special team formations is that of the kicker. 

  • Offense

There are three basic parts to an offense (and this is greatly over-simplifying things, but everyone has to start somewhere!) 

The Offensive Line

First there is the “offensive line.”  The offensive line are the five men that you always see on TV lined up in front of the quarterback.  Their job is to protect the quarterback and the ball, and to move people on the other side around where necessary (by tackling them or blocking their way) in order to allow the offense to move the ball forward.  Where there is a championship team, you will find a (usually unheralded)  championship caliber offensive line. 

Receivers (Circled)

Second, there is the receiver’s corp.  The receiver’s corp is simply the people who are wide receivers.  The wide receivers’ main job is to catch the ball when it is thrown to them, but they also need to be able to block people, run the routes the quarterback expects them to run, and exhibit a certain amount of showmanship to convince the defense that the ball will be thrown to that receiver on each play. 

Backfield - quarterback and running back

Third, there is the backfield.  The backfield is where the quarterback always is.  Most of the time, there are at least one or two running backs in the backfield too.  (Hence the term “backfield.”)  The quarterback is the leader of the offense, while the running backs perform at least two functions:  running the ball forward when called upon to, and blocking for other people when needed. 

  • Defense

The defense also consists of three parts. 

Defensive Linemen

The first and second lines of defense are the defensive line.  The defensive line is basically a two tiered formation.  Depending on the preferences of the head coach, there either will be 4 defensive players (called linemen) directly on the line and 3 defensive players (called linebackers) filling in the gap behind them, or 3 defensive players (still called linemen) directly on the line and 4 defensive players (still called linebackers) filling in the gap behind.  Those seven players make up the defensive line.  Their job is to make sure that the ball does not go past them.  Whether they accomplish that by blocking, by rushing (ie., running very fast at and hopefully tackling) the quarterback or the running back or the wide receiver depends upon the particular play they are facing at any given time. 

Defensive Lineman and Linebackers

Besides the seven players that make up the defensive line, there are four more players that comprise the “secondary.”  The secondary basically is the last line of defense against scoring if the line is not able to stop things.  Members of the secondary include the cornerbacks and the safeties.  Cornerbacks generally are matched to wide receivers; their job is to disrupt the play if the quarterback attempts to pass the ball to the wide receiver they are covering.  The safeties provide extra help where needed.  The free safety is usually the true last-ditch defense against the “Hail Mary” type long touchdown pass while the strong safety provides extra support close to the line. 

The secondary

  • Special Teams

The term “special teams” refers to all of the different formations used in kicking situations.  To try to keep our “three” theme, we will think of special teams as being used in three situations:  kicking for scoring, kick-offs after scoring, and punts.

Field Goal

The field goal unit is the special teams unit that is used when a team is trying to score a field goal or an extra point.  The person responsible for kicking the field goal is called, logically enough, the field goal kicker.  He kicks the ball after it is hiked to the quarterback, and held upright on the ground by the quarterback.  The offensive line in this situation is built to keep the defensive players away from the kicker. 

Place Kicker Kicking Off

The placekicker is the person who kicks the ball off to the other team after either a touch down or a field goal.  He is called a placekicker because he kicks the ball from a tee where it is placed.  There is no need for a holder.  This time, the line surrounding the placekicker is spread out across the field horizontally and a little behind the kicker.  Their job is to prevent the other side from running the ball back towards the goal line after the kick is recovered. 

Punt Formation

The punter is the person who kicks when a team reaches its fourth down and knows it is extremely unlikely that it will 1) make its ten yards, 2) make a touchdown or 3) kick a field goal.  In this situation, the ball is hiked directly to the punter, who catches the ball then drops it and kicks it almost simultaneously.  The punter’s job is to kick the ball as far in the other direction as he can.  The line’s job in a punting situation is two-fold.  First, the line must keep the other team away from the punter so that the punt is not blocked, and second, if the punt is successful (as they usually are),  the line also must  keep the other side from running the ball back any significant distance.  (After a team scores a safety, the other team must do a “free-kick” back to the safety team – a free-kick is basically a punt, only done after a safety from a specified yardage.) 

Time to Wrap It Up!

So, to wrap up, a team is made up of an offense, a defense and special teams.  The offense consists of the offensive line, the wide receivers and the backfield, while the defense has defensive linemen, defensive linebackers and the secondary.  Finally, special teams are used in kicking situations, which arise out of attempts to score, kick-offs after scoring, and punts. 

Until next-time, enjoy your games!

Nancy