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Originally Posted by CIAFT
Good question from both Orlando and Golden. Especially pertinent now since the Rams are making the change. If you can get to the article by Coach Davie, it's a good one. But you may have to join some ESPN premium site to read it, I'm not sure.
But to your question, every coach has a different variation on blocking schemes. There's at least 32 different forms in the NFL, but each can be traced back to some form of either Man blocking or Zone blocking. Man blocking, as the name implies, means each blocker has 1 defender (or 2 in the case of chipping) they are responsible for. For example, let's say the LG's pre-snap assignment is to kick out the End. At the snap, he either kicks out the End or if the End falls into coverage, the LG will block the man who "takes the place" of the End, maybe the OLB crashing in, or a 3-technique DT playing up, etc. Either way, the blocker has a specific assignment to fill based on a specific defender.
In Zone blocking, the whole line moves left or right (as Orlando said earlier), with the line acting as one entity, and each blocker taking on whoever enters their "zone". Zone blocking is extremely effective when the offense has a RB that's good at making quick accurate decisions, ie. the GSOT Rams with Faulk, the Broncos, the Falcons, etc. There's no specific pre-snap hole to hit in most cases, so it's up to the RB to "find" the hole created by the line.
Typically, large earth moving lineman work better in Man schemes, while smaller quicker athletic lineman work in Zone schemes.
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