[jnday]

Originally Posted by Bluestang

Look at how the OL is squatting down on Spears, not only is his pad level lower than Spears but he also has hit feet under him to engage, and fire up with his hands. See next photo...



Spears has completely lost leverage and now his weight is being redirected upwards and he's lost all his momentum and as result is stalemated.




This is an example of Free screwing his footwork up off the snap, but look at how Smith's feet are set (most notably his left foot) and his base is lowered in order to play with leverage.



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This is why technique is incredibly important in all facets of the game.

Not only did Smith redirect his man but he also positioned himself to continue to fight another DL.

While Free pretty much got bull rushed backwards because he didn't set his feet properly and he didn't have a lower pad level than the man across him. So yes stopping the bull rush involves alot of technique over strength.

So when you throw out generalities like "when handling a bull rush is the least technical thing you can do as an OL " than I'm just going sit here and laugh at your comments all day.

Keeping pad levels low should be second nature for any decent lineman, especially at this level. I never consider it some big technical feat. It rates right there with getting in a proper stance to me. Equal pad levels means the stronger player wins the one on one battle. This is when size and strength matters the most.