Question about RB pass protection

[pancakeman]

In weighing roster moves, much of the talk is about how many RBs to carry, and a big factor in that has been the fact that Wilson runs well but is weaker at picking up blitzers than Randle.

For you guys who know about football, what can you tell me about RB pass protection responsibilities. In particular, I'm curious as to what are the factors that make an RB good at it -
Smarts? (recognizing quickly what is happening)
Agility? (getting to the right space quickly)
Leverage? (knowing how to maximize advantage one-on-one)
Strength? (offering enough resistance to slow down a charging rusher)
Know-how? (just being taught the skills that aren't stressed at lower levels of play)
Relationship to teammates? (knowing what to expect from the OL and QB)
Something else?

I'm sure all of these play a role but which are most important?
And if an RB isn't good at pass protection, is it likely he ever will be, and what kind of physical or mental training will it take if so?

 

[pancakeman]

Bump. Anybody know enough to respond?

 

[CyberB0b]

Probably more smarts, preparation, and leverage than ability.

 

[xwalker]

In weighing roster moves, much of the talk is about how many RBs to carry, and a big factor in that has been the fact that Wilson runs well but is weaker at picking up blitzers than Randle.

For you guys who know about football, what can you tell me about RB pass protection responsibilities. In particular, I'm curious as to what are the factors that make an RB good at it -
Smarts? (recognizing quickly what is happening)
Agility? (getting to the right space quickly)
Leverage? (knowing how to maximize advantage one-on-one)
Strength? (offering enough resistance to slow down a charging rusher)
Know-how? (just being taught the skills that aren't stressed at lower levels of play)
Relationship to teammates? (knowing what to expect from the OL and QB)
Something else?

I'm sure all of these play a role but which are most important?
And if an RB isn't good at pass protection, is it likely he ever will be, and what kind of physical or mental training will it take if so?

Mental awareness is number 1. Even a bad blocker that gets in the way will delay the rusher more than a blocker that whiffs.

Technique and leverage are critical for smaller RBs. A big RB has more room for error with bad technique. Timing is a big part of technique. Go low too soon and they go over or around you. Fail to get low and you get run over.

Working with teammates is part of awareness. You need to know if the OT is taking the outside guy or inside guy on a blitz. There is no set rule on that, although some people believe that the OL should always take the inside guy. The problem with that is you end up with the OL blocking a LB and the RB blocking a DL. If you always do it the same way defenses will scheme to get a mismatch on the RB.

Emmitt Smith at 5-9, 212 was as good as it gets.

 

[Idgit]

Bump. Anybody know enough to respond?

I'm sure there are posters who can do a better job of this than I can, but I think the primary challenge for the backs is being able to read the defense well enough in pass protection and to know and anticipate how the OL is going to adjust to handle the pressure inside the protection scheme. You're not running to the defender like you are in run blocking, so you have to diagnose the play and get to your protection spot and get set. From there, it's just a matter of getting your pads on his hips and just generally having good technique so that you're not missing your blocks. Once the rusher is blocked, you can release into the field to give your QB a release option, if possible.

Most of the time, I think, if our backs are struggling, it's to diagnose where the free rusher is coming from or to get there in time. Picking up a guy that an interior OL is rotating to and letting another guy go free. Or not getting to the block fast enough and lunging and only getting a piece of him as a result. In Dunbar's case, he's also slight, so he can get there and still be ineffective, anyway.

 

[Idgit]

Bump. Anybody know enough to respond?

http://gfycat.com/CraftyMammothAntipodesgreenparakeet

I just came across a gif on another site of the play I was thinking about yesterday when we were talking about this. I think Free's responsibility is to drive Wake down the line, Dunbar needs to recognize the blitz and stay back to protect, rather than moving into the gap. With him in the gap, either Free needs to pass off the DL and rotate out to pickup the DB, or Dunbar needs to not be in that gap and instead back closer to Tony where he can pickup the blitz from the outside.

So this would be a recognition error, that might be compounded by not then handing the inside pressure off inside and rotating outward to pickup the outside blitzers last. Doesn't look like our WRs converted to any hot routes, either, fwtw.

 

[xwalker]

http://gfycat.com/CraftyMammothAntipodesgreenparakeet

I just came across a gif on another site of the play I was thinking about yesterday when we were talking about this. I think Free's responsibility is to drive Wake down the line, Dunbar needs to recognize the blitz and stay back to protect, rather than moving into the gap. With him in the gap, either Free needs to pass off the DL and rotate out to pickup the DB, or Dunbar needs to not be in that gap and instead back closer to Tony where he can pickup the blitz from the outside.

So this would be a recognition error, that might be compounded by not then handing the inside pressure off inside and rotating outward to pickup the outside blitzers last. Doesn't look like our WRs converted to any hot routes, either, fwtw.

IMO, the RB needs to get out to the defender that blitzed and not wait on him. You would need to wait if there were 2 extra defenders and you didn't know which one was blitzing, but in this situation, there was only 1. The RB can either quickly get out to the defender for the block or can be the outlet receiver.

Free needs to finish that block. Tyron would love to see a defender in that situation because he would just drive him to the ground or down the line. The defender has lost leverage but Free doesn't get that extra push on him.

 

[Idgit]

IMO, the RB needs to get out to the defender that blitzed and not wait on him. You would need to wait if there were 2 extra defenders and you didn't know which one was blitzing, but in this situation, there was only 1. The RB can either quickly get out to the defender for the block or can be the outlet receiver.

Free needs to finish that block. Tyron would love to see a defender in that situation because he would just drive him to the ground or down the line. The defender has lost leverage but Free doesn't get that extra push on him.

Yeah, I agree with that. What I'm unclear on: what happens when the back messes up and is then in the hole? Do you rotate the slanting DL to him so the RT can rotate out to get the blitzer? Probably that's what's coached because the option of the back somehow being able to make up for his mistake at that point is not a good one. I'm sure it's a bit confusing for the RT to have the RB there in the hole with the DB coming in from the periphery.

 

[xwalker]

Yeah, I agree with that. What I'm unclear on: what happens when the back messes up and is then in the hole? Do you rotate the slanting DL to him so the RT can rotate out to get the blitzer? Probably that's what's coached because the option of the back somehow being able to make up for his mistake at that point is not a good one. I'm sure it's a bit confusing for the RT to have the RB there in the hole with the DB coming in from the periphery.

I don't recall seeing much in the way of switch-offs from OL to RB like you see with OL to OL.

I think the answer to the play in the Gif is that once the RB saw the blitzer go outside and the RB was "trapped", then he needs to turn around as an outlet receiver. If Romo had been able to get the ball to the RB at just the right moment, the RB would have had a lot of room to run.