Question for couchscout or any member that knows

[rockj7]

In being a Cowboys fan and seeing all these people signed on to the O line I was curious to know A. What makes a guard a good guard and B. What makes a center a good center? Up to this point all I was looking for is A.) did the center snap the ball correctly B). Did Romo get sacked and C). Did the RB have a lane to run through, I am pretty sure their is more to an O linemen then that I don't know so I figured I would ask my brethren Thanks in advance fellas and let me not forget any ladies who may know.

 

[bsheeern]

In being a Cowboys fan and seeing all these people signed on to the O line I was curious to know A. What makes a guard a good guard and B. What makes a center a good center? Up to this point all I was looking for is A.) did the center snap the ball correctly B). Did Romo get sacked and C). Did the RB have a lane to run through, I am pretty sure their is more to an O linemen then that I don't know so I figured I would ask my brethren Thanks in advance fellas and let me not forget any ladies who may know.

YOu've got the basics of football lineman.

Biggest thing I would tell you is that every play has "reads". Every player on the field has to be able to read scheme, coverage, etc. 1 read can lead to tons of things happening pre snap and after the snap.

It's hard to understand all of that without knowing certain reads. Again the basics you have pretty good. It would be much easier to show you with a board and a marker. X's and O's style.

 

[rockj7]

YOu've got the basics of football lineman.

Biggest thing I would tell you is that every play has "reads". Every player on the field has to be able to read scheme, coverage, etc. 1 read can lead to tons of things happening pre snap and after the snap.

It's hard to understand all of that without knowing certain reads. Again the basics you have pretty good. It would be much easier to show you with a board and a marker. X's and O's style.

Thanks b for the insight, I figure before I complain I need to know what the job is of the person or group Im complaining about.

 

[Hostile]

In being a Cowboys fan and seeing all these people signed on to the O line I was curious to know A. What makes a guard a good guard and B. What makes a center a good center? Up to this point all I was looking for is A.) did the center snap the ball correctly B). Did Romo get sacked and C). Did the RB have a lane to run through, I am pretty sure their is more to an O linemen then that I don't know so I figured I would ask my brethren Thanks in advance fellas and let me not forget any ladies who may know.

Different things make different guards good at their job. I will say this, no Guard can be good if they have bad footwork. For instance, you can take a power lifter who is stronger than anyone in the NFL, put him at Guard and he will be abused most likely.

You take a guy with great footwork and plug him in, but he has no power (David Arkin), and he too will get abused.

Guard is about three things coming together into one package. Size, power, and balance. Let's say you have a guy who has power and balance but is 5'10", 250 pounds. He'll be a rag doll.

I was high on David DeCastro in this Draft. If you watch footage of him, especially on pulls you will see a guy whose body is already turned upfield as he runs. That is balance. It allows him to launch into a would be tackler and completely annihilate that tackler most of the time. That is due to his power.

Now, the last ingredients are his head and his heart. You see, you can have a huge, powerful guy with balance and if he doesn't know his assignment he will get abused.

Then you can have a guy who is huge, powerful, has balance and is smart, but if he doesn't care, he's going to be abused too.

 

[CoCo]

Thanks b for the insight, I figure before I complain I need to know what the job is of the person or group Im complaining about.

Why? :laugh2:

 

[Wulfman]

One of the most underrated duties of an interior offensive linemen is the protection calls. One player--typically the center, although Kosier did it when Gurode was in the middle and often for Costa as well--has to look at the front the opposing defense is showing, and then call out a protection scheme to work against it. All of the linemen are supposed to be making this read, but there's usually one person whose job it is to actually make the call.

It's as crucial to get the call right as it is to execute it, in my opinion, as the wrong call can put linemen completely out of position to handle a defensive stunt, twist, or interior blitz. Of course, opposing defenses--especially ones like the one Ryan uses--are predicated on making those reads as difficult as possible for the offensive line. That's why there are so many men in the defensive front seven standing up or moving around just before the snap: they want the offensive line to call out one protection when the defensive pressure they plan to bring would require a different protection.

When executed properly--which can only be done effectively with the combination of attributes Hos mentioned, above--the right call is the difference in picking up a defender that gives the QB time to get the ball off or taking a sack. It's also frequently the difference between having a solid running lane or your ball-carrier getting laid out in the backfield or at the line of scrimmage.

You can have a group of five talented players on the offensive line, and if they consistently make bad protection calls, I'm going to beat them with a middle-of-the-road defensive front seven. By the same token, you can take five O-linemen with better than average overall ability--perhaps one or two really good players along with a handful that are average or slightly above--and they will be able to hold their own against a really good defensive front IF they consistently get their calls right.

One of the biggest problems we had on the interior of the offensive line last year was that we not only had guys who didn't measure up to the physical combination of things necessary, they were inexperienced as well, and made a lot of bad protection calls--especially early in the year. One of the things the coaching staff has said as a positive about Costa was that he played better as the year went on. A part of that was some bigger players on either side of him. But another part was that he was learning the hard way about how to make the proper line calls. I think what Cowboy fans are hoping is that someone else can step up and show even better ability to make those calls as well as execute them, knowing that the coaching staff has already brought in a couple of veteran guards who have a little more size as well as a lot more experience in reading defensive fronts. We'll see whether or not that's the case in the preseason.

 

[rockj7]

Thanks guys for the insight

 

[jobberone]

And the footwork is generally different L vs R. Some teams tend to want bigger (and often slower less agile) linemen who can push a Dline. Others want the more agile types. When you get a real big boy who can still dance then you have something. Teams tend to look at linemen who have worked in their schemes like are they versed in zone blocking yada.

 

[MapleLeaf]

In being a Cowboys fan and seeing all these people signed on to the O line I was curious to know A. What makes a guard a good guard and B. What makes a center a good center? Up to this point all I was looking for is A.) did the center snap the ball correctly B). Did Romo get sacked and C). Did the RB have a lane to run through, I am pretty sure their is more to an O linemen then that I don't know so I figured I would ask my brethren Thanks in advance fellas and let me not forget any ladies who may know.

...the typical stuff you hear. Good athlete, football intelligence, driven, coachable, etc.

For the O-line you want good footwork, deep knee benders, good understanding of leverage, power in the legs, tremendous power in the upper body, good punches (quick hands) and tenacity in spades.

Between a guard and a center the main difference is as Hos said the guard needs good footwork to pull and go into space and clear out a lane.

For a center you want an explosive first step out of your stance and into a leverage position on the defender. Basically you want to see the center engage his man quickly with his hands in a superior position, his body in an upward driving position on the defender and the defender's torso bending or twisting.

The center's office is typically in confined spaces and the guard's often find himself pulling into open space.