Defending the Zone Read

[CoachJoe]

Don't know if I've put anything about this, but I started a blog on defensive play at football-defense.blogspot.com. One recent post is how we (theoretically!) defend the Zone Read.

Of course, I spent some time looking at film today, and our Will linebacker didn't seem to trust that idea. It looks good on paper though. Anyone do it differently, or how do you defend from a different front? (We use a 4-3 Over base)

[dlinestud]

We will try to defend the zone read teams a couple of different ways. First, we have to determine who is the bigger threat- QB or RB? Although we will play both of these 2 schemes during the same game (to mix it up for QB/OC), we will game plan for 1 specific scheme the most (also depends on D/D/ game situations).
#1- we'll play a "Q" tech with our DE- which means he will not squeeze down more than 1 step on zone away-basically sits on LOS and reads QB hands and if he pulls it works back down/out on LOS to contain him. If his OT pulls away he will NOT chase him but play this tech as well. We play teams that read the gun-ctr trey and dart play as well. We play this when the opposing teams' QB scares us and we would rather them to give it the RB.
#2- we'll play a "Bend" tech with our DE. He will squeeze and/or chase his puller hard-helping out more on RB. When we play this tech our LB has a bit wider alignment and is slow to fold back inside- he must be more QB conscious first, checking his hands.

[CoachJoe]

I'm seeing the advantage of having the DE sit more and more, but there are still some points that make me nervous about it. Can your DE go 1-on-1 with the QB? He should get some help from other players, and in theory he SHOULD give the ball when the DE squats.

An idea I was introduced to recently was a change-up, where as soon the DE gets the tackle going down inside, he sprints directly at the mesh point and forces a quick decision.

[dlinestud]

Actually I think we're talking about 2 different things Joe- the actual zone-read concept and the read by the QB off of the ctr/dart play where the OT pulls away. Vs. a zone-away look from the DE we just squeeze no more than 2 steps and "squat" spying the QB's hands, staying square on LOS. We never take off and chase down the zone play down from behind. If the QB pulls it we try to "slow play him" by staying flat down LOS- because in most cases we are "out-athleted"!

Vs. the dart/ctr blocking scheme we mix this up (based on scouting and their personnel, D/D, etc..). When we "squat" or don't chase our puller we play this the same way as I described above. We just can't get in the backfield expecting to kill the QB 4 yds deep- we don't have these guys on campus.

We try to package these schemes with where our LB's align. In other words in our 4-3/4-4 scheme when we chase the puller we keep our OLB more outside (QB) conscious- and vise versa.

[CoachJoe]

Gotcha, we were talking about two different things. But my philosophy is to crash down the line and force QB to keep, unless he's the guy we don't want running the football. Then we get the 1-on-1 with the QB with our more athletic OLB. If the QB was the athlete and the RB was so-so (or our tackles and MLB are just studs), we might squat to try to force the give. Reading off the pull by the OT is a great play too, I learned is as the Tackle Trap option, and tough to defend. For our 4-3, the base rule though is block down-step down. One of the things I got from Tommy Tuberville's 4-3 video was that any block away from you, treat is a run away - in other words go screaming straight down the line of scrimmage as if they're running the ball the other way, in a pursuit angle. So playing both option styles that way fits our base rule.

And, I think we're both saying, put your athletes, however athletic they actually are, in a position to be successful! More than one way to skin a cat. If I didn't think we had the cats to chase down the line, I probably would change it up too.