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Jets New Blocking Scheme(SWOT Analysis)


KingOfNewYork

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Stole these details from Jetsnation and other internet resources but I think it will be useful to us here. Will give some insight into the type of team Gase/Douglas are tying to build.

Adam Gase and Frank Pollack will reportedly implement "wide splits" in their blocking scheme next season.

Tony Pauline said this while reporting from the combine

" I can also say the Jets are looking at Seattle Seahawks tackle George Fant as another contingency if the Conklin plans don’t shake out. Fant, a former basketball player, is the best athlete of the three yet has started just 24 games the three years he’s been on the field. His athleticism would be a perfect fit for Adam Gase’s offense, which will include wide splits between offensive linemen this season. "

What are wide splits?

They were made popular in the air raid offense.

http://smartfootball.blogspot.com/2008/10/linemen-splits.html

"But there's a new trend for wide splits, and that's with air-it-out passing teams like Texas Tech.
Traditionally passing teams took very narrow splits to stop inside penetration, Texas Tech takes
exceptionally large splits. Their rationale is a few-fold: (a) make the pass rushers come from farther
away and enlarge the pocket, (b) open up throwing lanes for the quarterback, and (c) because they throw
so much, all they need is a block or two to have an effective draw play -- the defensive ends aren't
even really a factor. They can do this because they are almost exclusively a "man" pass protection team,
just as the old Lavell Edwards BYU offenses were. (Indeed, Mike Leach's offense is a direct descendent
from BYU's offense, he spent time there as an assistant, and many of his other coaches had experience at
BYU as players or coaches when Edwards and Norm Chow were there.)"

This explains a lot as Douglas said. "Look, I mean, everybody's trying to get bigger, faster, smarter, tougher. So we need explosive guys. We need explosive dynamic playmakers."

In the passing game this is going to be very good for Darnold. With opposing line essentially having to travel further distance to get to Sam this will naturally give him more time in the pocket. Factor in upgrades at each spot(hopefully) and it gives him even more time. His escapability will also be utilized with wide lines if plays break down and he has to improvise. Less cluttered pockets, more room to be himself. Add in what Gase wants in his playmakers and you see where the offense is going. Getting the ball out kick into guys hands so they can attack and make plays. The linemen needed fit what Douglas has been doing so far, especially Fant at Left Tackle who's athleticism should help him excel in this role, just needs to work on his initial punch. But what about the run game?

"The wide line splits made it impossible to use double-teams like traditional zone running teams did, and as a result it was more about each
lineman blocking his man one-on-one. But, because the only time Leach wanted to run the ball is if the numbers in
the box were extremely favorable, the wide line splits helped his linemen in their run blocking because they almost
always had angles. If the defense tried to stretch out with his linemen, there were almost always running lanes inside;
if they tried to pinch down and shoot the gaps, it was easy enough for his linemen to block down and seal the edge for
his runners to scoot around edge. And while his teams weren’t known for their rushing prowess, they did have some success.
In 2008, for example, Leach’s top two rushers combined for 1,475 yards on over 5.8 yards per carry."

Leach, like Gase wants to be pass heavy but run when it is to their advantage and in this scheme, with wider holes you need a back who can find the hole and hit it. Sounds like Bell will thrive here.

"The whole concept of wide splits is to help offensive lineman not get overpowered by defensive lineman and to open up the inside run game by creating a larger surface.  It creates wider gaps that are harder to exploit with stunts because the stunts have so far to go to hit.  The other reason teams go to this is it makes it less about drive blocking and more about what we call position blocking. This essentially means we can block defensive players by just shielding them using body position instead of driving them to other areas.  It's effective for some types of zone although like the article states it makes it difficult to double up to backer for inside zone runs. instead you rely on uncovered lineman to get up to the second level."

Technique and movement will be crucial with mauling secondary but still useful as they climb levels. Jets will not draft or sign plodders, they arent effective here. In the draft 2nd tier tackles like Josh Jones and Austin Jackson( @jetskid007 is right) are names being throw around here. Becton and Wirfs are probably the top 2 on our board however.

How can this counter the blitz? Well you spread teams out and win with your athletes, when guys come Sam simply has to find the open man and let him work. Bell is good at picking up blitzers and they will likely come from the middle of the field which opens things up for Griffin/Herndon/Crowder on the inside.

Opportunities

-Less heat from the EDGE

-Wide passing lanes and running holes

-More room to move in the pocket, a larger pocket

-Knowing where blitz pressure is most susceptible.

-More room for playmakers to catch and run

-Little to no stunts being ran.

Threats

-More 1v1 blocking and less double teams, guys have to win

-Backs have to read holes quickly and attack before Linebackers close

Here's some highlights and lowlights of Leach's offense, pay attention to the blocking and when it's impactful in both the passing game and running game.

 

 

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Great write up. This all being said... to run and air raid spread offense you need weapons. I know I sound like a broken record with this but its true.

 

Look at the Cardinals. They run this and now have Hopkins, Fitz, Kirk, Isabella, Butler, Drake, Edmonds. So it will work for them.

 

For us we have Bell, Herndon, Griffin, Crowder, Enunwa, Doctson, Smith, Berrios.

 

SEE THE DIFFERENCE?!?!

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2 minutes ago, Bobby816 said:

Great write up. This all being said... to run and air raid spread offense you need weapons. I know I sound like a broken record with this but its true.

 

Look at the Cardinals. They run this and now have Hopkins, Fitz, Kirk, Isabella, Butler, Drake, Edmonds. So it will work for them.

 

For us we have Bell, Herndon, Griffin, Crowder, Enunwa, Doctson, Smith, Berrios.

 

SEE THE DIFFERENCE?!?!

AZ implemented it last year and added a few mid round guys and then got Hopkins this off-season. 

But it goes with what Douglas and Gase spoke about at their combine press conferences. Definitely have to start upgrading but I think they’re more open to Ruggs/Lamb/Jeudy in R1 than we originally assumed. 

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2 minutes ago, KingOfTheDot said:

AZ implemented it last year and added a few mid round guys and then got Hopkins this off-season. 

But it goes with what Douglas and Gase spoke about at their combine press conferences. Definitely have to start upgrading but I think they’re more open to Ruggs/Lamb/Jeudy in R1 than we originally assumed. 

I hope so... also OL isn't as much of a priority in a system/blocking scheme like this. I've been watching Texas Tech run this for 20yrs and you of course need to have a decent OL, but you dont need a great OL for this system to work. You need playmakers for this system to work.

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6 minutes ago, Bobby816 said:

I hope so... also OL isn't as much of a priority in a system/blocking scheme like this. I've been watching Texas Tech run this for 20yrs and you of course need to have a decent OL, but you dont need a great OL for this system to work. You need playmakers for this system to work.

I fell into this info when we signed Fant. It changed my perspective a ton on what they were trying to do. When I went back And listened to the press conference it became clearer to me. Then I looked at receivers we’ve been linked to. Specifically Ruggs and Hamler in the Draft. Dorsett in Free Agency. The Hardman interest last year as well. It all makes sense. 

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1 minute ago, KingOfTheDot said:

I fell into this info when we signed Fant. It changed my perspective a ton on what they were trying to do. When I went back And listened to the press conference it became clearer to me. Then I looked at receivers we’ve been linked to. Specifically Ruggs and Hamler in the Draft. Dorsett in Free Agency. The Hardman interest last year as well. It all makes sense. 

And they 100% make sense for our system. But as it stands now Crowder is our only NFL caliber WR for a system that needs very good WR play. There's a HUGE uphill climb to make this system work. And to be honest if that's the scheme we are going with. WRs are more important than OL, when in a regular ZBS like we thought we'd run OL is prioritized over weapons.

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Great insight into what Douglas and Gase are trying to build and I think it's perfect for Sam's style of play. Like you said it makes a ton of sense why we are hearing names like Jackson, Ruggs and Kamler. 

Also, based on this info, Becton sounds like he was made in a lab for this OL scheme. Literally a perfect fit. 

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Phenomenal post. I think the one thing that’s important to note is that while we will be implementing wider splits, it won’t be to the point you see in college air raids. It’s more of a compromise all around- fits their personnel without abandoning Gase’s principles (btw, I’ve found out from a source that the Jets view Edoga as a LT/RT ONLY). For a lot of reasons that you’ve laid out in this article, I think the Jets first round T will likely end up playing LG in year one because of the importance to have an athlete in the interior because the LG spends a lot of time on an island. Also keep in mind that if you poll out any “Guard” Douglas has been associated with often were tackles in college, which aligns with his statements that they require versatile OL who can play multiple spots. 

It’ll all be determined after competition, but by no means does this change in scheme mean the Jets will shy away from taking an OL early. Why? The scheme doesn’t mask a talent deficient OL the way it does on the college level. In college, defenses are more vanilla and the talent pool is not as rich. On the NFL level, everyone is athletic and the defenses are exotic, so you can only run this kind of scheme if you have the requisite athletes, whom are high in demand in the NFL. In addition to the “big 4” and Jackson, we’ve been linked to Hakeem Adeniji- another elite level athlete who is expected to play tackle or guard in the NFL.

Some other players to keep an eye in the draft: Cesar Ruiz, Jack Driscoll, Danny Pinter, Matt Peardt, Matt Hennessy, Ben Bartch, Robert Hunt, Jon Runyan... 

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Great post.... super informative.  Gives me some context as to why we are looking at certain things.  I have always been a huge fan of the over powering OL filled with brutes so teams can just run at will and wear out the DL.  So i was dismayed with all of these fleet footed guys that aren't driving guys down field.  

Makes me wonder if a guy like Ezra Cleveland might be a developmental project that they might want to take on.  Raw but ultra athletic.  

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1 hour ago, jetskid007 said:

Phenomenal post. I think the one thing that’s important to note is that while we will be implementing wider splits, it won’t be to the point you see in college air raids. It’s more of a compromise all around- fits their personnel without abandoning Gase’s principles (btw, I’ve found out from a source that the Jets view Edoga as a LT/RT ONLY). For a lot of reasons that you’ve laid out in this article, I think the Jets first round T will likely end up playing LG in year one because of the importance to have an athlete in the interior because the LG spends a lot of time on an island. Also keep in mind that if you poll out any “Guard” Douglas has been associated with often were tackles in college, which aligns with his statements that they require versatile OL who can play multiple spots. 

It’ll all be determined after competition, but by no means does this change in scheme mean the Jets will shy away from taking an OL early. Why? The scheme doesn’t mask a talent deficient OL the way it does on the college level. In college, defenses are more vanilla and the talent pool is not as rich. On the NFL level, everyone is athletic and the defenses are exotic, so you can only run this kind of scheme if you have the requisite athletes, whom are high in demand in the NFL. In addition to the “big 4” and Jackson, we’ve been linked to Hakeem Adeniji- another elite level athlete who is expected to play tackle or guard in the NFL.

Some other players to keep an eye in the draft: Cesar Ruiz, Jack Driscoll, Danny Pinter, Matt Peardt, Matt Hennessy, Ben Bartch, Robert Hunt, Jon Runyan... 

Literally added Hakeem Adeniji to my board after seeing this. Almost perfect on the interior for this scheme. 

 

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Thanks for putting this together. Nice post. 

Some coaches like to have the best players and then alter their system to fit the players. This offseason has made it abundantly clear that Gase has a certain way he wants the offense to run and that’s it.

 

The good news is that it looks like we have a front office that is working with those assumptions. Seems like there’s a lot of communication between the coaches and FO.

 

 

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