The Outside Zone – Article 8

The Outside Zone – Article 8

Over the last few articles, I’ve covered some of the basics of the Outside Zone for Offensive Line, players and coaches. It’s pretty technical and, much like the Inside Zone, founded on a lot hard work and studying, and even more trial and error.

In this article we’ll look a bit more at the Outside Zone from a Coordinators perspective, the basics of running it, and some of the variations you can use to make a simple Outside Zone play, a staple part of your offense.

Before we get into the X and O’s, let’s have a look at the how the Running back fits into the scheme, and what this does to the defense.

For the purposes of these diagrams, I will use a spread, under centre look, and we will progress to different possibilities later on.

Aiming Point and Entry Point

If we remember from The Inside Zone – Article 4:

• The Aiming Point is the visual key the Running Back is aiming for.
• The Entry Point is the Gap you are e4xpecting to be open based on the defensive front.

Aiming Point

Depending on who you listen to, the aiming point can be anywhere between the centreline of the tackle to a yard outside the TE. Ultimately, it’ll come down to your personnel and offensive style.

I like to have the Running Back (RB) have an aiming point of the centreline of the TE. (If there isn’t a TE in, imagine one!). If we are running from a shotgun formation, we will track this position rather than aim at it, but we will cover that later.

This allows the RB the best post-snap read of the play developing in front of him, before he makes his cut. We want to aim for the TE, get the defense flowing, and cut it back, more than likely behind the PSG or C. However, we all know this depends on a few things, mainly the defensive front, so let’s have a look at the entry points.

Entry Point

As with Inside Zone, we only have 3 entry points on any given Outside Zone play. This is to either Bang, Bend or Bounce.

In the Inside Zone, we are aiming for a hole, a specific gap in the line, and making our reads based on that.

In the Outside Zone we are simply running to an area, and making our reads as we go. In essence, we are running and blocking to influence the defense, and we read how they react. We don’t have a hole or gap we are aiming for, so that changes our reads.

Reads

Primarily speaking the Outside Zone has 2 RB reads the 1^st down lineman and the 2nd down lineman. Each read keys a separate entry point that is easy to coach and easy for players to remember.

If #1 DL (EMLOS) is reached = BOUNCE

If #1 stretches, and #2 reached = BEND

If both #1 and #2 stretch = BANG.

BOUNCE IT – If we can get the outside, take it.

BEND IT – Hit it inside the #1 defender; look for OL block on LB for big yards.

BANG IT – Hit it inside the #2 defender, upfield cut, to gash the defense. Look for this to cut all the back to the other side of the field if the defense over-pursue

As with the Inside Zone articles, I have shown the RB’s aiming and entry points correctly, but haven’t shown the OL movement.

I have found that using BANG, BEND and BOUNCE terminology gives my running backs key phrases that can be quickly and easily coached, allowing us to practice faster. It provides a simple and effective framework that will allow you and your RB’s to best utilise their skills.

Outside Zone from Shotgun

The shotgun uses exactly the concept as Pistol or UC, however, needs some slight modifications to adjust for the RB’s offset position.

Footwork

Our RB’s are taught a ‘3 steps to, 3 steps through’ technique from the shotgun, as shown below.

The 1^st step is a cross over step, ensuring the outside foot is planted on 6^th step when we should be making the upfield cut.

Aiming Point/Tracking Point

From the Shotgun, our Aiming Point is different; specifically, we look for a straight horizontal line, in front of the QB. You should still be at 4-4.5 yards depth when making your cut.

However, our reads must remain the same in order for the concept of the Outside Zone to work. We teach our RB’s to ‘track’ their reads feel their feet. We don’t want our RB’s counting steps, we need them focused on the reads, as shown below.

This allows us to implement the same rules for the RB as we do for UC or Pistol:

If #1 DL (EMLOS) is reached = BOUNCE

If #1 stretches, and #2 reached = BEND

If both #1 and #2 stretch = BANG.

BOUNCE IT – If the outside is available take it

BEND IT – When the #1 read plays outside, and #2 read gets reached, bend it inside #1.

BANG IT – When #1 and #2 play hard to the outside; the OL will wash them out, creating this running lane

Outside Zone from Shotgun has one major advantage, and that’s if the outside is there, your BOUNCE read is open, you hit that at full speed, there is almost no cut required, and that’s a powerful weapon if used correctly.

The obvious negative is the opposite of that, having to make the BANG read and cut, unless you have a Division 1 talent at RB, is pretty difficult to do and not lose momentum. That being said, it is still a very useable technique, and has served us well over the last few years.

The window dressing and various options when running OZ

At a coach/coordinator level, we must really start to think about the window dressing we use around these plays. Looking at formations, motions, reads, triple options are all things that you should look at when game planning for opponents.

From 4 WR packages, to empty, to 2 man backfield sets, to 3 man backfield sets, what can you utilise to give you an edge; and more importantly, how can you tie it all together so your players will understand quickly.

Let’s have a look at just a few of the options available to you:

Single Back Zone/Zone Read

I’m a big traditional Outside Zone guy. I love running it over and over again, and watching the defense adjust to each one. Simple adjustments, like moving under centre on a 3^rd & 1 play alert the defense to the possibility of a QB sneak, you can still have the Outside Zone called, and just run it from under centre, but you’ve changed how the defense reacts by a very subtle shift.

UC

As you can see above, I like to reverse pivot the QB. This is actually a change to what we used last season. It takes a bit of repetition for the QB, but is easily implemented if enough time in practice is dedicated.

Last season we had the QB opening up playside (shown above), however this caused the QB to get to the handoff point to quick, and the RB having to bubble the aiming point, and take his eyes off his read. This year we went with the reverse pivot, and it’s tied everything up nicely. We also reverse pivot from pistol as shown below. This involves a slightly quicker motion for the QB to get the handoff point in time, but again, with enough practice time dedicated to it, it doesn’t become an issue.

Either way, the QB must execute the rollout, and feedback to you as a coach on what the DE is doing. As soon as the ball is handed off, he must snap his head round to locate the DE. If he sees the DE crashing in consistently, we will throw in a ‘QB keeper’ to gain some yardage, and force the DE to play his contain.

Read

The Outside Zone read has been very popular for a number of years at the NCAA and high school level with QB’s getting more and more athletic and mobile. It is an easy to install play, that can really take advantage of defense that doesn’t keep contain or over pursues.

This play is simple to install because OL and RB are just running Outside Zone, and the QB has exactly the same rules here, as he does for Inside Zone Read:

If the DE goes upfield – GIVE the ball

If the DE crashes – KEEP the ball

But, obviously by aligning in the gun, we are showing the defense what way we are running the ball. Not the case, the Speed Option is another easy and simple play to add to your arsenal that can utilise Outside Zone blocking.

Speed Option

The Speed option is a simple an easy to install option play that will force the defense to play the run to both sides of the formation, both Strong and Weak.

The rules surrounding it are extremely simple.

OL = Outside Zone blocking. PS Tackle to ‘easy’ release to MDM on 2^nd level.

‘Easy’ Release = We want an inside release, but if the EMLOS is playing Inside or slants that way, don’t fight him, take the easiest path to the 2^nd level.

RB = Arc release on option path. Stay 6 yards wide and 1 yard behind QB.

QB = Aiming point is outside hip of EMLOS; force him to declare if he is covering you or the RB. Make the EMLOS wrong. If he stays wide – KEEP it; if he attacks you – PITCH it.

I like the Outside hip of the EMLOS, as for a couple of reasons:

1. It gets width on the play, and really isolates the EMLOS
2. It forces him to declare quickly if he is taking the QB or RB

If we aim for the inside hip, the DE has the capability of playing both QB and RB if he’s very good, and it close enough to the other DL that they may be able to make a play.

This play can also work well from the Pistol

2- Back Zone/Zone Read

In exactly the same way as the 2-Back Zone read adds a wrinkle to your Inside run game, the Outside Zone can be utilised in many different ways, to offer multiple looks and plays, whilst utilising similar concepts. Essentially what we are trying to do is expand what the opposition needs to defend, yet limit what we need to teach.

A 2 back Zone read game can be very explosive. Taking the standard zone read shown above, and ad in a FB/H-Back. We can make the play look very different.

You can call:

LEAD – FB leads the play, making the same BANG/BEND read as the RB

SLICE – FB blocks the Backside DE

LOAD – Tells the H-Back to leave the DE and block first force defender.

If the above is “Pro Rt. 28 Zone”, we can tag the fullback to give us very different looks, yet highly successful plays.

“Pro Rt. 28 Zone ‘Lead’” – we now have 7 v 6 blocking at the POA

“Pro Rt. 28 Zone ‘Slice’” – now we can still read what the DE does, but we have a body blocking him. The same read rules apply as before, but now if the DE goes upfield, the QB keeps it and runs off the FB block.

“Flanker Lt 28 Zone ‘Load’” – Now if the read dictates the QB keep the ball, we have an additional blocker in front, taking the first force defender.

The obvious benefits to this are that we can install multiple plays, very quickly, after teaching the concepts to the players.

Above we can see some of the multiple position we could use a FB/H-Back. But there are countless more, and if you like to use motions in your offense, the opportunities are almost endless. You could Outside Zone 30 times a game and make it look different, every single time.

Speed Option

The two back version of speed option allows us to load the Point of attack. We are still executing the same play as above, but with the added bonus of a FB blocking the force defender, leaving the free releasing TE to look for the MDM, whether that is the OLB, or Force defender.

Here we are running it with the FB in an ‘On’ position, in between the Guard and Tackle and a yard off the line.  His release will be inside the ‘Read’ man. In this scenario, he’ll be looking for the MDM, and the TE will be looking for the Force defender.

We can also run it from a typical Pro set as shown above, or from a Pistol King set as shown below.

All we are doing is making very small modifications to our fundamental Outside Zone play, to allow us to be creative on offense, without overloading our players. Obviously, the two back Speed Option leads onto the Speed Shovel.

These are just some of the Options available to you, by building on the fundamental teachings of the Outside Zone.

Tagging the backside of your Outside Zone Scheme

Utilising two backs, can also allow us to run different option plays, by tagging the backside of the Outside Zone.

What we can see above, is the playside of the Outside Zone, with the FB on the ‘Slice’ block, and the QB running in essence, a power play. The above play would be called “Red Lt OZ Tug, F Slice, Q Power”

The ‘TUG’ tag references the backside of the Zone concept, and instructs the Tackle Under Guard. The QB would simply read the PS LB to see if he flows with the OZ, or stays with the Power option, the Rule for the QB is:

PS LB stays = GIVE

PS LB flows = KEEP

Run/Pass Options

We covered a lot of ground on the Run/Pass option in Article 4, focusing on the Inside Zone. However the Outside Zone has a lot to bring to the table here as well.

The Inside Zone has to rely on bubble screens and short passes as your options, because lineman would be downfield if we threw anything deeper. Outside Zone doesn’t have that problem, as linemen are taking a much shallower attack angle, so will take them longer to cross the LOS and break through the buffer zone. This allows us more opportunities in the RPO game.

Slant/Flats

This is a pretty simple one to install and take advantage of the OLB. If he plays the run, we pull it and throw the slant, if he plays the pass, we run it.

Very simple reads, and a twist on the usual playside RPO that we see every day (Stick/Draw etc) by having the read on the backside.

SCAT Concept

This is a great play to throw in if you are already running this passing concept. Also known as a Snag concept, it’s similar to a Smash, but with an inside hitch from the #1 receiver and a corner over the top by #2. The corner throw here is open a lot more than you would think, as it puts a bind on the Safety, Corner and LB. What do the play, the run, or the pass!?

Getting the throw out quickly, as a RHTHYM throw (R4 terminology) is key, but can be an explosive play for your offense.

SMASH Concept

Finally, the Smash Concept, put the backside corner in a bind, and see what he’s playing. He can play the Dig route and the run, but he can’t also cover the Corner route over the top.

Critical to all of the above plays is the playside #1 receiver running a fade, and making the DB play him. We would also tag the backside tackle to stick on the BS DE, and provide some extra protection for the QB.

Summary

What I’ve tried to show above is not an exhaustive list by any stretch, but instead a series of plays and ideas that will open up your playbook, and allow you to incorporate the Outside Zone.

What if instead of running a Smash concept on the backside of Outside Zone, we ran a Fade/Seam? You can see the possibilities that are open to you!

The Outside Zone – Article 6

 

Base Blocking, Single Blocking and Zone Tracks

In the previous article, we covered the principles of the zone block and how it relates to the Outside Zone. Obviously, having all your linemen just take the same zone steps isn’t going to produce the effect we’re looking for.  So let’s look at the other blocks employed as part of this scheme.

Block Type Review

Having reviewed covered and uncovered principles in my previous articles, I won’t go into detail on this principle again, but the fundamentals of it are:

• You are covered if you have a down lineman in your zone;
• You are uncovered if you don’t.

As you can see the zones run from playside number to playside number of each player, meaning if you have a heads up or backside shade on you, you are uncovered.

Understanding the basic principles of Covered/Uncovered is one thing, knowing how to implement them is another. There are only 3 different types of blocks used in Outside Zone, these are:

A Base Block is used as the Lead or ‘Hold Up’ player in a double team; you make the impact and hold up the defender until your backside teammate can take over the block. Secure the first level, looking to get to the second level.As I’ve explained already, I use the same terminology for my block types, so the players understand the role of each block:

• A Zone Block is the Trail or ‘knock down’ player in a double team. Your teammate is holding the defender up for you; it’s your job to knock him down.
• A Single Block means just that, your one on one with your man, so you need to win that block no matter what.

Base Block Footwork

A base block is utilised when you are covered and your backside teammate is uncovered. In this circumstance, you are the ‘Lead’ or ‘Hold-Up’ man.

You role is work a double team with your backside teammate, on the defender covering you. You must:

• Stop up-field penetration by the defensive lineman;
• Slow/Stop Horizontal movement

This will allow the Zone block behind you to take control of the double team quicker, and allow you to pursue to second level, whilst remaining scheme sound.

Because you are covered, you don’t need as many steps to control the playside half of the defender, so we will simply, Drop and Pop.

Drop Step

The drop step on a Base Block isn’t necessarily about getting width and depth, as it is about getting in a position to ‘Pop’ the defender.

 

For example, if the defender is tight against you, we don’t need to get much depth on that step; however we do need width to get in a good position for the pop step. If he is a wide shade against you, you will need to get depth and width, to gain ground (horizontally) on the defender, and be in a position to pop step.

Pop Step

Again, the pop step is where we are making contact with the defensive lineman.

With the pop step on the base block it’s important to keep the backside foot up as it:

• Helps keep your shoulders square to the line in a position where you can easily attack the second level without having to adjust your feet.
• Keeps your toes away from your zoning teammate, making them less likely to get stood on and hold you from making a clean release to the second level.

Again, the role of the Base Block is to hold up the defender. I mean this in the sense of his movement; we cannot allow any vertical or horizontal movement of the defender. We will repeat the Pop Step until our backside teammate has control of the defender.

Single Block Footwork

It is rare that you would get a single block on the playside of Outside Zone. I cover it here in interest of fullness, but if you are getting single blocks on the playside, you will want to evaluate how you are running outside zone. (Red/White identification system is a good idea).

However, for a Single block, we are utilising our zone steps, but with different hand placement.

Hand Placement

As I have alluded to already, the hand placement is different for each block, as each block is trying to achieve different things. What is important across all blocks is how we strike the defender. A common problem across football is OL trying to push defenders out the way, or trying to strike when a defender is not in range.

One of the key points is how we strike the defender; we don’t want to be pushing, we want to be lifting. Coach Jim McNally teaches the ‘double under’ technique for straight up drive blocking (see the video here), we want to use the same principle, but modified ever so slightly for the Outside Zone.

Base Block

When teaching hand aiming points, I use the line “Aim Small, Miss Small”. It gives the players a defined target to aim for, making it easily fixable when they miss.

Looking at the dummy here, you can see a circular aiming point, and a shaded contact area. The aiming point control vertical movement, the contact area controls lateral movement.

Similar to Inside Zone, the circle acts like an archery target; when you hit the middle of that target, you’re punch is the most effective it can be; the further out from that target you get, the less effective you are.

The aiming point for a base block on an Outside Zone right is the bottom of the playside number as the aiming point. The arrow shows the direction your punch should be going. The punch should be timed with the ‘Pop’ step in our footwork, allowing for our hips to explode into the lineman.

As a Base Block, you are the lead man in the double team, so you are punching with your backside hand. What we want to do, and the reason the target area is so low on the body, is get our hands under the defenders pads, and lift up (think Coach McNally’s Double Under technique, but with one hand)

The more we can raise the defenders centre on gravity with this block, the easier we make it for our trail man behind us to take control of the block. This controls the vertical displacement of the defender, ensuring he gets no penetration into the backfield.

The red square is the contact area. This is the area we can contact with our shoulders and body, to ensure zero lateral movement. This will tie in with the zone block contact area, and the zone tracks.

 Zone Block

Similar to above, the circles show the hand placement targets, the shaded section is the contact area. The numbers are a timeline; left hand first, right hand second. Arrow again pointing in the direction you should be punching.

Aiming points for the Zone Block are:

• Backside hand – Outer bottom corner of backside number
• Playside hand – outer top corner of playside number

We contact low with our left hand first to ensure the defensive lineman doesn’t flow inside, thus securing lateral movement (sometimes called a ‘trail’ or ‘catch’ hand technique). We contact high with our right hand to ensure vertical displacement. Our left hand should be making contact first, with our right hand making contact to turn our hips and feet.

As I said with the Inside Zone articles, I try not to teach my players to use their head if we can avoid it, which includes using it as a gauge of positioning “i.e. head needs to be on the playside statements”. This is purely my preference. Instead I use the hand, shoulder, knee and toe as the position guideline. We want to fight to get them in a straight line, perpendicular to the defensive player. Please note this does not mean driving straight upfield, we will take the angle the offensive lineman can achieve, the key is in making a quick decision about whether the OL can get in alignment or not.

If he can get in alignment, fight across, use ‘drive the bus’ to help.

If he can’t get in alignment, kick out; use ‘drive the bus’ to help

Offensive Linemen must make this decision in the first 3 steps. This gives the RB plenty of time to see the blocks in front of him.

Drive the Bus

The other upside to this hand positioning is that it gives us an opportunity to ‘control’ the defender with our hands. With your hands inside, if your players are struggling to get across the defenders body into a square position, teaching them to ‘drive the bus’ is a massive help. Defensive linemen use ‘push-pull’ techniques all the time; this is the offensive line equivalent.

If we are struggling to get our hips round, and get hand, shoulder, knee and toe alignment, we want to use our hands, to aid that movement. Imagine a steering wheel on the defenders chest, we want to turn that to ‘steer’ ourselves into the correct position:

We pull down with the backside hand, and push up with the playside hand; this forces our body into the right position. Note, it is up and down, we are steering the shoulder the pads, to tilt the shoulders; we are not pulling and pushing to turn the shoulders.

However, if after our 3 steps, we realise we cannot reach alignment with the defender, then we kick him out. With this hand positioning, it easily allows to push up through the defender with our backside hand, and pull in with our playside hand, to turn the defender and kick him out, as can be seen below.

The hand positioning of these blocks is critical as it allows you to:

• Ensure horizontal and vertical displacement
• Drive the Bus
• Kick out.

Single Block

As I said above, single blocks are very rare on the playside of Outside Zone, however, the technique is almost exactly the same as the described above, with one exception, the club arm.

We want the playside arm to come in and club the defenders shoulder, before resetting on the top of the playside number. When playing against good DL, this will give them a ‘reach feel’, making them bite to the outside, and allowing you a quick kick out block.

 Combination Blocks

Obviously, a big part of the Outside Zone is our ability to double team defenders at the point of attack, essentially combining the Base and Zone Block. When we combine the two diagrams above, we get this picture. What this shows is the moment where the Zone Block (Green) and Base Block (Red) meet. It shows a total control of the defenders playside, with good hand placement to control the movement of the defender.

Zone Tracks

Tracks are an optional teaching point for me. It’s something to be used if your linemen are struggling to understand how the footwork and hand placement ties in with the overall concept, however they have proven to be extremely useful. I also think it’s worthwhile showing the RB’s these slides, as pre-snap, will give them  a better idea of what the OL in front is doing.

For the Outside Zone we have our base track, and our zone track, and these are different. This is where the gaps are created. Look at the standard defensive look here:

We can identify our Lead and Trail men easily; this in turn identifies the tracks, with the Lead players having the Base Track, and the Trail Players having the Zone Track.

What is a standard throughout both blocks is your aiming point for your track, that is:

“The playside shoulder of the next down defender”

Base Track

Base track are created at a slightly steeper angle than Zone tracks, simple because ‘Lead’ players are closer to the playside shoulder of the down defender, as they are covered.

As you can see in the example here, the offensive player will take his drop step before anything else; this sets the edge for the track. His Pop Step should take him to a point where his centreline is at the defenders playside shoulder.

For me there are two ways to teach this to your players:

• Pop Step to the playside number of the defender; or
• Get your head to the outside shoulder of the defender.

Both statements are correct, I would use the first statement, again part of my preference for not using the head at all, but both statements are correct and will tell the players what you are looking for as an aiming point and track location.

We can see both Base Blocks identified against the example front below:

As you can see, the centreline of each ‘Lead’ player is aimed at the playside shoulder of the next down defender.

 Zone Track

The Zone Track is obviously shallower than the Base block, because ‘trail’ players are further away from the next down defender. As you can see in the example the RG will Drop Step to set the edge of the track, and lock step to ‘lock’ onto that track. Again, you can see the centreline is aimed at the playside shoulder of the defensive lineman.

The Pop step should be occurring in the mesh zone, as you’ll see below.

Mesh Zone

As stated above, the whole point of Outside Zone is to get double teams at the point of attack. In the same way we merged the Zone and Base diagrams above, look what happens when we merge the Base and Zone Track diagrams:

It creates a mesh point, where the two tracks meet. This is the double team point, and where contact will happen. This creates the gaps in the Outside Zone, between the Trail man and his backside Lead teammate.

This covers off the playside element of Outside Zone. The next article will look at backside techniques we can apply in the Outside Zone, and have a look at cut blocking, whether it’s a good technique to teach, is it lazy, and does it cause more injuries.

The Outside Zone – Article 5

The Outside Zone has been run for a long time now, since the early days of post-war football, and was very successful in those innovating Bengals team of the late 80’s through the inimitable Coach Jim McNally, and was popularised by Alex Gibbs, with the Broncos in the mid to late 90’s.

I’m sure by now, if you’re worth your salt as a football coach, especially an OL coach, you’ll have seen the 8 hour long session that Alex Gibbs did with a college staff explaining the ins-and-outs of the Wide (Outside) Zone, and touching on the Tight (Inside) Zone. If you haven’t, get it watched, as it’s the best coaching on the OZ anyone can get.

That session was where I found the Outside Zone as a coach, and I’ve loved it since. It fits my players most importantly, which is why it is the base run for our offense.

The Outside Zone and Stretch

I just want to start by clarifying the difference between the two. The Outside Zone is designed to look like an Outside Run, utilising zone blocking, however if blocked properly, will result in an upfield cut.
The stretch is designed to get the RB to the outside, in that sense it’s very much like a toss/sweep type concept, just with zone blocking up front.
It’s a common mistake thinking the two are the same play, they are very different.

What is it?

As I stated above, the Outside Zone is an outside running play designed to allow an upfield cut. As with all zone plays, the mantra stays true:
“The more you run it, the more effective it becomes!”
In the case of Outside Zone, what we want to happen is the defense will start to over pursue to the outside, allowing the big play on the upfield cut. Please note it’s an upfield cut, not a cutback!
In the following articles, I’ll be looking at:

Article 6 – Base Blocking, Single Blocking and Zone Tracks
Article 7 – Cut Blocking and Backside Blocking
Article 8 – Overall scheme concept

The Basics – What is it?

The outside zone play is a complex and nuanced play, much like the inside zone, it is not a simple play to run well. The reason it is so often employed is that it allows the defense to work against themselves, thus creating big plays.

We are looking to get double teams at the point of attack, give the running back an aiming point and let him cut off the blocks in front. I stick to the same terminology for both Inside and Outside Zone, for the Running Backs, on any play, the RB can either:
BANG IT: Run the ball through the pre-snap aiming point, generally the C Gap;
BEND IT: This is the ‘Cut Back’ behind the Centre, is more of an upfield cut than a cut back;
BOUNCE IT: If everything crashes inside, bounce to the outside.
This gives us two possible scenarios when it comes to the Outside Zone play, if blocked properly:

1. The defense quickly diagnoses it as an outside run, over pursues to the outside, leaving an upfield cut lane (BEND IT) for the RB; or
2. You’ve hit the defense on the ‘cutback’ a few times, so they ‘slow play’ their pursuit, giving the RB an opportunity to get to the outside, and turn the corner. (BANG IT or BOUNCE IT)

Either scenario turns out well for the Offense, assuming the two basic rules of Outside Zone are followed, these are:

• Lineman must make quick decisions on their blocks, communication is the key.
• Running Backs only get one cut, if they delay in the backfield at all, the play is sunk.

Finally, one more note of interest, is that the blocks used on the Outside Zone vary depending on if you are playside or if you are backside. For this article we will focus on the playside blocks only.

Outside Zone Block Types

Much like with the RB’s, I like to use the same terminology, where possible for the OL, so the following table is identical to the one used for Inside Zone.

Outside Zone Steps

For the Outside Zone there are a myriad of different ways to teach the footwork, and a lot of terminology and verbiage to digest, especially for players at the higher level. I like to keep things as simple as possible, so try to keep words and steps memorable, that why I use the Drop, Lock and Pop terminology for the Zone Steps. These are to be used when you are uncovered, working with your playside teammate for the double team.

STANCE

Again, stance is as key for the Outside Zone as it is for the Inside Zone. As I’ve alluded to, I like to have my linemen in a 2 point stance, however, these steps can easily be done from a 3 point stance as well, and it’s important to teach linemen both.

I like the back foot slightly angled, as it aids flexibility and is a bit more natural for the slightly more inflexible linemen.

DROP STEP

Commonly known as a ‘bucket step’ this is a step that gains width and depth, and gets your “hips, nose and toes” square to your target. Our target, as an uncovered lineman, is always the ‘next down defender’, that’s a statement you’ll hear echoed a lot throughout our OL sessions.

The drop step takes you onto your track, which we’ll discuss later on. The focus on this step has to be gaining both width and depth, we aren’t pulling or losing ground. How far we drop and the angle we take is solely dependent on the position of our target, however, we do want to make sure our knee and shoulder are above the ball of our foot for a couple of reasons:

1. It pretty much guarantees we dont over stride and lose our base;
2. It ensures forward momentum. If your foot is in front of your knee/shoulder, your braking. If your foot is behind your knee/shoudler, your accelerating. We want the latter, which is why we want the ball of our foot, knee and shoulder in alignment, generating forward momentum, whilst remaining balanced and under control.

LOCK STEP

Sometimes known as a crossover or lateral step, I use the ‘Lock’ terminology as it locks the lineman on his ‘track’. As with the drop step, we want to gain ground on the defender.

Important that we continue our forward momentum on this step, we don’t want to be out of control, but we want to have enough impotence that if the DL stunts into is, we can make a solid contact, adjust our body, and make a good block.

POP STEP

This is the step we are either making contact on, or the step where we are attacking the bubble in the defense, hence the ‘pop’ terminology.

We want to limit ourselves to three steps and a decision, as it then puts the read in the Running Backs hands, exactly where we want it to be. Get the ball to your playmakers and let them make a play. If we take longer in our decision making process, we are delaying the RB read, which will allow the defense the opportunity to make a play in the backfield.
Worth noting that there are no sizes of steps mentioned, the steps will vary based on the alignment of your target defender, and how athletic your lineman is. It’s where splits and alignment come into it more.
Next week we’ll have a look at Base Blocks and Single Blocks, and tying all three together, as well as zone tracks and hand placement.