The Changing Look of NU’s Offensive Line
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May 30, 2007 by
If there was one word you’d use to describe the great offensive lines Nebraska had under Milt Tenopir, it might be “powerful”. If there’s one word to describe the offensive linemen brought in under Bill Callahan, it might be “rangy”.
Gone are the runty bulldogs like Aaron Taylor. In their place are the long armed basketball players like Marcel Jones. Sure you might see a center at 6’2” like Jordan Picou, but particularly the guards look a lot longer than they used to. And that’s with good reason. In pro football, the duel between offensive and defensive lineman comes down to the hands of the offensive linemen. If the lineman can get his hands on the defensive lineman, chances are very good that he’ll be able to win that battle. Washington Redskin offensive tackle Jon Jansen calls it “the steering wheel” when he can get two hands on a defender, since he can then steer the guy wherever he wants him to go. That puts a premium on having longer limbs to reach a defender.
That’s a contrast to the old days where NU’s offensive line sought to plow defenders out of the way. Being shorter was not an issue because you weren’t content to keep the defender in place – they were seeking to send him backward.
The old Husker lines also did a lot of “pulling”, where a guard or even a tackle would circle behind the line and cross to the other side of the field to lead a ball carrier. But that’s a much rarer occurrence in the West Coast offense, which means there’s less of a premium on being nimble.
The offensive lines that Nebraska is building for the future will look a lot more like basketball players than gymnasts (but not a great deal like either). That means more guys that can pass protect and more that can last in the NFL. While in some ways as a fan, that’s difficult to see, it’s the right move for NU’s offense and thus the future of Husker football.
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darren May 30 07
Steve,
Nice distinction and examples of the new NU prototypes. It boils down to the difference between drive blocking and pass protection.
In the new offense, we're in pass pro 30+ times a game, rather than 10-15. Pass pro is about being athletic and nimble on your feed, and using your hands. Drive blocking is about leverage. The low man wins, get your pads under theirs and drive, drive, drive.
About pulling, You are right to a degree. NU's guards still pull quite a bit, particularly the left guard on runs to the right. What you don't see are tackles pulling very often. The days of Zach Wiegart routinely killing guys in the open field are behind us, I think.
'sa blang thang May 30 07
Keller will have to spend a good deal of time crawling up on Lucky's shoulders just to get a pass over these 6'6, 6'7 linemen. Combined with the fact that the similarly tall D linemen stretch up to about 11' with arms extended upward to block passes, the QB of the future will have to evolve some 'Matrix' type levitation moves.