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BiSB

As as been extensively discussed, Michigan is finally jumping headlong into the Era of Manbawl, and Manbawl means power. Unfortunately, every clip of Michigan running power this fall has been zoomed to extents that strain modern technology, so we don't have a good recent example. Fortunately we found a nice example of a slight twist on the prototypical power run, albeit from a random high school scrimmage from New Jersey.

Paramus Catholic lines up in a 3-wide I-form with the slot receiver aligned to the boundary.  Jabrill Peppers is lined up as the tailback. This will be important.

02 Formation

Red Bank lines up in a two-high nickel, with the nickelback lined up over the slot. This leaves only six defenders in the box; two linebackers and four down linemen in an over front. You may notice that the offense has six guys in position to put a hat on the six box defenders.

02 Hat on a hat

[AFTER THE JUMP: A decided genetic advantage]

At the snap, most of the linemen block down; the play-side guard and tackle double the DT, the center takes on the NT, and the backside tackle chips the WDE (often the tackle will cut the backside end here, but here the tackle already has a pretty good angle at the snap. By chipping his man, he can accomplish his mission and still stay on his feet on the off chance that this play stays alive long enough for some downfield action). The twist here is that the playside DE is left unblocked by the line.  Instead, the fullback draws that assignment.

02 Play Design

As the play gets underway, the linebackers have a problem. The flow of the play is to the offense’s right, as the offensive linemen engage the linemen to their right and work them in that direction. For the backers, this could look like a zone to the weak (right) side. If they were keying on the weakside guard, they’d be able to diagnose and react. Instead, they just kinda hang around. The MIKE bites ever so slightly on the action, either because he reads zone or simply because HEY EVERYONE’S GOING OVER THERE, and his first couple of steps are to the weak side and toward the line. The WILL doesn’t do much of anything. This will be the start of a bad time for him.

04 Back side seal

The playside tackle releases off of the DT and goes after the WILL. The playside guard ALSO releases the DT, and goes after the same Poor Damn Random High School WILL. This leaves the DT unblocked and with a clear run at Peppers, but he gets turned around. He asks Hollywood, "where'd he go?" to which Hollywood can only respond "where'd WHO go?" Meanwhile, the backside tackle has reached the second level and goes after... Jesus. He's going after PDRHSW too.

05 Welp

The MIKE’s initial hesitation is enough to give the pulling guard an angle to square him up and seal him inside. The slot receiver is in position to seal the nickel to the outside. The only problem is that the fullback (who looks to be about 160 pounds) can’t get the proper leverage on the DE, who is now sitting squarely in the hole. Despite the excellent set-up downfield and the big-time RPS win by Paramus, Peppers will be dropped for no gain.

05 Dropped in the backfield

Or… okay, I guess there was a glitch in the system or something, but for whatever reason Peppers is still running downfield at full speed.

06 Wait wha

He makes a fantastic little shallow cut to beat the nickel…

06 Shallow cut

And he’s into the open field. This is where his athleticism might be able to pick up a few extra yards before he’s swarmed down. Sure enough, he makes a nice open-field move on strong safety at the 24…

07 Into the open field

…which is enough to get him down to the 18 for a solid 12 yard gain before he’s gang-tackled by five Red Bankers.

08 GOT EM

Or to create a pile of five hapless teenagers who haven’t even finished tumbling by the time Peppers is back at full speed heading toward the middle of the field.

You gotta feel bad for that WILL, who managed to beat his triple-team and chase down the #2 player in the whole damn country... only to trip over a pile of his fallen teammates. Unfortunately for Peppers, when he reverses field he doesn’t see that one of the DTs has hustled downfield, and will be hitting him broadside at full speed. Surely this will…

09 What had happened was

Oh come on now.

09 Lulz

PDRHSW has once again risen from the ashes of this play, and ONCE AGAIN chases down the #2 player in the whole damn country, and actually grabs hold of him... only to be shaken loose by a 720:

10 PDRHSW

Peppy… Peppers… coincidence?

Someone get PDRHSW some orange slices.

This is a damned CORNERBACK we’re talking about, and you’re letting the guy run through your secondary like that kid from the Family Circus cartoons.

10 Spin-o-rama

Finally, the OTHER defensive end grabs him at the 9. But of course you’re going to tell me Peppers drags this dude the rest of the way for the score, right?

11 DE downfield

Nope. He doesn’t drag the defender. HE. BREAKS. F***ING. FREE. AGAIN.

12 Follow me to freedom

Follow me. Follow me to freedom.

There are six defenders within two yards of the ball carrier 30 yards downfield. There isn’t a blocker within ten yards. I have never seen that before. I don’t even know what it means.

If you want to summarize this run in one image, it’s this poor sprawling kid reaching in vain for his lost quarry:

09 Come baaaaack

Rosebud…

You can watch the full run here:

Here’s a different angle:

And another:

That running back’s DYNAMITE

TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS PLAY

  • Jabrill Peppers - I can't stress this part enough.
  • Recruiting matters - See: the previous bullet point
  • Football = math - if you leave two safeties high and move a defender out over the slot (especially if you lift your SAM for a little guy who doesn't seem like an eager tackler), you're going to have serious problems because you've now got six blockers taking on six defenders. If properly blocked, this play will pick up yards all day long. If you move a safety down you improve your numbers but you're vulnerable over the top. If Jabrill Peppers, YOUR MATH HAS NO POWER IN THIS PLACE.
  • Sharing is caring - This was a scrimmage, so getting people game action is important. Here, Jabrill gave nine different guys a chance to make a tackle, and I can't tell from the video but I think ALL 11 DEFENDERS made contact with him during the run. He's generating extra practice time for his opponents, and for this they should be grateful. 
  • Triple-teaming the WILL is vital - Alternatively, communication between linemen as to who is going to release is helpful.  But you should probably still triple-team the WILL
  • This is what a pulling guard is supposed to do - Identify the MIKE. Get through the hold before the back does. Engage the MIKE. Put the MIKE on the ground (although hopefully not by holding and pulling him on top of you as you fall down, but I digress). This is why I have more hope for Michigan's guards this year; they may screw things up, but if they do they'll be screwing up while screaming downhill looking to maul something. Tis' far better to maul the wrong thing than to hit nothing and get in the way.
  • Jabrills and Joes > X’s and O’s – Genetics is a powerful force.
  • Know your personnel - If you're going to run this play with the playside tackle blocking down and no tight end, you've got to have a LOT of faith in your fullback, because that's a tough assignment. He's gotta meet and seal a defensive end in space. When run by humans, this play probably goes for no gain.
  • #FirstWorldRecruitingProblems – If the debate is “at which position will he be the MOST super-duper dominant,” you can bring the kid in without knowing exactly where you’re gonna play him. Not all “tweeners” are problematic.
  • Spin move - ALWAYS SPIN MOVE.
  • Seriously: Jabrill Peppers - There was a time in American history that Peppers would have been burned as a witch. And it would have been hard to blame the villagers.

NOTE TO FUTURE PARAMUS OPPONENTS:

The following is a recommended defensive assignment chart should you come across a similar formation.

02 Assignments

Good luck with that.

Comments

MGoManBall

August 29th, 2013 at 8:49 AM ^

FWIW, when I was in HS, we could block this power two different ways. The first is how they did it. Either block straight up or pull the guard around on the play-side middle linebacker and then the fullback kicks out the defensive end. It's called a blast.  The other way is for the tackle to kick out the end and leave the play-side ILB for the fullback to take on.. ISO. I'm sure you all already knew this. 

The fullback here does a terrible job even getting his head on the right side and his body between the defender and the ball carrier. 

The other thing is that these kids are in high school... so the "hanging around" that they do could be that they're just slow at reading through the pulling guard to the backs. 

Just a case of a bunch of normal HS kids getting punk'd by ManBearPig.

Space Coyote

August 29th, 2013 at 9:23 AM ^

Power O and Iso are two seperate plays. You will occassionally see Power blocked similar to Iso if the defensive EMOL lines up inside the offensive EMOL (likely with a LB stacked). I'll actually have an article on Maize n Blue up tomorrow discussing just that (the primer will be up today).

And yes, the FB doesn't do a very good job here, first because his initial target is poor. He's taking an angle (to the outside foot of the OT) that you would use if you had a TE to that side, rather than the angle for an Open Power (inside foot of the OT) when there is no TE lined up as the EMOL. So it's his initial aiming point off his first step that gets his head to the wrong side of the defender, and when the DE tries to get back inside the FB can't make the block.

For whatever it's worth, it's more common to run ISO to open formations and power to closed formations simply because of the timing of the play. But both can be run to or away from strength (or with or without a TE).

MichFan1997

August 29th, 2013 at 8:52 AM ^

part is all of it. Also, the part where you keyed all 11 defenders on Peppers and I still doubt they could stop him. Honestly, I don't know if I've ever been this excited for a recruit to just get here and be on our team.

Space Coyote

August 29th, 2013 at 9:34 AM ^

Nice article as always.

FWIW: typically LBs are taught at this level to read through OG to FB to take them to the play. So at most the down blocks should be only a minor indication of the possibility of zone right. WILL should have his eyes on the OG and as soon as he pulls he should be scraping over the top. The MIKE should read down block from the playside OG and then read the FB to take him to the ball. Now they may be teaching something different there, but they need to get those LBs flowing faster to close down the hole. But we'll call it a wash because the FB also didn't get a good kick. Welcome to high school football.

Njia

August 29th, 2013 at 9:41 AM ^

For the Top Gun reference ... Seriously, weren't you like, 5, when that movie premiered? And, I'm just sayin', but I think 'Shoe was already at Michigan telling unsuspecting co-eds that he was going to be doing some of that flying shit (didn't we all?).

dragonchild

August 29th, 2013 at 9:52 AM ^

The suggested defensive assignment chart is actually not a half bad idea.  With someone like Peppers the coach knows he has a once-in-a-lifetime toy to play with; he's going to put the ball in the freak's hands.  Even hedging your bets I'd just deploy a single-deep safety in an "anti-robber" role where is job is to watch the play and go after the ball if it's NOT in Jabrill's hands.  OK so the poor kid's screwed if the other team so much as sends two receivers deep on play action, but considering NINE guys couldn't keep Jabrill out of the end zone, I'm gonna need ten for that job.

Yeah, yeah, I know, it's a freak play; not even Jabrill scores a TD on every run.  I'm just joking around, but the talent disparity in HS football can get silly.  Hyperbole aside, sometimes you really do need several defenders keying on just one guy because the mismatch that sprung the big play was:

Jabrill Peppers, one of the top recruits in the nation, likely future NFL first-rounder

vs.

Playside DE, who for all I know was asked to play football by the coach because he was in good shape and weighed over 200 pounds.

As OP pointed out the blocking wasn't even that great considering they let the DT through and triple-teamed the WILL.  When I'm looking at a top-ranked recruit I generally expect silliness against regional HS competition.  The difference here is that Jabrill made at least two absolutely sick cuts that literally sent half the defense tumbling.  Those were Denard-grade cuts right there.

Ivan Karamazov

August 29th, 2013 at 10:05 AM ^

On the triple team of the WILL? I would like to imagine that it was bushell Beaty (73) as he has the easiest release from his assignment on the DT. Granted I have no first hand knowledge of run blocking schemes. Also it would be nice to know how another one of our commits faired on a damn impressive highlight.

Space Coyote

August 29th, 2013 at 10:16 AM ^

It depends on where the DT was lined up. You'd prefer to seal off the DT with the OG, and it looks like the OG was capable of doing it. This is what's preferred because the OT has a better angle to attack the backside LB to seal him on the backside of the play.

However, it looks like the DT in lined up heads up on the OG to maybe a little outside of him, so there's some grey area here where the angle doesn't provide enough info. Likely you'd still want to only double until the OG can take over and then have the OT release, because I don't think the DT is shaded enough toward the OT to make this primarily the job of the OT, but again, it's difficult to tell here.

It is certainly not the job of the backside OT though, though at a high school level they may simply be teaching him to essentially stun the backside DE and then get to the next level to try to break a bigger play. Not many DEs athletic enough at this level to make that play coming from the backside on a guy like Peppers.

TESOE

August 29th, 2013 at 10:38 AM ^

Whatever his assignment - he has opportunity to pancake and does not.  He also does not play to the whistle.  There is work to be done there.

TESOE

August 29th, 2013 at 11:33 AM ^

Not a good play for an OL to play to the whistle on because it looks finished so many times.  I don't know his assignment but yes if it is to block down then pancake was there.  His assignment actually releases and has  a go at the RB.  If graded - that is a negative.

Contrast 75 playing to the whistle, finding a second block and running after Peppers in the endzone. 

I mean

There are two guys coming to Michigan here from this team.  I'm looking at Juwann.  He deserves a mention.

BiSB

August 29th, 2013 at 11:40 AM ^

That because the guard had a good angle on the DT, JBB's job was probably to combo him and then move on to the second level (probably to the WILL). Pancaking the DT does nothing if they don't get to the linebackers. Now, obviously ONE of the playside linemen should have stayed on the DT, but we don't know which one, so we can't draw many conclusions. Besides, the guy did his job and was still the closest Paramus guy to the ball 15 yards downfield.

Big picture, though, there's not much to extrapolate on JBB in this clip. There is very, very much to extrapolate about JP. Hence the piece.

TESOE

August 29th, 2013 at 11:56 AM ^

Things I want to see from JBB: bad intent, finish and hustle - the clay of a good D-1 OL.  JBB is going to get this exposure because of JP.  I'm interested in his play and progress - I will post no more.

except this...

I agree with other posters that it appears he has nothing to do with the DT.  He is asked to release to the LB.  He and 75 have a chance to bury him and the guy squirts free.  I haz a sad.

75 BTW is a Va Tech commit.. Billy Ray Mitchell - 6'5" 292.  This is really man vs. boy here...

Chuck Norris

August 29th, 2013 at 10:38 AM ^

After watching the video, I thought to myself, "There's no way Red Bank can be a good team, look at how terribly they tackle." Howeva', it turns out that Red Bank went 10-1 last year, and are ranked in the top 10 teams in the state.

RabidWolverine20

August 29th, 2013 at 11:29 AM ^

the cheesey fight scenes where there are thugs that have the hero surrounded but simply attempt to take him on 1 or 3 at a time and ultimately fail instead of everyone just trying to take him down at once. We are just missing the bad voice-overs on the film.