Screens Are About Your Offensive Line
Anyone who has watched any of the NFL playoff games has seen one common play for every team. That would be screens. The reasoning is obvious. The NFL is a pass heavy league. Defenses are built to make life miserable for the guy taking the snap. All offenses would love to run the football but that is not always possible.
All good offensive coaches often lean on screens when they find themselves in this situation. It’s a run play that minimizes the need for offensive line blocking to get the play started. It is also a way to slow down the pass rush that is ruining your day.
Having said that, there is a lot of detail that goes into coaching screens. It is not just assignments either. Screens are all about timing. If your offensive line blocks too long before getting out, you have a problem. If they don’t block long enough you have another problem.
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Teaching a receiver the timing on a bubble screen or a back the correct way to seek out on a slow screen are also all part of the screen pass process. Same goes for teaching your running back how to get (snack) out without tripping up your tackle on the release.
Screens Are About Your Offensive Line
Having said all of that, screens are really about the offensive line and your ability to teach them. They are hard to teach and it takes a commitment from the offensive coordinator. That is a commitment we think will be rewarded with big plays when you need them most.
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In today’s short video we explain how it is very important that the offensive line understands the defensive front they are facing as well as how to react in the open field on a screen pass. We also point out that this is why FirstDown PlayBook draws up every screen as if it were a run play. Learn more right here…
