Inside Zone with A Tackle Arch-Beating the Odd Front

As Spread Offenses become more and more popular defenses are continuing to adjust their fronts and structures to combat the Offense stretching the field horizontally. In the constant cat and mouse game that pits Offensive and Defensive Coordinators against each other the defense has made a move to the Odd Defense in order to counter the reads and quick passing game that the Spread has made so popular.

Inside Zone with A Tackle Arch-Beating the Odd Front

The typical Odd Front defense is going to put a defensive lineman either head up or slightly inside of each Tackle. The defense will then either slant this defender into either the B Gap or the C Gap. This creates problems if the offense wants to run Inside Zone because the Tackle has to guess which way the defender is slanting. If the defender slants into the B Gap and that Tackle can’t block him in time he can wreck the play from either the front side or the backside. If the defender slants into the C Gap and the Tackle chases him it causes even more problems for the offense. On the front side it can open up the offense to an Outside linebacker blitzing through the B gap and on the backside it will leave the Will Linebacker a clear path to the Running Back.

Coastal Carolina popularized one of the best counters to this defensive front. Instead of having the Tackle step down and try to block a slanting lineman, they arched their BST out to the Outside Linebacker and read the Defensive Lineman. While teams had been trying to do this for a while, the major innovation Coastal Carolina rolled out was taking the Wing and putting him on the BSLB.

See Also: Running Inside Zone with a Tight-end 

The result was a deadly play that tipped the advantage back to the offense. If the Defensive Lineman slants in and goes for the RB the QB pulls and has the Tackle Blocking for him. If the Defensive Lineman slants out or tries to play the QB the BSG and Center have a great double team on the Nose Guard and the Wing serves as a lead block for the Running Back.

While the play itself is a dynamic and explosive play, it has additional benefits for the Offense. The Flexbone saying is that if you can’t block them, read them. Because the defensive lineman is getting off the ball so hard, it makes for an easy read for the Quarterback. Once this lineman is read a couple of times he will start slowing down which gives the Tackle a better chance to block him when the offense goes back to a traditional Inside Zone scheme.