Neck Sharpies: Goldilocks and the Three Reach Blocks

Once upon a time, there was a little girl with hair wings the color of goldish yellow, kind of like corn, or maize, or maybe the 14th most populous city in Texas if that makes sense. (She also had a phase where she dyed it neon. A lot of people bitched about what color this was, actually).

Anyway, one day she went for a walk in the forest. Pretty soon, she came upon the house where lived three bears. She knocked and, when no one answered, she walked right in.

Earlier this week I went over what a reach block is. There's actually a play where they're trying to reach block all three relevant linemen. It's called a zone stretch, also known as outside zone. And no, it doesn't actually rely on everyone getting reached; in fact all sorts of things are expected to go wrong, with guys getting help and offensive players coached to react to defensive reactions.

Those links cover what the offense does, but how should the defense play it? Indiana ran a lot of zone stretch against Michigan in 2015 and on one in particular I thought we got a nice example of the actions and reactions that go into these plays.

Zone blocking asks the OL to get the best block they can based on what the defense does, and as you might have guessed a reach block is the best block you can pull off. On a stretch play the OL will ID the defender they need to get playside of by how the D aligns, and the way they play the block is determined by how the guy getting block reacts. The RB then picks whatever hole materializes.

There are three different reach attempts going on here:

1. The LT (Jason Spriggs) will reach/cut Godin (top)
2. The LG (Jacob Bailey) will try to reach Willie Henry (middle) with a minor assist from the C (Jake Reed) as he releases.
3. The RG (Dan Feeney) and RT will try to scoop Chris Wormley.

A scoop is a combination block where the OL lined up outside blocks the defensive player until the guy doing the reaching can get in position. Once they've got another guy around, the outside man releases to block someone else. Teams that run a lot of zone will get good at combo-ing with each other, and it's rare that any reach block is purely the work of one man. Even in our last example Braden lent Mason Cole an arm.

[After THE JUMP, too soft, too hard, and just right]

Let's snap the ball then check in with our reached defenders.

1. Godin, on the backside, has fired forward at the snap but just forward, not fighting for his gap. That lets the LT get the all-important helmet across and cut Godin's knees out. This is too soft.
2. Henry is stepping laterally with the center (I have a whole thing about how I want Henry to keep that dude from releasing to the second level) while Bailey steps around. Henry is at least flowing with the play and staying in his gap, which means Bailey's not going to reach him by the third step. But he's coming too hard. Notice that Henry's shoulders are wider than the other guys. That's coming too hard.
3. Wormley has fired into the RT and isn't letting either blocker get around him, even though Wormley's technically responsible for the gap between them. Wormley uses his strength to slow down lateral progress while using his agility to stay where he's definitely not wanted, occupying two defenders and not letting himself get scooped. This is just right.

The above is at the handoff.

1. Godin didn't fall to the ground but he's off balance and being careful to stay upright. This allows the TE to come right across his face. That's cold.
2. Henry's mad fight to stay in his hole no matter what has let the center by him for Morgan to have to deal with. Morgan fired up to at least make sure that block will gum up the works some. But Henry does get reached. His shoulder is now turned completely away from the play. The last resort of a reached man is to not get sealed—keep moving your blocker into the hole he's trying to create. And Henry's strong enough to do it, but not without getting turned around. That's coming too hot.
3. Because Wormley prevented the RT's release Bolden is clean to shoot up to the edge and cut off the outside. Wormley also has his gap covered and enough leverage to not be moved down the line of scrimmage. This is JUST RIGHT.

With the outside lanes closed, Howard has to cut back. The TE might have made this wide open though by turning around and blocking Godin. Instead the TE gets another shove on poor Godin, and goes hunting for DBs downfield. Godin's a good player, but here his lack of agility is a thing, since he needs a good second to regain his balance and flow down the line to close down the lane between him and where Henry's fought to. There's a moment of hesitation…

And his acceleration isn't exactly Jordan Howard's. And then Henry can't turn around…

And Indiana's into the secondary.

Slow Motion:

If you're trying to reach block often—say with a lot of zone stretch plays—the defenders will start shuffling along when they see the OL moving, or slanting a ton to throw off all those blocking angles.

The perfect time to try a reach block is after you've been punching the defense in the mouth a bunch and they're shooting upfield on the first step without the athleticism to redirect or the power to blow the blocker into the backfield. Note that Godin was in a bad spot after his first step went upfield, but he still had a chance to make an athletic play on the backside cut.

What does it mean for this year? Well Godin, who again is pretty good, is now your 3rd(!) 3-tech. Wormley, Gary, Hurst, Mone, and Glasgow have either enough natural ability, refined technique, or both to makes these kinds of plays. Taking porridge from them is going to be tough.