Blind Side Blog

Chris Jarmon '12 continues producing amazing work on his second blog, Blind Side Blog, about football's X's & O's with a particularly biased focused on line play!

Check out Chris' latest post about the Y-Stick concept and picking up blitzes and twists upfront:

When teams choose to use empty protection in the pass game, the offensive line is under more pressure than usual. Essentially, empty pro (also sometimes referred to as "big on big") is a pass protection concept that only involves the offensive line.

Most pass plays involve an extra blocker; teams either keep the running back or tight end in to pass protect (or have him at least chip a defender while leaving for a route), or motion in a slotted tight end to help out. There are plenty of creative ways to protect the quarterback on pass plays, but empty protection is by far the riskiest.

That's why it's nice to tie empty protection in with a good route combination that will come open early, especially if the defense blitzes. The Y-Stick concept is popular among Air Raid and Pro Style offenses alike, and it's a perfect match with empty pro. Let's take a look at why this is so effective:

Chris Jarmon Keeps Blogging!

Senior offensive guard Chris Jarmon is quasi-famous for his blog The D3 Experience where he wrote about playing small college athletics and his time at Grinnell, following his collegiate start at Colorado College.

Now Chris is at it again!  He's started a new blog, Blind Side Blog, where he'll analyze and dissect the game of football from a lineman's perspective.  For example, here's a part of his take on Monday night's BCS National Championship Game:

Everyone on the left side is still doing their job, but the right side is in DEFCON-1. The right tackle over-set his feet because he knew he had help to the inside, and he had to respect Hightower's outside rush speed. Now he's realizing his only help will come from the center, and the help won't make it in time. Jefferson has the bubble open, but it's well-covered and won't get enough yards for the first. He's looking for something deep to come open, but there isn't nearly enough time.