By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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It’s been said more and more in recent years, and it isn’t going away any time soon: the NFL is a passing league.

But passing isn’t just a competition of the strongest, most-accurate arms and most talented receivers. Much like how an effective running game begins and ends with the men opening holes and creating alleys, the passing game can only flourish behind a group of dependable, agile linemen.

Tackles, guards and centers must be able to drop in protection, slide and even fake certain protections before the true play is revealed. Below are a few of the more common techniques you’ll see in today’s passing games. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
Read full post on NFL.com

Offensive linemen are often complimented by being referred to as maulers, and while it’s a good quality, it’s also unfair.

This is because linemen are much more than grizzly bears, capable of nothing more than simply overpowering an adversary. The modern lineman is an elite-level athlete who’s tasked with many responsibilities and movements. Playing a tackle, guard or center position effectively is a work of art — if you know what to look for.

The league’s best units are strong individually and as a collective group of five — or for teams such as Pittsburgh and Oakland in certain situations, six — but the types of plays they run can be quite different. Let’s take a look at some differences below. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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It’s a common saying that teams who win free agency tend to lose on the field. And yet, we spend the first days of the new league year refreshing our browsers and Twitter feeds, waiting to see which teams catch the big fishes.

There’s an upside to free agency, though. While many skilled players will profit off career seasons and fail to match them with new teams, in new systems, many linemen changed teams, too. It’s in these switches that we tend to see more positive outcomes — and more often on the interior than anywhere else.

Let’s take a look at some of the teams who made big moves with big guys. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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The combine has come and gone, and the numbers are in. We’ve seen men in tights run through countless drills and tests, watched them bench press 225 pounds as many times as their bodies allowed and have even had one team play a card game with prospective job candidates (yes, it was the Browns).

We broke down how teams assemble an offensive line last week. Now we have some fresh pieces to fit into the puzzles. We took three prospects ranging from a favorite of the class to a second-or-third rounder who could make an instant impact, and projected how they might fit in with a handful of needy teams. Continue reading →

By Nick Shook
NFL.com
Read full post on NFL.com

It’s the least glamorous collection of five large men you’ll find in America, but the nation’s most popular sport wouldn’t function without them. That’s right — we’re talking about the big uglies, hog mollies and (supremely athletic, yet) fat guys — the offensive linemen.

The game of football has come a long way from vaguely resembling rugby, instead deploying groups of receivers and tight ends wide and moving skill players all over the field in an effort to gain an advantage. We’ve seen aspects of the spread scheme infiltrate nearly every NFL offense, the short-lived but memorable run of the Wildcat, and even the now-common implementation of the pistol set. And yet, as all of the sexier positions get the attention centered on these innovations, without an effective offensive line, you simply don’t have much. When the men up front can consistently execute, though, almost anything is possible. Continue reading →