Give me a choke point!

      One of my least favorites sights is eleven defenders flowing over top of any run to the outside -- on pitch or outside zone.  I always complained that when the running back gets to the so-called edge the same 7 or 8 defensive players that were in front of him at the snap are still in front of him.
      Our answer to that was to provide one or more "choke" points along the line of scrimmage. This was accomplished by having at least one fold (blocker block back) or crack on the play allowing another lineman to wrap around and rise to the second level.
       At Johnson C. Smith,  I pestered OC Maurice Flowers so much for the "crack" that he named it after me.  
       The logic of the choke point is simple - to give atleast one lineman a gimme block that will stop the flow of one defender and possibly pick up some more defenders in the wash.  Here are a couple examples of how we establish that choke point:

1) Center/Guard fold on zone run to the strength - As you see in this example, we are
running zone stretch to the right. The play side guard and tackle take their zone step and work to the outside shoulder of the defensive tackle (T)  and end (A).  Most defensive linemen will do everything they can to prevent this and this will widen the play side naturally.  The center provides the choke point by blocking back on the nose tackle (N). This accomplishes a couple things: First it allows the left guard to pull around and rise up to the second level to block the linebacker (M). It also prevents the backside defensive end front flying down the line of scrimmage in pursuit without having to work around the center's block.  Because the mike is likely to flow with the run action there is very little chance that the guard will overtake him.  That's all right because the choke will create a natural crease in front seven and once the running back sticks his foot in the ground and attacks the crease  the guard should be in perfect position to kick the linebacker to the outside. 

2) The old "Green Bay Packer Sweep" - if it was good enough for Lombardi it is certainly good enough for me.  For years I kept hearing the voice of the all-time great coach in my head extolling - "We want a seal here, and a seal here, and we will run in the alley!"  My foundation for teaching this to today's players came from Coach Joey Sulkowski who was offensive coordinator my first year at JCSU. The simple rule he taught to the offensive line was -- if you're covered pull and if you are uncovered block down.  As you can see in this example in a Pro formation that provides two choke points and allows both guards to pull. On key to running in the alley is the seal provided by the tight ends down block. I instruct tight ends to make sure that they don't must protect the gap first and then prevent the end from escaping over the top.  I the right set (two high safeties with only seven in the box) the lead block by the fullback can really help set up a big play.  in this case, he must "scrape to safety picking up a linebacker that flows over the top.  If this is a constant problem, we would add a crack on the alley defender and allow the fullback to kick the corner.