Down block
What it is
Blocking the defender in the gap to your inside, away from the direction of the play.
Why it matters
Down blocks are the wall in every gap scheme: they take away the interior pursuit lanes and create the crease the puller runs through. They are the easiest block on the field in terms of angle — the blocker has leverage before the snap — which is precisely why gap schemes are built on them.
Both sides of it
Running it
Short inside step, hat across the defender's near number, and drive him away from the hole. The blocker never chases a penetrating defender upfield — he takes what the angle gives and seals.
Stopping it
A defender being blocked down must fight across the blocker's face or get skinny and penetrate, because letting himself be washed is what builds the wall. The interior's job on power is to make the down blocks messy enough that the crease never appears where the puller expects it.
Also called
Programs call this down, down block, block down or inside release. The Coach answers to any of them.
Related
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