Offensive Line Drills: Dominate the Trenches

Win the line of scrimmage on a weekly basis using the techniques enforced in these drills!

The Offensive Line is one of the most interesting positions in sports. Everybody in the stadium has an opinion on what they should be doing, yet not many of them understand what goes on in the trenches. In this article and video, I am going to take you through the drills I use for my offensive line, and none of them involve the chute.

Before we get into the drills themselves, I do want to share a quick tip on drills in general. Name your drills, and share that name with the players. This will help you save an incredible amount of time, at any position. Instead of saying, “We’re going to do that drill where we practice comboing, so I need 4 guys in a group, 2 OL, a DL, and a LB,” you should be able to say, “Combo Drill,” and your players know what they need to get set up from there.

To share some of our offensive line stats last season, we averaged 2.76 seconds of pocket time on drop back pass plays (NFL AVG: 2.36 sec.); our Power Success, the percentage of 3rd & 4th down runs with < 2 yards to go that resulted in a first down, was 72.73% (NFL AVG: 67%); our Stuffed runs, percentage of runs stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage, was 11.85% (NFL AVG: 17%); and I am most proud of our Adjusted Line Yards (ALY). ALY is a more precise measurement of the effectiveness of the offensive line on a run play than the standard Yards Before Contact (YBC) statistic. From Football Outsiders:

“We know that at some point in every long running play, the running back has gotten past all of his offensive line blocks. From here on, the rest of the play is dependent on the runner's own speed and elusiveness, combined with the speed and tackling ability of the defensive players. If Frank Gore breaks through the line for 50 yards, avoiding tacklers all the way to the goal line, his offensive line has done a great job -- but they aren't responsible for most of that run. How much are they responsible for?”

Adjusted Line Yards answer that question. The full formula that takes into account down & distance is unavailable online, but the rest of the formula is. Last season, my Offensive Line’s ALY was 3.12. What I take that to mean is that a running back with no ability to create anything, whether with power or elusiveness, should be able to get 3.12 yards behind that OL on any given play. Given that we only needed the RB to pick up 0.22 yards more on average to stay on schedule, I take a lot of pride in that stat.

So how did we do it? What did we do in practice to be so successful in the season?

Stance & Start

The first drill we do at the beginning of each phase (spring, summer workouts, fall camp) is the stance & start drill. For some, this is an Every Day Drill, or EDD, but not for me. I only teach the stance to the entire Offensive Line at the beginning of each phase. What I mean by that is I only line everyone up and check everyone’s stances in-practice the first day. After that, I will tweak individual stances as needed, but I only go through the stance progression for the entire line on that first day. What I primarily use this drill for is warmups. If we have a position-specific warmup day or during pre-game warmups, this will be one of the drills we run.

How I run it, whether I am teaching the stance progression or using it as a warm-up, is by having my Offensive Linemen in front of me by depth chart order. Since they are facing me, my Left Tackle is on my right side and vice versa. This is when I will go through the stance progression at the beginning of each phase. I will teach the stance then check every string of linemen. Once this step is not needed anymore, we will move on. This next coaching point is crucial. The first thing you need to have your linemen do is get in their stance. Only when they are in their stance do you tell them which direction the play is going. This is one way to help train your line to keep their eyes up when their hand is down to help them pick up late movement by the defense. Once their hands are down, I point which way I want them to fire their feet. If I notice heads starting to drop down after getting the direction, I will change the direction to see who goes the wrong way. After giving a direction, it’s time to go through the snap progression and get the feet moving. I want short, choppy steps: driving the foot down, always having cleats in the ground. When the drill becomes second-nature, I am able to get a rep in each direction plus a pass set in about 2 minutes.

First Steps

One of the biggest problems I see in offensive linemen is either not getting any width on their first step or the first step coming back underneath the hips, actually losing width. When the first step isn’t wide enough in a combo or deuce block, there is too much space for the defensive lineman to split. If it’s a solo block and the first step isn’t wide enough, it allows the defensive lineman to penetrate upfield.

To practice the first step, I line all of my line up with a foot on the edge of the goal line, facing the sideline. For most of our blocks, the first step doesn’t need to be very wide, just a couple of inches. They start in their stances. When I blow the whistle, they are going to take the foot that is up against the goal line and move it to the other side of the line by driving off their back foot. I then let them reset so we can do it again. In doing this drill, I noticed I was moving so fast that some of my players had defeated the purpose of the drill by just tapping their toes and not shifting their weight across the line with their foot, so be sure to give enough time between reps that they feel comfortable shifting their weight without feeling like they will get behind. This drill also only takes about 2 minutes to complete once they understand it, so I will normally do this drill in addition to the Stance & Start drill in my 5 minute pre-game individual period.

Solo Blocks

While we try to combo or deuce block as much as possible, solo blocks are the foundation of offense. Somewhere on the line, somebody has to beat the man in front of him without any help, or the play is dead. A solo block’s technique, in my opinion, should be the same for a Left Tackle zone blocking a 5T on an Inside Zone run to the left as it would be a Right Guard down blocking a 1T on a Power or Counter run to the right. This is where we start the solo block drill. Regardless of position, every lineman needs to be able to block somebody 1-on-1 on either shoulder.

I will have my linemen partner up with one partner being on offense and the other on defense. The defensive linemen start on the left shoulder, then move to the right shoulder after a few reps, then I will switch sides. The side I am on is always offense so I can see from behind the line. The first step goes to the play-side number of the DL in front of you, and the hands go to each breastplate. This is best simulated with medicine balls for getting hands underneath the breastplate to control the DL while driving him off the ball.

Combo Pods

Combo Pods are one of the most bang-for-buck drills you can do as an Offensive Line Coach. You need at least 4 players per pod: 2 will be offensive linemen, 1 defensive lineman, and 1 linebacker. I like to group mine up by string so my ones are always working together, twos, etc. Simply put, the offensive line will take the defensive lineman to the linebacker at the snap. Whichever side the linebacker fills will dictate which offensive lineman leaves the combo to block him. Pre-snap, the linebackers will be told which direction to flow. If I have an assistant or an injured player, I like to give them this responsibility so I can solely focus on the line.

I love this drill because it can be played out so many ways. The base way we run it is with the DL over the post man in the combo and the LB 5 yards deep over the trail man, typically what you would see from a base 3-4 defense, but you can do so many things with the alignment. You can move the DL to outside shade of the post man, head up, inside shade, or outside shade of the trail man, and you can move the linebacker either to the play-side of the DL, stacked over him, or back-side of the DL. Any combination of those techniques changes how the offensive linemen play the rep, and then you can change the play from Inside Zone where the line is driving the DL 90 degrees to the linebacker to an Outside Zone run where the line is driving the DL 45 degrees. Very quickly after that, you can transition to deuce blocks on the play-side of a gap scheme run, either deuce blocking a 3T to a back-side ILB or having the DL be on the original trail man with the guard galloping to chip him over then climbing to the back-side ILB on a gap scheme run vs. a 3 down front. This drill is incredibly versatile and can be used to rep any front you see with lots of reps very quickly.

Kick & Wrap

For me, this is more of a “break glass in case of emergency” drill. Most of the time we run this drill, it’s because we had an issue the previous day pulling. We will have two lines, the inside line for kicks and the outside line for wraps, like on a Counter Trey run. Normally, I like to just focus on the line and what they are doing so I will give drill-aiding responsibilities to an assistant or injured player, but for this drill, I like to do the work. I will simulate the Defensive End with a full round bag. I will either push the bag up the field, simulating the defender running upfield, to which the kicking puller should finish the kick-out block. The other option is to simulate the Defensive End squeezing the down block of the tackle, which I demonstrate by pushing the bag horizontally down the line of scrimmage. When the kick man reads the squeeze, he needs to log and pin the defensive end in.

To this point, we have only talked about the kick, but the other part of the drill is the wrap behind it. One of the main reasons to run this drill is if the wrap man isn’t reading the block of the kick man correctly. When the kick man succeeds in kicking out the Defensive End, the wrap should cut up inside the alley created between the wall of down blocks and the kick. If the kick has to convert to a log, the wrap needs to go outside of the block with eyes inside to seal the linebacker inside.

Arches

Arches are a drill to fix pad/hip level without the use of a chute. I line two of them up down the line of scrimmage, then another opening downfield. I will line my guys up at the mouth of the first arch. The lineman up will start in his stance, shuffle sideways under the first two arches, then finish forward through the last one.

I noticed when I first implemented this drill that my linemen had trouble with just staring at the next arch, raising up in between, and ducking underneath them. I combatted this by adding another element to the drill: I would hold up a number with my hand and have them repeat it back to me throughout the drill. They obviously couldn’t know the number if they were looking at the arches, so they would have to stay low the entire time.

Pass Pro Strikes

This drill is exactly like it sounds: practicing the strikes needed in pass protection. I teach the Jim McNally pass protection theories, and this is how we drill them. For tackles, we use a 45 degree kick-slide, guards will upkick a defender outside of him and drop the post to a defender inside of him, centers will drop the post if sliding either way or use the hop-back technique if man blocking a head-up nose. All linemen punch with the outside pillar first and the inside clamp second.

If you want more information on these techniques, you can find them on Jim McNally’s X/Twitter profile or subscribe to the Substack and my YouTube channel to make sure you don’t miss my future breakdowns of the techniques.

Checking Protections

One of the most underrated aspects of the offensive line is being able to check the correct protections, so it is something we have to practice. We have base rules for what pass protections we want to be in based on the front that we work on over the summer, and when we get into the season, we can decide on a weekly basis if that needs changing or not. Maybe you are scouting an opponent and realize they have one pass rusher significantly better than the rest of the front. You would likely always want to slide the protection in his direction. This drill is great for that. I would designate a player to be the star rusher, move him around the front, and have my line call the protection based off his alignment. You can decide every day whether you want to actually run the protection or just make sure they check the correct one. You get more reps at checking the protection if you don’t run it, but you also don’t get the practice of pass pro either. As long as our pass protection has been holding up, I tend to lean on the side of keeping my players as fresh as possible in individual periods for better performance in inside run, team periods, and less wear and tear throughout the season for maximal performance on Friday nights.

Step Throughs

Step Throughs are, in essence, the run game version of Checking Protections. I will align a front based on our opponent that week, call a run play, and make sure we get into the right checks off of that. Again, if the run game has been working, we won’t run the play at full speed. I am a huge believer in aligning the purpose of the drill with the speed of the drill. The goal of this drill is not to block at full speed - it’s not an individual inside run period. The goal of this drill is to make sure my guys can get the play call, recognize the front, make the correct calls, and get to the right players. I believe all of these concepts can be achieved at a slower pace, preserving energy for the true inside run periods, team periods, and less wear and tear on my players throughout the season.

The Run-Down

In conclusion, the Offensive Line is a position that operates in the shadows of the game, often unnoticed by the casual observer. However, its impact is undeniable, shaping the success or failure of plays, drives, and ultimately, games. Throughout this article and accompanying video, we've delved into the intricate world of offensive line drills, aiming to demystify the trenches and shed light on the techniques that lead to success.

From the importance of naming and categorizing drills to streamline practice, to the intriguing metrics that reveal the effectiveness of an offensive line, we've covered a diverse range of topics.

The drills outlined, ranging from Stance & Start to Step Throughs, offer a comprehensive toolkit for honing the skills of your offensive linemen. Each drill serves a specific purpose. Whether it's establishing the right stance and footwork, mastering solo blocks, coordinating combo pods, or perfecting pass protection technique, these drills not only elevate individual technique but also ensure a cohesive and effective unit on game day.

So, whether you're a seasoned coach looking to refine your techniques or a passionate fan eager to gain a deeper understanding of the complexities within the sport, this article serves as a comprehensive guide to unlocking the potential of your offensive line. As the backbone of the offense, the linemen play a pivotal role in determining victory, making it essential to continually refine and develop their skills. Armed with this knowledge, you're equipped to shape an unstoppable front line that can make a lasting impact on the field.