Zone blocking scheme

How difficult will it be for the Niners Oline to transition to the zone blocking scheme? What players fit and which don't?

How easy depends on the teacher. Boone is the guy that stands out like a sore thumb. Staley, Kilgore would fit nicely. I know nothing of BThomas. ADavis isn't ideal but could work imo.

Originally posted by thl408:
How easy depends on the teacher. Boone is the guy that stands out like a sore thumb. Staley, Kilgore would fit nicely. I know nothing of BThomas. ADavis isn't ideal but could work imo.

From a SB Nation piece on Marcus Martin: "Martin is impressive in the sense that he can get to the 2nd level with ease, and has very good footwork in doing so. He's very good at combo blocker, which is needed to be effective in a zone blocking scheme."

From Walter Football in their draft appraisal of Brandon Thomas: "He could use more power for the NFL. Thomas would be a better fit in a zone-blocking system and could be a candidate to move to center."

So both of the new O-linemen look like they may be suited to zone blocking.

What are the downsides to a zone blocking scheme? Why don't more teams implement it? I know it takes a certain type of personnel, but if zone blocking was so great then wouldn't there be a league-wide shift in the characteristics that teams look for out of lineman? There must be cons to the system that have prevented it from becoming adopted more widely.

Originally posted by crake49:

Originally posted by thl408:
How easy depends on the teacher. Boone is the guy that stands out like a sore thumb. Staley, Kilgore would fit nicely. I know nothing of BThomas. ADavis isn't ideal but could work imo.

From a SB Nation piece on Marcus Martin: "Martin is impressive in the sense that he can get to the 2nd level with ease, and has very good footwork in doing so. He's very good at combo blocker, which is needed to be effective in a zone blocking scheme."

From Walter Football in their draft appraisal of Brandon Thomas: "He could use more power for the NFL. Thomas would be a better fit in a zone-blocking system and could be a candidate to move to center."

So both of the new O-linemen look like they may be suited to zone blocking.

Nice. Seems like Baalke was drafting with some foresight. With Hyde becoming the bell cow, I think ZBS is the way to go.

Originally posted by theduke85:
What are the downsides to a zone blocking scheme? Why don't more teams implement it? I know it takes a certain type of personnel, but if zone blocking was so great then wouldn't there be a league-wide shift in the characteristics that teams look for out of lineman? There must be cons to the system that have prevented it from becoming adopted more widely.

Must be quicker and smarter. In JH's offense, the QB or center designated who blocks who so presnap, every OL knows exactly who they are going to block which was why his offense relied heavily on the numbers game through the shifts/formations to gain the advantage.

Zone scheme is more of the OL being responsible for a specific space rather than a man but they need to be quick enough to block the first man that comes into their space.

I may be off so I'm sure some know more.

Well if you want Kubiak he runs one helluva zone blocking scheme

Originally posted by theduke85:
What are the downsides to a zone blocking scheme? Why don't more teams implement it? I know it takes a certain type of personnel, but if zone blocking was so great then wouldn't there be a league-wide shift in the characteristics that teams look for out of lineman? There must be cons to the system that have prevented it from becoming adopted more widely.

Tendency to really bog down near the goalline where power and straight up driving force become more essential. In general the more compressed the field, the more the scheme seems to falter. On the other hand, like with what we saw with Baltimore this season, the scheme can lead to some really big runs once the RB makes the first cut. Baltimore led the NFL in runs of 20+ yards.

Originally posted by theduke85:

What are the downsides to a zone blocking scheme? Why don't more teams implement it? I know it takes a certain type of personnel, but if zone blocking was so great then wouldn't there be a league-wide shift in the characteristics that teams look for out of lineman? There must be cons to the system that have prevented it from becoming adopted more widely.

Its very complicated, and requires you to run it nearly 100% of the time to master it. Some teams just dont have the right OL to run it, and others dont want to committ to it full time.

Wow this is about the most informative thread I have read in ahwile.thanks for all the good info

Originally posted by bors:
Wow this is about the most informative thread I have read in ahwile.thanks for all the good info

Ditto

VERY refreshing to read a thread minus the hate, finger-pointing and whining.

Be nice if some of our experts on here break it down with pick s alla madden style

It's touched on briefly here:

http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/niners/179447-film-analysis/page2/#post24

I don't think it would be difficult at all if we bring in the right coaches. Baltimore pulled it off in just one season with stellar results.

I think most of our o-lineman can make the transition to a ZBS. We have good players who can function in either scheme. Staley and Kilgore in particular seem to be perfect fits, they're pretty athletic. Brandon Thomas' scouting report suggested his best fit may be as a guard in a ZBS.

Originally posted by thl408:
It's touched on briefly here:

http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/niners/179447-film-analysis/page2/#post24

Wow I feel smarter for reading about that thanks.that was a lot o work.