Welcome to Games of Names.

I'm Julian Edelman, and we got a brand new compilation highlight reels starting now.

Now, Julian and Lorenzo Nio go in depth explaining blocking and running schemes.

Now, you used to do powers bosses?

Did you wham it all?

Oh?

Yeah, Well, can you explain the difference of each of the the things that each of the assignments you had?

Yeah, absolute would say like we had forre mentions.

So you had a wham wham.

A wham is usually when the three technique, the guy whoever positioned the big motherfucker in the middle in the middle and the guard flashes him like I'm blocking, and he slips him and lets the go to second level, goes to the second level up to the linebacker, and now the big guy in the middle comes through and he thinks he's got a wide open and I'm right there at ear hold him and get him.

So that wham is you against tackle?

Yes, bam, bam, use it bam.

Is either when I can come, I can line out like the X or the Z and they can motion me in and that's kind of when the crack.

I did that to Dwight feenie.

That's kind of how we did the crack.

Yeah.

And when you're getting toss outside line, outside linebacker or the d N and that's yeah, and we call usually like ninety or seventy crack or you know, toss crack okay, gator tng okay, and we've come down and hit that defensive end, Dwight Freenie.

I got him, had him.

I had him the.

Year they went thirteen and and we're the only team to beat him.

I think thirteen thirteen three.

Yeah, you got to pull it out and I was getting freeye.

So what's boss?

Boss means?

A boss is when the line when you pitch the ball back on safe back on strong safety yep, So boss, excuse it.

You have the guard tackle pulling around.

He's kind of your garden tackle.

They're pulling around, cleaning up.

The linebackers turn in and it choosy boss back on safety to Z or the X.

When you're going he's coming down blocking and cracking and the usually opens up the safety and the full back.

So boss, I love boss because they're a little small.

Yeah, boss, Boss, I knew they were going to try to cut me and if they stayed up on their feet.

They had no chance.

Shot, no shot.

Power.

Power is that's when the thirty and sixty power, forty sixty power, whatever it is, you know, sixty or seventy power.

That's when you have a down block.

The fullback is running the track, he's going where the tackle was.

The tight end he's blocking, he's blocking down.

The usual to guard is pulling so and then power.

I'm kicking out the end or whoever the end man is on the line of scrip.

A linebacker, a defensive end.

You could be an edge guy that you're just your power and you're going boom.

That's where it's power because you got two guys of power.

They're blocking down.

It's a pull and full back at the point of attack.

What's another one?

I love Iso, Iso, and that's you in the middle, Me and the middle linebacker.

Isol was my bread and butter because the guards fans like he's showing pass and boom the whole yus.

He opens up.

Linebacker takes a step back and he realized it's it's it's lead and he's got to come make a decision.

Love lead, love, power, lead load ice io.

Yeah, ma'all.

And so that is that all of them.

Yeah, you know what you had that or you you know you had that, and that's what you gotta you young, young fullbacks.

There's six right, six plays that you have to just not give a fuck on about your body.

Yeah, that's all.

That's what fullback is.

That's why you say it's about to quit, right, because you you know the sixth plays.

Right right, and then we had Hey, you ain't going out.

You ain't gonna get his right.

You gotta earn the right exactly, and you'll get rewarded every now and then you do.

You do your job like we and then you have you know, like Bob, Bob is back on backer, so we that's when the weak side play where it's like me blocking the wheelbacker the guy in the bubble, so guards covered.

You know, guard's covered, you inside, guard uncovered, you're going outside because the guard, if he's uncovered, guard can go up to the backers.

That means you got to go off the outside backer.

So we got to get So when we're cutting all this up, we'll have an example of each of your explanation, okay, with a film cut up of it.

It'll be fun.

Yeah, I can't wait to see what you like we'll cut all this ship.

You know, we will cut and spice it.

But like we'll see if we can get all the bam boss bob.

Okay, it'll be It'll be fun.

That'll be that you remember license the footage?

I know.

Can we not do that yet?

Don't we still do it?

Not yet?

I got a question for you.

So we've talked about all the different running backs that you've balked for Now do you have to change or adapt how you operate?

Like, because Mike also has a very different running style from Ladanian Thomason.

Does do they want different things out of you?

Or is your job pretty much the same and you just.

Go for it?

No?

I think when sometimes you know, like LT is like all right, cool, he's paid, he's guy that boom boom.

You want to just you want to make sure that you're going at a good speed, be square and let him choose where he wants to go.

Corey Dillon, he gonna run up your ass, you gotta be.

If you don't, he gonna hit you in the back.

So you better frigg and go and make a create a hole.

You want to make sure you're doing him and Eddie Eddie Eddie.

You know, he's a little longer, so it's hard when he gets going.

He wants that forward lean Eddie George, so you're just going to go.

But yeah, there's different there's different little tweaks that you that you want to do.

A guy like you know Sprosy, you don't.

He's back there moving, so you got to say, hey, Spros, let me step on his toes first, meaning that I want to get close enough to him.

Before you do it.

You know, a running back job is to set the block up exactly if you're running the outside, if you're running the lead or running or running like a Bob downhill, he needs to hug that double team because the guard is is you know, the guard is there acing or trade blocking up or i mean hip hip hip the hip.

And they're gonna go up to the next guy.

Yes, And they can only do that if the running back sets it up, because if the running back goes here, why then he's gonna come in.

He is gonna get it.

So he's got to be patient and run off the ass of that guy, press it and then it'll naturally happen.

And then you read off of that.

So it could you could go slip in there, or if he hugs him and wraps them, then you just go right you can go back door.

But if he comes off right away, then linebacker then said, man, that linebacker he fired is done.

He made he made the tackle in the backfield is because the guard didn't hug it long enough and he just lets him shoot shoot the gap or he gambles.

So as long as he does that, that linebacker has to stay home.

So that's what That's one of the things that you read just watching the game.

And that just develops over to.

More stuff.

You guys communicate on the sideline.

You to develop that and you watch other tape doing it and also situations right like what what's the situation is a third?

You know this is a thirteen inches fourth and inches.

There's like certain points where they know the vulnerables part of part of the defense where they have to win for the play to work, they have to be at a yard in the end zone for you to win, for this to win, then it becomes inertia.

Yep.

Was there a running back from the history of the NFL that you wish you could have blocked for?

Oh?

Yeah, you know, I really, really, really wish it's brilliant or not.

The emmins.

I mean Barry Sanders at times you just said, man, because he really didn't like a fullback at times.

Yeah, so just to see what to change him.

Yeah, you want to change them.

That could change Barry, Baby, let me change Barry the bear.

You would have ran behind me, I said, you would have stayed in there.

Yeah, I mean there are some backs, man, that you just looked at over the years that you say, now today's game.

I would love Derrick Henry.

Yeah, yeah, I mean because he likes.

To be straight.

The fun would that have been to see that, just getting you into him.

Let's go.

The Niners would Christian because as they do those stretch Niners make you cover every blade of grass because they got that stretch play.

So when you're running out there, that linebacker's moving sideways.

I'd love to be able to get those guys on skates it strong arm them and just they're gonna go find so they can't cut back.

So and Christians, that guy who presses the hole, he would, he'd make you look good.

McCaffrey runs a lot like LT in some sense far as when they the running the way they press the hole.

So that pressing is like, that's that's like the main thing for a running back.

That's that's what differentiates a college running back to a pro running back.

In college, a running back can just hit the hole and break tackles.

You can't do that in the league.

You have to set up and be patient with your with your line.

There's a line to every run, and there's a way that a track they call it.

You got to hit the fucking track.

Run the track, the track, and the track.

Like so a lot of these young running backs styill cut before the block is ignited, and then so it's an early cut because it looks big and it looks like it's there.

But that's it's it's just a mirage because this guy's going to float over the top.

Right, So guys like Christian McCaffrey and l t who's all pressed rate, they press it, they'll damn near come right off your heel and then fool speed put their foot in the ground and then go that And and that's the hardest because once the linebackers waiting, linebackers waiting, Oh shit, he's gone, he's gone.

And that's that's what the great running backs do.

But It's it's like one of those things where you know you have guys over here, you have another block over here on the with the you know, the receiver whatever, there's another matchup.

But he's got to feel that and like press that and then you know it.

You know that's like the number one thing.

It is the running back.

It is no question.

Next, Andrew Whitworth explains how offensive linemen prepare for games.

How'd you prepare to face this elite D defensive line or defensive defensive and what is your like what do you look at when you were watching the film when you were playing?

Are you looking at scheme?

Are you looking at individuals?

Break us down with that?

How your prep process when it came to tape really it As a young player, it was really about studying habitual movements.

I mean so for me, I was a big you know, I grew up playing basketball.

I didn't play football really until high school, and so I was always thinking of myself as I'm a power forward and somebody's trying to go dunkle basketball and how do I keep my body in front of them?

How would I prepare for the things they like to do?

So I looked at past rushers, whether it be a James Harrison or Terrell Suggs or Dwight Freeney.

Early in my career, as it went on the von Millers and Khalil Max and then now the Nick Bosas and Miles Garrett.

I'm studying the pattern of how they really move and I want to learn their steps and how their body moves and on what step they like to come off with certain moves, and what's their go to move oh man, and how their hips and knees and what are little tails?

Like?

Is their hand really high on a spiny?

Is there inside lift?

Does their outside go down?

You know?

Do they kill their hands really low before they bull?

Do they keep their hands high when they're gonna hand squat like?

I'm studying all those movements to where my mentality was is it's you know, you see at the combine they do this like drill where you like shadow a guy like kick your feet and try to keep up with them.

My mentality was, I should be making that step before you ever make it, because I should know what you're gonna do before you do it, and so I would go out.

I remember Derrek Goff when I first got to the Rams like being a young QB, like you know Jerry, if you know Jerry, like just kind of nuts.

Sometimes he's like just.

Gonna sit and hey, we you doing man, you know, And I would be out there like repping Chandler Jones's moves and he's like, why why are you doing chals moves?

I'm like, if I can do them and kind of have a feel for him, then like while he's rushing me, I kind of in my body even though you don't see me on tape doing that, I'm kind of going through the motions of how he's moving while I'm taking my set to where I kind of know exactly when like oh he's gonna hit me, yeah, you know, or oh he's gonna pull away, and so I pull away.

Like so it's like.

I'm kind of studying and learning their moves and trying to move.

When they move.

And that's what It's a dance, baby, it is dance.

You know.

It's very similar for a receiver when he's preparing against defensive you know, a dB you know, is his feet stagger when he's gonna be an offhand jam.

It's all those little things that you sit and you watch so you subconsciously digest it and it allows you to react when you're playing.

Yeah, I think Coop.

Always told me this, like and it made me think of like him being the rusher, like, you know, kind of being able to like what foot is it that that little has he come?

You know, It's like it's not always off of two, it's not always off of three, Like sometimes it's one more and then it's the same move to where in their minds they click, oh, it's this route and then I actually do it off of this step.

You know that type of stuff, And they always thought of like, man, that's the guys that could get me or were different, Like I've talked to a lot of veteran tackles Trent Williams, because we always joked like when the guy comes off the bench that we don't know, that's like a nightmare.

Because I would rather face Nick Posa every play than like, wait.

Who's this guy?

Like who is this kid?

Like is he fast?

Is he low?

Is he powerful?

Like?

Those are the guys that actually made you nervous because I don't know his exact pattern and that would scare me more than like a guy that at least I know what I'm going to get Yeah, that's right there, folks.

That's offensive hundred.

Yeah, that's not two hundred three hundred.

That's that's class level.

That's way up there, five six hundred class level.

Right, What does that any mean?

Yeah?

Well, you know, like you go to well, you could go to class and college.

So one hundred, two hundred three hundred, that's like your basic level classes.

This is like class level.

Can't can't stay baby, it's advanced.

Yeah, you're add on that.

How do you think, like, if you put yourself across the line of scrimmage, how do you think defensive ends.

Are looking at your tape?

Like what are they what things are they queuing in on you?

Or how do they think they prepare against someone?

Like honestly, I think most of them just know that you're number seventy seven.

But no, but there's a couple of guys that probably study more than that.

I mean a D is literally like that's seventy three, you know, and I'm going to annihilate this guy.

But I think like probably when you're talking about the really elite guys, they're thinking of how they could maybe adjust things a little bit.

But the nature of what they do.

And I you know, I've gotten a chance the last two years to work with young rushers and stuff like that.

Like last year, you know, it was publised a lot that Mike and I worked together for a week.

And it's those guys.

You got to remember they have to get to the quarterback.

And this is the other thing I teach young linemen that want to know.

I'm like, you do realize it's their job to get to the quarterback.

Now my job.

So as long as we can dance, and you want to dance, fantastic, show me a guy's got a ton of moves.

That's awesome because I am gonna just keep giving you nothing and you're gonna keep doing moves and the ball's gonna be gone.

And then you're gonna tell me about how cool your move was, and I'm gonna be like, great, I get paid so that you don't hit that guy.

Other than that, like great, you're gonna have a lot of awesome moves and you can be like, oh man, I kind of got you at the end.

Cool.

So that's my thing is those guys that it's they have limited time to get there, so they kind of have their way.

They rush and so when you're talking to those guys, to me, I always tell them like, don't waste time, like attack, be violent, get to the quarterback, and then you got to just trust the moves you have as a tackle.

Though, on the other side of it, it's be patient, be calm, be under control, and really just be ready for the moment.

They actually attack.

So it's two sided really, if you want to be really good at it, it's the two things.

Like for the one side, it's patience and stability and balance, and on the other side, it's attacking at all times with a relentless effort and really a violent mentality to get to the quarterback.

And so it's really to me that's the difference of the two positions is that they can watch tape, but it's more just for them.

Do you punch a lot or do you not punch a lot?

Like me, I never never ever start my arms out.

I mean I looked at it like in basketball again.

I go back to this like if I'm reaching, I'm dead, right, you reach your fee, stop, you're dead.

So I'm never reaching, right.

So the only time I'd ever reach is a guy who I knew was really terrible at speed if he had no speed.

Now I'll grab you because I know that, Like even if you've got my hands, I'll be okay, yeah, sorry, I know this is thrown into this.

Is what we people love this love crafts the game.

Next, Max Crosby explains how he breaks down his own game film.

Now we had Whitworth on stud I love god love that.

And he would he would talk about he felt defensive ends didn't scout their tackles.

Do you scout tackles?

And like what their strengths are.

He can always tell if a guy watched film on him or or just throwing ship.

Yeah, no, I definitely do you know I come from a I mean the guy.

My biggest influence as a coach has been Rod Marinelly and he probably heard of him.

He had Warren sab Julius Pepper's numerous Hall of famers.

I had him my second and third year and that was my last I mean this season right here, that was my third year and that's where I took off.

And that dude is all about watching your film.

Like he's like every lineman you go against the fucking gray face black it's nothing.

They're all the same.

It's like if you do what you're supposed to do, get off pad, level hands, fight area.

If you understand all the things you're supposed to do at the best of your ability and apply it, it doesn't matter who the fuck's in front of you, and it doesn't matter what they do, They're eventually gonna get broken, you know what I mean.

So that's I watch film on other guys.

Of course I try to pick up during the week.

All right, who's giving away pass, who's given away run?

What little things I can pick up.

But majority of the film I'm watching is my own film on repeat.

I watch my practices every night, and then I'll watch a game or two games, and then okay, I'll throw on this guy versus.

You know whoever.

But at the end of the day, I can't sit here and watch the Steelers versus Giants and expect them to block me the same way they block some other guys, because you can go into the plant.

Okay, they're gonna do this and this, and then they fucking throw three people at me, you know what I mean.

Like we went too the Colts game this, I mean, week seventeen, Robbo comes up to me.

Rob Ryan, one of the coolest fucking dates I've ever I'm at great coach.

He comes up to me, all right, this is the week colts don't.

They don't chip.

They just they five man up.

They're gonna man you and I got double team chip the whole game.

Yeah, and I'm like, fuck, you.

Know what I mean.

But that's why, Like I can sit there and anticipate and think they're gonna do this and whatever.

But for me, if I'm at my best and I'm doing my shit at the highest level, then it doesn't matter what they do.

Yeah, you're what they call a problem.

You know, if when I was playing, we were to ever play a guy like you.

You're at that caliber where you're dedicating a thirty play clip in front of the whole team and the team meeting like one of the keys to victory, which is never usually a player.

But Crosby's that kind of guy where he's a problem and you can see it in the run game.

You could see it in the past game.

They're sending chips running backs.

Next up, Julie explains what leverage is in football.

I think I'm fairly knowledgeable football player, but whenever you guys.

Talk about leverage, can you playing leverage.

Could you go over it, educate, let's go.

So you said two different things there.

When you said position yourself closest to the quarterback, that's called stacking in the receiver room.

We're talking, we're in receiver room.

Because leverage is used throughout all of football.

Leverage could be pad pad level for defensive lineman's got to get your leverage.

You know, for defense a lot of for us, attacking leverage is attacking what they're trying to protect.

So if it's a post safety, there's one safety in the middle of the field, they're trying to funnel everything to that one safety.

So everyone's going to have outside leverage.

So for a receiver, when you're trying to gain leverage on an outside guy, you got to do something to get outside of him.

That's what everyone talks about in leverage or in you know, when you're attacking a leverage on you know, for a receiver, say you have an off defender who's covering you and he's got off inside leverage.

You have an inbreaking route.

How I was taught to always run routes, which is different in a lot of different systems, is to attack the leverage.

So he's trying to protect probably inside, so you attack him, attack them, and you're bringing them all the way in until you can finally get in.

You're trying to break the leverage.

That's what the leverage is.

When you say positioning between the closest to the quarterback, that's usually like a downfield throw.

That's what I'm thinking of when when when I hear that, when when you see greats like Randy Moss, what they do is they stack the defender, so they put their body in between the defender and where the ball is, you know what I mean.

So you're using your back and then you're using your body to block him while letting the ball come over.

That's like stacking.

I don't know if that had anything to do with the closest the quarterback, but that's that.

That's do you guys get that?

So leverage looks so just.

From clarification for leverage, just to help me, you're on you're a wide receiver.

You're on the line of scrimmage.

You're being lined up.

It's a man coverage.

You're being lined up directly across is a cornerback if they're if they're head onto you like lined up feet the feet there's no leverage there.

If they're inside, he has inside leverage to you, and if he's outside, he has outside leverage.

Yes, now if he's head up on you, how you know, what he's probably trying to protect is the safest.

Safety if the safeties, if there's two on the outsiders too.

If there's two safeties, he's going to be trying to protect the inside because the vulnerable spot of a two safety shell is the inside of that, that middle inside part.

That's why you always see like tight ends down the middle because they're with those seam reads, you know, So like that's what they're trying to protect because they have help over here.

So whenever you hear a defensive coach say keep your fucking leverage, he's telling the defender, do not let the guy outside of you.

Okay, we have one safety in here.

Your help is inside.

Do not let him outside.

I don't care if you have to grab him, I don't care if you have to run to the fucking sideline.

Your help is when he goes inside.

If he beats your leverage and stacks in and breaks it, there's no help.

You're on an island.

So that's a lot of the leverage.

So if you want to get a defensial coach would say, you want to lose opposite of your leverage because you have help there.

If you're a corner, we've got a key, yes, because you've got a safety back there or what else or a linebacker or whatever.

And then continuing this from like a offensive line perspective or like blocking perspective, we talk a lot about like nine block or nine technique blocks from a tight end.

Yeah, is it for me?

This question for me is that talked about a lot, because that's when a tight end has to make like it they have they don't have leverage, but they still have to make the block.

They get into.

Like there's different like techniques for those guys and footwork for those guys to gain the leverage or to set the line of or to set the edge.

Sometimes when you have an outside like Rob would be the perfect guy to talk to you about this.

But if you have outside leverage and you have to gain the leverage, they do these little drop steps and then they'll go and they'll connect and then if he if he's still keeping the edge, you're setting the new edge.

So the running back has to go inside that Okay, so I don't really I'm not like a doctor in that.

But for leverage, for route running, it's usually what they're trying to protect.

You're trying to or you know, you're attacking that that protection side or what they're trying to protect.

And the great route runners like you watch, like DeVante Adams, you watch back in my day Stevie Johnson, he was really good at like breaking the leverages, you know what I mean with releases.

Guys that can break those leverages are crazier.

If you see an out like it and and you could you could win that leverage at two spots.

You can win that the beginning part of the route with the release, or you can win it at the top of the route.

So sometimes you'll see an incut where the defender keeps that inside leverage and the receiver just goes and he's and he's trailing them inside Like a really good route runner wo would have got in.

But if sometimes these guys get paid a lot of money too, and they kind of know what's going on, you have to win at the top of the route, So you have to do something to get that leverage at the top.

Now, is that the slow down jab step jab in, out in, out in and then have him undercut and then you're collecting your leverage.

You know what I mean?

Is that kind of like what you were talking about when we had Cooper cup on.

Yeah, but you were like, you like the gain leverage on the line and he likes to do it on the break.

Mmmm, that is how I interpreted it.

Yeah, I'm sure way more nuanced to that.

I don't know.

Maybe I gotta I gotta call my receivers because I gotta call shatto ship.

I need a little bruhatio studio doctor leverage, doctor doctor left And guys.

Don't confuse this with the tn T crime drama Leverage, uh, starring Timothy Hutton.

This is Football Talk, Football Talk, not the mid Notts tn T.

We know drama lineup going now now.

Nate Bner explains what football players could learn from rugby players.

What could an NFL guy learn from rugby?

All these laterals did you see like Travis Kelcey and all these guys that's like really coming into the game.

I think it's great.

I think they could learn a lot from tackling, especially in space.

You know, it's like one thing when it's third and one, and you know, it's two back set or something, and the defensive lines got to take on the guys.

But you know, the tackle field tackling, you know, gallop.

Yeah, we did a lot of really good gallop.

We did a lot of really good stuff.

From your feet in the ground and fucking guy, you're done.

We had a lot of good tacklers too.

I bet and no with the Patriots, Oh yeah, because we did some good tackling stuff.

And I just think they could learn a lot from tackling.

I think a lot of guys would learn what really being fit is, because you know, a lot of guys think they're in shape, but I mean, I guess we are for football.

But it's just like your ability to never get tired is the greatest feeling in the world.

That is.

I mean I felt like that from like twenty six five to like thirty twenty nine, twenty nine, I started getting tired, Like I could see in my conditioning.

When off season you start getting tired from injuries or whatever it is, or you're older, do you notice that the older.

Guys just start getting My body just the wheels fell off at thirty two, and I held on for another year.

And they were just completely off at thirty.

Three's what's the difference between an NFL locker room and a rugby locker room?

That's what else what I was gonna say.

You asked what could guys learn from from rugby guys, and I'd say, just culturally, it's just like no me guys.

Yeah, like they're just not unexistent in the rugby world.

Like the guys are always such good guys.

The culture is so good, and it's such a team first mentality, and I mean, we do that.

But like you see the Prima Donnas in the NFL, and like, just like the amount of meanness and in the NFL is crazy when I see a whole other side of it and in a team sport like rugby where there are guys that control the game.

But you know, I think you really understand rugby, like it takes everybody to make a play go, you know, and we get you know, some waters your position seems to be the Prima Donnas.

But like I not you, but your position, and you know, they they forget, they forget there's an offensive line blocking for Tom and you know or whoever, and Tom's throwing the ball and you got other guys are running clear out routes and then people are blocking down field for him, and then they get in the end zone.

And it's just like I did that, Fuck you, dude.

I know there's a lot of that now.

Yeah, So that that's probably the biggest thing I take away from them is how vastly different the cultures are for two pretty much team sports, you know, And you know, I would argue though in the NFL, you almost kids come up in that though.

You gotta be noticed, you gotta you know, you gotta be about you and let everybody see how good you are.

And we build that culture in American sports because that's what makes it big and makes money.

And you know, rugby is not like that.

So yeah, man, it's it's a great sport.

Do you guys have fun songs you sing or anything?

You have a song like a or do you guys drink beers with the other team?

And if you could pull up the free jacks post game like they do like a post game song after they win and they sing these songs song, I don't know, it's that they're kind of hot.

It's kind of like our locker room and I get on the mic before practice, it start flowing.

You just ruined the vibe for everybody in the lock.

We're all getting ready to go and then then here comes Edels and we're like, god, damn it.

I think it was the fake microphone rapping it.

Yeah, just your pants on, no pads yet, just ready to go, everybody.

Just you made people laugh though.

I don't know if they were vibing, but they were laughing.

Oh, you brought the juice.

Thanks for listening.

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