Having trouble blocking inside zone read against a 3-3 stack? I discuss blocking rules and responsibilities against the stack and explain how the QB’s read is different than zone read vs other fronts. You’ll see that with everyone working together and all 11 players on the same page, the 3-3 stack doesn’t present as many problems as OC’s think.
Blocking Inside Zone Read Against a 3-3 Stack
What I discuss:
- Using the Number system
- Blocking rules and responsibilities
- Why the QB has to read the situation
Transcript of Blocking Inside Zone Read Against a 3-3 Stack
Hey, welcome coach and in today’s video, I’m going to talk to you about blocking inside zone read against a 3-3 stack
Coach, welcome to my channel. If you don’t know, I’m coach Besaw from spreadoffensefootball.com and if you’re anything like me, you love the spread offense and you love to learn about the spread offense and if that’s the case, hit the subscribe button and then tap the bell right next to it so you can get notified anytime I release a video related to the spread offense, whether that be RPOs, X’s and O’s, run game schemes, pass games, and like I said, pretty much anything you can think of when it comes to covering the spread offense. In today’s video I’m going to talk to you about how to block inside zone read versus the three-three stack.
Let’s get right into coach so you can see the three three stack here. Got the three down linemen with the three linebacker stacked right behind them. We’re running zone read to the left and I have the number system for the defense already set up. If you don’t know what this is or you’re not sure exactly what the numbers kind of represent here, I suggest that you go and look at the previous two videos that I did of blocking inside zone read versus an even and odd front and I really get into the number system and how to account for the defense when running this place. So we’re going play side is to the left and our nose is going to be the center because he’s the first immediate threat to the play side A gap. We’re going to use this linebacker that stack behind him as the, the play side one, but also the minus one because really he could be responsible for the play side A gap or the play side, sorry, or the backside A gap.
So we’re going to count for him as one on both sides and then working outward to the play side defense. Tackle is two and then linebacker here is three. And then to the backside he’s going to be minus one and then minus two and minus three. So looking at blocking responsibilities here. First just looking at the play side defensive tackle really most likely this guy’s going to do two different things. He’s either going to play outside to keep containment or he’s going to come in spike and play the B gap. The linebacker is most likely going to do the opposite of whatever this guy does. So if he’s out, that most likely means he’s going to be in. And if he’s in, then most likely you’re going to see this guy be out.
So when we’re blocking this, we still want to step with our play side foot and we still want to take care of whoever enters our, our play side gap. No matter what they do. And no matter what type of exchange they run, at the end of the day, we have to take care of our play side gap. So we’re going to have our left tackle step here with his left foot and we’re going to essentially combo this defensive tackle while we’re reading this linebacker, the number three linebacker to the play side. So again, if this defensive tackle spikes into the B gap, that’s okay cause our guard’s gonna pick em up and that leaves our tackle to climb and play the linebacker. And then same thing if he plays outside, our tackles going to take him & own him and then that allows our guard, frees him up to be able to climb and work to the linebacker there.
So we’re combo’ing this guy to the three linebacker there. We’re going to do the same thing with the center and the backside guard with the nose. So we’re going to get a double team here, we’re going to split him in the half and then we’re going to read this linebacker that’s stacked right behind him. Same thing with, with the gaps here. If the nose plays to the a gap, the play side gap, most likely this linebacker is going to be responsible for the backside A and then vice versa. If he plays to the backside A, most likely he’s going to cover the play side A. So we’re really reading this combination between nose and linebacker. And if the nose enters the play side A gap, then that frees up our backside guard to work in play work in, in climb up to the, to the linebacker stack behind him.
If the nose enters the backside a gap, then our guard’s going to stay on his path and he’s going to take him and that frees up our center to climb to the second level and take this linebacker here. Okay, so we’re really getting, again, we’re double team in the interior linemen, I guess in the odds stack here, the two down linemen to the play side, and then the thing that’s really going to change is our read for the backside.
Now our quarterback needs to be able to read the situation more than what he has done in the past, which is reading one single defender because they can do the same thing on the back here. Right? If he’s in, that means he’s out. And if he’s out, then that means he’s in. So just like normal, we want our backside tackle to step with his play side foot and he’s going to pick up whoever enters his gap. So it could be defensive tackle coming in or it could be the linebacker coming through the B gap as he works out. So we’re going to pick up the B-gap no matter who it is, either the linebacker or the defensive tackle.
Now this is where our quarterback has to read the situation because let’s just say the defensive tackle here spikes to the B-gap he’s playing inside cause they’re going to do some sort of gap exchange and they’re going to loop this linebacker outside. Okay? When they do that, then this linebacker is still the number three to the backside, right? We have zero, we have one, he’s two and he’s three. So we’re still gonna read that linebacker. So if he’s going to be outside of this thing right here and he’s going to keep containment and play wide, then our read is going to be the same. That’s a give for our quarterback and he’s going to give it to the running back at the mesh point to run inside zone read. We’re going to have this guy accounted for it because he’s entering the gap that our right tackle is responsible for now, for whatever reason, if they gap exchange this and he gets sucked in or he just squeezes the hell out of the line of scrimmage, then our quarterback, knowing his athletic ability, if he believes he can beat him to the outside, then he’s going to rip and run and keep that for himself.
Now the read changes when the defensive tackle, if he plays out and they take this linebacker and they run him through the B gap, now our Reed changes in this linebacker is no longer the minus three to the backside. So you can see now if we were to get the count, this would be zero one, two, and he is the third defender to the backside.
So he becomes our read key. So really our quarterback’s kind of reading the situation. If he sees that linebacker penetrate in, then that puts the defensive tackle as the three technique. Sorry, not the three technique as the third defender to the backside. So again, we’re okay up front because our right tackle, if, if this defensive tackle goes out, our right tackle is not worried about him. He stepped in with this play side foot and he’s going to work for that linebacker. Same read here for the quarterback. If this defensive tackle goes out, then most likely it’s going to be a give at the mesh point because he’s keeping containment and he’s playing outside. Now if he plays outside and he starts to squeeze it and for whatever reason gets sucked inside like he shouldn’t, then our quarterback is going to rip it and run and keep it for himself there.
So in the three three stack, the read for the quarterback is really the only thing that changes. Everything else is pretty much the same upfront. Everyone’s stepping with their play side foot. We’re double teaming the play side defensive tackles and nose and we’re combo blocking to the linebackers and so we have all of our gaps accounted for. Now our quarterback just has to be able to get enough reps in practice to be able to read the situation with this combination of the backside tackle backside linebacker and the different things that they can do so that the quarterback makes the right decision in, in the zone read at the mesh point. So that’s how you block against the three-three stack with inside zone read.
If you have any questions, please let me know. I’d love to be able to try to help you out. If you do it differently. I’d also love to hear from you, so either drop a comment below or send me an email because I really would like to hear how other coaches out there are blocking zone read in 10 personnel versus a three three stack.
Also, if you do love the spread offense like me, you love to learn about it. You, you enjoy growing in the spread as a coach. Then hit subscribe and then also tap that bell right next to it so you get notified anytime I come out with more videos. The next few videos that I will release are going to be about tagging your quick pass game was zone read. And then lastly, how to build in RPOs with 10 personnel with zone read concepts. So stay tuned for those. And thanks again coach for being here. I look forward to connecting with you in the future as we continue to play fast, score fast and run the spread.