Cleveland Browns: Greg Robinson benefiting from scheme change
By Joel W. Cade
Offensive line scheme changes
In what follows will be an overly simplistic discussion of offensive line pass protection schemes. In particular, the basic structure of offensive pass protection is at issue.
Joe Thomas is possibly the greatest pass protector in NFL history. His technique was absolutely flawless. His style of protecting the passer worked for him given his extreme physical gifts combined with his in-depth understanding of pass blocking.
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If a coach could draw up a pass protection scheme, it would be with Joe Thomas and the pocket pass protection. His style was a gambit between the defensive end and the offensive tackle.
He dropped straight back at the snap. The point was to create as much space as possible. It was imperative that the tackle keep his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage to protect against the inside move as well as the speed/bull rush. The created distance enacts a game of chicken forcing the defensive end to commit to a strategy of an inside move, bull rush or speed rush. The longer the end takes to decide the easier the move is to block. Ultimately, this is the most effective form of pass blocking.
But not everyone has the athleticism and developed skill of Joe Thomas. Over the past three years, Joe Thomas would hold down the left side of pass protection while the right tackles struggled mightily to mirror the same approach. The result was a series of hits on the quarterback coming from the right side of the offensive line.
But now that Thomas is gone, one would expect to see that change. But it didn’t. Instead, former offensive coordinator Todd Haley kept the same pass protection technique in place for next left tackle. The result was a record-setting pace of hits on Baker Mayfield.