NFL
Looking for offensive "leverage" in trenches

By Greg Bishop
Times staff reporter

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OK, so you're a little loopy. You're the one NFL fan — and we mean one — who watches the offensive line while the rest of the millions concentrate on whoever has the football.

You love leverage. You watch head positioning, hand placement, even how well those big fellas bend their knees. You say things that annoy your friends. Things like, "What a base!" and "Look at that push up front!" and the always popular "Hands to chest! Hands to chest!"

You start every play by reading the linemen's pre-snap stance. Are they in a three-point stance, body tilting forward, showing run or play-action pass? Or are they standing up a little more, ready to move back, showing you a pass?

You know that leverage always wins, but not in the business sense. This is real leverage, born from how well a lineman bends his knees to leverage shoulders and how far inside the defensive lineman's body he can get his hands.

You can tell the Walter Joneses from the Joe Nobodys just by glancing at the way their base (read: trunk) supports their body. Are they too narrow and ready to tip over like a tea kettle? Or are they too wide and giving away leverage like a Christmas present?

You watch the way they position their heads, while the running back scampers for a touchdown. You turn to a friend. You turn annoying. "See that?!" you shriek. "His head is bowed! He can read through his facemask! And then use it to stun linebackers!"

Your head falls into your hands when the quarterback gets sacked. "It's head positioning! Don't they know that?! His head is tilting forward! He has no balance!"

Oh, how you love offensive linemen. You love how a man can weigh 300 pounds, dance like a ballerina, dunk a basketball and push your car down the freeway to the nearest gas station. And, most of all, you love how you can see what separates a good, anonymous lineman, from a bad, anonymous lineman.

All you have to do is watch.

"What people ought to picture when looking at offensive linemen is when your car stalls, and you have to push your car 500 yards," Seahawks offensive line coach Bill Laveroni said. "What body position would you get in to push that car? You're going to have your shoulders down behind the trunk of the car. You're going to be at a 45-degree angle. You're going to have your hands in tight to push the car. And then you push."
 
You hear this and run to your garage.

"Look at that push up front!" echoes through the neighborhood.

Greg Bishop: 206-464-3191 gbishop@seattletimes.com