Joe Delamielleure called local Charlotte Sports Talk Radio Show

[DBrown77]

I was listening to the Mack Attack on WFNZ 610 here in Charlotte today and suprisingly Joe Delamielleure called in. He must have a house down here or something because he said he is in Buffalo for all the games

Anyhow, he was commenting on the zone blocking scheme the Panthers use and it is the same as the Bills. He believes this is a horrible run scheme as the lineman actually step back initially instead of going foward initially pushing the line and opening holes. He believes Lynch and Deshawn Foster would be much more effective without the scheme. Brenson Buckner is a guest on the show 2x per week and he agreed being a defensive lineman and also gave Joe Props and said he admired him.

He went on to say that there should be more ex-players coaching in the NFL as there are many coaches who never played a down

What do you all think?

[don137]

Joe D lives here in Charlotte and has his own healthclub facility using rubber bands and not weights.

Problem with getting more players to coaching is that many players have "paid their dues" and are very comfortable an don't want to do put the time in that requires to be a coach. They rather play golf 4-5 days a week and then be a studio analyst or color analyst. You get to be around the game and you get to still relax 6 months out of the year and 4-5 days a week the other 6 months.

[Mr. Pink]

Denver has done well with the Zone Blocking scheme for years upon years. Atlanta has been able to run effectively with zone blocking as well.

I don't know any other teams that employ zone blocking schemes to judge further...but judging by this, it's a 50-50 proposition.

So to straight out say one team would do better with regular run blocking over zone blocking is kind of a reach.

[mchurchfie]

I think the OL has to have their crap together mentally so everyone picks up thier assignments. One missed block and the whole play gets blown up. I think that's where we struggle, maybe it would be better to just start smashmouthing it with the size we have on our line. I do like our pass protection though.:up:

[streetkings01]

Our zone blocking doesn't work cause we have a bunch of fat slobs instead of smaller quicker lineman...like the Broncos!

[Goobylal]

I'd say that in the Bills' case, he's right. The run blocking sucks and it's most likely because of the scheme.

[MikeInRoch]

Cincinnati also uses zone blocking.

[Elminster]

Our zone blocking doesn't work cause we have a bunch of fat slobs instead of smaller quicker lineman...like the Broncos!
I wouldn't call them slobs: they're all pretty athletic for their size, but it's just another case of trying to slam square pegs into round holes. When we will we match the holes and the pegs up right?

[Ickybaluky]

Cincinnati also uses zone blocking.

The Patriots switched their schemes to mostly using zone blocking concepts as well. They started doing it last year.

I think more teams are using zone blocking concepts because offenses are opening up and spreading out defenses more and blockers need to be able to pull and get to the second level to block. That favors more athletic lineman and zone blocking.

With so much speed on defense, it is harder to just line up and mash people. By the time some big tub of goo OL gets to the second level to try and block a LB that runs as 4.5, that LB has read the play and is long gone.

[OpIv37]

Clearly our run blocking isn't good enough- maybe we don't have the personnel for the scheme McNally is trying to use. I'm really losing faith in this guy. It defies logic that we're so good at pass blocking but so bad at run blocking.

[TigerJ]

Denver has done well with the Zone Blocking scheme for years upon years. Atlanta has been able to run effectively with zone blocking as well.

I don't know any other teams that employ zone blocking schemes to judge further...but judging by this, it's a 50-50 proposition.

So to straight out say one team would do better with regular run blocking over zone blocking is kind of a reach.

I don't think Joe D's comment was a slam at all zone blocking schemes. I've never thought about it, but maybe there is more than one way to do zone blocking schemes and Joe D doesn't like the particular one Buffalo/Carolina is using.

[Carlton Bailey]

Denver has done well with the Zone Blocking scheme for years upon years. Atlanta has been able to run effectively with zone blocking as well.

I don't know any other teams that employ zone blocking schemes to judge further...but judging by this, it's a 50-50 proposition.

So to straight out say one team would do better with regular run blocking over zone blocking is kind of a reach.

There are different kinds, evidently. Joe D. was on Schopp and the Bulldog last Monday and he said he likes the way the Broncos do their zone blocking, but not how Buffalo does it. I wish he would have elaborated further on that point, but he didn't.

[Michael82]

In other words, it's the coaching, stupid! :sigh:

[Carlton Bailey]

In other words, it's the coaching, stupid! :sigh:

In other words, the venerable McNally is overrated :bad:

[madness]

The film shows that our guys are getting better as the season goes on. A zone blocking scheme depends a lot on the chemistry of your line.

Peters and Dockery were on AFC East Report on NFLN and showed how important it was that they were on the same page. Defenses rely heavily on cross-rushing to disrupt the scheme so the lineman have to know what the other guy is going to do.

Buffalo's line is building that chemistry this year and it's starting to show. A good portion of Lynch's big runs are due to a successful zone block. In fact, I'm surprised to see it start coming together this early due to the size of our lineman. I'm guessing McNally's theory is that if these guys are athletic enough to run this scheme, the payoff will be that much higher. The need to double team is smaller which gets our lineman into the second level more often.

Criticizing Carolina is also a bit premature. This is their first year using the scheme and it was the right thing to do to help that o-line. They are an undersized line and in years past, they were constantly getting overpowered at the POA.

[Billzz]

Comment about players being coaches is way off base. The best coaches in the NFL never played past HS and some never played a down. Playing and Coaching are very different animals and honestly most players couldn't power a light bulb. NFL players usually come from colleges where they are athlete students NOT student athletes. How many finish college with a degree besides linemen? Gruden, Billicheat, Holgrem, JJ, Levy I mean they probably played with themselves more then downs of football.

Most coaches have a different mentality and love of the game then players do. It's more of a chess/mental match then players who usually are out for the $$ and bling/fame. He may want to see more players as coaches but I seriously doubt most would ever be able to hold down a job that sacrifices as much as NFL coaches do.

[Charlieguide]

The film shows that our guys are getting better as the season goes on. A zone blocking scheme depends a lot on the chemistry of your line.

. . .

Buffalo's line is building that chemistry this year and it's starting to show. . .

Criticizing Carolina is also a bit premature. . .

I agree 100%. An OL needs time to gel, and ours was revamped this offseason. Like the rest of the team, they're showing steady improvement and growth as a unit.

Joe D is an icon in Bills history, but with all due respect, I wonder if he's out of his element here. The game just isn't what it was 25 years ago.