Protection schemes

It is important to understand that the creativity of any passing scheme is only as good as the protection unit can provide. Having a true protection first mentality is much more important than the protecting the passer mentality. Pass protection take precedence over pass patterns, as evidenced by the following teaching principles:

• Quarterbacks are taught the protection system before the passing system
• The cadence used at the line of scrimmage has the primary feature of being able to adjust protections or amend sight adjustments before the snap.
• Only one protection concept exists in the dropback passing game

(Gonzalez 46) 

There are many different types of pocket pass protection. Some examples of these could be 60/70 protection, 80 protection, 50 and 90 protection, etc. To get the basic idea of protections I will explain what some of these protections are and provide a diagram. The 60/70 protection is a six-man scheme that, in its most basic form, handles three rushers to either side of the ball. The 60 represents the front side of the protection to be the right while the 70 denotes the left side as the callside.

The 80 protection is a five-man scheme that uses the sane technique for the offensive line, while releasing five receivers. The line to the quarterback's backside is directed and the quarterback is now responsible to for handling any blitzers on the frontside.

To conclude protection schemes, it is more important that your pass protection is good rather than your passing game. This could lead to a teams downfall and you should always have a good pass protection. Do you ever pay attention to the pass protection? If you don't then next time you watch a football game observe the pass protection too.