LikeUntoGod
The Oracle
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...hins-zone-chips-away-hits-home-run-with-ajayi
Jay Ajayi stunned the NFL by becoming the first 200-yard rusher of the 2016 season in Week 6 against the Steelers. A week later, he did it again against Buffalo.
Ajayi went from rushing for 117 combined total yards in Weeks 2-5 to 418 in his last two. Ryan Tannehill remains a question mark, but one thing is for certain: Ajayi is the bell cow in Miami.
The biggest surprise of it all is the simplicity with which Miami is helping Ajayi gain all of those yards.
Miami's running game is heavily rooted in zone blocking, and in Ajayi's last two games, it has largely come out of the singleback formation. The I-formations listed below were created when the H-back motioned from the wing to an offset fullback position before the snap. Miami's running game is, at least in terms of formations, simple.
The zone scheme has many moving parts and requires execution in unison for a good three to four seconds. Because of this, it doesn't always work. A defender might beat a blocker to the frontside, to which they're both working to win the race. A tackle, fullback or tight end might miss his backside cut block. The first scenario shuts down the frontside point of attack, and the second stonewalls the cutback.
But it isn't often that both of those occurrences happen in one play. This makes the zone lethal, as it can lull a defense to sleep, but also carries the potential of breaking the big one.
The Dolphins utilized plenty of split zone runs, where a backside fullback or wingback would run parallel to the line and against the flow of the zone to block the backside, first-level defender. Against Pittsburgh, this man was tight end Dion Sims, but a concussion sidelined him during the game.
No matter, because Miami seemed to only improve in the absence of Sims, thanks to the blocking efforts of H-back MarQueis Gray. A former college quarterback, Gray boasts size and speed to get to the backside and eliminate, or at least impede a defensive end or outside linebacker whose job is to keep contain.
Jay Ajayi stunned the NFL by becoming the first 200-yard rusher of the 2016 season in Week 6 against the Steelers. A week later, he did it again against Buffalo.
Ajayi went from rushing for 117 combined total yards in Weeks 2-5 to 418 in his last two. Ryan Tannehill remains a question mark, but one thing is for certain: Ajayi is the bell cow in Miami.
The biggest surprise of it all is the simplicity with which Miami is helping Ajayi gain all of those yards.
Jay Ajayi rushing by formation (Week 6. vs. PIT) | ||||
| Att. | Yards | Avg. | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Singleback | 18 | 133 | 7.4 | 2 |
Shotgun | 4 | 48 | 12.0 | 0 |
I-Form | 3 | 23 | 7.6 | 0 |
The zone scheme has many moving parts and requires execution in unison for a good three to four seconds. Because of this, it doesn't always work. A defender might beat a blocker to the frontside, to which they're both working to win the race. A tackle, fullback or tight end might miss his backside cut block. The first scenario shuts down the frontside point of attack, and the second stonewalls the cutback.
Jay Ajayi rushing by formation (Week 7. vs. BUF) | ||||
| Att. | Yards | Avg. | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Singleback | 21 | 165 | 7.9 | 1 |
Shotgun | 6 | 35 | 5.8 | 0 |
I-Form | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 0 |
The Dolphins utilized plenty of split zone runs, where a backside fullback or wingback would run parallel to the line and against the flow of the zone to block the backside, first-level defender. Against Pittsburgh, this man was tight end Dion Sims, but a concussion sidelined him during the game.
No matter, because Miami seemed to only improve in the absence of Sims, thanks to the blocking efforts of H-back MarQueis Gray. A former college quarterback, Gray boasts size and speed to get to the backside and eliminate, or at least impede a defensive end or outside linebacker whose job is to keep contain.
