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Hey, welcome to Football 101. Today, we're going to be discussing the Gap scheme run game. This is the second of two different types of run schemes that are seen in football: those two schemes being the Zone run scheme and the Gap run scheme. We already covered the Zone run scheme in another video, so feel free to check that out if you wish to.
In this video, we are going to be covering the Gap run scheme. Now, a quick reminder: the Zone run scheme is all about blocking zones, and the Gap run scheme is about manipulating certain gaps in the offensive line. There's a lot more precision and detail in how the offensive line have to block, and there are specific assignments. So, since we're going to be dealing with a lot of gaps in this video, let's go over what that is.
Gaps are the holes in between each offensive lineman. So that there's no confusion between players, each gap has its own name. The gap between the center and the guard is called the A gap. The gap between the guard and the tackle is called the B gap. And the gap between the tackle and a tight end, if there is one, is called the C gap. In general, both sides are called the same thing. So, the left A gap is the same as the right A gap; it's just called the A gap. Now, for more specific uses, sometimes we'll give one side of the offensive line a different name for the gaps, but we won't get into that in this video.
So, let's get into the runs. We'll start off with one of the most classic Gap scheme runs: the Power. Power is a run that targets the C gap, and remember, that is the gap outside of the offensive line, just outside of the tackle. The core of the run is establishing a double team on the inside defensive lineman and hitting the outside edge defender as hard as you can. In theory, this will create a hole in the C gap. The left side of the hole will be held by the double team, and the right side of the hole will be held by the big block.
Now, who lays this outside block? Well, that can be manipulated depending on how you call it. For example, you could have the guard pull and lay the block. You could have a hybrid back lay the block. Also, shout out to the other video in the Zone scheme where we said a back in this position could run both split zone and power. Well, here it is as you see. But here is the most textbook version of Power you'll see: usually the guard will pull, and he will lay the out block, and the tight end, who's on the line, will go straight to the second level. Because remember, we're trying to hit that gap there, which means the tight end doesn't need to be there; he can go straight to the second level and hold the linebacker.
Now, for the simplest part of this play: the running back's job. All he has to do is slide into that hole that hopefully has been created by the double team and the kickout block.
Now, let's take a look at the most popular play in football: Counter. Counter is an outside run play where the running back is going to be running out wide. But the key part of this is two offensive linemen, or an offensive lineman and a combination of a position player, will be pulling around to lead for the running back, while the rest of the offensive line and blockers go the other way. The two pulling players each have a different job. The first pull is called the kickout player; he is going to hit the edge defender as hard as he can. The second player is called the wrap player; this player's job is to wrap around and hit the linebacker or whoever out there is on the edge. As for the rest of the offensive line and blockers, they are going to be all blocking down the opposite way. These are called, as it sounds like, down blocks, because they are blocking down away from the play. Their goal is to really, like, push the rest of the defense back away from the play, so it just becomes the running back alone with his two lead blockers.
Now, I said that this was the most popular play in football, but the most popular variation of the most popular play is called GT Counter. This type of counter has the guard and the tight end being the pull and the wrap player. For reference, the G and the name goes for guard, and Y stands for the tight end position. You can see this play happen every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night of football. Every level of football has the GT counter, and it is called practically in every offense. For the running back, though, on this play, his job is quite simple: he just has to follow the hip of the wrap player. Also, do note, although it is a little bit like outside zone, kind of like stretch with a pull for outside zone, because a lot of the backside of the offensive line is pulling, there is no cutback allowed on a counter type of play.
Now, let's move on to the Trap. Trap is just as fun as its name sounds; it quite literally is a trap. But how does this trap work? Well, the guard is going to influence the D-lineman right in front of him. This usually is a three-technique. And by influence, what I mean is he's going to act like he's guarding him, maybe touch him a little, but then immediately zoom past him. This will lead the defensive lineman into a false sense of security. He's going to think, "Oh, I'm right here; I'm going to sack the quarterback or stuff the run." But then, nope, a guard from the other side of the line, the opposite guard, is going to come around the center and hit him in the face. The running back's job on this play is to simply just to go where the defensive lineman was supposed to be. Because remember, if all goes right, then this defensive lineman has basically been removed from the play; he's been shocked and thrown out, and so there's a hole right there in the line.
But for this play to truly work, it all depends on if that guard can get all the way up to the linebacker, because his job after influencing the defensive lineman is to work his way up to the second level to really let this run explode. In general, trap is always good for at least a couple yards because that defensive lineman is never going to expect it, well, unless you caught every play, then it won't work. But in general, it's a great play just to go to. But for it to really be explosive, that guard has to get to the second level, because if the guard can get to that linebacker, this run can go for a long way.
Now, let's transition into the fourth and final type of Gap run we're going to get into today: Duo. The play Duo is named after, well, the duo of duos that are created. What I'm saying there is, there are going to be two double teams created in this play. The goal of this run is to attack a 4-3 defense. If you don't know what that means, it means you have four down linemen and then three linebackers behind it. The reason this is integral is with this play, we need for a D-lineman to have two D-linemen in the center for our two double teams, and then the goal is to work to those three linebackers. In this 4-3 situation, you're going to have those three linebackers, like we talked about, and the idea is that two of those linebackers will be worked up to from the double teams, and the third linebacker will be read by the running back. If the third linebacker decides to stay in the box and try to block an inside run, then the running back will run outside. If the third linebacker bounces outside, the running back will stay inside and go straight up.
Do note that this play always has a tight end on the field, and it is always ran towards the tight end. Another quick thing to note about this run play is that one man always goes unblocked. This defender is ideally a playside defensive back outside of the box. Someone on the outside is going to go unblocked because of how much interior blocking we have. And so the idea is is that if we get a cornerback out there, the running back can easily handle a cornerback in open space. This allows us to have not only favorable numbers in the box but a one-on-one that our running back should easily be able to win outside the box.
Do note, though, that this can easily be mixed up with an untrained eye to inside zone because a lot of times the running back will bounce towards the inside. And so that is a little bit of a fun game to play: inside zone or Duo, which is it? But the details between those two can be delved into in another session. But for now, here are the basics, and this is what to know about the Gap scheme.
I mentioned briefly at the end of The Zone scheme video that if you would like to learn more about the exact blocking techniques, as you saw there, things like double teams and working up to the second level and leaving people unblocked by choice, we could get into that in another video about how to block and who to block and why to block that person. But for now, this has been a general overview of the Gap scheme, and hopefully, you feel a little better about runs at all levels of football with a quick overview of the Zone scheme and the Gap scheme. So, let me know if you guys want anything else like this. But for now, until next time, I'll see you around.
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