The Offense

The Basics

First of all lets quickly go over the basics of the game.

• Score more points that the opposing team.

• The team with the ball (the offense, who we will discuss below) has 4 attempts at moving the ball 10 yards.

• Each attempt is called a "down". I.e. if the offense moves the ball 10 yards, they get a 1st down. If they only move the ball 5 yards, they get a 2nd down and so on until they get 10 yards, or they exceed their 4 attempts (downs).

• The offense scores when they reach the opposing teams endzone and score a touchdown.

The Offense

The offense are the scoring division on the team. Every offense consists off:

• Quarterback

• Wide Receivers

• Running Backs

• Center

• Left Guard

• Right Guard

• Left Tackle

• Right Tackle

During this piece, we will look at the individual positions as laid out above, we will look at the roles they play in the offense and the importance of each position.

Quarterback

The Quarterback touches the ball on every play when the offense is on the field. In simple terms, it is the quarterbacks job to progress the offense downfield and score.

Below is a diagram depicting where the quarterback is on the field, and what the offense generally looks like.

The quarterback will line up behind the center (c) and call the plays. This is something we wont get into now, but every play is choreographed and has a designated audible. We will look at this in detail at a later date.

The quarterback will make a signal call to the center to snap the ball, which effectively means the center passes the ball to the quarterback. Depending on the play being ran, the quarterback will either hand the ball off to the running back or he will drop back and set himself up to throw the ball to a receiver.

If you look back at the image above, you will see the quarterback is essentially surrounded by his offensive line. This area of operation is known as "the pocket". There are two positions the quarterback will be in at the start of every play, and the play called by the coaches will determine this.

1. Under Center: This means the quarterback will be arced right behind the center, the center will pass the ball through his legs, directly to the quarterbacks hands.

2. Shotgun: When the quarterback needs to throw the ball to make up yardage he will typically stand around 6 yards behind the center. When the quarterback gives his signal, the center will throw the ball between his legs, behind him to the quarterback.

Receivers

The quarterback needs pass catchers to catch the passes he makes. These men are known as receivers. There are three positions that are eligible to receive the ball.

• Wide Receivers

• Running Backs

• Tight Ends

Every receiver has to have good hands to make difficult catches, and they have to do this whilst remaining courageous as they know that once they have caught the ball, they will immediately be at risk.

Running Backs

Running backs are often split into two categories.

1. Halfback: The halfback is usually the smaller of the two running backs. He is the principal ball carrier.

2. The fallback: The fullback is normally the bigger of the two running backs. His main role is to block and clear the path for the halfback.

Offensive Line

The offensive line is made up off:

• Left Tackle

• Left Guard

• Center

• Right Guard

• Right Tackle

The offensive lines primary job is to protect the most valuable player on the field, the quarterback and to block for the ball carrier (the running back).

Center

The center is the lineman who delivers the ball to the quarterback. This is refereed to as "snapping the ball". The center will snap the ball on the quarterbacks signal count. This something that many people are familiar with in relation to American Football. It will be a variation on "down, set, hut hut". So for example, when the center hears the second "hut", he knows to snap the ball. The center is also the leader of the offense.

Guards

Guards will line up on either side of the center. There will be a left guard and a right guard. Typically, guards will be exceptional blockers. They have to be big, strong and mobile. In the run game (where the quarterback hands the ball to a running back) a guard will use his hands, arms and shoulders to move the opposing defensive player, out of the way. And on a passing play (where the quarterback drops back in the pocket to pass to a receiver) the guards must stop the defensive player from advancing on the quarterback.

Tackles

Tackles are the stars of the line. They have one of the most important jobs. They are also the biggest linemen and the most athletic. Their main task, stopping defensive lineman and pass rushers from getting to the quarterback. One a running play, they have to posses the strength and speed shove a defensive player out of the way to open up a path for the running back.