The Myth of the Vertical Pass Set

Welcome back. The OLP team today, we're going to cover the vertical line pass set. In the past, we've always heard tackle set the width of the pocket, the guards set the depth of the pocket. And today we're going to show you, Boggs is going to be our tackle, while Brian's our rusher. And what he's going to do is he's going to set down this vertical line, okay? He's setting the width of the pocket, so to speak. And within doing so, he's getting knee to crotch. So whenever we're taking a pass set, we're going to be getting knee to crotch so that no one can be like, well, we're trying to manufacture the width of the pocket. No. Every time we're focused on getting knee to crotch. But first thing he'll be doing is coming down the vertical line on the pass set. Then we'll implement the drop catch method with the proper stance and we'll show you that track as opposed to this track. And we'll see exactly who's really maintaining the width of that pocket. Josh should be our quarterback. And follow me for a second. I'll be the center. All right, I'm showing you visual spacing. So I'm the center here. Boom, come on over. We got the right guard. Boom, you got my man Taylor, right tackle. So we got real splits. Okay, this is a real— this is our best way to try to simulate what's really going on with the spacing and the splits and the vertical line pass set. So let's get to it. Be on my go, on my go. Set, go.

Good.

Knee to crotch. Still on the vertical line. There we go. Number 2. Say go. Still on that line. Knee to crotch. Boom. Last one. Say go. Ah, see. Good. So there we have it. Okay. Stay knee to crotch. Stay on that vertical line. As we can see, this is our track right here. Just give me a second. This is our track. All right. We don't have the proper stance, the OOP proper stance. Okay. And we're not using the drive-catch method. All right. He's reaching, stepping, whatever he's doing. He's trying to get momentum, trying to get back. Vertical line. Now we're going to use the proper stance. Now we're going to use drive-catch. And let's pay attention to this track. Stand knee to crotch. On the go. Set, go.

Need a crotch.

Boom. Defender's getting wider. We're getting depth. Ready, set, go. Good job. Need a crotch. Still using drive catch, proper stance. Last one. That defender's real wide. Ready, set, go. Good. Right here.

Good.

So let's take a look at the vertical pass set on a line. This is the path right here. That's our quarterback. Look at the width of this pocket right here. Now let's go to the drive-catch method. Drive-catch method with the proper stance. What do you see? More width. Okay, more width. We maintain the width of that pocket. And if the guards have done their job, everything's all good. But let's understand, okay, let's look— let's really look at the difference between this vertical pass set line and the drive-catch line. We're still getting depth, We're still creating space, OK, and you see visually that we maintain more width with the drive-catch method. So which world are you going to live in? OK, then when you factor in the fact that we're trying to manufacture this spot, right. If I'm an offensive lineman, wherever Brian is, OK, he's really dictating the width of the pocket. There's a process where I have to look at him and figure out where this spot's going to be. Okay. I'm using the proper stance. I'm using the drive-catch method. When doing so, okay, you can't just manufacture and stay on this line and make this manufactured spot. The real spot is a spot where you're using the proper stance. We're moving with force first. So the drive-catch method, and there's that process of looking at this defender and figuring out the spot. So don't try to manufacture your spot. Okay. Because when you get here, you're not going to be ready for it. And you're not going to be ready for pressure to pressure. So you're going to be getting knocked back. Which is hurting the width even more. So we gain more by starting correct with the proper stance, going through drive catch, we're still creating space and we're maintaining more of that width of the pocket. Okay, my buddy Taylor, he's gonna give you more on the mechanics of it and we're gonna throw it to him. Thanks for listening, I hope this helps you.

Now that we showed how the vertical pass set can negatively impact the pocket, we're gonna talk about some mechanics. At OLP, you hear us talk about the 345s and our kickstand on our catch leg. And what this ultimately does allows us to absorb force, apply force, but it opens our hip— hips up on 8 angles. And we talk about these 8 angles. Yes, they vary to a degree. And you might ask, well, isn't that vertical set one of those angles? Yes, but it varies to a degree. When you saw me take that pass set earlier versus Brian when he was a super wide 9, I was deeper. I wasn't necessarily on that 45, and I wasn't necessarily vertical. So somewhere in between, I was achieving a degree of those 8 angles, and I was able to do so with the kickstand. But in order to really do a true vertical pass set, where if we were having CJ put his post foot on this line, and now I can't even say this is a catch leg, we have to lock the hips back up. And by locking the hips up, that is playing with the toes forward, and that takes away all these other angles. So Furthermore, if you think about this back— back of the catch leg, in our terms, this is not really a catch leg. His full foot is not in the ground. So by him having his heel up, he's not able to absorb as much force with the catch. And he's not able to apply as much force if he had to go the opposite way. And because no O-lineman has that much dorsiflexion unless they're missing an Achilles, which I hope that's not the case. They really won't be able to effectively stop the P2P in that manner. So I'll really even show. We'll have Josh playing the D-end, applying that P2P phase. That's where we make our money. That's where you get your starting job and your postseason honors and win games and keep that quarterback healthy is that P2P phase. So that's the ballgame right there. So we'll show with him in this stance that's conducive to a vertical set, which you've kind of debunked as far as keeping a healthy pocket, we'll show where he has to end up when he receives pressure. So go ahead, apply that pressure. And you'll see he achieved the 3.45s.

Great.

But let's take the middleman out. Let's set a little wider. Let's take the fight a little more, not worry about that vertical set, and we're able to win that P2P. Because, I mean, you can look at it a couple ways, but if you're setting and narrowing that pocket and him having to go from here to here, he's just getting closer to that quarterback even though he ended up in what we consider a good position. But in order for it to be a truly good and robust position, you must start in that position.

Taylor, what about, um, I know from defense it's harder with a vertical set as everybody's flying back there. It's harder to pick up, or it's for the defense side, it's harder to blitz and it's harder to achieve line games, you know, picks and coming off and twisted stuff like that. And I've heard offensive line coaches say, well, that's the reason we vertical set is to eliminate those line games or to be able to pick up those line games and blitzes a lot easier. What do you say to that?

I mean, okay, I say several things to that. But for one, I'm not going to live in a world that's, you know, if we really pull statistics, are they running it in third and long and two-minute drills? So we're talking about a third of the game. Less than a third of the game is line game, so I'm gonna take away the chance of me setting and building this strong pocket because there's a potential they're gonna run a game. I'm not gonna live in that world. You know, as CJ kind of mentioned earlier, if a team run a bunch of screens and they ran more screens than any other team you played, you'd still probably rush upfield though, just in case it's not a screen, right? You still gotta play ball.

Yeah, absolutely.

So, and with line games, what— screws line games over is, for one, which offensive line athlete's not owning the penetrator. So if it's the guard snapping it off or the tackle not coming and crashing down, that's some of the problems. But furthermore, it's your awareness. Like, you have to know, hey, something's coming, or they're lined up different, and be a little smart about it. Hey, first and second down, they don't run games. I'm going to take my shots. A third down, 9 times out of 10 they're running games. Okay. But you don't have to set vertical. You have to stay square and you have to create space. That set that I took versus you as a 9 was perfect for me if I was getting a snap off from a guard. I'm still square. I'm not having to turn back. It's still efficient. And we're creating enough space to see that this rush is different. You know, you kind of smell crap. This is probably crap. So, and as long as that guard is on the same page as me, say if he was just jump setting and he had a TE, yeah, maybe it would get messed up. But we're on the same page. We're creating space. We're seeing a different rush. I'm not vertical, but I'm square and my guard is square. We're good. And guess what? If they didn't run a game, which most of the times teams aren't running games, we're still good. And that's what matters is majority of the time we're setting a robust pocket and we're owning. That line of scrimmage in the middle, and we're owning the width by letting the D lineman's alignment dictate that. So I hope this clears up the vertical set, our angles, why that stance— why our stance is not conducive to a true vertical set, and why we don't really care.