Know Your Running Backs

Know Your Running Backs

The running game is huge in football and you need to call your plays appropriately to as how your back runs. If he has a high speed rating and not a lot of stength he is a finnesse back. You will want to call a lot of pitches, stretches, and runs to the outside. This way he can beat the linebackers with his speed and can probably gain a good amount of yardage. If you try to run him up the middle, the linebackers will fill the holes and will easily tackle him.

With a back that has a lot of strength and not a lot of speed you will want to run plays that keep him within the length of the offensive line. This way he can push the the defensive line and get into the linecakers. Once that happens you can use the shoulder charge to move the linebackers out of your way!

Now if you have a back that has both a lot of speed and strength, like McAllister or Tomlinson, you can do a bit of everything. Only you have a lot better chance at breaking a big run. If you go to the outisde you can plow the corners over and stiff arm the safety, if you go to the inside you can juke and spin your way away from the linebackers. I find it best to have both a speedy and a power halfback so that you can run in many different situations.

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