The zone blocking scheme… love it or hate it, the zone blocking scheme has become a critical part of the Baltimore Ravens’ culture. And for good reason, considering the overwhelming success the Ravens had running the ball last season with marginal talent in the backfield.

(Discuss this post on the BSL forums here)

New offensive coordinator Marc Trestman has said that he’ll maintain the Ravens’ reliance on the ZBS. Accordingly, it’s safe to assume that this was a condition for Trestman’s hire.
Dan Bryden broke down what the blocking scheme is at Ravens All-22.

What I’m more interested in is the impact the scheme has on running backs. Why is it that Bernard Pierce, a superior athlete to Justin Forsett, floundered while Forsett flourished?

In a word, vision.

Watch Bernard Pierce run in the ZBS, and you’ll see a guy who refuses to make a decision. He hesitates and hesitates, constantly trying to bounce the run outside until he runs out of real estate and either gets tackles or pushed out of bounds.

Then watch Justin Forsett run. He is decisive and has a knack for knowing when to follow his blocking and when to cut back and run against the grain. Further, Forsett has an uncanny sense of when to be patient and when to accelerate. He didn’t just find the hole, he helped create them with his speed changes and patience.With marginal physical tools, Forsett used superior vision to more than double his career high. Exhibit A: His 182-yard masterwork against the New Orleans Saints.

Now, the Ravens are in flux again in the backfield, which I profiled in an article earlier this week.

Though Forsett and Taliaferro could combine to make a formidable backfield (assuming they re-sign Forsett, which I think they should), the Ravens would be wise to add a fresh face as well. When they do so, their first priority has to be adding a back with established vision.

The Ravens shouldn’t go running back in the first round, but for an example of what I’m talking about, look at the difference between Todd Gurley and Melvin Gordon. Gordon has the eye-popping numbers, Gurley the eye-popping highlight reels. But who is better?
That answer depends on the scheme, and for the Ravens, there is little question Gordon is the better choice.

Gurley has a skillset reminiscent of Marshawn Lynch. Then again, so too did Trent Richardson. All three are shifty and remarkably powerful. Lynch took a long time to become a star, though, and Richardson probably never will. Gurley isn’t doomed to their fate, but he has relied more on physical gifts than vision to this point in his career. That troubles me.

While Gordon can’t compare with Gurley’s power or flare for the dramatic, he is a lock to consistently find the hole in the zone blocking scheme, which Wisconsin runs from time to time. In fact, his film looked quite a bit like Forsett’s, in that both backs excel at finding the hole, exploding through it and consistently churning out yards. Neither run over defenders, yet both excel at shedding tacklers who try to take them down from behind. Gordon has superior physical tools to Forsett, yet the parallels are uncanny.

Most likely, the Ravens won’t take either of those guys, especially if they re-sign Forsett, which Mark Bullock addresses here (though they could fall in love with one for all I know), but the differences between the two illustrate what the Ravens should be looking for.

It’s so easy to fall in love with physical skill sets, especially at the running back position, that overlooking the finer nuances of the game is all too common. The Ravens won’t make that mistake, and neither should analysts.

As I continue to scout running backs, that’s the frame of reference I’ll be using. I’d encourage you all to do the same.

Shawn Brubaker
Shawn Brubaker

Shawn began his writing career with Bleacher Report as a Ravens featured columnist and Breaking News Team writer. He moved on to write for Yahoo! and work on the Ravens Central Radio podcast. Most recently, he was an Editor at the Baltimore Wire. Shawn is a 2013 graduate of the Catholic University of America.

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