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Bucs Will Employ Zone-Blocking Run Scheme Under Jagodzinski

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 17, 2009

TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' new offensive coordinator is so new to the job he still doesn't know the names of everyone on his team.

In a moment that conjured memories of Jon Gruden's introductory press conference, Jeff Jagodzinski referred to Michael Clayton as Mark before correcting himself.

Gruden called Mike Alstott "Mark" in his first press conference as Bucs head coach.

It's not just the names of the players that Jagodzinski doesn't have down yet. He doesn't know a lot about their skills or abilities yet either.

That's why it was too soon Tuesday for Jagodzinski to name a leader in the race for the starting quarterback position or to even say what kind of quarterback he wants to add to the roster between now and the start of training camp.

One thing Jagodzinski does know is what kind of system he'll run. His offense, he said, is basically a West Coast scheme with more vertical elements.

"There are a lot of those [West Coast] principles in it,'' he said. "But this will be the Tampa Bay offense.''

One thing that will be different is the run-blocking scheme. Jagodzinski plans to adopt the zone-blocking scheme that division rivals such as Atlanta and Carolina have used so effectively. He used it effectively at previous stops in Denver, Green Bay and Atlanta.

Zone-blocking schemes require linemen to be athletic and mobile rather than just big and strong, and call for the unit to work as one in an effort to force the defensive linemen to move.

The belief is that it's easier for a back to find a hole in a moving line than it is for a line to create one specific hole for the back to go through on a play.

"The zone scheme is dependant on one unit, not just one guy,'' Jagodzinski said. "If you have a back block and you miss the back block, everything is blown up. The positive thing that you take away from the scheme we're going to run is you really limit the negative yardage plays.''

Jagodzinski also prefers to run a downhill power running game and said he believes Earnest Graham is a good fit for the approach he plans to take with his offense.

"I've watched Earnest and he's always gaining yards,'' Jagodzinski said. "And he played fullback and halfback. In this system you can play both.''

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