Drop-back Pass Protection

How we teach 1/2 Man, 1/2 Slide in our passing game.

Before discussing our best pass patterns, it is important to start with protection. If you can’t protect, it doesn’t matter what concepts you throw.

The offensive line is the most difficult group to coach. We need five guys to execute together while getting different fronts and looks each game. My goal as a coordinator is to have as much overlap as possible and to keep things simple for the guys up front. This is another reason why I am a big proponent of zone run schemes: the same run game rules tie directly into our passing game.

The most commonly used pass protection across all levels of football is the 6-man half slide. In the West Coast system, this is known as 2/3 Jet.

Pass Protection Rules

We use directional calls like the run game to communicate our pass protection. We slide the offensive line away from the call. 2 Jet would mean a half slide to the left, and 3 Jet would mean a half slide to the right.

Slide Side

2 Jet