Dear Charlie,
It’s called an offensive line — those guys lined up in front of Jimmy. Their job description, in basic terms, includes (though is not limited to):
- Snapping the ball; preferably to the QB — not past him
- Preventing the QB from spending the entire game on his rear; seriously, 22 sacs in 3 games might start to get to the QB’s head, especially a true freshman
- Pass protection; you may or may not realize that it takes receivers a few seconds to run their routes and the QB a few seconds to find them, but the defense rarely waits politely for the pass to be completed before attacking
- Blocking for the run; it’s easier for the ball carrier to gain yards if defenders aren’t in the way
- Intimidation; you want the opposing defense to take these guys seriously, they should be big and it should hurt to hit them
As you are well aware, your team has not quite lived up to Notre Dame expectations this season, and you have a tough schedule. An O-line would make quite a difference, especially in the painful highlights that we watched over and over and over on Saturday — you know, the one where Jimmy is surrounded by Wolverines in the backfield, with not a white jersey in sight.
I hope you and your boys are having fun at “Training Camp!”
Sincerely,
TheCleverOne
September 19, 2007 at 8:54 am |
Brilliant.
I think you should also forward this to Lovie Smith. Not all of it is relevant obviously, but point #2 and especially point #3 could prove somewhat instructive.