How the LA Rams punched up traditional speed schemes with power

The Power Draw

I saved this for last because it was the first play that I noticed the Rams doing these certain schemes in this manner. The Rams ran a lot of these schemes with Todd Gurley, who was insanely quick and ran with good power. However, when you compare Malcolm Brown to Gurley, there is an obvious difference between the two simply due to speed.

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The Rams power draw concept last night with RB Malcolm Brown was a scheme that is really phenomenal. The center, right guard, and right tackle all push forward while the left guard and left tackle simply drop back like it’s a pass play. Here is the link to the play. What that does is it opens a crease for Brown, who can use his field vision to get by. Let’s talk about why I’m distinguishing this as a “power draw” concept.

Power draw distinction

A traditional draw concept calls for the offensive line to drop into pass protection. The idea is to get the edge rushers upfield and rushing the quarterback and to pull themselves out of the play while a big hole opens up in the middle of the offensive line. Defensive linemen are taught to condense the pocket, which means that most of the time they are pushing more at an outside angle. The draw, when executed well, puts the running back one-on-one with the middle linebacker (or whoever is in the middle of the field).

Malcolm Brown doesn’t have the athleticism to make a middle-field defender miss one-on-one.

In this concept, the right side of the line pushes forward and attacks the play, trying to engage that middle defender. It creates traffic, something that Brown navigates through very well. It also allows the outside rushers to attack the edges, just like a traditional draw play and eliminates the one-on-one between Brown and the middle defender.

All in all, this was the offensive scheme equivalent to the Mona Lisa. The combined offensive genius of Sean McVay and Kevin O’Connell was something to behold.