What Is a Kick Out Block? How Pullers Widen the Edge
A kick out block is an angle block at the edge of a run. A puller travels from inside the formation, arrives on the inside half of the first dangerous edge defender and tries to widen that defender away from the intended lane. The runner normally cuts inside the block. The name describes the defender’s movement, not a kicking motion.
Information cutoff: November 12, 2026 at 9:03 AM Central. This lesson explains a common coaching structure, not one universal NFL playbook rule. Teams can change the puller, landmark and terminology by formation, personnel and defensive front.
What the blocker is trying to create
The offense wants a clean inside wall and a displaced edge. Front side blockers often work down or inside so the puller can travel behind them. The puller must clear traffic, stay square enough to see the target and arrive with inside leverage. If the edge defender stays outside, the puller meets the defender’s inside shoulder and runs his feet so the defender is widened. That creates a doorway between the down block wall and the kick out.
USA Football’s square pull teaching describes the same geometry: the puller opens away from the line, gets the hips on a path toward a first level defender, works back into the line of scrimmage and widens the hole. The important point is leverage. A hard collision without the right side of the defender can close the lane instead of opening it.
Worked example: power against a boxed edge
Imagine power right from a two back set against a four man front. The right tackle and right guard block inside to build the wall. The fullback starts behind the quarterback and aims for the first defender outside the right tackle. The left guard pulls and will lead through the lane toward a linebacker.
The edge defender stays square and keeps the outside arm free. That is often called boxing the play because the defender is trying to send the ball back inside. The fullback arrives from inside, strikes the near number and widens the defender. The pulling guard turns up inside that block. The running back presses the edge long enough to hold pursuit, then cuts behind the fullback and follows the guard.
On television, the block may look like brute force. The sequence is more useful: find the puller, locate the edge defender’s outside shoulder, then watch whether the runner cuts inside the contact. If those three pictures line up, the kick out has defined the lane even if the final gain is modest.
Film evidence: Patrick Ricard at the point of attack
The public All 22 Films post below identifies Patrick Ricard as the kickout blocker in Baltimore’s two back power structure and pairs the block with Derrick Henry’s read. Watch Ricard’s approach first. Then restart the clips and watch the runner. The teaching point is not that every Baltimore power call uses the same assignment. It is that a movable blocker at the point of attack can turn the edge defender’s leverage into the runner’s inside lane.
Direct public status: https://x.com/All_22_NFL_Cuts/status/1949912233754202386. The exact status URL and its kickout description were opened and checked November 12, 2026 at 9:03 AM Central.
Contrasting example: the defender spills the block
Now change the edge defender’s technique. Instead of staying outside, the defender attacks the puller’s inside shoulder and tries to squeeze underneath. Coaches often call this wrong arming or spilling the block. The defender is giving up the outside position to destroy the designed inside lane and force the ball toward unblocked pursuit.
The puller cannot stubbornly kick out a defender who has already crossed the inside path. A common answer is to log the defender: use the defender’s momentum, pin the defender inside and let the runner bounce outside. The runner’s read changes with the leverage. In the diagram, the yellow path is the puller, the red path is the spilling defender and the white path is the runner’s adjusted track.
This is the strongest counterargument to a simple kick out diagram. The offense does not own the lane because the playbook drew it. The edge defender can change the picture after the snap, interior penetration can delay the puller and a fast linebacker can close the replacement lane. Good execution includes an answer when the first picture disappears.
Common misconceptions
A kick out is not any block by a pulling guard. The puller might lead through the hole, wrap to a linebacker, log a spilling defender or pass a target based on the scheme. The finish and target matter.
The runner does not automatically bounce outside. Against a boxed edge, bouncing outside usually runs toward the leverage the defender protected. The designed answer is commonly inside the kick out. Outside becomes attractive when the defender spills and gets logged, or when another block changes the structure.
The block is not automatically legal because it happens on a run. Under the 2026 NFL Rulebook, Rule 12, Section 1, Articles 1 and 3, blockers still must avoid prohibited acts such as grabbing, hooking, twisting or materially restricting a defender through holding. The scheme name never overrides the rules.
Exceptions and variations
The kickout blocker does not have to be a guard. A fullback, tight end or H back can cross the formation and handle the edge. Counter can use a guard as the first puller while a tackle wraps inside. Split zone can send an H back across the formation. Down G can pull a play side guard. The family resemblance is the same: travel to the edge, establish leverage and define a lane.
Terminology also changes by coaching system. One staff may reserve kick out for a defender who stays outside and call the inside finish a log. Another may use broader language in the meeting room. When watching, trust the geometry more than the label: where did the blocker come from, which shoulder did the defender present and where did the runner cut?
Why it matters when watching an NFL game
The kick out tells you where the offense is trying to create a numbers advantage. It can explain why a runner hesitates, why a pulling lineman bypasses an interior defender or why the ball suddenly bends outside. It also helps separate scheme from result. A four yard gain can be a cleanly blocked play stopped by a safety, while a longer gain can come from the runner rescuing a muddy edge.
For fantasy football, repeated gap runs near the goal line can support a runner’s touchdown opportunity because the offense is manufacturing an extra blocker at the point of attack. It is evidence, not a projection by itself. Carries, routes, red zone work, injury availability, opponent front and game script still matter more than one well blocked clip.
Takeaway and quick FAQ
The short version: a kick out block widens an edge defender so the runner can cut inside. If the defender spills underneath, the puller may log the defender and the runner may bounce outside. Watch leverage before force.
What should I watch first? Find the blocker moving across the formation. Then check which shoulder of the edge defender he reaches.
Is a kick out the same as a trap? Not exactly. Trap describes a broader scheme in which a defender is intentionally left for a puller. A kick out describes the finish that widens a defender at the edge.
Is this an NFL only technique? No. It appears across levels of football. NFL fronts and terminology are more varied, but the leverage problem is the same.
What makes the block fail? Penetration that disrupts the pull path, arriving on the wrong leverage, stopping the feet at contact or failing to adjust when the defender spills.
Sources and check times
USA Football, Building an Offensive Line: Teaching the Square Pull. Pull path, first level target, leverage and finish checked November 12, 2026 at 9:01 AM Central.
NFL.com, Brandon Scherff’s perfect kick out block helps J.D. McKissic slip by for TD. Official NFL example title and context checked November 12, 2026 at 9:02 AM Central.
NFL Football Operations, 2026 NFL Rulebook. Rule 12, Section 1, Articles 1 and 3 checked November 12, 2026 at 9:02 AM Central.
All 22 Films on X, Patrick Ricard kickout block in Baltimore’s two back power structure. Exact public status and film context opened November 12, 2026 at 9:03 AM Central.
Related Football Nation lessons
Build the larger gap scheme picture with What Is Down, Down, Around?, which explains the wall and pull relationship.
Then compare the two puller version in What Is Counter Trey?, where the guard kicks out and the tackle wraps.
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