Pin and Pull Blocking: How Outside Runs Create Angles

Aug 20

2 min read

Updated: 5 hours ago

Pin and pull is a perimeter blocking scheme. Some blockers pin defenders toward the interior while teammates pull around them to lead the runner outside. The offense creates useful angles instead of requiring every lineman to reach an opponent laterally.

Part of Football 101. Explore the guide to choose your next topic.

Pin-and-Pull is a perimeter run scheme that combines down blocks with pulling offensive linemen. Blockers covered by a defensive lineman usually pin that defender inside.

The front determines the assignments. A common rule has a blocker pin a defender threatening his inside gap and pull when that threat can be handled by a teammate. The shortcut “covered players pin, uncovered players pull” can help explain a diagram, but it is not a universal assignment rule.

Follow the first puller

The inside blocks must prevent penetration into the pull path. Pulling linemen then move behind that wall with enough control to locate the edge defender and pursuing linebackers. The first puller commonly handles the force player; another blocker works through the lane beyond him.

The runner reads the resulting leverage. If the first puller kicks the defender outward, the lane is inside that block. If the defender squeezes and gets logged toward the interior, the runner can go around the outside. Logging a defender means sealing him inside, not pushing him toward the sideline.

Those reactions connect directly to force, spill and alley responsibilities. The defender is trying to send the ball toward support; the blocker and runner are trying to use that choice against him.

It is not the same pair of pullers every time

A center, guard or tackle may pull depending on the front and coaching rules. A tight end can supply an important pin block. Different personnel can carry the ball without changing that underlying relationship.

A toss sweep describes the exchange and outside path. Pin and pull describes how the line blocks. A toss can use pin and pull, but the scheme can also accompany a handoff or quarterback run.

Timing is the test

A runner who outruns the pullers reaches an unblocked defender. A runner who waits too long lets pursuit catch up. He must press the outside track, stay connected to the moving blocks and turn upfield when the lane opens.

To spot the concept, watch the line's first steps: some players block inward while others leave their original locations and travel toward the perimeter. Penetration into that moving path is one of the defense's strongest answers.