What Is a Wham Block in Football?

Aug 25

2 min read

Updated: Oct 10

A wham block deliberately leaves an interior defensive lineman for a tight end, fullback or similar insert blocker. An offensive lineman passes that defender and works toward another target, often a linebacker, while the wham blocker arrives from an angle.

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A wham block is a run-blocking technique in which the offensive line intentionally leaves an interior defensive lineman untouched, then a tight end, H-back or fullback strikes that defender from an angle.

The defender appearing unblocked for a moment can be part of the design. The offense has changed who is responsible for him.

How the exchange creates a lane

The releasing lineman avoids the targeted defender and gets toward the next level. The insert blocker follows a controlled path to meet that defender. The back times his run to use the blocker’s leverage rather than colliding with the exchange.

A Patriots film explanation showed a fullback handling a defensive tackle after the center and guard passed him. The lesson is coordination: somebody still has to stop penetration before it disrupts the runner.

The offense does not need a spectacular knockdown. Keeping the defender on the correct side of the running lane can be enough when another blocker has already reached a linebacker.

Wham versus trap and split zone

A wham belongs to the trap blocking family, but a conventional trap commonly uses a pulling offensive lineman. Wham usually creates the trap with a tight end or back.

Split zone can send a similar player across the formation, but commonly targets a backside edge defender while the line uses zone rules. The identity of the target and the rest of the blocking distinguish the plays. An across formation path alone does not identify wham.

How the defense can answer

An interior defender who recognizes the release can resist charging blindly upfield and constrict the insert blocker’s path. Linebackers can read the exchange and meet the run before the climbing blocker reaches them. Defensive movement can also change the expected target.

That makes wham a useful change in blocking geometry, not an automatic answer to every front.

The block still must be legal

The scheme does not excuse holding, prohibited low contact or an illegal high and low combination on the same defender. A legal wham is a coordinated assignment exchange, not permission to attack an engaged opponent’s legs. On replay, find the untouched interior defender and then locate the blocker assigned to meet him.