Post by AZ Adrenaline Fan on Jun 3, 2008 4:55:01 GMT -5
Early success for Adrenaline starts up front
Special to the Courier, Monday, June 02, 2008
The offensive line of Lucian Scott, Matt Mason and Dorsey Mitchell has allowed a league-low one sack in 10 games (313 pass attempts) for the Arizona Adrenaline this season.
PRESCOTT VALLEY - Praise, glory and sparkling statistics are seldom included in the job description of an offensive lineman.
Exchange sweat and head-slaps for four quarters with another extremely large man and your net notoriety for the night usually consists of:
"Holding. Number 78, offense. Fifteen yards. Repeat first down."
Playing the O-line is an inglorious existence to be sure.
But it isn't difficult to convince Arizona Adrenaline head coach Andrew Moore just how important the men in the trenches have been for his 8-2 team, which is fresh off a huge 55-40 win at previously unbeaten Wyoming.
Moore, an offensive lineman during his playing days that included time in the NFL, has said all season that he wouldn't trade his front wall for any in the AIFA.
Take a look at the collective numbers, and it isn't difficult to see why.
The Adrenaline have thrown 313 passes, but incredibly have only been sacked a league-low one time. And it doesn't take a lot of arm-twisting for the linemen to point out that the one sack was the result of a running back missing his blocking assignment.
Moreover, the Adrenaline lead the league in rushing touchdowns, are second in fewest interceptions and third in rushing yards, all a reflection in part of the work done by the regular trio of center Matt Mason and guards Lucian Scott and Dorsey Mitchell as well as Don Drew, who has started two games on offense, and Cornealius Fuamatu, who has played offense sparingly when not on the defensive line.
"A lot of people will say 'you don't have the biggest offensive line around,'" Moore said. "And we don't. But I was always taught by my mentor (ex-NFL head coach) Harland Svare that when you have slightly smaller O-linemen, they'll play all four quarters. You see that in a lot of the games we play. The other team might handle our D-line for two or three quarters then run out of gas and we'll dominate them."
The importance of a quality offensive line in indoor football can be illustrated by the AIFA's sack totals. The top five teams in fewest sacks allowed, Arizona (1); Wyoming (5); Mississippi (6); Reading (9); Columbus and Augusta (13 each) have a combined record of 49-15. Conversely, those that have been sacked the most, Baltimore (32); Canton (32); Utah (29); Erie (21) and Fayetteville (21) are just 17-37.
Such gaudy numbers add credence to Don Drew's analogy that the offensive line is "the foundation of the house." And, like a building's foundation, biggest doesn't always mean best. As far as sheer size goes, the Adrenaline line is only the third biggest in the four-team West Division.
Of the four linemen who have played the most, only Mitchell exceeds the 300-pound mark. But it wasn't always that way.
Scott, the 34-year-old veteran and only Adrenaline lineman on either side of the ball who is over 30, tipped the scales at about 340 at one point during his eight-year pro career and is now down to a svelte 292.
"I think one of the keys to our success is communication," said Scott, an introspective man who loves playing chess and travels with a stuffed animal at his side as a security blanket of sorts in honor of his 17-year-old sister, who resides in Denver.
"I study the playlist just like the quarterback does. In doing so, I'm able to read the defenses. If we're communicating like we should be it's almost like I can call an audible in my own head."
The free-spirited Mason, who played collegiately at ASU, wears his hair in a Mohawk and has an engine that never stalls, agrees with Scott's communication theorem and even hints that fear of failure can be used as a self-motivational tool.
"Between Lucian and Dorsey I play alongside two guys who have played the O-line for a long time and both are good at picking up tendencies," Mason said. "When I hear them echoing calls I always perk my ears up and listen. If I don't and we're not communicating like we should be, I know that I could ruin what we're all working toward."
For all of the other responsibilities of an offensive lineman, keeping defenders off the quarterback is the one that the Adrenaline big men take the most pride in.
The biggest, Dorsey Mitchell (6'5", 356), played for Pete Carroll at USC in the early part of the decade, played three preseason games with the New Orleans Saints, and earlier this year had a two-day tryout with the Arizona Rattlers.
Mitchell isn't surprised or awed by the Adrenaline's remarkable sack figure, but views it more as a reflection of the proper fundamentals and - there's that word again - communication that the average fan would not be aware of.
"One of my favorite NFL players is Tony Boselli," Mitchell said of the five-time Pro Bowler who also played at USC. "He always said, 'if you move your feet and place your hands, you'll never get beat.'
"It really just comes down to those fundamentals and communicating. We have to adjust to what the D-linemen are doing, what the stunting linebackers are doing, and at the same time still listen to our quarterback as he goes through his cadence. There's a lot that goes on down there that most people don't know about. But coach (Moore) does."
Indeed, Moore admits that the offensive line is closer to his heart in some ways. But when his perfectionist side comes to the fore, the O-line will often bear the brunt of his scorn.
"I suppose that because I was an offensive lineman I probably feel their pain a little bit more. You could say the O-line is my 'baby," Moore said.
"But at the same time if they mess up I think I'm harder on them than I am the other guys. I know from having played the position that you just can't get anything done without a good O-line. And we have a great one."
Special to the Courier, Monday, June 02, 2008
The offensive line of Lucian Scott, Matt Mason and Dorsey Mitchell has allowed a league-low one sack in 10 games (313 pass attempts) for the Arizona Adrenaline this season.
PRESCOTT VALLEY - Praise, glory and sparkling statistics are seldom included in the job description of an offensive lineman.
Exchange sweat and head-slaps for four quarters with another extremely large man and your net notoriety for the night usually consists of:
"Holding. Number 78, offense. Fifteen yards. Repeat first down."
Playing the O-line is an inglorious existence to be sure.
But it isn't difficult to convince Arizona Adrenaline head coach Andrew Moore just how important the men in the trenches have been for his 8-2 team, which is fresh off a huge 55-40 win at previously unbeaten Wyoming.
Moore, an offensive lineman during his playing days that included time in the NFL, has said all season that he wouldn't trade his front wall for any in the AIFA.
Take a look at the collective numbers, and it isn't difficult to see why.
The Adrenaline have thrown 313 passes, but incredibly have only been sacked a league-low one time. And it doesn't take a lot of arm-twisting for the linemen to point out that the one sack was the result of a running back missing his blocking assignment.
Moreover, the Adrenaline lead the league in rushing touchdowns, are second in fewest interceptions and third in rushing yards, all a reflection in part of the work done by the regular trio of center Matt Mason and guards Lucian Scott and Dorsey Mitchell as well as Don Drew, who has started two games on offense, and Cornealius Fuamatu, who has played offense sparingly when not on the defensive line.
"A lot of people will say 'you don't have the biggest offensive line around,'" Moore said. "And we don't. But I was always taught by my mentor (ex-NFL head coach) Harland Svare that when you have slightly smaller O-linemen, they'll play all four quarters. You see that in a lot of the games we play. The other team might handle our D-line for two or three quarters then run out of gas and we'll dominate them."
The importance of a quality offensive line in indoor football can be illustrated by the AIFA's sack totals. The top five teams in fewest sacks allowed, Arizona (1); Wyoming (5); Mississippi (6); Reading (9); Columbus and Augusta (13 each) have a combined record of 49-15. Conversely, those that have been sacked the most, Baltimore (32); Canton (32); Utah (29); Erie (21) and Fayetteville (21) are just 17-37.
Such gaudy numbers add credence to Don Drew's analogy that the offensive line is "the foundation of the house." And, like a building's foundation, biggest doesn't always mean best. As far as sheer size goes, the Adrenaline line is only the third biggest in the four-team West Division.
Of the four linemen who have played the most, only Mitchell exceeds the 300-pound mark. But it wasn't always that way.
Scott, the 34-year-old veteran and only Adrenaline lineman on either side of the ball who is over 30, tipped the scales at about 340 at one point during his eight-year pro career and is now down to a svelte 292.
"I think one of the keys to our success is communication," said Scott, an introspective man who loves playing chess and travels with a stuffed animal at his side as a security blanket of sorts in honor of his 17-year-old sister, who resides in Denver.
"I study the playlist just like the quarterback does. In doing so, I'm able to read the defenses. If we're communicating like we should be it's almost like I can call an audible in my own head."
The free-spirited Mason, who played collegiately at ASU, wears his hair in a Mohawk and has an engine that never stalls, agrees with Scott's communication theorem and even hints that fear of failure can be used as a self-motivational tool.
"Between Lucian and Dorsey I play alongside two guys who have played the O-line for a long time and both are good at picking up tendencies," Mason said. "When I hear them echoing calls I always perk my ears up and listen. If I don't and we're not communicating like we should be, I know that I could ruin what we're all working toward."
For all of the other responsibilities of an offensive lineman, keeping defenders off the quarterback is the one that the Adrenaline big men take the most pride in.
The biggest, Dorsey Mitchell (6'5", 356), played for Pete Carroll at USC in the early part of the decade, played three preseason games with the New Orleans Saints, and earlier this year had a two-day tryout with the Arizona Rattlers.
Mitchell isn't surprised or awed by the Adrenaline's remarkable sack figure, but views it more as a reflection of the proper fundamentals and - there's that word again - communication that the average fan would not be aware of.
"One of my favorite NFL players is Tony Boselli," Mitchell said of the five-time Pro Bowler who also played at USC. "He always said, 'if you move your feet and place your hands, you'll never get beat.'
"It really just comes down to those fundamentals and communicating. We have to adjust to what the D-linemen are doing, what the stunting linebackers are doing, and at the same time still listen to our quarterback as he goes through his cadence. There's a lot that goes on down there that most people don't know about. But coach (Moore) does."
Indeed, Moore admits that the offensive line is closer to his heart in some ways. But when his perfectionist side comes to the fore, the O-line will often bear the brunt of his scorn.
"I suppose that because I was an offensive lineman I probably feel their pain a little bit more. You could say the O-line is my 'baby," Moore said.
"But at the same time if they mess up I think I'm harder on them than I am the other guys. I know from having played the position that you just can't get anything done without a good O-line. And we have a great one."
