(b) Inside play called—fake split and don’t move. Inside linebacker: Split out one-half man.
3. Ends—Take good wide splits and apply common sense rule, never split more than one-half man either way.
In order to split intelligently it is important to determine first of all if the defensive man will move with you when you move ([Figure 99a]), or whether he is keeping his spacing on his own defensive man ([Figure 99b]). You are attempting to determine as quickly as possible if your defensive man is taking a variable or a static position. [Figures 99a-b] illustrate variable and static spacing, respectively, by the defensive linemen.
Figure 99a
Figure 99b
Do not ever emphasize that you are splitting to get good blocking angles, but you split in order to isolate a defender. If the defender splits when the offensive man splits, you can isolate him. If his split is static, a good blocking angle will be the result. Your linemen should never split merely to get the angle, however. It will also help the linemen if they have a clear picture of where the ball crosses the line of scrimmage (the critical point of attack), and from where the ball is being thrown on a pass play. Then, too, there is no set rule that will cover all defensive situations and the offensive men must be able to apply the common sense split rule along with the basic split rule.
[Figure 100] illustrates the pre-shift position of the right side of the offensive line and the application of the guard’s, tackle’s, and end’s split rules. From the pre-shift stance and position, the offensive men are allowed to split one-half man either way, according to the defense. The inside always must be protected. A defensive man must not be allowed to penetrate or shoot the inside gap as he is likely to stop the offensive play for a loss.