Eagles Film Room: Concept of the Week – Dart

Football is back! As we start the new season, I want to thank you all for reading my stuff over the years. I started my own blog around 2015, and after it was picked up by BLG, I’ve been writing for Bleeding Green Nation since 2016. I’m immensely grateful for this wonderful site, and the opportunity is never lost on me.

This year, in addition to writing the All22 offense and defense reviews after the game, I will also be adding another article known as ‘Concept of the Week’. I will break down a certain concept or play on offense and defense and explain the play in more detail. Hopefully, this will allow you to look out for that play in future weeks. This week, we will start with a play we saw in preseason, known as Dart.

Dart

Dart is a gap-scheme run rather than a zone run (such as outside zone or inside zone). If you are wondering what the difference is, in zone runs, the offensive linemen move into space and block whoever comes into their zones. On gap scheme runs, it is predetermined based on the alignment who the offensive lineman will be blocking. Some coaches will call Dart tackle power because it plays out like Power but with a pulling tackle rather than a pulling guard.

Here are some examples of Dart on the whiteboard, courtesy of the excellent Logan Radke. It’s an easy play to spot; just look for a pulling tackle.

And here’s what it looks like with real players! Take a look at the play side guard, as he is in the perfect position to block the 1-technique. We will get to him later!

So, let’s talk about what Dart is and why I like the concept. Firstly, unlike with the zone running game, you won’t see double teams at the line of scrimmage. Dart is also a great mix-up to power/counter because those runs involve pulling guards, leaving you vulnerable to quick interior penetration from the opposing defensive tackle. Dart allows your interior lineman to stay inside, which makes it a ‘safer’ run, but as I said earlier, the tackle has further to travel, so he needs to be very athletic. Luckily for the Eagles, they have two highly athletic tackles! The running back will usually aim to run behind the tackle who is pulling and look for a gap to open up.

The Eagles ran Dart quite a few times in the preseason, so I expect to see it over the next few weeks. They may rely on their two outstanding tackles more now that Jason Kelce is no longer the focus of the run game. Here are some examples from the preseason.

Dart is a challenging play to run, and you don’t see a lot of it because the offensive tackle has a lot of ground to cover. A pulling guard is more popular because he has a shorter distance to travel. One of the significant benefits of Dart is that the offense can attack the defense’s 1-technique. On zone runs such as outside zone, the guard will often have to cross the face of the defensive lineman before you can block him. Whereas, with Dart, the guard is already in the perfect position to block the 1-technique, who is often going to be the defense’s best-run defender.

Finally, although we haven’t seen this in the preseason, the Eagles have run QB Dart in recent years. It’s the same play, but quarterback runs give you an extra man in the box, so the Eagles don’t have to block the EDGE defender next to the tight end. I am fascinated to see if Kellen Moore runs Jalen Hurts a lot this year.

Lastly, I am going to be doing the same segment on my podcast weekly, so if you want to check out a video explanation in addition to the article, you can do so here!

As always, feedback and comments are appreciated, especially as this is a new segment. Thanks all!