Vernon Davis’ Run Blocking Key for Washington Redskins

Vernon Davis signed with the Washington Redskins to a 1 year contract worth $2.4 million with $1.1M guaranteed. Although larger than most expected, this still looks to be a good signing. Most remember Davis for his 2013 season in which he caught 13 touchdowns and 850 receiving yards. In Bill Callahan‘s run scheme, however, his blocking ability will be the point of emphasis and why the Redskins snatched him in free agency. Additionally, Davis’ speed offers a threat in the passing game, even though his hands are not the most reliable.

Davis as a Run Blocker

The most important trait Vernon Davis possesses is his effort on run blocking plays. This is especially important in Bill Callahan’s run scheme that uses one tight end at least 95% of running plays, and 2-3 tight ends 30-40% of the time. Davis consistently shows it even on plays where he is not the lead blocker at the point of attack.

Here are two examples of Davis performing a perfect hinge block to seal off the backside defender in this zone run. If the blocking was better playside, the running back might have been able to exploit the backside cut lane that Davis created.

Note: Davis is wearing jersey #80 for the Denver Broncos and is at the left side of the line of scrimmage on the first play, right side on the second play.

Against the Patriots, Broncos’ C.J. Anderson had three rushing touchdowns. All three were at least partially because of Davis’ blocks. Below are two of the touchdown runs. The first is on a power-sweep run to the right using Vernon Davis as one of the lead blockers. He does an excellent job of keeping #21 Malcolm Butler wide of the running lane.

In the second play, Davis performs a good downblock on the edge defender in this one back power.

Finally, in the Super Bowl, Davis actually had an excellent downfield block a 34 yard outside zone run by C.J. Anderson. This was the longest run of the game. Davis is at the bottom of your screen. and seals the wide receiver outside of the run lane 20 yards down the field. Amazing play!

With how aggressive and persistent Davis is with his run blocking, I was fully expecting him to be penalized more frequently for holding. Instead, he only had two holding penalties on the season. Compare that to Jordan Reed, another Redskins tight end, who was penalized 12 times last year, while being called six times for holding alone.

Where Davis struggles is that he’s not the most powerful run blocker. Throughout all the tape I watched he tends to screen the player as opposed to forcefully pushing the defender backwards. This is great on hinge blocks, but not the best for point of attack run blocks. Davis displays a willingness to finish blocks, especially on combination blocks, but at times he doesn’t read the next level defender as well as I would like him to.

Article continues on the next page looking at Davis’ Receiving Ability.