The Trench Warfare Film Room featuring former Raiders, Bills, Dolphins & Rams LG Richie Incognito
The Trench Warfare Film Room featuring former Raiders, Bills, Dolphins & Rams LG Richie Incognito
Breaking down film from Incognito's dominant 2019 season for the Raiders with an emphasis on fundamentals, technique and the mindset needed to play at a high level
Welcome back everyone to another very special edition of the Trench Warfare film room where I sat down with Richie Incognito to examine his dominant 2019 season with the Raiders. I went into this session eager to hear about the mindset from one of the game’s most physically imposing guards over the last 15 years. Not only did I come away from our hour long discussion with a better idea about his approach to the game, but I learned a tremendous amount about the craftsmanship that goes into sustaining a great pro career.
Incognito played in the NFL for 15 years and amassed 165 total starts spread across both guard spots and center. He earned four Pro Bowl selections during that span and a reputation on the field for being a bulldozer in the running game, an all-time great puller, an adept pass-blocker and one of the smartest linemen in the league.
Incognito’s rare blend of size, power and athletic ability were the foundation of his game, but the mastery of a variety of skills including the application of leverage, understanding spatial awareness, knowing the opponent through film study and being shrewd in his adoption of certain techniques that fit his style best translated into incredible production and longevity.
Here is a quick overview of the most compelling and lasting lessons I learned during our conversation:
Master the basics; getting out of your stance first, keeping your feet underneath your frame, maintaining low pad level and inside hands translates into sound fundamentals and technique. These coaching points also are the keys to unlocking power and strength, which Incognito mastered over his career.
Hall of Fame LG Steve Hutchinson recently defined ‘technique’ at this year’s OL Masterminds event as, “Getting into positions of power and strength.” This concept is the best ‘one-liner’ to explain Incognito’s effectiveness as a player.
Incognito credits his offensive line coach Aaron Kromer for taking his game to another level when he played for the Bills from 2015-2017 and shares several coaching points that he picked up from Kromer throughout our discussion. Incognito compared Kromer’s coaching prowess as, “PHD, statistic-level” whereas most other coaches are espousing more basic concepts.
On the surface, generating movement in the running game is a function of strength, but the amount of technique involved to unlock that strength often gets overlooked. Incognito does a great job dissecting the art and science of imposing your will as a blocker and moving another man from point A to point B.
Snapshots and film breakdowns of Packers NT Kenny Clark, former Bears NT Eddie Goldman and Vikings NT Linval Joseph, plus many more matchups with various defensive linemen.
Incognito and Raiders LT Kolton Miller provided a host of teach tape material on double-team and combo blocks during the 2019 season. Incognito credited and analyzed Miller’s outstanding technique as a run-blocker throughout our discussion.
Video Preview - The backside combo block
Incognito is a legendary puller who had entire running schemes designed around taking advantage of his ability to get out in space, diagnose and erase his target. We broke down several examples during our discussion with insight from Incognito on what he saw during each given play.
Along with coaching points from various staffs over his career, Incognito also touched on a technique that he picked up training MMA from Fox Sports and founder of Unbreakable Performance training center Jay Glazer to trap and hook defenders on the backside of zone runs. He provided two different examples based on how the defensive linemen plays the run.
Video Preview - Pummeling
There are times on a given play when the opposing side does something completely unexpected that forces players to make snap decisions. This is often referred to as ‘being a football player,’ showing the ability to improvise based off of feel and instinct. Incognito covered one of those plays here, which he called, “One of my favorite plays of my career.”
Video Preview - Improvising and being a football player
These are just a handful of the topics covered over the full 60+ minute film room linked below.
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