I'm a Kicker. I... well, I kick.
This is the part of the series where we will be discussing the positions on a football team and what they do. Individual roles will get explained in more detail as we get more involved and advanced, but the general responsibilities of each position are described here.
Each team has 11 players on the field at any given time. Every single one plays a vital role on every single play. And that role depends largely on their position. The positions are as follows:
Offense
One thing to note is that, on offense, a team must have 6 men lined up on the line of scrimmage at the beginning of a play. Of those 6, only the two on the outside are eligible to catch passes. The others are not allowed to move five yards in front of the line of scrimmage on a passing play until after the pass has been completed. An offense can line up with up to 10 men on the line of scrimmage (leaving only the quarterback), but the rule remains that only the two outside men can catch passes.
Offensive line (OL) - Broken up into 4 positions: Center, guard, tackle, and tight end. The offensive line, as a unit, is responsible for one main thing: Clearing the defense away to make sure the other players on the offense have the time and the room to make lots of yards.
Center (C) - Only one center is ever on the field. He lines up on the football, and is the first player to touch the ball. He snaps the to the quarterback (or holder, punter, or running back) and then blocks.Guard (G) - There are two guards. These are the linemen who line up to either side of the center. They are responsible for blocking.
Tackle (T/OT) - There are two tackles. They line up outside of the guards. They are extremely vital on pass plays, as most defensive rushes will come from the defensive ends.
Tight End (TE) - There can be anywhere from zero up to 3 tight ends, but generally there is only one. A tight end is generally an extremely versatile player, because his responsibilities include both blocking (generally on running plays) and catching passes.
Running backs (RB) - Some teams have two running backs, some have one. There can actually be up to 4 (5 if there is no quarterback, but that's so rare as to hardly need mentioning). The running backs line up behind the quarterback and can be used for running the ball, blocking, going out for a pass, or (occasionally) throwing a pass. There are three kinds of running backs: Fullback, halfback, and wingback. The first two are the more popular, so we'll discuss them further.
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