Mike Wauffle’s addition can’t be underestimated.

Here are some of his concepts from a scouting form called the “Winning Edge” which they give to each of their players during game week:

- “Breaking down the Quarterback:

In the NFL, no other position is more important than the one calling the signals. We all know that the success of a team rises and falls on the QB – especially at that level.

Waufle knows this, so he spends extra time preparing his defensive linemen for the type of personality they will see behind center each week.

“The QB is the head of the snake,” says Waufle.

“Preparing for the QB goes under coached at a lot of levels … It’s always our first priority when going into a game.”

The first thing Waufle does is examine the depth of the QB on passes, or more specifically, his launch point.

Unlike college, many professional QB’s are pocket types that don’t like to get out of the pocket much. But that doesn’t mean Waufle doesn’t prepare for it.

On the “Winning Edge” form he’ll label what he calls QB escape points based on where he exits when pressure approaches. It helps players to prepare when they get him on the run and used mainly to track the angle of departure for the QB.

“It’s important that guys know where a QB’s exit strategy is going to be. There are some guys that scramble so we try to find out where. If Michael Strahan is chasing a QB that always scrambles to his side, he’s going to get a lot of depth on his pass rush. So that when the QB starts to run, he’ll change his angle to match up his depth.

There are great rushers that run right over the top of the QB and they run right by him because they don’t take proper angles to affect him. Osi (Umenyiora) does it because he’s extremely quick. If you’re playing a Donovan McNabb you have to control your rush and balance your rush lanes. You need to know where his escape area is either inside or outside.”

- Determining Pass Protection

According to Waufle, this relies either on the drop of the QB or the personnel in the game offensively.

“I figure out what the QB set target is per down, or where he sets,” said Waufle. “Most are at seven yards but some are different, including the shotgun formations. We control our blitz lanes and rush targets based on that.”

The type of protection will almost always be based on how many eligible receivers an offense will deploy.

“We zero in on personnel groups to identify what they are doing,” says Waufle. “For example, if you take each personnel group with two backs whether it be two backs and two tight ends, two backs and one tight end or two backs and no tight ends there is only a certain way they will protect. Chances are those backs will be involved in the protection scheme. Now, anytime there is one back it can really be two formations – a two by two receiver set or a three by one receiver set. Rarely does anyone go empty in this league; the QB would get killed. Who releases and who stays in is based on whether it is a two by two or a three by one.”

Waufle also will play a lot of games with his interior tackles to confuse the center. In most slide protection schemes the center will find the Mike, or middle linebacker in a 4-3 scheme, and set the protection to slide in that direction. A lot of teams will stem or move their front so that the center doesn’t get a clear identification. “If you just cover the guards once in a while, they just can’t figure out where to set the protection,” said Waufle.

“I also like to get those quicker defensive ends in space by widening them out. Put them in situations where they can try to handle us. We are better athletes.”

- Evaluating the Running Back

“The alignment and the depth of the back are important. When he’s deep at eight yards, you want to re-establish the line of scrimmage by using various one man or two man games. You got the time to do it. If he’s shallow in there at six, I also want them to know that because a lot of teams will do that in the pass game for protection purposes. If that back is involved in the protection, they want him at or near the line of scrimmage in a hurry. They don’t want to waste any time by getting those defensive lineman downhill.”

Because of those gap schemes where offensive linemen are often pulling at the point of attack, Waufle will have his guys examine the stance of their offensive lineman.

“One of the biggest things I look for in the run game is the offensive line either backing off the line of scrimmage and their hand placement.” says Waufle.

- Finding mismatches in the trenches

Probably the most important aspect of the preparation process is finding and exploiting mismatches up front.

In fact, the entire back sheet of “The Winning Edge” form is devoted to a precise breakdown of each of the starting offensive linemen they will be facing that week.

It details their strengths and weaknesses, giving the players a “how to” manual on getting to the QB.

“It provides immediate feedback for the players and their assignments,” said Waufle. “It’s a confidence builder and a security blanket that you can fall back on. This is the ultimate study tool. I walk out of the locker room and you won’t believe the number of players who are reading this stuff. They will ask me in the middle of practice and I just hand it to them. It’s on the sidelines with us all the time.”