# American football, left tackle vs right tackle

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-football-left-tackle-vs-right-tackle/838148>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [August 4, 2019, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-football-left-tackle-vs-right-tackle/838148 "2019-08-04T00:42:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-football-left-tackle-vs-right-tackle/838148/1 "2019-08-04T00:42:52Z")

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What would you say is the primary difference in the skill set between a good left tackle and a good right tackle on the offensive line?

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**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-football-left-tackle-vs-right-tackle/838148/2 "2019-08-04T01:17:07Z")

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> **[Tackle (gridiron football position)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tackle_(gridiron_football_position))**
>
> Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, offensive tackle and defensive tackle are separate positions, and the stand-alone term "tackle" refers to the offensive tackle position only. The offensive tackle (OT, T) is a position on the offensive line, left and right. Like other offensive linemen, th...

LTs are quicker and more agile for better pass blocking; RTs are bigger and stronger for better run blocking.

Why? LTs have to defend the quarterback’s blind side, since the vast majority of QBs are right-handed. (There are literally no lefty QBs in the NFL right now, although that will almost certainly change in 2020 if/when Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa turns pro.)

When a single tight end is used, they’re typically on the right side of the offensive line, so runs are more common on the right side. (I think TEs are more often on the right side because QBs are right-handed, but I don’t have a source for that.)

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**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-football-left-tackle-vs-right-tackle/838148/3 "2019-08-04T01:37:50Z")

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As \*\*Kimble \*\*said, the main specialty of the left tackle is pass protection, because a right-handed QB can’t see what’s behind him. It requires big yet nimble guys like Tyron Smith.

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**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-football-left-tackle-vs-right-tackle/838148/4 "2019-08-06T18:22:54Z")

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Although it’s not a unique play to any particular team, during the heyday of Washington’s superbowls, they ran a much-talked-about play they called the “counter trey” in which one side’s guard and tackle would pull and run counter to the direction in which the rest of the line started to run-block. This put something of a premium on mobility, as the tackle had to lead the runner into the hole.

[Counter-trey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter_run)