Hoge & Jahns with Josh Lucas Video Comments: OFFENSE

JJ Watt lined up wide A LOT! So yeah, he was a DE using speed to power. 

Either way, even for the example you provided...again, upper body strength is one small portion of it. The bigger portion in that scenario is the power and force one can develop with their lower body to "launch" themselves into the offensive lineman. Upper body punch isn't doing the job alone. Furthermore, speed is paramount, because if the offensive lineman gets to me first, I most likely lose. It’s why bench press is kind of a poor exercise because in this motion, I'm not cocking my arms back and bringing them forward, as you would in a bench press. I'm exploding out of my stance with my hand going right from the ground and working towards extension with my arms. Next, my projection and my "punch" need to be upwards into the offensive lineman, which along with my speed beating him to a spot, will help cause that imbalance. If I come out of my stance too high, I'm most likely beat. Interestingly, studies have shown a significant positive associations between force production coming out of a 3 point stance, and 10 yard sprint time, and minimal to no association with 1 rep max bench strength.

And where do accelerate from? Defensive lineman generally have lower 10 yard sprint times, meaning they can accelerate and generate force and power in shorter amounts of time than and Offensive lineman can. So even when you're "slugging it out toe to toe"...one's ability to generate force and power quickly is what is largely a determining factor in winning.