John Gilbert·
**this is an incredible article and you should read the whole thing The question for many fans was exactly how and why Walker saw the field
less than @[Zach Charbonnet](182), and why it appeared that the offensive line opted to not block when Walker had the ball. The answer to those questions, as has been the case for most of Walker’s career, falls largely at the feet of the fact that Walker consistently failed to operate within the system and run within the play design. Specifically, in outside zone a running back’s job is to proceed to a certain point, read the alignment of a pair of defenders, plant and go based on those reads. The three choices include two options to the play side or a cutback. There is no thinking involved, as which of the three paths for the running back to follow is dictated by the alignment of the defenders at the time the read is made. The defenders being read in this situation are those being blocked by Abe Lucas and Robbie Ouzts, and the read is based on whether the defender is inside or outside of the blocker. Thus, instead of moving north and south and proceeding up the field through the hole that had existed between Ouzts and Lucas, Walker spends his time running laterally. This gives the defender who is nine yards off the line of scrimmage at the 49ers 38 yard line in the above photo time to step up and make initial contact one yard past the initial line of scrimmage.