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Here's my crack at it. I'll preface this by saying I was never coached in a zone-blocking scheme, and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Bostad Approach/Power Blocking for Run Plays:
Leverage is the name of the game. Having your feet in the right position underneath your body is critical, because you are driving your opponent out of an area almost entirely with lower body strength. Strength is greatly favored over speed and mobility.

Each play has a specific hole/gap that the ball carrier is running through and the linemen create that space via wedging two defensive linemen apart, double-teaming one lineman into the second level, or hooking the defensive end from keeping contain on the outside (or if that isn't possible, string him out to the sideline and let the back go inside of you). The type of defensive front will always modify which defender the lineman will block. As a tackle, my primary blocking responsibility could be double team on a defensive tackle, double team on an defensive end, down or cut block a defensive tackle, hook a defensive end, or flow up to the second level and take on a linebacker on any given play depending on the defensive front 7 and if I had a tight end next to me or not. And these blocking assignments are locked in stone. A defensive stunt won't alter them.

Here's a standard way that the aforementioned gaps are determined below. So a play we had was called "Rip 24 Power". "Rip" meant the I-formation with the tight end on the right, "24" meant the tailback was getting the ball and was running for the space between the guard and tackle, and the "power" meant that the guard and tackle double-teams the defensive tackle and then the tackle can slip off to take a linebacker if possible (all assuming there is a defensive lineman somewhere between the center and tackle).
9  TE  7  T  5  G  3  1C0  2  G  4  T  6  TE  8

Pass Blocking: This is probably a lot more varied from coach to coach. But in pass blocking, I was taught a very similar thing to the leverage for running plays. First and foremost, make sure that you are well-balanced. If you aren't sturdy, any push from the defensive player will make you even more off-balanced and likely out of position. The next thing (for tackles and guards anyway), is to immediately take a step backwards. You don't necessarily have to even engage the defensive player. Mirroring him and getting in his way is just as good as stopping him at the line of scrimmage if you aren't backing up into the QB. The only time you should be aggressive instead of passive while pass blocking is if the player is trying to bullrush through you or run around you.

Markuson Approach/Zone Blocking: The objective is to create non-specific lanes for the running back. Plays are called to general areas rather than specific gaps. The three basic plays are inside zone, outside zone, and stretch. Inside means that the ball carrier will likely find a seam between the center and the guard, outside between the guard and the tight end, and the stretch beyond the tackle or tight end. Rather than the offensive blocking scheme dictating where the runner should go, the runner reacts to what opens up from the defense moving against the blocks. As the name implies, linemen block whoever is in their zone, rather than lock into a specific player. This scheme rewards speed and mobility over strength.

Pass Blocking: I'm not even going to pretend I know what I'm talking about here.


Overall: I think a valid analogy to each philosophy are these... Bostad wants his blockers to be road graders that pancake defenders on the ground and move on to the next one. Markuson wants his blockers to be walls that make temporary hallways for the runner to go through. I don't want to come off as knocking zone-blocking though. Mike Shanahan has had dominant run games using it exclusively.

Oscoe wrote: I think the bigger question from us armchair coaches is how long do either of you think it will reasonably take for our guys to get back in synch w/the old scheme & blocking assignments ?

I think it really depends on the individual player. If they completely bought in, the muscle memory from the new stuff might be hard to shake in less than 2 weeks. If it still felt awkward to them (I'd hope this is the case from their performances), we might see drastic improvement on Saturday.