Dooley
Done with U-con athletics
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I'm now more convinced than ever that our 2015 offense will feature heavy doses of read-option runs. One positive that we have found in this dumpster fire season is that we will have two incredibly dynamic FR RBs in our backfield for many years to come. Both Shirreffs and Davis are more of an athletic breed of QB that would support the change in offensive philosophy to a read-option heavy playbook. Boyle probably has the strongest arm of the 2015 group and can move a little bit, but doesn't have that break-away speed needed for read-option. We'll likely see a platoon where Boyle gets snaps when we are losing and need to stretch the field and score quickly. I think we will wind up trying to find another QB through the JUCO or 5th Year transfer channels that can also run.
Anyway, I thought I'd start looking around for any sort of support for a run-first based offense. I found a staggering amount of content out there that breaks down run-first offenses vs. passing attack offenses. It seems like defenses have made adjustments to defend pass offenses by going smaller/faster.
I found an interesting read from the PostBulletin: http://www.postbulletin.com/sports/...cle_761ce591-3296-5b9c-a401-89d6d3130c7f.html
Here are the key highlights from the article, if you don't feel like reading the whole thing, that illustrate the point: more offenses are finding success running the football again.
"Defenses that have been built to withstand getting bombarded by passes and had been stretched thin by spread offenses for years are now finding it hard to plug holes. Offenses have rediscovered the running game, doing so with diversity and creativity.
Eighteen FBS teams are averaging more than 250 yards rushing per game. Last season, just 13 did that. The year before it was eight. In 2011 it was seven. In 2009, four teams averaged more than 250 yards rushing per game, and three of them were triple-option teams: Georgia Tech, Air Force and Navy.
Instead of the standard 4-3 (four defensive linemen and three linebackers) or 3-4 alignments, many teams had gone to a 4-2-5 set up or something similar with extra defensive back to cover extra receivers.
People recruit to stop the spread. A lot of times those guys are more space players than box players," said Baylor coach Art Briles, whose version of the spread has become as good at running through opponents as it is at throwing over them."
More thoughts: it does appear that there is a plan in recruiting. By bringing in size, particularly at WR/TE, this would seem to point to the need for better down field blocking. I'm interested to see what kind of bodies and athletes the coaching staff will try to bring in at OL. Will we go for leaner OL types that can get off their blocks and down field quicker to block 1st and 2nd levels? Or will we recruit the beef up front to open up holes in the first level and rely on our bigger WR/TEs to block down field? Granted, a read-option offense doesn't mean we are never going to throw the football. In fact, I can see this style of offense being attractive to WR/TEs as read-option also features quite a bit of play-action passes over the top of defenses to keep defenses honest.
Anyway, with all the talk on other threads about lack of plans from our coaching staff this season (and I certainly don't blame or fault anyone for thinking that...this season has been tough to digest and evaluate and I tend to agree with most of it!), I do see this as becoming the plan on offense. Read-option heavy playcalling seems to be in our future and the recruiting class of 2015 seems to cater to that style.
Anyway, I thought I'd start looking around for any sort of support for a run-first based offense. I found a staggering amount of content out there that breaks down run-first offenses vs. passing attack offenses. It seems like defenses have made adjustments to defend pass offenses by going smaller/faster.
I found an interesting read from the PostBulletin: http://www.postbulletin.com/sports/...cle_761ce591-3296-5b9c-a401-89d6d3130c7f.html
Here are the key highlights from the article, if you don't feel like reading the whole thing, that illustrate the point: more offenses are finding success running the football again.
"Defenses that have been built to withstand getting bombarded by passes and had been stretched thin by spread offenses for years are now finding it hard to plug holes. Offenses have rediscovered the running game, doing so with diversity and creativity.
Eighteen FBS teams are averaging more than 250 yards rushing per game. Last season, just 13 did that. The year before it was eight. In 2011 it was seven. In 2009, four teams averaged more than 250 yards rushing per game, and three of them were triple-option teams: Georgia Tech, Air Force and Navy.
Instead of the standard 4-3 (four defensive linemen and three linebackers) or 3-4 alignments, many teams had gone to a 4-2-5 set up or something similar with extra defensive back to cover extra receivers.
People recruit to stop the spread. A lot of times those guys are more space players than box players," said Baylor coach Art Briles, whose version of the spread has become as good at running through opponents as it is at throwing over them."
More thoughts: it does appear that there is a plan in recruiting. By bringing in size, particularly at WR/TE, this would seem to point to the need for better down field blocking. I'm interested to see what kind of bodies and athletes the coaching staff will try to bring in at OL. Will we go for leaner OL types that can get off their blocks and down field quicker to block 1st and 2nd levels? Or will we recruit the beef up front to open up holes in the first level and rely on our bigger WR/TEs to block down field? Granted, a read-option offense doesn't mean we are never going to throw the football. In fact, I can see this style of offense being attractive to WR/TEs as read-option also features quite a bit of play-action passes over the top of defenses to keep defenses honest.
Anyway, with all the talk on other threads about lack of plans from our coaching staff this season (and I certainly don't blame or fault anyone for thinking that...this season has been tough to digest and evaluate and I tend to agree with most of it!), I do see this as becoming the plan on offense. Read-option heavy playcalling seems to be in our future and the recruiting class of 2015 seems to cater to that style.
