Intro

Time for a wee change in the normal recruit reviews. I’m intrigued by what our run game is going to look like this year. Most reviews I’ve seen are consistently saying that our strongest group this year are our running backs. I would completely agree, Thompson, Brooks and Valdez all bring subtly different things to the room, yet all can fit in the same scheme. On the flip side of this, our line is incredibly green this year in terms of chemistry.

So, a combo of new offensive coordinator potentially weak line strong backs=who bloody knows!

To try and get some more info I went back to the film of the spring game to see what I could glean from that admittedly limited view. Of course, the full playbook won’t have been fully in, and they won’t have run even close to the majority of what was in due to it being filmed for the public and other teams to view. But it does give us a strong view of the themes and philosophy we can expect this year.

I used the Matthew Loves Ball highlights (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2CZP6mNmWw) as source material and have analysed only the runs that were executed (e.g., no RPOs that were thrown). I have then broken down each of those run plays below giving thoughts and themes that are emerging. Each run has its own time stamp if you want to go and have a look and see if you agree! Let’s goooooooooo.

Breakdown

1:04 – TE Wham RPO – 6v6 box means Smith never even checks this into a pass, the advantage is with Red team. RPO footwork by line, feet are buzzed on the spot to gain traction but not depth. This is further shown by 64 waiting until the last possible second to pick up filling MLB to ensure he doesn’t break up field for a flag. LOVE the pick-up by 43, picks the closest shoulder the backer presents to him and attacks it hard to create a clear cut and run lane. Play is spoilt by a very good defensive call for the safety to fill as the extra man.

2:51 – Inside Zone – 6v6 box again but wit ha read of the end. 43 picks the wrong block and after taking the correct steps to check for any stunting linemen, should graduate up field to safety. LT & LG declare early where they want the dline to go and just usher them out of the way. 64 needs to remember the gap is almost definitely going to be behind him, therefore the backer is more likely than not going to move that way to needs to take a more vertical path to avoid being jumped around. RG & RT do a great job of sealing the door for the back to take a vertical line down field.

3:22 – Inside Zone – Sidebar, I love the corner blitz call by DeRuyter, big ballsy call on a short yardage 4th down. Lack of push up the gut hurts here. The plan is to open either of the A gaps on this play and hope the back can slam 2 yards before edge pressure that’s ignored can get there. But this play relies on a explosion off the line. I would have preferred a gap play be called here to give the line a definitive man to hit, load and go.

3:34 – T Trap – Great pre-snap communication between TE and RT. I dislike the running backs angle from the start of this play. A quick pre-snap scan shows that a, the backer he beelines before is the 1 player unaccounted for and B, always follow your puller to glory. Another great example from the right side of the line of just helping the defence go where they want to go.

3:52 – IZ RPO – This play fails as the C doesn’t give enough pop to fully get the man onto the RG before moving to backer. IZ is incredible when the dline is dealt with fully and is designed to give you the time to do that as you are encouraged to wait to take the backers late. It will look like 1 flat line of defenders as the back breaks through. But invariably, the failure point is when the oline can’t get the dline handled. C is never up to speed with the play to give the 1 a firm bump onto the G. If in doubt, block the line.

4:07 – Inside Zone - Another great 4th down blitz call from DeRuyter, 1 backer on one side for the QB, one on the other for the back *chefs kiss*. Again, from the footwork of the right tackle, he is trying to get inside the end top open an internal plunge as the left side crashes down. A bit more vertical gain on the left seems that the aim of the run was to ride the wave on that side.

5:03 – Veer – Best example of a smart run so far. Right side of the line creates a clear seal, LG punches the 1 onto the C and holds his position until he can pick up the backer. LT does just enough to give a clear-cut lane and once again, TE takes what the defender gives him and presents a clear CUT HERE that’s hard to ignore.

5:20 – Veer – hard to see but the tempo seems to catch the D in base 42 with a blitz from the outside. Down blocks along the line and a GREAT pull read from Morton gives a walk in TD.

6:38 – TE Wham – Follow the Wham to glory here for me. It’s a tough read but if in doubt, follow the main core of the play. The bounce is successful no doubt, but that’s then fails to set up plays off the back of this in the future. The oline are in a tough spot of having RPO footwork in this play but also having lots of 1v1s which need a bit more power.

10:45 – TE Trap – JUST the right call to bounce here as you see 77 never picking up the 3 tech fully once 50 leaves so would likely have been swallowed for 2-3 yards fewer. 50 never fully stones the 3 enough for 77 to take over, once he does leave for the backer, 77 has to relent for fears of holding. 64 never graduates to backer, however you can see he is eyes on and waiting for the right moment which never comes due to the bounce. They could have been working round more however for the LG to be in position to take the hip if 64 had had to leave.

11:17 – Wide Zone – A nice job by all, RPO footwork lends better to wide zone as it is easier to mirror a lineman sideways than it is to command a block and get minimal vertical displacement. Great blocks by the WR and TE set this up beautifully but the line gets a hat on a hat and pressures the defence into playing behind the play.

Conclusions

RPO’s – Expect this offense to be heavy on screens and RPO’s to maximise yardage from means outside the run. Kittley is who he is, and who he is is a pass first guy. I appreciate him saying at the start of the year that he told Maguire essentially, you give me the players and I’ll build the offense, but we all know it will be varieties on a theme. This oline are not maulers, so having plays where they can be quicker and not have to dominate blocks, like RPO’s, are key.

Veer – the most successful plays were the Veer plays. This style suits a smaller, weaker oline as it is all about angles. You are down blocking defenders’ hips or double-teaming players creating lateral movement. It’s all Aikido baby, as long as the defenders aren’t going towards the play, you can direct them anywhere else their momentum will take them.

Communication – IF we are to be more zone based, some of the communication needs improved. There are a few times where players leave blocks either early or before the initial assignment is done. This comes down to a lot of new players being together in a new scheme sure, and hopefully this has all been ironed out by the end of camp.

I hope you all enjoyed; I know it was a slog, but I hope you got some value from it!