Skeptomania - Paranormal / UFOs, etc.

TheMadHobbit · Subway Tolkien

This could be HUGE...
http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=825031

Yaish · Intel Chief

How does it translate into the college game, or the NFL? It isn't going to help anyone if it means the good players opt for schools with more traditional strategies.

Like any play, I'm sure it can be countered pretty effectively too. It's probably just so new no one is sure how to do it yet. If you're playing a traditional defense, they've got an advantage in numbers on the receiving end. A defense designed around this offense might leave less people on the line though, and negate that advantage. A good pass rush seems like it might have an advantage too, as there is less opposition from them getting to the QB. That shotgun formation is a necessity just to prevent the sack.

I see it also making things more difficult on the recruiting end too. Now you have to have more players that can multiple possible positions, and none are probably as good at any position as a true position player might be.

It'll be interesting to see if anything comes out of this though.

Gren · God Of Oreos

And all that is old becomes new again.......

We used that formation when I was playing high school football, in Michigan, 1972 (when a new coach brought it in) and 1973 (after which I graduated and don't know if they used it anymore).

We called it the 3 Spread, but we lined up pretty much the same as in the linked video. It requires a QB who can run, throw, and think well, plus the two linemen on each hip of the center (I player center in this formation) MUST be fast enough to pick up blitzers.

We tried it every game and as long as those two players on each side of the center could handle fleet-footed pass rushers, it worked pretty good. However, if the pass rush was fast enough, it was one sack after another because the rusher is on the QB so fast he has to eat it or throw it short because no receiver has had time to get downfield. Throwing it quick over the center? Bad move. Throwing it quick out to the flats? Bad move. Makes for more interceptions. Works best if you use a long count and put players in motion (confuses HS level defenders), but that also can lead to offsides and procedure penalties if everyone isn't on the same page, more so than more standard formations and calls anyway. The A-11 or "3 Spread" is a high risk, high reward sort of formation.

Football is like an arms race - one side goes up with some new strategy and enjoys an advantage for a while, but the other side always finds ways to defend it.

What I want to see in the NFL is the Statue Of Liberty play!

TheMadHobbit · Subway Tolkien

223fmj

One-word solution: blitz.

Any team with a fast MLB or even D-linemen is going to flatten the QB for about 10 sacks while defending against this offense. Hell, just stack the LOS, pop each of the "receivers" at the snap and plug all of the gaps. A simplistic "man-to-man" scheme would play hell with it so long as you had the speed to match the offense.

My judgment? Flash in the pan that will be forgotten in a few years time, but not before these coaches give an early retirement to a few of their players in the form of multiple concussions and broken bones.