Why I’m not a fan of the direct snap
(Written by kencraw)
It was brought up in the comment box that Ludwig may be interested in exploring using the Wildcat formation with Best. For those not in the know, the Wildcat is a formation with a direct snap to the running back that is 4 times out of 5, maybe more, a running play.
Everytime I see the Bears line up that way I sigh.
First of all, the way the Bears have done it in the past is that they don’t “tip their hat” until after the huddle breaks. In other words, the QB is still a player in the huddle so that the opposition doesn’t know that a direct snap is coming. This sounds great in theory, why give the opposition any more warning than necessary, right?, but in the end I think it gives up the biggest advantage of the Wildcat: an extra blocker.
If you think about your average running play, the QB is a pretty wasteful player on the field. All he does is take the ball from the center, hand it to the running back and then get the heck out of everyone’s way. There have been a number of strategies to address this weakness. Most of them involve turning the QB into an additional running back (or at least a pseudo one). The original option did this. So does the zone-read option that spread teams like Oregon run.
The wildcat takes a different approach. It is designed to get the QB off the field and substitute in another blocker. Cal doesn’t gain this benefit because they leave the QB on the field, usually spread out as a wide receiver.
Which brings me to the the 2nd big problem. It is fundamental to the Wildcat. If you direct snap to the running back, the defense doesn’t have to much respect the passing game. This is of course a huge problem and over 50% of good offensive strategy is providing balance that keeps the defense guessing.
The solution to this problem is to find a running back who is a psuedo-QB. If the running back can throw the ball well enough that it keeps the defense honest, then you’ve got a win-win: an extra blocker on the field and at least the threat of offensive balance.
And Jahvid Best can’t throw worth a hill of beans. Seriously. There’s a reason that the one time the Bears ran the halfback pass, it was Vereen. There’s a reason that the other times Cal threw from a different position than QB it was a wide receiver. Jahvid. Can’t. Throw.
And everybody knows it.
So when Cal runs the direct snap, and splits the QB to a wide receiver position, it’s the worst of both worlds: the defense knows that Cal is going to run the ball, it doesn’t have to worry about covering the QB at wideout and Cal doesn’t have an extra blocker to make up for it.
That’s why the Wildcat didn’t work last year (and in part why it was somewhat successful with Marshawn Lynch, who can throw pretty well).
March 20th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Ok, so a few things:
1) I think the wildcat worked better with Marshawn, not so much because he can throw (that was utilized more for HB passes on a toss), but because he was so much better banging into the endzone on the few occasions we used it in goal line situations.
2) I agree the WC formation is a bit useless. BUT, imagine if instead of the traditional WC, we ran bit of a read option with Vereen taking the snap with Jahvid to his right. I say Vereen, because he could also throw the ball if absolutely necessary. But that’d be interesting.
3) When you say Jahvid can’t throw, do you mean he can’t throw it far, or he throws like a 12 year old girl? Please tell me you have footage.
March 20th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
#1: It’s a bit of both, I’d think.
#2: I think the zone-read has a lot of potential and all 3 of the current QB’s have plenty of speed to run it. No need to use Vereen. One caveat: Oregon runs it WAY too much. It’s got to be a “change of pace” play not a foundational play.
#3: Closer to the 12 year old girl… and if I had any footage, it would be from practice so I’d have to shoot you after you saw it. 🙂
March 21st, 2009 at 11:46 am
KC –
I believe we ran the halfback pass 3 times this year from my recollection – first play vs MSU and against UW and Miami. All unsuccessful.
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:26 am
Ken,
Incoming frosh Yarnway has better size; don’t know if he can throw. Kevin Riley has shown on several occasions to be a pretty effective blocker, but it would suck if he got injured on a blocking play. QB Beau Sweeney appears to have size and wheels (his HS team emphasized the run), and as our third QB on the depth chart we probably could better handle a ding. Even if we fans could attend practice one thing you won’t see is our QBs running blocking drills.
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:07 am
dgong, the blocking bit is exactly my point. If you’re going to keep the QB on the field during the play, he can’t block. He can pass, he can run, he can receive, but he’s not going to block. So, if they’re going to run the direct snap to the RB, the only option is for the QB to receive. And if that’s the case, he’s a complete waste if the RB can’t throw.
So, I think if you’re going to run the direct-snap, it’s better to get the QB off the field and substitute another TE (or similar) as an additional blocker.
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:04 am
GB98, that sounds about right to me. Unfortunately it’s not easy to quickly scan the games to verify that (particularly if the RB never got the pass off (and in fact it only shows Vereen with one throw for the season)). From your recollection, every single one was Vereen, not Best, right?
March 24th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Ken, from what I recall, I don’t think Best ever attempted a pass.
I think dgong sounds right on three attempts this year, but on the two unsuccessful attempts with Washington and Miami, I believe Vereen was looking to throw, saw his men covered and just pulled, it down and tried to make something happen on the ground.
March 25th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
someone threw a TD in the OSU game, might have been Ross, on a WR throw play.
March 25th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Beargnome, yeah that one I’m sure about, that was Ross and Boateng caught it. I remember them practicing it the week before thinking it wasn’t going to work and then saw it developing mid-play and thinking “Holy crud, it’s going to work!” That play and the hook-and-ladder with Best in the Big Game were my two favorite trick plays for the season.
For what it’s worth, Ross had a QB rating of 682.0 because that TD throw was his only throw of the season.