January 25, 2017 · 7:06 AM

An offense by any other name…

Ian Boyd suggests events have overtaken the meaningfulness of using the expression “pro-style” offense and thinks a change in nomenclature is due.

Personally, I’d leave it up to Sheldon Richardson, if we need a new label.

13 Comments

Filed under Strategery And Mechanics

13 responses to “An offense by any other name…”

  1. eethomaswfnc
    January 25, 2017 at 7:26 AM

    Pro style is the ability to run to set up the passing game. Take Sunday as an example. Vince Lombardi is rolling over in his grave over the Packers’ offense with their inability to run the football. That was spread Big XII football in the pros. OTOH, the Falcons were mixing it up with run and pass. It may have been from spread sets, but that was pro style offense with the entire route tree and a power running game. In the 4th quarter, the Falcons got into a two-back power set and knocked the Pack into the offseason.

    Give me what the Falcons are doing right now with that offense over anything we’re seeing in the college or pro game today.

    Like

    • Atticus
      January 25, 2017 at 8:33 AM

      Agreed.

      Like

    • JG Shellnutt
      January 25, 2017 at 8:56 AM

      Well said.

      Like

    • Biggus Rickus
      January 25, 2017 at 9:53 AM

      I’d settle for a reasonable approximation of it, given that you’re never going to get that kind of precision with the limited amount of time college players have to learn a given system. The Falcons are a machine right now. I’m not even sure Belichick can come up with something to slow them down.

      Like

      • eethomaswfnc
        January 25, 2017 at 10:09 AM

        That’s my point. It’s about style of play (and really good skill guys help) where you can run when you need to and can throw it all over the yard when you have to. I’m probably going to bring out the Bobo Derangement Syndrome crowd with my next comment, but the Georgia offense of 2012-14 was the same kind of operation. Great skill guys with Scott-Wesley, Bennett, Conley, and Mitchell with Rome sprinkled in and, of course, Todd Gurley (and pre-injury Keith Marshall). Throw in a passer with Aaron Murray’s ability and swagger. It was “pick your poison.”

        Like

        • Biggus Rickus
          January 25, 2017 at 10:21 AM

          Agreed. I loved Bobo’s offenses near the end. He played to strengths and incorporated a lot of different styles into his “pro-style” offense.

          Like

          • eethomaswfnc
            January 25, 2017 at 12:12 PM

            He played to strengths and took what defenses were willing to give. A couple of examples … Kentucky 2012 – the Wildcats were hell bent on stopping Gurley and Marshall. In response, Bobo spread the field and let Murray carve them up. Clemson 2014 – once we established that they couldn’t stop the running game, Bobo just fed the tailbacks with power sets to grind them to dust.

            I hope Chaney can figure it out …

            Like

    • doofusdawg
      January 25, 2017 at 2:11 PM

      yep… but the key to the Falcon’s offensive success is that they continued to throw the ball and run play action out of multiple sets. Green Bay nor you nor I knew if it was going to be a pass or run on any given play. We eventually ran the ball mostly when the game was out of hand.

      The other aspect is the misdirection used throughout the game and taking advantage of open areas through route concepts and timing. Chaney occasionally did this with the tight end drag routes and other crossing routes as well as passes to backs in the flat. Not near enough imo.

      The Falcons offense is just a pleasure to watch. Truly multiple.

      Like

  2. Dawgflan
    January 25, 2017 at 12:24 PM

    I’d love to know the percentage of plays that the last 4 NFL playoffs teams lined up in the shotgun and pistol. Whatever the percentage for UGA this last season, it was too low, especially given a freshman QB that had never lined up under center. As others have noted, you can still establish the run from the shotgun and pistol and call that pro-style.

    Like

  3. Sherlock
    January 25, 2017 at 12:36 PM

    I would think that “Pro-Style” would always be indicative of an offense that is substantially similar to those that are popular and successful in the NFL. “Spread” originally referred to the line splits employed and not to the number of receivers. You had guys like Hal Mumme and Mike Leach that utilized large line splits to force the defensive ends further from the QB in order to give the QB more time to throw. You had other guys like Rich Rodriquez and Fish Fry that used large line splits to increase the size of running lanes. Over time they started to refer to shotgun offenses in 3-5 WR formations as “spread” due to the tendency of the the teams running large line splits also working from those formations.

    Like

  4. Dog in Fla
    January 25, 2017 at 2:53 PM

    “I watched that game. I turned it off, too,” Richardson said. “It’s* like watching Big Ten football. It’s old-man football.”

    Not that there’s anything wrong with that

    Like