So, I thought about putting this in the Goff thread to add but figured it’s worth its own thread.
Somewhere in the Goff thread, iirc, there was a comment about QB’s in the shotgun vs under center and then running game etc.
I saw this in the profootballrumors site regarding Gannon taking the Cardinal job, full story at the link but Gannon thinks he can stress opposing defenses even more by putting Murray under center. Curious if the PS 5 will be taken away.
When asked about how the “polarizing figure” of Murray factored into Gannon’s decision, Gannon frankly replied, *“If Kyler Murray isn’t here, I don’t take this job.”
Gannon went on to laud the young quarterback, praising the ability he has to put defenses in a bind. He then elaborated on where he thinks he can improve on Murray’s usage. Gannon believes that Murray was utilized out of the shotgun offense far too often and that incorporating more play from under center will “take him to another level and unleash his full skill set.” Gannon claims that running more plays from under center will force defenses to have to be ready to defend plays they don’t worry about in shotgun formations, taking pressure off of the offensive line and Murray.
Fans think a running QB is the hardest to defend but the truth is a good play-action QB is much harder.
Being in the shot gun invites more blitzing.
From under center you can run play action much more efficiently and protect your QB better.
A QB in the shotgun has advantages in the passing game.
A QB under center has advantages in the run game.
A QB that can do both effectively is the hardest to defend because he forces defenses to worry about the run game more.
NFL teams are trending back towards the run game and as this trend continues more QB snaps under center will be a desired outcome.
Obviously you want to play to your QB’s strengths so someone like Murray has a lot of advantages in the shotgun but the better he gets under center the better QB he will be over all.
Thank God you started a new thread. Nobody would have known which of the thousands of Goff threads to look in, and guys like me probably never would have looked at all.
It’s hard to run out of the shotgun. That was one of the biggest knocks against Stafford. He was a shotgun QB.
That was an exchange between me and JD I believe. The interesting thing is statistically, on the surface YPC for RBs look better for RBs from the gun than from under center
But, because teams only run from shotgun formation only something like 18% of the time, defenses drop players from the box
However, over the course of the season, gun-heavy teams put their run game at an overall disadvantage. Offenses lose much of the full run game playbook when running from the gun. A traditional run game gets replaced with short throws and bubble screens
This is a major reason why in the 12 years with Stafford at QB running a gun-heavy throw-first offense, we didn’t have a meaningful run game even though our RBs were always leading the league in receptions
Purely a RB stat. RPOs are more effective from the gun. Another reason I don’t think it makes sense to take a QB like AR at 6OA. We would probably want to play him in the gun for RPO, and that would eliminate the under-center RB focused play action offense we have been building
"The stats show how McVay has changed the Rams offense to suit Stafford’s skill set, and it has involved more empty backfields, less play action and an increased number of spread formations.
According to Next Gen Stats, the Rams have run play action on only 25% of Stafford’s dropbacks, which is right in the middle of the league at No. 16. For the last four years, the Rams ranked first in play-action percentage."
Sony Michel was no slouch either in 2021. He turned 208 carries into 845 yards. He finished the season with a 75.3 PFF grade. Incidentally, Jamaal Williams this year finished with a 75.3 grade
