NFL teams going to college ranks to learn how to stop the pistol and zone read

[SCP]

With teams like Atlanta going to Alabama to learn how to stop these hybrid college/pro offensive schemes, will we see offenses begin to shift back to ground-and-pound? Or is the Chip Kelly style of offense here to stay? Should be an interesting couple of years to watch the chess match as teams begin to figure out how to stop the new offenses. That's why I like Gettleman's approach. Schemes can be adjusted to and beaten. But if you have big, strong men on the interior and can physically dominate the line of scrimmage 4-5 yards at a time on offense and hold the point of attack on defense then you can withstand the trends that come and go.

[Growl]

The spread offense isn't going anywhere. It's not a fad, or a trend, or some cool hipster thing. It's becoming the base offense in today's NFL because it enables you to get as many pass catchers on the field as possible with as much space as possible in a league that is going to continue to becoming more and more pass friendly.

The zone read may recede some, the pistol as well. But to equate the spread with certain plays run out of it is like saying a 38 pitch will be done away with as the I-Form becomes less and less popular.

Heavy run teams will never ever again be a staple of the NFL barring some catastrophic psyche change by the American people where all of a sudden passing the ball and QBs aren't interesting and running up the middle for four yards is.

The further the league trends this way is where the real fun of this chess match comes in. You'll see evolutions of the spread and defense designed to counter it, and in turn more evolutions, leading to things we've never seen in the sport before.

But the days of through the dirt teams are dead and will soon be nothing but a memory held by those of us who are here now.

[SCP]

I wonder if we will begin to see a new type of base defense evolve? In 5 years what will a front 7 look like from an athletic standpoint?

[CRA]

If you want to know if the spread, read, etc. is going away.....go watch middle school, high school, and look who the colleges are recruiting.

 

It isn't a fad.  It will only go away once the Cam Newton's, RGIII's etc get converted to other positions coming out of high school and early college.  Which ain' t gonna happen any time soon

[MtnJax]

I wonder if we will begin to see a new type of base defense evolve? In 5 years what will a front 7 look like from an athletic standpoint?

I would say maybe smaller athletic LBs in a 4-3 or Nickel becoming a base defense. Maybe some 3-3-5 looks too

[Growl]

I wonder if we will begin to see a new type of base defense evolve? In 5 years what will a front 7 look like from an athletic standpoint?

This is an interesting question, but I doubt 5 years is long enough for any significant change.

It is interesting to try and imagine what might happen though. Will we see entirely new base sets? Will see large "space eater" DTs fade away as team emphasize getting more pass rushers on the field?

I suppose it's interesting to imagine that as athleticism increases, we may see DLs shrink initially (giving a small window for a temporary but very limited, running game rebirth, but certainly not to the level they once were) with teams attempting to get as many pass rushers on the field as possible, before athleticism catches back up and you see guys who are 6-6 310 or more of pure muscle. I wonder if the days if the fat boy are dying, as the days of the slow but tough, grizzly white dude have.

You're going to see more and more Cam type freaks come in at every position until its the norm.

[SCP]

I think a big, athletic body in the middle like a Ngata is necessary to keep those middle run lanes clogged. With the spread stretching everything out you need integrity in the middle. Collapsing the pocket in the middle should stand the test of time. What surrounds that hog body though is where we will see things change IMO.

[TheRumGone]

I think Kuechly is the model of the future middle linebacker position against the pistol and zone read. He's almost like a hybrid type of player. Smaller in stature and quicker.

[SCP]

I think Kuechly is the model of the future middle linebacker position against the pistol and zone read. He's almost like a hybrid type of player. Smaller in stature and quicker.

Kuechley and a guy like Mingo out of LSU. Tall, athletic as hell, muscular. Can rush and clog passing lanes. Seeing four guys like that spread out behind a fast, athletic d-line would be scary.

[MrPickles]

The teams that have had the most success stopping Oregon have been Auburn, LSU, Cal and Stanford. All of them had NFL talent in the front 7. I think we're building our D the right way. Guess we'll see in week 1!

[TheRumGone]

Kuechley and a guy like Mingo out of LSU. Tall, athletic as hell, muscular. Can rush and clog passing lanes. Seeing four guys like that spread out behind a fast, athletic d-line would be scary.

 

Exactly. Ive thought about this a lot.  In 10-20 years the kids that are gonna be playing in the NFL are gonna be crazy athletic. This is inevitable with more focus on the NFL and its rewards, better nutrition, and learning playbooks at an earlier age.  What we are gonna see in 10 to 20 years is gonna be fuging crazy.  I think guys like Kuechly and Cam, as well as others are just the start of it.

[SCP]

The teams that have had the most success stopping Oregon have been Auburn, LSU, Cal and Stanford. All of them had NFL talent in the front 7. I think we're building our D the right way. Guess we'll see in week 1!

Stanford is the intriguing one out of that list because I generally don't think of Stanford as being this overly athletic team. They seem ti be more old school football. They run a base 4-3 at Stanford?

[MrPickles]

Stanford is the intriguing one out of that list because I generally don't think of Stanford as being this overly athletic team. They seem ti be more old school football. They run a base 4-3 at Stanford?

Yes they run a 4-3. The key is disruption and penetration in the back field forcing quick reads. Standard did it mostly with their linebackers. Auburn of course had Fairly. Too bad the Ducks didn't play Utah the last couple years. Would have been fun to see Star go up against them.

[MrPickles]

Some reading pleasure for football junkies...

http://fishduck.com/the-chip-kelly-oregon-spread-offense-analysis/understanding-the-oregon-offense/