I'm real happy for you, Muck. That sounds like a ridiculously cool day. Thanks for posting this gem. By the way, I don't suppose anyone asked Sparano why he's always wearing sunglasses? (I was half-expecting him to be wearing them in your interview session).
A lot of fans sites know me from doing camp reports, and without ever meeting Tom before that, he offered me one of his invites to Web Weekend. I was really humbled by the way he spoke and gave me praise for doing camp reports for all fans to see. A true gentleman and one that the entire world misses without even knowing him....
What kind of defensive formation is that against the wildcat? 4-4? The seahawk to the far side is on his man and the one on the near side is on penny. The other guy is kinda spying ronnie to see what he's up to and the rest of the guys are lined up to match the unbalanced line.
That's exactly why I think it would be good to have the RT (Long) report as eligible and especially if they're inside the 10 yrd line. Have Brown roll out to his left and let the spy follow him along with the rest of the line then let the Tackle engage and release to the post.
The only potential problem I could see with that is it would make Fasano ineligible over on the left side. That in itself would seem to make it easier on the defense, as they could anticipate better on that side pre-snap and also shift their alignment towards the strong side. In the traditional Wildcat (at least the one in my picture), an ineligible Fasano would leave no one for Ronnie to throw to when rolling left (assuming Ricky motioned right). More accurately, nobody for the defense to account for on that side. And then there's the issue of Ronnie throwing back across the field into the defense to Long. I think part of the reason they like rolling Ronnie out with Fasano is because it's going away from the defense towards the sidelines. Much less for him to look at. Less dangerous. And Fasano's big body gives them a greater margin of error with the pass. Down on the goalline, perhaps you shift Fasano to Martin's spot and insert another lineman where Fasano lines up on the left side? If you're going to have an ineligible guy over there and Ronnie rolling left, might as well be a lineman, right? Now you've got me pondering formations and ways we could effectively declare Long eligible on that right side.
To roll him out like he is going to run it is what I mean. Send Ricky to one corner, keep Fasano in to block as ineligible. Send Cobbs to the corner, and make it look like Ronnie is going to run it to the left. The entire line is going to be moving left and you can almost bet that the safety is going to be following Cobbs route to the outsite. IF the SSLB bites on the run the eligible tackle is wide open.
Yeah but Ronnie would have to throw across his body, and in the opposite direction from which his momentum is carrying him... And it'd be a long throw to the opposite side of the field and towards the pylon. Coaches and players say Ronnie is not a very accurate passer to begin with.
Nope! You are looking at a straight 43 man coverage defense. Yes........ You have half of it right. The defensive line is shifted to match the center of the line (our right guard). They are playing an 43 even front. The Seahawks have a couple of options with the farside corner. They can move him to the other side with motion (Ricky) or he can bump the coverage one man over. Judging by the the depth of the corner and the concentration the linebackers have on their man, the farside corner is prepared to rotate to safety and then the free safety would be responsible for the motion man when he reached the other side. This is probably the best option as if the corner vacates that side of the field, it leaves the Waggle to Fasano or Reverse to Cobbs wide open. The white linebacker just inside the farside corner has Fasano. The middle linebacker has Ronnie Brown. The white linebacker on this side has David Martin. 24 is the free safety. IMO, the Seahawks are playing the formation how you should play the formation. It's best defensed with alignment and assignment defense. It doesn't take rocket science to defense this stuff. Each player simply has to know his role.
Wait a minute Oz..... There has been some wacky stuff thrown out here. Muck, you cannot declare an end man on the line of scrimmage ineligible. He is eligible BECAUSE he is the end man on the line of scrimmage. The defense must always account for the end man on the line of scrimmage on each side of the ball. When a player reports as eligible he is signifying that he will align as one of the backs (4) or as an end man on the line of scrimmage (2). He is reporting as eligible because from high school to the pros the defense and the referees are assisted by jersey numbers. Certain number such as the 70's signify ineligible players. In any event, reporting as eligible does not make the player eligible. His alignment makes him eligible. Ozzy, here is the deal. As you can see from my description above, Long still isn't eligible in your play. He isn't eligible because Cobbs is the "end man on the line of scrimmage." So here is what I am going to assume. You want Ricky to step up on the line of scrimmage as the end man on the line of scrimmage. You want Long to report as eligible and step back into the backfield. For the defense, it's a simple fix. More than likely they would have shifted into a 43 zone defense. They will shift to a zone because you have quadruple receivers on one side of the field. What you have done is virtually tell the defense that one of your receivers on the quad side will run to the other side. The defense practices versus trips and quads all year versus better receivers than Jake Long. The only thing you have accomplished is to make the formation balanced, place a lineman as a receiver, and replaced that lineman (left tackle) with a weaker blocker (Fasano). The play is imaginative but it sucks.
Eligible receivers on the offensive team are players on either end of line (other than center, guard, or tackle) or players at least one yard behind the line at the snap. A T-formation quarterback is not eligible to receive a forward pass during a play from scrimmage. If a player changes his eligibility, the Referee must alert the defensive captain after player has reported to him. The lineman must report as eligible so the defense is aware of it. Other than that no lineman are just eligible because of where they are. TE's Rb's, and Wr's yes....
I'm puzzled by the point you attempted to make with this post. It seems most was in agreement with what I just said. Anywho.......... Wow! That's a foreign concept. Here is what the National Federation of High Schools says on the matter....... "A back is any A player who has no part of his body breaking the plane of an imaginary line drawn parallel to the line of scrimmage through the waist of the nearest teammate who is legally on the line, except for the player under the snapper, who is also consider a back." The words in parenthesis make this a false statement. The penalty for having players numbered 50-79 positioned as the end man on the line of scrimmage is "Illegal Numbering". No foul has anything to do with a position name. The foul or fouls as related to the subject at hand are "Illegal Numbering" and "Illegal Formation". Again, you cite position names rather than the positioning on the field. I do not know where you received this information. Here is what the National Federation of High Schools Football Rulebook that I have in my hands says on the subject. What reference are you citing?
All of what I said were direct quotes from the "The NFL Rule book". There are certain rules in the book that ackowledge the High School rules not not all apply to the NFL unless stated I think... Lineman must report as eiligible to the FJ before the play so the Defensive captain can be informed.
That particular rulebook comes with a disclaimer: If I were a betting man (which I'm not) I would put my money on the fact that the REAL NFL rulebook does not address (centers, guards, and tackles) identified by position name. Position names are subjective terms. I would bet that some of the language regarding eligibility actually states something similar to the high school rulebook such as "the snapper and the players on either side of the snapper." This language in combination with a rule regarding "numbering" effectively eliminates (centers, guards, and tackles) until they are the end man on the line of scrimmage and have reported as eligible receivers. In any event, the eligible linemen are always the end man on each side of the line of scrimmage. Concerning the language addressing the T formation quarterback: I knew the quarterback throwback was still legal. Oz, the high school rulebook 104 pages of rules. If one was to have difficulty understanding the rules they publish an accompanying simplified and illustrated version of the book some 95 pages long. They also publish another book that investigates special circumstances that have fallen under question within the rulebook. Altogether the National Federation of High Schools publishes well over 200 pages regarding football rules. The link at NFL.com was written for the fan and carries the disclaimer warning of that condition. The position of "end man on the line of scrimmage" matters. It has always mattered and always will. It makes the player eligible or the formation illegal based upon illegal numbering. Yes, the player with the illegal number must report if he is eligible. He must report because he is NOW eligible as a result of his positioning as the "end man on the line of scrimmage."
The rule we're talking about is simply written. I've herd it mentioned during games that the Tackle has reported eligible. Of course it has to do with numbers and positioning, but if he does not report, and the Wr steps back, it's an illigal formation. I'm willing to bet (nothing but bet) that no Tackle can go out for a pass unless he reports to do so. Otherwise its a formation penalty or illigal man downfield.
Here is the thing. The Wildcat is all about surprise right? Moving Ricky up the the LOS, and sending Cobbs in motion floods the left side of the field, and if they switch into a zone, you run it behind Long and the pulling Gaurd. Even with the line back to balanced, your best run blockers are all on the left side to counter a zone. We don't see a ton of passes going to lineman in the NFL but it sure has worked for plenty of teams, including a game winner against one of our better defenses not too long ago. Doing this while running the wildcat formation is just another added wrinkle on a play that so far has had few surprise elements of which, most have worked..........once. The play does not suck imo! It's the best play in the world. It can work and it can make a defense adjust if they recognize it, which would open up the running lanes.
I would like to think that it is not "all about surprise" with our team at least. If you use it once as so many teams have this year, it's a gadget. If you use it six times in a game, I would like to think you are using the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth plays based upon the knowledge gained from the previously run plays. http://forums.thephins.com/miami-dolphins-forum/20893-wait-second-wildcat-isnt-new.html#post449841 In Muck's picture, you are wrong. If you move Ricky up and motion Cobbs to that side, you have twins on that side and trips on the other side. It's not an "if they switch into a zone" situation. Nobody runs a man coverage versus trips. You will see zone. Now nothing done in the backfield is a surprise. Zone secondary eyeballs start in the backfield. Ummm..... Long is on the right side of the formation. Think about your original proposal. You want to throw to Long on the left coming from the right. How do you propose running behind him without pulling him to that side? Your proposal of running left is actually run behind Ricky Williams, Fasano and a guard. This is where you have gone wrong. The offense has worked because it is actually a well thought out offense that has a proven history. It's not a conglomeration of gimmick plays. It's an offense that has been run for nearly a century. Here are the plays that you seek as they have been proven. Look at Muck's picture and follow along...... Counter to the Left: Ricky cracks the safety Fasano down block Guard down block Center down block Guard pull and kick out Tackle (Long) pulls and seals the first linebacker inside The other play is a play that you have already seen except it didn't include a hi/lo pass option. The TD pass to Fasano was a simple run/pass option. That play is the Waggle. You can get Cobbs (or whoever) from the right to the left side of the field AFTER the snap. This gives RB the choice of hi/lo routes. I have never liked the hi/lo waggle because it always seems to bring defenders to the other side of the field. I like it how we ran it. Ronnie runs it or he passes it to Fasano. It's simple and effective. The danger is always the attempt to get outside the End. This coaching staff has not attempted to reinvent the wheel. They have utilized a proven system that could give them a shot at scoring after observing insufficient talent on their offensive roster. You are grab bagging. I like to think that the Dolphins are not.
Thanks. I was ignorant to the 'end man' part of the rule. I was only cognizant of the 5 blockers and 7 on the LOS part of it prior.
Muck - thanks for a fantastic post. The staff here has worked hard to enjoy such opportunities, and it's great to get this glimpse behind the scenes. Looking forward to Part II!
But the thing is, is that they're bringing out different variations of it every other week, and if the Pats and Texans were not surprised but yet ready to see the Wildcat, I'll be a monkey's uncle. They want it to be all about surprise so teams cannot concentrate on one form of it. Otherwise they'll just line 6 men up on the line to stop the run. First things first. I did not clerify one thing, and made one mistake on another. I'm not saying run the play by starting it out exactly like Muck's picture. I want Martin lined in the H on the left not the right. Secondly I said run it left but it was an obvious mistake since Long is on the right side and the LG usually pulls right. Seriously though, who cares if it's IF or common if they go zone? I'm sure the Texans were scratching their heads as to who's area it was that let Cobb's slip by them which is kind of what I'm suggesting, except I'm being further creative about it. See above It seems that you're just trying to prove me wrong by now saying this has been around for nearly 100 yrs. Well, ok but we have not seen this type of formation in the NFL, and especially on a regular basis, in many many yrs. It's not common to today's defensive coordinators to have to defend this formation. I never said the plays are not similar to the everyday plays that we've seen because as far as inventing new plays I think that's a lot easier said than done. What I'm suggesting is the use of one player differently while running these plays if the defensive formation allows for it. Yep, I'm grab bagging, and you're nit picking with me to prove a point. All good. I never said it was a sure thing, but I sure would not mind seeing them trying something else out of the wildcat. signed: Grab Bagger
Awesome thread Muck, thanks a bunch. I really enjoyed every word. So glad you had such a great weekend, well deserved!
