TCU’s next potential breakthrough
Over at Football Study Hall I broke down the changes that seem to be brewing for the TCU offense with their addition of the veer and shoot passing game and talented downfield passer Matthew Baldwin.
Belichik’s other contribution to anti-spread D
I mention it in my new post on Football Study Hall breaking down the 2018 Mississippi State offense against the Auburn defense. This solution maybe didn’t totally originate with Belichick, but I think he made it particularly popular. The Patriots created a 46 front after the snap against the Seahawks zone-read game. That meant there … [Read more…]
The Warrior triumvirate and dynasty construction
One of my favorite reoccurring topics is championship team construction, especially champions that have repeated success. Building dynasties in the NBA is extremely hard because it’s a superstar driven league and nothing creates superstars like championships. Even if a team can assemble a title-winner, Pat Riley’s “the disease of me” regularly creeps in and wipes … [Read more…]
What about Jack? Can Texas and Iowa State re-integrate a pass-rusher into the inverted Tampa-2?
Texas and Iowa State each share a real problem heading into the 2019 season. Texas’ DC Todd Orlando piggy backed off Iowa State DC Jon Heacock’s inverted Tampa 2 defense back in 2017 and both had tremendous success with it. The Cyclones made it their new base for 2018 and added more to the scheme … [Read more…]
Gary Patterson vs Urban Meyer and Ryan Day
In a series I’m doing at footballstudyhall.com I broke down the chess games between Patterson and the Buckeyes that took place early in 2018. Going in I figured that Dwayne Haskins and the passing game would be too much for the Frogs, and he definitely did some real damage throwing it around but TCU had … [Read more…]
The Big 12 in the 2019 NFL draft
Another typical year for the Big 12 in the NFL draft. A few of the league’s big stars didn’t get much attention, including two of the most dangerous receivers of 2018 David Sills and Lil’Jordan Humphrey. The Sooners cleaned up with a commanding lead over the rest of the league, seeing eight players drafted. Amusingly … [Read more…]
The Big 12’s NFL draft prospects
In the past I’ve tried to be sympathetic to the NFL draft’s evaluations of players. I don’t know why I assumed that their evaluation was a gold standard, perhaps because college football conversations on team talent levels are often dictated by how many players a team had drafted and where they went. We should probably … [Read more…]
Spread-iso vs spread-option in the NBA playoffs and college football
The NBA playoffs often come down to matchups, as the good pundits are typically fond of noting. The Utah Jazz are pretty darn good when they aren’t playing the better spread/shooting teams like the Houston Rockets or Golden State Warriors. The Rockets make life hard for everyone because they force you to deal with James … [Read more…]
Breaking down the 2019 Oklahoma spring game
I took in some of the Oklahoma spring game recently, as is my custom. These are always a mixed bag, I’ve taken impressions in the past from these games that were helpful and accurate and then I’ve had some that were worthless. For instance, Kyler Murray didn’t look in command for the 2018 spring game … [Read more…]
PFPurdy and the post-Butler offense
I recently watched Iowa State’s bowl game against Washington State and noted that their usage of 12 personnel was still ticking upwards at that point. I read on 247 that they spent 40% of the season in 12 personnel, which is quite a bit. Over at Football Study Hall I took stock of their offensive … [Read more…]