Alex Smith and the blandness of NFL offenses

[Jackass]

Maybe the coaches are to blame for Smith's struggles

By Tim Keown

 

Close to halfway through another terrible NFL game Monday night, the guys on the television broadcast had a brief but vibrant discussion about the NFL's inability to judge talent at the quarterback position. The topic arose after a pictorial rundown of all the brutal drafting decisions that have occurred over the past decade with No. 1 overall picks.

 

It just so happens that Alex Smith and the 49ers were playing Monday night, so the pictorial rundown of draft busts was timely. Smith seems poised to join Tim Couch as one the worst top quarterback picks in history. He's at least putting himself in the discussion.

 

Smith has been a huge disappointment; there's no argument there. His failures are made more glaring by the successes of guys like Tony Romo and Jeff Garcia and of course Saint Tom Brady, because those guys were either unregarded or lightly regarded coming out of college and they've been successful.

 

But removing the entire scouting/evaluation angle, I contend that coaches and organizations have as much responsibility for the draft busts as the quarterbacks themselves. This is especially true in the case of Smith and the 49ers, a classic case study for an NFL team's complete inability to innovate.

 

If you've watched the 49ers for as much as a series this season, you know they have one of the dullest, most poorly coached offenses in recent NFL history. In the first half against the Seahawks on Monday night, their one first down came on a desperation pass on the last play before halftime. And the receiver didn't even catch the ball.

 

Think about it, though: Smith was the No. 1 pick in 2005 mostly because he excelled in the fresh and innovative offensive scheme Urban Meyer created at the University of Utah. Meyer's version of the shotgun spread offense best utilized Smith's talents. It put a large number of receivers downfield, maximizing Smith's options and forcing him to make quick decisions. If nothing opened up quickly, Smith was fast enough and shifty enough to take off and gain yards in the middle of the mostly linebacker-free defense.

 

We have to assume that's what the 49ers saw when they scouted and evaluated Smith. Sure, there were combines that measured his athletic ability and psychiatric evaluations to assess his mental acuity, but the bulk of the available evidence came on the field in a University of Utah uniform.

 

So what do the 49ers do? They put Smith in a traditional offense, have him take seven-step drops behind an offensive line that is well below average in terms of pass blocking, and they wonder why they have the worst offense in a league full of bad offenses.

 

Does that make any sense?

 

To put it another way, can you imagine a successful college coach -- a guy accustomed to cycling new talent through his program every three or four years -- doing the same thing?

 

Last week I pointed out how many inexcusably awful teams are inflicting inferior football on the paying public, and one e-mailer seriously suggested this was "un-American." (Well, there's a vote for Giuliani.) The idea that a lot of people are watching the NFL with a critical eye, or at least not planning their entire Sunday around Raiders-Bears, apparently struck a nerve with those whose loyalty to the league leans a little toward the unnatural side.

 

But the Alex Smith situation is a perfect example of the rampant institutional arrogance of the NFL. It's bigger than just one player and one team and one coach. It gets to the root of why college football is the more entertaining product, and why the NFL has to rely on the Stepford-like devotion of its fans to continue to fill stadiums and empty their pockets.

 

There is no reason, right now, to believe Smith will ever be considered anything other than a horrible drafting blunder by a team that couldn't afford one. But most of the blame seems to fall on Smith -- he doesn't have the right instincts, he doesn't have the arm strength, he doesn't have the savvy to lead a team. In other words, Smith will be considered a bust forever, but the lack of creativity and intelligence will earn the 49ers coaches another job after they're inevitably fired from this one.

 

And somewhere, lost amid the white noise of the myth-making and myth-killing machine, someone might make a footnote of the fact that nobody ever came close to putting Smith in a position to succeed.

 

The truth is, most of the true innovations in football start at the college level. The shotgun spread is in wide use in the NFL now, but it started in college. College coaches adapt and experiment, maybe because they're less concerned with losing their jobs or maybe because they need to either win or lose in an entertaining fashion. There's also an element of necessity at work: Air Force doesn't have the size or the athletes to run the same offense as Notre Dame, but it can beat the snot out of the Irish by using misdirection and deception. If Mike Nolan coached Air Force, you get the feeling he'd put them in an I-formation, run straight ahead and use a seven-step drop on third-and-8. (Mouse Davis' run and shoot, really just an early version of the shotgun spread, was an imaginative failure in the NFL, and it might serve as a cautionary tale for coaches.)

 

Mike Leach might never win a national championship at Texas Tech, but I'll take three hours of his offense over six months of what the 49ers are dishing out. And if you turned over the NFL version of Alex Smith to Leach -- or to Meyer again -- I guarantee Smith would have better numbers, more wins and a hell of a lot more fun than he's having right now.

[Disfunction Junction]

I do not know what is worse watching this team screw up a cup of coffee or watching Mike Nolan's new conquer the world coaching scheme in the red zone.

[Sturphy]

Air Force doesn't have the size or the athletes to run the same offense as Notre Dame, but it can beat the snot out of the Irish by using misdirection and deception.

Yeah, that and the Irish are ATROCIOUS.

 

Good read.

[kingfish247]

Whatever afflicted the Oakland offense last year made it across the bay to the Niners.

 

It really puts in perspective how bad the Oakland '06 offense was since the Niners are on pace to outscore them by about 17 total points.

[bigrocks]

Excellent read - and I couldn't agree more.

 

Most NFL offenses are excruciatingly dull and predictable. I honestly believe its because most NFL head coaches are playing not to lose instead of playing to win. The ones who innovate, use their players' talents and actually play to WIN -- Dungy, Belichick, etc. are successful and their teams are entertaining to watch. The others, meh, I'll mow the yard or clean the garage and catch up with the scores later.

 

The NFL has become dumbed down, no question. Its more vanilla and less emotional than college football, and is comprised of a couple of really good teams, a couple of really bad ones, and a whole bunch of very average ones.

 

I would much rather watch a college game between two teams I don't really know or care much about (Saturday night's telecast of Kansas v Oklahoma State is a good example) than watch the latest Monday night grind of 49ers v Seahawks....

[Skilly]

If this was the case then June Jones would still be coaching in the NFL, Jeff George would be on his way to the HOF, and every team would be running the spread offense.

 

The ONLY way to even contemplate running that offense in the NFL is if you have an outstanding O-line that can block with only 5 guys, something San Fran obviously doesn't have.

 

While some of the offenses appear to be vanilla, I contend that it is the excellent defenses that are adapting and shutting down the O's attempts at creativity. I'll add that with the amount of injuries this year to top offensive stars (seems like WAY more this year than in previous years), that should factor in to what the offenses are able (or NOT able) to do.

 

Doesn't that author realize that the reason those wacky college offenses are successful is because they are playing against inferior atheletes. Let Air Force play Notre Dame 10 times in a row and let's see who wins the majority of those games.

[Trojanmojo]

Let Air Force play Notre Dame 10 times in a row and let's see who wins the majority of those games.

 

I think Air Force would gladly set that schedule. That said, this article does conveniently forget that the kind of offense he seems to imply would be great for Alex worked out nicely for guys like June Jones, Jerry Glanville, Wayne Fontes, etc. Check out this article from 1990 ...

 

See How They Run and Shoot

 

September 2, 1990

N.F.L. '90;

See How They Run and Shoot

By THOMAS GEORGE

LEAD: ''They were so-ooo bad,'' said Mouse Davis, as he frowned, tugged at his cap, bent it and then squashed it onto his head. Davis was reflecting on the Detroit Lions offense he inherited 13 games into the 1988 season, a plodding and groping offense in an ugly 4-12 year.

 

''They were so-ooo bad,'' said Mouse Davis, as he frowned, tugged at his cap, bent it and then squashed it onto his head. Davis was reflecting on the Detroit Lions offense he inherited 13 games into the 1988 season, a plodding and groping offense in an ugly 4-12 year.

 

''They didn't have a prayer of getting it done,'' Davis said. ''Everyone was confused and there was little communication. They ranked dead last in offense, 28th in the league, and I mean a buried 28th. The 27th team could have played three fewer games and still have been ahead of their production. They were used to just running a lot of plays without much rhyme or reason.''

 

With five games left in that season, Wayne Fontes replaced Darryl Rogers as head coach, and two weeks later sought Davis, the architect of the run-and-shoot offense. Davis chuckled as he recalled Fontes's early charge:

 

''He says: 'Mouse, I want some kind of approach that puts the ball in the air and at the same time creates some excitement. We've got to have that Ooo-oooh! play. That's when the ball is thrown long and even if we miss it, the fans can go, 'Ooo-oooh!' ''

 

Fontes wanted the run-and-shoot offense - a pass-first, multifaceted offense that is the equivalent of a basketball fast break. As the 1990 National Football League season approaches, a whirlwind of intrigue surrounds Detroit's innovation. After only one full season and this preseason on display in the N.F.L., the scheme should provide plenty more oo-oohs and ahh-hhhs and help answer a popular question: Is this offense a trick or a trend?

 

It has flourished at the high school and college levels, but N.F.L. traditionalists have more or less ignored it since it surfaced in 1975 under Davis's coaching at Portland State. In the Canadian Football League, Davis used it to take the Toronto Argonauts to the championship game, and he also used it in the United States Football League with Houston, where Jim Kelly was the quarterback, and Denver. The debate rages over its long-term value and course in the N.F.L., though three more teams (the Atlanta Falcons, the Seattle Seahawks and the Houston Oilers) are incorporating the offense this season and nearly every team will use elements of the scheme's various packages in its passing game.

 

''Maybe it's the offense of the future,'' Fontes said. ''More kids are playing it in high school and in college, and pretty soon in the draft, you'll have a specific and full category of run-and-shoot quarterbacks. It is an offense that gets the most out of the personnel you have, especially for building teams. And, most of all, the fans like it.''

 

Walt Corey, the Buffalo Bills' defensive coordinator, countered: ''I do think everybody will experiment with some of this offense and more will use it all. What I like is it doesn't waste downs; everything moves the ball up field and fast. Everything moves so much faster in it. But there are so many questions out there about it that this greatest thing since sliced bread could still wind up molding.''

 

Thus, the evolution of the run and shoot goes on while Davis, amused at yet another wave of scrutiny of his creation, keeps tinkering with his toy.

 

''When Joe Gibbs had success in Washington with his Super Bowl offenses, everybody said, 'Let's get those tapes,' '' Davis said. ''When Buddy Ryan had the 46 defense in Chicago, it was, 'Where's those tapes?' Throughout the history of the game, from the shotgun to the moving pocket to the no-huddle, everybody has copied everybody, me included, and everybody has said this or that won't work. The run and shoot is gaining ground in pro football, but there is that sentiment that it won't work here. You know, I've lived with that all of my life.''

 

The key to the offense is this: an alignment with four wide receivers, one fewer running back and no tight ends presents an incessant passing attack that is more explosive than a two-back, run-first scheme. The offense affects many areas, including roster makeup (there are no tight ends on run-and-shoot team rosters, but as many as nine wide receivers are kept), the running game it cleverly masks and the offensive-line blocking techniques it requires. It causes headaches for defensive coordinators who during the season usually have less than a week to vastly alter their defenses to combat the scheme.

 

Crucial to its success is the ability of the quarterbacks and receivers to read and react to defenses in unison. Some passing patterns feature as many as 10 variations. The receiver reads the defensive alignment and alters his pattern to run where the defender isn't. For example, if a cornerback lines up favoring outside coverage, the receiver breaks his route inside. The quarterback must respond accordingly.

 

Last season the Lions improved to an 18th ranking offensively and to a 7-9 record, winning their last five games. Including this exhibition season, they have won nine straight games. For most of the exhibition they led all teams in points scored and finished with 119. The league has taken notice. Seattle, Atlanta and Houston are early believers. Seattle calls its run and shoot the stretch, and has indicated it will use it as a base offense for nearly 70 percent of its plays. Atlanta calls its offense the Red Gun and uses the offense primarily from the shotgun formation. Houston is fully committed to the run and shoot under its new head coach, Jack Pardee. Entering yesterday's final exhibition games, the four teams using the offense had produced a combined 12-4 record.

 

In Atlanta, Andre Rison sees immediate results in store after joining the Falcons from the Indianapolis Colts as part of the Jeff George trade. During the preseason, he scored on an 82-yard catch, averaged nearly 30 yards a reception and even held a contest in Atlanta to name his new touchdown strut. The run and shoot will be showcased in the Falcons' season opener next Sunday against the Oilers.

 

''Getting a chance to be a part of this will change my whole career,'' said Rison, a prototype slot receiver. ''I see big, big results. This is as exciting for the players as it is for the fans.''

 

Among the detractors of the offense is Bill Walsh, who designed the San Francisco 49ers' slick offensive machine. Walsh, now a television analyst, questions the offense's effectiveness in short-yardage situations, its disregard for tight ends, its ability to protect a lead late in games because of its pass-first axiom and, ultimately, whether it can win championships.

 

Richie Pettibon, the Washington Redskins' defensive coordinator, said: ''I think that's the thing about it, whether you can totally dedicate yourself to it and if it fits facets you must have to win consistently like being able to control the clock and being able to run when you have to run.

 

''But Atlanta beat us with it in the preseason, and from what I saw, it is definitely something to be considered in every circle. It is just beginning to be explored. The jury is way out.''

 

Corey of the Bills added: ''During the regular season, everyone is going to set their sights on stopping it and it will be a totally different game than the preseason. Defenses will do more to disguise their coverages and fool the quarterback-receiver read. With only six people blocking, teams will devise ways to get pressure on that quarterback. Somebody using this offense is going to lose their quarterback. In a short drop where a blocking assignment is blown or a blitz not handled, the result could be devastating for the quarterback.''

 

When Davis first arrived at Detroit, his peers around the N.F.L. viewed the Lions' move as one of desperation more than courage. Run and shoot yourself in the foot, they joked privately. But when Davis was joined on the Lions' staff last season by his prize pupil, June Jones, who played quarterback for Davis at Portland State and had coached the offense at the University of Houston, the Lions gained the scheme's front-runners. The Lions' players are confident that there is no defensive tactic that Davis and Jones together can't answer. Davis calls the plays on the sidelines during games, and Jones, in a booth above, gives him a clear defensive read. Both work in unison much like the quarterback-receiver relationship that the offense requires.

 

Davis said the Lions' run and shoot - called the Silver Stretch - had seven packages or series and more than 200 plays. Most passes are thrown with the quarterback in motion on a half-rollout.

 

''It was radical for the league and radical for all of us,'' said Lomas Brown, the Lions' veteran offensive tackle. ''There was skepticism. The linemen had to change from a 5-yard drop in pass protection to an aggressive burst forward in their first move. We make more line calls.''

 

Even though Barry Sanders, the 1989 Heisman Trophy winner, joined the Lions as a superstar running back, there were doubts he would flourish in this offense with fewer blockers. Those doubts were dashed last season when Sanders, primarily off traps and draws, rushed for an N.F.L. rookie record of 1,470 yards.

 

At quarterback, the Lions have Rodney Peete returning with a year of the offense in grasp, along with the veteran Bob Gagliano, who is well schooled in the offense and was effective as a part-time starter in '89. Add Andre Ware, the 1990 Heisman winner, who ran the offense extensively at the University of Houston, and Davis believes the passing game is ready for higher flight. Ware joined camp only last week; Peete is the Lions' starter in their opener next Sunday against Tampa Bay.

 

''In college, it started out the same way, with everyone saying we'd ditch it in two years,'' said Ware, who tossed 46 touchdown passes last season and set numerous collegiate passing records. ''In college, we faced so many schemes that it was like going against dial-a-defense in each game. I think that will help me as a pro.''

 

''We encourage teams to blitz,'' Peete said. ''When they do they're in man coverage somewhere, and we'll find it. The opportunities are endless and the sky is the limit in this offense.''

 

Nearly all of the Lions' receivers are mouse-like in stature. They fit near the 5-foot-8-inch, 165-pound range, and Davis, who himself is about 5-7, said that players of that stature more often meet his criteria for receivers: fast, quick, bright and can catch.

 

Can a team that passes so relentlessly win consistently? The N.F.L. has long said no. Davis and the Lions say yes.

 

There is no denying that the run and shoot and Sanders have returned the Lions to respectability - for three consecutive seasons prior to 1989, the Lions won no more than five games in any of those seasons. Last year they played in the 80,494-seat Silverdome before crowds as small as 36,735. In their last home preseason game, against Kansas City, however, the Lions drew 50,293 spectators.

 

''There's interest everywhere, and that's good,'' Davis said. ''But I hope teams don't use the offense. We know what it can do. For us, the fewer, the better.''

 

LOADED WITH OPTIONS

Mouse Davis's description of the offense he divised for the Lions.

 

The Stretch offense is a glimpse into the future. It is an offense which deploys four receivers, without the use of a tight end on a full-time basis.

 

The unique element of the Stretch Offense is it calls for receivers to think like quarterbacks. What's more, they must do it while on the run. The key to success is getting the quarterback and receiver making the same reads.

 

A typical offensive play, pictured right, is filled with several routes. Each play can have as many as 10 options depending on what coverage the defense deploys.

 

The basics of the Stretch Offense are:

 

* Two wide receivers. The receiver on the far left is designated as the X receiver and to the right the Z receiver. The ability to run deep is a must.

 

* Two slot receivers. The W receiver lines up left and the Y receiver lines up right. One will go into motion before the snap. Players with tremendous quickness to exploit the middle zones make good slot receivers.

 

* One running back which is designated as the S-back. Must be able to do it all - run, catch, block.

 

* A smart quarterback. Must have the ability to read defenses quickly, and to be able to throw on the run.

 

* Commitment on a full-time basis. The Stretch, unlike traditional offensive schemes, is not predicated on down or distance. A four-receiver set is used from goal line to goal line.

 

1 Receiver breaks off route and turns inside if he reads outside coverage or deep zone.

 

2 Receifver runs an out if he reads inside coverage.

 

3 Receiver runs deep if safety overplays or doubles another receiver. Quarterback will roll either left or right depending on play.

Edited November 14, 2007 by Trojanmojo

[Jimmy Neutron]

I am a Utah fan and loved watching Smith play here. I hate to see him struggle in SF the way he has - the article is right - it is stupid to put a QB like Smith in an offense like that.

[BadgerBacker]

The point I take away from this discussion is the importance of diversifying your offense to give yourself more options and complicate game planning for opposing defenses.

 

Last week against the Vikings, the Pack ran 5 WR sets a few times. Is that going to become their base set? No. But if gives them additional situational plays and defenses have to add that to their preparation.

 

Realistically, young QB's and turnover of offensive personnel work against diversifying your offense. But if your QB has experience in your base system and and you have some continuity at the skill positions, then you can diversify.

[half_hennessy]

The last post said it perfectly take teams like the Bears or the 49'ers right now both of there offenses are about as exciting as watching grass grow (that could actually be more intense) they just have no variety to them if you manage to shut down there basic plays then nothing else can happen because they have not trained nor do they no how to do anything else. Everyone blames Free Agency and the Salary Cap because it has supposedly thinned out the talent pool but then you would think that would only make it more possible for these so called lesser quality players to succeed.

 

The biggest problem as has been pointed out is that coaches are just to scared to try something different, and by different it doesn't mean that every play you run has to be 5 WR sets or the I Formation singleback whatever it means don't use these formations only in times when they would be expected, have a look at the pats it isn't uncommon for them to line up with 4 or 5 WR set on 1st down with a lead or in a close ball game at any point of the game, for the lesser offenses in the league the only time they would consider sending 4 or even 5 WRs onto the park is either when they are in 3rd 10-20 or more or if they are down by 20 trying to get some quick points.

 

This league lacks imagination as has been said I have been saying it to a couple of mates of mine for the last few years now this game is just getting more and more boring to watch especially when you get away from the op tier teams, I will say I actually enjoyed watching he browns play a couple of weeks back they atleast try a few things they might not work all the time but they tried.

Edited November 14, 2007 by half_hennessy

[DuckSurprise]

So the offensive line sucks and Smith can’t make a quick accurate decision given the limited amount of time he has behind that poor offensive line. Our hero Tim Keown thinks the solution to this is to remove the tight end and full back and give Smith even less blocking and less time to make a decision / play.

 

The other problem with his thinking is that the safeties and corners that Smith threw against in the Mountain West Conference ( not a BCS conference… which basically means it’s a joke), are not the type of guys who are playing on Sundays.

 

Now he has to face linebackers who are better in pass coverage than the best safety he ever faced in college.

 

I wonder if Tim Keown has ever had an NFL coaching job??

 

Maybe his job offer is coming soon, since he seems to have it all figured out.

[Skilly]

So the offensive line sucks and Smith can’t make a quick accurate decision given the limited amount of time he has behind that poor offensive line. Our hero Tim Keown thinks the solution to this is to remove the tight end and full back and give Smith even less blocking and less time to make a decision / play.

 

The other problem with his thinking is that the safeties and corners that Smith threw against in the Mountain West Conference ( not a BCS conference… which basically means it’s a joke), are not the type of guys who are playing on Sundays.

 

Now he has to face linebackers who are better in pass coverage than the best safety he ever faced in college.

 

I wonder if Tim Keown has ever had an NFL coaching job??

 

Maybe his job offer is coming soon, since he seems to have it all figured out.

 

Exactly!

If an NFL qb can't make quick decisions and be accurate with the ball, then it doesn't matter what system he plays in---he won't be successful.