Cardinals may use shotgun formation exclusively or close to it

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CGI_Ram

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https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.c...shotgun-formation-exclusively-or-close-to-it/

Cardinals may use shotgun formation exclusively or close to it

The infiltration of the college offense into the pro game continues, and that likely will result in another franchise embracing shotgun formation, most if not all of the time.

As Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic explains it, the Cardinals are expected to rarely put quarterback Kyler Murray under center.

Coach Kliff Kingsbury initially was coy on the topic, but it became clear that he’s got no qualms about a shotgun-heavy approach.

Asked this week whether the team may spend 90 percent or more of its time with the center snapping the ball through the air to the quarterback, Kingsbury said, “I’m not sure.” He then elaborated in a way that suggested he is sure.

“That’s another thing we’re working through, to see what the best balance for us is,” Kingsbury said. “Last year, Kansas City was 80 percent-plus. They were decent on offense. Pretty good. So, we’ll see. Whatever fits our team best is what we’re going to do.”

What fits the team best is shotgun formation. It’s what Kingsbury used at Texas Tech, and it’s what Murray used at Oklahoma.

And it’s what Kingbury believes in. Here’s his answer when asked about the advantages and disadvantages of shotgun: “I’ve never seen disadvantages. Some people say there are. I don’t. . . . Some other people have theories about it, but I think you can do everything just as well from shotgun as you can under center.”

Kingsbury sees plenty of advantages to shotgun formation.

“It just eliminates having to get away from the center,” he said. “Those are big guys pushing back in your face right away. So you’re seeing a clearer picture sooner. Whereas when you’re under center, it takes a while to see the field and see that clear picture. To me, you’re able to see it clearer pre-snap and post-snap.”

To me, it’s becoming clearer that the Cardinals’ ratio of shotgun formation will be much higher than 80 percent.
 

Faceplant

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So much for play action. I wonder how this affects the use of David Johnson? More touches through the air obviously ,and he is just as deadly in the passing game as on the ground. Maybe more so.
 

den-the-coach

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Wow....This is going to stress the defense as they will be on the field most of the time...Shocked Vance Joseph took this job.
 

fearsomefour

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A lot of handoff/keep option stuff out of the shotgun for the rookie QB.
I would imagine take the shotgun snap, either hand to Johnson or pull it back.
Simplified pass routes.
Gets the QB away from the line to see the pass rush coming.
This is designed to take reading away from the QB (see Kap model) and exploit his athletism.
This will fail.
 

Riverumbbq

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Not even this shotgun formation is going to help Arizona :


giphy.gif




And this is how the Cards will shotgun after the Rams are done with them :


giphy.gif
 
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Mackeyser

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What he misses is that it's all dependent on the pulling OL to create space for those gap runs. THAT's the only way you can realistically expect to do play action out of the shotgun.

Problem is with guys like AD, Fletcher Cox and other interior DL who can shoot the gap along with run blitzing interior LBs, if they get to the gap before the OL... you're done.

That outlook REQUIRES the OL to be a Zone blocking machine.

As I don't think AZ has the OL to do it, it really won't matter too much.

That said, they will have some splash plays that fans and coaches will point to and say, "see, it can work".

My feeling is that while it can work some times, it won't be consistent enough to win games at the level to keep jobs and Kingsbury will be sought after in 2-3 years for a college HC position.
 

Akrasian

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What he misses is that it's all dependent on the pulling OL to create space for those gap runs. THAT's the only way you can realistically expect to do play action out of the shotgun.

Problem is with guys like AD, Fletcher Cox and other interior DL who can shoot the gap along with run blitzing interior LBs, if they get to the gap before the OL... you're done.

That outlook REQUIRES the OL to be a Zone blocking machine.

As I don't think AZ has the OL to do it, it really won't matter too much.

That said, they will have some splash plays that fans and coaches will point to and say, "see, it can work".

My feeling is that while it can work some times, it won't be consistent enough to win games at the level to keep jobs and Kingsbury will be sought after in 2-3 years for a college HC position.

And the great thing is that despite having all those high draft picks, they will mostly have been taken for an ineffective system, and won't translate well to whatever system the next HC will use.

Ahh, it's good that the Cardinals will be returning to their years of futility. I missed that.
 

Ram65

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Got to start somewhere. Murray would have a hard time playing under center a lot of the time this early in his career. He is not alone.

Very cool site with data on shotgun vs. Under Center. Video outdated. Rams only ran 4% from shotgun. Ouch. A lot of teams do shotgun over 60 to 80 percent. Rams highest snaps under center percentage at 63 percent. Need to visit site to see the numbers better.

https://www.sharpfootballstats.com/snap-rates--shotgun-v-under-center--off-.html

upload_2019-5-26_18-48-10.png
 

TSFH Fan

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Asked this week whether the team may spend 90 percent or more of its time with the center snapping the ball through the air to the quarterback

Maybe it's tricky/trickster wording, but, to me, seems like they're not ruling out using the Pistol formation. Pistol would allow them to use power runs, incorporate a fullback, etc., and get the QB away from the line at the snap. Also the Pistol is something KK has used:
https://www.everythinglubbock.com/s...ve-and-well-in-the-air-raid-offense/227266271

But if they're going to go shotgun 24/7, 100%, hey, cool, my condolences to the Kyler Murray family. . . .
 

Legatron4

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Would make sense if Kyler wasn’t an amazing passer as well.
I wouldn’t say amazing lol but he’s definitely not Lamar Jackson. People are going to underestimate his arm talent. He didn’t go #1 for no reason.
 

HE WITH HORNS

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Would make sense if Kyler wasn’t an amazing passer as well.

Thing with those running "QBs" is that if the first read isn't open, they just take off running. Leads to a very good TD to INT ratio, but the shelf life is short in the NFL. What's RG3 doing these days?
 

DVontel

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Thing with those running "QBs" is that if the first read isn't open, they just take off running. Leads to a very good TD to INT ratio, but the shelf life is short in the NFL. What's RG3 doing these days?
I don’t know, what’s Russell Wilson doing these days? I hope you don’t think every QB with +good mobility is a “running QB”.
 

Akrasian

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I hope you don’t think every QB with +good mobility is a “running QB”.

No, but QBs who averaged over 70 yards per game rushing and 10 rushes a game ARE running QBs. And while an occasional one who stops doing it very often can succeed in the NFL, most end up getting banged up so much that they stop being effective, especially since if they normally take off if the first reads aren't there, WRs tend to stop their routes and switch to blocking instead.
 

RamBall

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I don’t know, what’s Russell Wilson doing these days? I hope you don’t think every QB with +good mobility is a “running QB”.

i know what RW does against the Rams he loses a lot, he takes a lot of sacks and he gets hit a ton. RW is rare for a running QB, he is pretty thick, KM is very thin. KM is not going to take the hits RW does and make it through a 16 game season.
 

Mojo Ram

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To be honest Goff should be running the shotgun more than he has IMO. Same with the uptempo stuff. It's impressive how far he's come from the Cal days to operating behind Center almost exclusively now, but good strong armed QB's can really get into a rhythm sometimes in the gun.

I'd like to see more of Goff in the gun.