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One of the big questions I have about the offense this year is if we can run routes that take a bit more time to develop without going max protect

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(I had a long reply written and accidentally clicked "cancel"... so here we go again.)

1. TE/RB needs to have a hot route assigned.

2. This is key, Chase needs to be OK dumping it off despite having Nikko on a 1-on-1 pre-snap. Gotta let it go or else he might be blasted.

3. OL needs to gell and be able to respond to twists/stunts which requires a lot of experience playing together to be able to know what the guys will do if x happens.

Outside zone can have 4 guys in pass patterns (RB with the playfake), however, it cuts the field read in half because unless you have a Rodgers level arm, the run play side half of the field is too far to get the ball in time and on target.

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Or maybe there's some room in there for Tedford's favorite TE delay corner route, with a max protect in for the first couple of seconds before a TE leaks and ends up standing alone. (Wilcox has also run this)

@pitor - what are the disadvantages of running bunch formations and if we're going to be similar to the McVay offense, where everything is run out of 11 and 12 personnel - does that mean we're just going to run base sets and have complex options out of the sets? or does the E-P offense flex between formations and routes? (like do we ever run spread formations?)

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The disadvantages are that they require the WRs to be 100% down to run block against LBs. McVay has Cupp crashing on DEs on crack blocks, if your WRs aren't able/willing the run schemes from condensed formations collapse.

In passing situations the problem that defenses face with natural pick plays can happen with WRs, timing of routes is tighter cause a misstep can cause a tangle of legs to happen or an even longer delay in the route development.

McVay's 1st 2 years in the league he lived out of 11, but the Lions/Bears/Patriots during their Super Bowl run showed their weakness against 5-1 fronts that shut down the run out of 11. He moved towards 12 more last and this year, condensing his formation even further.

https://twitter.com/NextGenStats/status/1350543400404209665

Here you can also see that the Niners lag in 12 personnel but because they prefer Juszczyk over their TE2 they 21 personnel is second only to Pats'

https://www.sharpfootballstats.com/personnel-grouping-frequency.html

I think that you're right, we're going to run a lot of plays out of Bunch Close formations (Three skill guys in a triangle attached to the OL), give teams the same look but run a variety of run types (inside/outside zone, pitch, power, trap) and pass concepts.

Ideally, both formational and route concept flexibility. You can run the same concepts out of very different formations (as long as the distribution of skill players on either side of the OL remains the same), and you can run different concepts out of the same formation over and over again with just a couple of keywords. I think Cal is going to lean towards the latter just because I didn't see many formations shown during the Spring Game. Then again Wilcox and his team are the types to call a severed arm an upper-body fleshwound.

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