AFC East has been the hotbed of newest wrinkle in offensive philosophy, from Air Erhardt to Wildcat. Now... how about the Wishbone Option? I honestly believe Jets have a very good personnel combination to execute this idea to perfection. Braylon Edwards and Jerricho Cotchery are both capable blockers while being very good downfield threats (even more so in Edwards) If you want more muscle, you can sub in Hartsock or Keller in place of either WR - while I'd really love a TE that can catch the ball downfield AND block, that is not happening in this world, so I'll have to live with either option - with even better efficacy. Now, Sanchez is athletic enough, and got very quick feet himself. On top of that, John Conner looks like one mean son of a bitch, who can either pound the ball with dive, or destroy whoever he sees up front. Behind Conner is... Shonn Greene and Tomlinson, who are both capable runners and blockers. Now, I don't see why Sanchez cannot run triple option play from wishbone. Also, by scheme, this takes a lot of pressure off the OL, especially whoever ends up playing at LG. The thing is, the defense at base set cannot stop this, by default. There will always at least one more head on the offense than defense; this is because the defense does not know 1. what the offense is going to do and 2. where the offense is going with the ball and 3. due to these facts, safeties are always sitting in the back, thus eliminating themselves from the head count at the LoS when the running play develops. Should the defense commit to either side by over or under, Sanchez can always run to the other side, hence making the defensive decision a wrong one. If the defense scissors (that is, shift the DL to one side, but shift the LBs and DBs to the other side) that's when you go for broke on play action fakes to the side DBs didn't shift to. The worst part is that the safety must make a quick decision about what to do - go in for the run support or stay back in pass coverage. Either way, he will always make a wrong decision, if Sanchez chooses to pick on him. Another wrinkle is that, this offense can go into either flexbone, or slot I formation (with Tomlinson in the slot) or shotgun (with Tomlinson and Conner in the slot; Conner seemed like a very good receiver as a running back, better than Greene - from what little I have seen through youtube clips) without personnel change; the defense can't possibly be calling backbone defense, knowing Jets are going with wishbone. If Sanchez sees backbone, he can always audible out of wishbone, again making the defensive decision a wrong one. Whoever dares call backbone is in for a world of big time hurt; 6 DLs will just not have enough speed to cover the underneath zones; if Sanchez sees this, he MUST keep calling no-huddle plays with shotgun formation, until the defense burns a timeout. Backbone out of 4-3 isn't much better; simple FB blast through A gap will do the job, as there will only be one Mike waiting in the back, and then no other LBs. The thing with backbone is, it's spread throughout the LoS, to stop the option plays. (Option plays are that much potent, if you can get the wheel moving.) If you are spread out wide, that means you are lacking depth in defense - FB blast (or better yet, Lead knob plays - FB taking on the Mike, leaving the tailback to deal with safeties) is attacking the depth of defense, which is quite logical in nature. Last, but not the least, if you think Sanchez is too valuable to risk running, you can always sub in Brad Smith with even better efficiency. Thoughts? P.S. Little did I know that the hated Bob Sutton actually led his Army squad to the bowl appearance using Wishbone option... Just wow. Even Sutton can succeed with this! P.S. 2. If Wildcat deserves a page in NFL offensive playbook, Wishbone Option certainly deserves its spot in NFL offense too. It has a history of dominance and success deep into the 90's, and I don't see why one shouldn't tap the potential from such a storied offensive philosophy.
A. Your franchise quarterback runs too great a risk of getting incinerated on any given play, even when he doesn't have the ball. B. Linemen and LBs are much faster in the pros than in college in general. You break some big gains with this, but it will get stuffed for negative yardage a lot more often than you'd think from watching college ball.
A. Brad Smith can do this too, you know. B. Simple headcount always beats the speed and strength in ANY situation. It's that one-on-none situation that makes this offense attractive. Also, you have to KNOW the offense is playing option before the snap, which is pretty much impossible. Also think about Wildcat; it's getting the job done by creating an uneven front at the LoS. Rex beat the wildcat by overloading one side of the A gap, shooting straight through the hole to stop the play progression. I doubt you can do that with Option however.
Grew up at Army games loved the Wishbone option. I agree would should use Brad Smith at QB in these plays. Bob Sutton is actually a really nice guy I was in charge of the concession stands when he was coach. He just sucks as a defensive coordinator.
Right, because Lineman in the NFL never have to be double teamed. Guys like Wilfork, Jenkins and Ngata are easy pickings for any O-linemen.... :breakdance: The Wild cat works because its a power running attack with a miss balanced line and has some trickery to it. It works because your installing more blockers not less. A wishbone is limiting the the options, you have 3 in the backfeild as opposed to two and if your brining in extra linemen your limiting your reciving options for any potential pass play. You keep saying that Sanchez could pick people apart, but then attempt to defend they Idea by saying Smith would run it as well. Last I checked he good at hitting completely wide open guys, but lacks the the arm strenght and probly accuracy to really pick apart defenses in the short passing game. He's a ST/gadget guy for a reason. Your not going to have a numbers advantage. If you run a typical QB (Sanchez) they are going to know hes not runnign the ball. We has too much invested in him and he's a bit to fragile for this. If its Smith he could run it, but unless a receiver is wide ass open he is a liability in the passing game. If you run a wish bone with two receivers that leaves you six blockers. one reveiver leaves you seven. The Safties are going to move up if you leave one receiver out there. Best your going to be facing at least 8 man fronts that are a lot bigger and fast than the NCAA's. the Defense would eat this up. There are damn good reasons its not run in the NFL.
The "Wishbone" reference comes from the formation of FB and HBs - how they line up split wide, making their formation look like the 'wishbone' of turkey.
No one tries it because it's dumb as hell. It doesn't work in college football anymore...and don't try to bring up Georgia Tech and Navy.
Hey, we have John Conner and Tony Richardson along with three halfbacks that can run the ball, why not?
