Small Analysis/Prediction: The Return of the Wishbone Formation

[JayNM]

Hello there,

The Patriots have the best RB roster in the NFL, from top to bottom. White, Lewis, Burkhead, Gilleslee and Develin are bound to have some role in this team (granted, we can never be sure with the Pats) and, most importantly, they are all quality players.

We all know that our coaching staff is always look for mismatches to pounce on. With the amount of talent in our backfield, I kept wondering how we could take advantage of such diverse and vast group of players. Well, what about bringing back and old formation back: the Wishbone

It goes without saying that a 3 running back in the same play goes against the current pass-happy era we live in. However, I'd like to point out that, all of our players are at least decent pass catchers. Even Gilleslee, who has the worse statistical numbers of all, is able to contribute more than our last Power RB, Blount.

Moreover, we've seen, specially in 2015, times where our offense would put a Heavy Personnel on Offense (3 TE, 1 FB and 1 RB) and they would spread out the players pre-snap, in order to get a good match against a loaded inside the box defense.


Could you imagine going in the field with Lewis and White/Burkhead spread, Develin (mostly a decoy, but he had some good catches before), Gronk and Allen? It would be hard for Corners and safeties to keep up with them, imagine Linebackers, who were prepared to stuff the run, suddenly in need of covering those much faster players. And that is definition of a mismatch

 

[Tony2046]

Definitely have the personnel to do it with.

 

[Dragda]

The wishbone is the only offensive formation that has never been stopped. There's no magic defense to stop it. Air Force still wins with it. Probably because nobody else runs it so teams seldom practice against it.

 

[Tony2046]

The wishbone is the only offensive formation that has never been stopped. There's no magic defense to stop it. Air Force still wins with it. Probably because nobody else runs it so teams seldom practice against it.

That's not entirely true. It failed at my High School.

So if the Pats do run it my advice would be to make sure none of your Offensive Linemen weigh less than 150 lbs.

 

[Brandon_Cox]

Shaq Mason says bring it on. He already knows all the plays.

 

[Wordsmyth]

Let the bone roll!

 

[Ring 6]

The wishbone is the only offensive formation that has never been stopped. There's no magic defense to stop it. Air Force still wins with it. Probably because nobody else runs it so teams seldom practice against it.

Not true. It has been stopped, which is why it is rarely used. Any offense would if it is executed. The wishbone would at the academies because they cannot attract the athletes to use more complex offenses.

 

[maineman209]

In 2016, Pats RBs actually averaged more pass targets per game than TEs (8.1 to 7.1), and that wasn't due to Gronk's absence.

RB's had six games with double-digit targets, three of which occurred while Gronk was healthy and active, one of which - when Brady was back at QB - included 19 (!!) targets to RBs.

TEs, meanwhile, saw double-digit targets in only four games, all of which occurred while Gronk was active. When he wasn't, targets to TEs averaged just over five per game (Bennett had some very timely catches, but didn't really see a lot of targets).

I'm not suggesting that the Pats actually would run wishbone plays, but - if any team in the NFL could pull it off with the personnel they have - it's the Pats right now.

 

[JayNM]

That's not entirely true. It failed at my High School.

So if the Pats do run it my advice would be to make sure none of your Offensive Linemen weigh less than 150 lbs.

Back when I played in the Netherlands, our LT and LG were 200-high pound monsters. We would go entire drives running through the left side. We knew it, they knew it, but it didn't matter , they couldn't stop us lol

 

[Tunescribe]

Don't you need a running quarterback to sell the wishbone?

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Wishbones also typically rely on a mobile, running QB. Ron Meyer ran it in 1988 as coach of the Colts, with Eric ****erson. Hogeboom was QB and asked out of the lineup because he was getting blasted.


Colts` Wishbone Formation Keeps Opponents Guessing

Hogeboom Asks Out Of Effective Wishbone, Gets His Wish

 

[Tony2046]

Don't you need a running quarterback to sell the wishbone?

 

[jah]

This is what they ran when I played in 4th grade. Northampton went 2-6.

 

[primetime]

Most of these offenses exist to take advantage of athletic mismatches that happen at lower levels of competition. The option takes advantage of slow defensive linemen and linebackers and small corner. The Wildcat was useful the first few weeks it was run when it surprised everyone, and then teams realized you just blitzed the guy receiving the snap with a corner and it was over.

 

[edkk323]

let us run some wildcat with JB or Elderperson as the QB.

 

[JayNM]

I dont think it's mandatory to have a mobile QB for it to work.

Counter-runs, fakes and pitches could mitigate that problem, if we decide to do a more complex running play. still, we don't usually run outside, so your points have some validity for sure.

In any case, that's why i kept my op simple: if we match our players against linebackers in a play action or a pre-snap motion, we have a good advantage.

 

[Dragda]

Basically just get penetration and you can blow up any of these antiquated offenses. The read option can work because you read the defensive line but it's not very effective in the Pro game.

Brady can read a presnap defense so well that he can audible out of a multiple RB look and send our players out wide. Can Gillisee and Burkhead or whatever their names run the complicated route system where receivers read the defense and adjust their routes accordingly?

 

[JayNM]

This is a long shot and debatable too, but theoretically we could use Brisset in some packages. He has shown a lot of athletic capabilities

 

[borisman]

So this is what happens on draft day when you don't have a first or second round pick. You talk about adding some triple-option to your unstoppable offense.

 

[Wheelssps]

I appreciate the idea, but it takes too many of our best players off the field. No wide receivers on the field is too much. Edelman or Cooks should be on the field.

We would do better with a two TE, 1 WR, and Devlin and Burkhead. That leaves us the option of spreading them out with legit pass catchers, but also can do run from a heavy set. Or a two tailback set with 2 TE, 1 WR, Lewis and Burkhead. Five guys who can legit catch it, and also have lots of running plays from a heavy formation

A lot of this comes back to the ability to go up tempo, which they did last year less than I thought. That's the true magic of these versatile players, that you can run 4 or 5 wide and then the next play go heavy set power running with no timeout, no substitutions, and no break for the defense to catch their breath or substitute personnel.