Smed1065
08-21-2008, 07:43 PM
http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2008/08/20/a_ballhandlers_offense/
It happened on consecutive plays during the Chiefs Tuesday practice at the Truman Sports Complex.
The No. 1 offense was on the field against the No. 1 defense. Brodie Croyle took the snap, faked a handoff and bootlegged to the left. Screaming in from the right side of the defense, Tamba Hali ran right past Croyle because he thought the running back had the ball. Croyle connected on a pass to wide receiver Jeff Webb.
On the next play, Croyle again faked a handoff and then ran a bootleg to his right. Screaming in from the defense’s left side Turk McBride grabbed the running back and missed Croyle who sneaked past him with the ball. Croyle completed the pass to wide receiver Dwayne Bowe.
There are a lot of things required of any quarterback that runs an NFL offense. He must be able to process information quickly. He must have quick feet to get back in the pocket and strong legs to help him throw the ball. The good quarterbacks all have a consistent throwing motion, but they are able to adjust if needed, especially under pressure.
The Chiefs want all that from their quarterbacks. But they ask for something more, something that’s becoming a bit of a lost art among NFL quarterbacks. They must be ball handlers, able to carry out convincing fakes that momentarily confuse or deceive the defense. It’s a slight of hand style of playing the position, something that’s been used by some of the greatest quarterbacks in the game, guys like Dawson, Montana and these days Peyton Manning.
It’s like a basketball point guard who can dribble between his legs, or throw a pass behind his back and completely fake out a defender by looking one way, while throwing the ball in the opposite direction.
It’s sleight of hand.
“The idea is to get the defense on its heels for a second,” said Chiefs quarterbacks coach Dick Curl. “Sometimes that’s enough to get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands for a pass, or gives the line another second to block for the run.”
The premise is to get the defense headed in one direction, with the ultimate destination of the play going the opposite way. Already in two pre-season games the Chiefs have shown many plays where the quarterback fakes the handoff to the running back going right, while he bootlegs out of the pocket to the left. Or vice-a-versa.
The previous offensive scheme the Chiefs ran did that through a large number of plays in the game plan, and constant motion and shifting. Chan Gailey’s offense scheme has far fewer plays and relies on precise execution of those plays to gain yardage.
That includes plenty of fakes that bring the lost art of quarterback ball handling into the equation. They frequently run a play where the quarterback fakes a belly handoff to the running back, then fakes a pitch out to the same back and then rolls to his left or right.
“It’s a big part of our offense,” said Croyle. “There are a lot of things that are asked of us that we didn’t do in the last couple years. Our fakes then were just token fakes; they weren’t intended to try to deceive people. That’s not the case now. That’s why we run so many nakeds and bootlegs after every play. It can’t be a lost art with us.”
Croyle did some of the same ball handling at the University of Alabama under Mike Shula, who at one time coached with Gailey. He said no matter the level of football, the ability of a fake to deceive a defense depends not just on the quarterback.
“What we are doing requires the offensive line, the running backs, everyone has to make it look like something it’s not,” said Croyle. “There are probably one or two guys on the defense that read us (the quarterback) for keys. The others are reading the guards, or tackles, or the back. To make it work takes 11 guys doing the same thing.”
A magician working on the stage deceives his audience at times with flourishes of activity that take attention away from what he’s really doing. That’s not what the quarterback does in this offense. In fact, it’s just the opposite.
“We want them to see the ball,” Croyle said. “We aren’t trying to hide it. We try to do everything the exact way every time. We don’t want there to be a difference they can detect. That’s one thing I watch on film. When I do hand offs or when I do a naked, I want to do them the same way.
“If you oversell it, they are going to know something’s up and if you undersell it, they are going to know. You try to always make it look the same.”
Sorry if a repost but I did search all Bob Gretz and Chiefs articles.
Hard to believe this one has not been posted.
It happened on consecutive plays during the Chiefs Tuesday practice at the Truman Sports Complex.
The No. 1 offense was on the field against the No. 1 defense. Brodie Croyle took the snap, faked a handoff and bootlegged to the left. Screaming in from the right side of the defense, Tamba Hali ran right past Croyle because he thought the running back had the ball. Croyle connected on a pass to wide receiver Jeff Webb.
On the next play, Croyle again faked a handoff and then ran a bootleg to his right. Screaming in from the defense’s left side Turk McBride grabbed the running back and missed Croyle who sneaked past him with the ball. Croyle completed the pass to wide receiver Dwayne Bowe.
There are a lot of things required of any quarterback that runs an NFL offense. He must be able to process information quickly. He must have quick feet to get back in the pocket and strong legs to help him throw the ball. The good quarterbacks all have a consistent throwing motion, but they are able to adjust if needed, especially under pressure.
The Chiefs want all that from their quarterbacks. But they ask for something more, something that’s becoming a bit of a lost art among NFL quarterbacks. They must be ball handlers, able to carry out convincing fakes that momentarily confuse or deceive the defense. It’s a slight of hand style of playing the position, something that’s been used by some of the greatest quarterbacks in the game, guys like Dawson, Montana and these days Peyton Manning.
It’s like a basketball point guard who can dribble between his legs, or throw a pass behind his back and completely fake out a defender by looking one way, while throwing the ball in the opposite direction.
It’s sleight of hand.
“The idea is to get the defense on its heels for a second,” said Chiefs quarterbacks coach Dick Curl. “Sometimes that’s enough to get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands for a pass, or gives the line another second to block for the run.”
The premise is to get the defense headed in one direction, with the ultimate destination of the play going the opposite way. Already in two pre-season games the Chiefs have shown many plays where the quarterback fakes the handoff to the running back going right, while he bootlegs out of the pocket to the left. Or vice-a-versa.
The previous offensive scheme the Chiefs ran did that through a large number of plays in the game plan, and constant motion and shifting. Chan Gailey’s offense scheme has far fewer plays and relies on precise execution of those plays to gain yardage.
That includes plenty of fakes that bring the lost art of quarterback ball handling into the equation. They frequently run a play where the quarterback fakes a belly handoff to the running back, then fakes a pitch out to the same back and then rolls to his left or right.
“It’s a big part of our offense,” said Croyle. “There are a lot of things that are asked of us that we didn’t do in the last couple years. Our fakes then were just token fakes; they weren’t intended to try to deceive people. That’s not the case now. That’s why we run so many nakeds and bootlegs after every play. It can’t be a lost art with us.”
Croyle did some of the same ball handling at the University of Alabama under Mike Shula, who at one time coached with Gailey. He said no matter the level of football, the ability of a fake to deceive a defense depends not just on the quarterback.
“What we are doing requires the offensive line, the running backs, everyone has to make it look like something it’s not,” said Croyle. “There are probably one or two guys on the defense that read us (the quarterback) for keys. The others are reading the guards, or tackles, or the back. To make it work takes 11 guys doing the same thing.”
A magician working on the stage deceives his audience at times with flourishes of activity that take attention away from what he’s really doing. That’s not what the quarterback does in this offense. In fact, it’s just the opposite.
“We want them to see the ball,” Croyle said. “We aren’t trying to hide it. We try to do everything the exact way every time. We don’t want there to be a difference they can detect. That’s one thing I watch on film. When I do hand offs or when I do a naked, I want to do them the same way.
“If you oversell it, they are going to know something’s up and if you undersell it, they are going to know. You try to always make it look the same.”
Sorry if a repost but I did search all Bob Gretz and Chiefs articles.
Hard to believe this one has not been posted.