Weekend Roundup: Rookie minicamp concludes & talking the "spread" offense

Always nice to hear our top 3 picks doing good like Matty said its only rookies but still its exciting and nice

But I won’t say “great writeup” because it’s a given by now.

Thanks for the info. I don’t know that I would have caught the little nugget on Clemons, but I did take note of the whole “spread option” idea when I read up on that article earlier today.

Very intriguing..I like the idea of Parcells bringing it into the league to put his “stamp” on and make his “mark”. I just don’t know how I feel about the long-term likelihood of its being effective enough to win us a Championship.

I like the idea of the classic drop-back passer..cough, cough, Henne, better. As well as the classic PTR style of play. But hell, I change my mind when I’m given reason to. I just can’t wait until OTAs and whatnot begin.

The Power Running O-Line might cause problems in the spread, Jake Grove is not known for his pass blocking, but I still think it is an advantage to be able to do both.
1. In case the Spread Option doesn’t work, you still have Plan B, using the Power Game with a
[A] strong armed QB (Henne) and a nimble slot receiver who can throw (White).
[B] Ronnie Brown taking the direct snap with Pat White on the wing
© Pat White under center
2. If the defense goes to a 6 DB nickel or 3-8 defense, you can run over them with a power running no-huddle offense
I can’t wait to see Ronnie and Ricky cross in front of Pat White in the spread shotgun = option left or right or up the middle with a QB draw.

Your initial feeling about Armando is correct. This nugget is not new. I heard it a couple of times recently about Parcells bringing the full spread option to Miami. A source within ESPN said he was told to break down tape of Arkansas for him while Parcells was still working as a studio analyst.

actually – i’ve sort of started calling for it at the end of last season because it suits the strengths of the Lame Ducker. Clearly the guy can’t make all the throws need to open up a defense in a traditional power offense, but he can make accurate short throws to open receivers, and putting 4 or 5 receivers on the field, will widden a defense, open up the middle to more effective running plays and short cuts by recievers and take some of the need to make passes to the 2nd tier (beyond LB’s dropping into pass coverage) that the Lame ducker is unable to consistantly make…

So the spread doesnt just help the Pat Attack (my copywritten name) but will likely help the Lame Ducker too.

Chill guys i still consider him a bust but he was wrongly used for 2 years and than last year he started to show some promise b4 he got hurt if Sprano and Co decides to leave him in one on one coverage wit randy moss all game than they must thank he can be usefull to an extent he did get a pick off of him and had great coverage on him on every TD but No one in this league can conver him one on one no one no safety over the top to help ya out is stupid i think he will have a better year i still dont thank he was worth the 16 pick in the draft but he could and i think will be come a considable contributar this year sorry for the spelling though

I think you need to stop making overt personal attacks on Armando. This blog gets a lot of attention, so you should be professional when you make an article. There are more subtle ways to influence a readers opinion of him.

I don’t think calling out a beat-writer is going to cause anyone to be looked down on, quite the opposite. Blogs are the avenue for such things. If you want sensitivity, go to the girlie sports blogs.

Would you like an Espresso with that Crumpet? Paleez 8-]

which is understandable due to the way the media throws the term around. When people express misgivings like this:

The Power Running O-Line might cause problems in the spread, Jake Grove is not known for his pass blocking

in my opinion- you don’t have to worry. I really don’t think we are going to be employing the Hal Mumme/Mike Leach ‘AirRaid’ spread with 60 passes a game. More than likely we will be employing the Rich Rodriguez/Urban Meyer spread which is far more run oriented- and if anything I bet we end up with more running plays, not less.

See an excerpt from an overview of Meyer’s playbook from Utah:

Offensive Strategy and Goals

1. about 65% run 35% pass
2. 95% out of shotgun
3. Most physical and best zone blocking team in the country
4. Stretch the defense across the field and make them play assignment football

The biggest emphasis is on running the ball, and physicality – so I think our O-line is pretty well set up for that kind of scheme.

Now for the important part, ’Mando trying to steal the term WildPat as his own:

Not only did someone use it here, but the first “media use” of the term WildPat I can find is here:

A column by David Hyde on April 26th – in which he attributes the name to an unnamed NFL scout. Not Cool ’Mando.

As someone else here mentioned- the Dolphins interest in the spread is also pretty well documented- I think Tom Jackson even mentioned it on ESPN the second day of the draft. I read well before this column that even during baseball spring training Parcells had his heart set on White- and that the only reason he went to the senior bowl was to scout White personally for use in an expanded WildCat type offense.

I have no problems with Matty tellin it like it is.

on the duo of smith and davis………

“tasty…..delicious”

on the future of davis and smith……

“i think in 3 years the phins will have the best cb tandem in the afc…thats how good thee guys can be”

on sean smith…..

“he looks like a LB…not a safety…..a LB! "

on davis’s rep for a bad attitude……

“totally just cockiness…not attitude. he has had a personal trainer since the 7th grade…he knows he belongs…and hell tell you about it. that wont be an issue”

on pat white…

“ignore the pics….they gave them 30 plays to get right in 24 hours and allot of the errors were actually on the wr’s not running the cuts right”

on brian hartline……..

“they drafted him to play the slot….and he’s 6’2….you dont see many slot guys with that size. they love this kids attitude”

on turner….

“allot of questions. he seems like he doesnt adhust to the ball well….he might be the kinda guy who needs a qb to hit him in the numbers”….“but hes HUGE”

on jason taylor…

“sign him…if u dont want him cut him…sign him if only to stop the pats from getting him. if he goes to the pats pencil in 2 losses. The phins cant say they dont want him because of the backlash…they are just waiting for him to make the move so they can say he just didnt wait on their decision. "

on cameron wake

“you can really tell his playing LB at PSU has made him great in coverage.”

on what kinda contract he would give jt

“2 years….5 million if that”

on wr’s as whole

“anthony armstrong was the best by far….then brian hartline”

is that it is hard to spread the field in the NFL. That fact has nothing to do with the formations or type of offense and has everything to do with the field. The hash marks on an NFL field concentrates all action into the center of the playing surface. While there is technically a “wide” and “short” side of the field in NFL games when the ball is spotted on a hash mark, the difference is not that great.

In college football it is a very different. The wide side of the field in college has approximately an extra 12 feet compared to the NFL version. So the same formation in college has 4 extra yards to work with than in the NFL. Those 4 yards might not seem much, but it helps with natural running lanes, angles on blocks, and it gives the defense further to run.

One of the reasons that so called “spread” offenses in the past, whether running or passing offenses, have not succeeded in the NFL has more to do with the way the field is set up than the offenses themselves, IMO.

The spread offense is alive and well in the NFL. Bill Belichick nearly had a perfect season running a pass-first spread system in 2007.

Matt Cassel destroyed us at home from a spread system late last year.

All these different offenses have similar traits but in the end they are different. The one thing that is a constant is the need for certain personnel.

1. A mobile QB who is a viable threat running the ball. If he can catch too all the better.

2. A group of HBs that have the speed and athleticism to be involved in the short passing game/passing it themselves (Ronnie Brown) or guys who can run crisp intermediate to deep routes and who have the power to run FB veer style rush plays (Ricky Williams, Patrick Cobbs).

That’s really it. Those are the shared properties to all these systems. It all changes if you decide to run a spread option like the kind Pat White came from. Then you need (including those above):

3. 5 players who can play wide receiver (this might include running backs like Ricky and Cobbs). After this draft and last year’s emergence of Camarillo and Bess the one thing this team is not short on is talent at WR. We have a ton of guys who know how to get open. So, check here.

4. A mobile offensive line. Oops. We have some athletic guys, don’t get me wrong (and I think Vernon is pretty nifty for a guy his size) but we have nothing by way of the small, quick lineman needed to move around in the spread option. Not even close.

Final Thought:

The Phins are built right now to be a versatile team on O. We will have the horsepower and QB savvy to run the Pro Set. The Grove thing (at first such a rankling move for me) is now seeming like genius.

This big line is conducive to a single-wing or “Wildcat” offense with plenty of wrinkles that could manifest as a spread offense. Like ct1361 mentions above, the spread is limited in the NFL, particularly its option oriented run variants.

Mark My Words: and throw them back at me later ;) – The Dolphins will run the Pro Set this year with a expanded Wildcat package, which will include more passing plays with Pat White out of the shotgun or taking a toss from the receiver position (reverses, etc.).

We’re built for that. Not option runs.

BTW: Dan Henning was one of the first people to bring this offense back to the NFL. He did so one season when the Panthers were struggling to run the ball from a standard Pro Set.

This is getting to be like Kryptos.

It’s just football………. right? Big mungo hitting another big mungo.

C’mon, by the fourth beer, who cares about inches, speed, timing, ballerina moves and spreads. Unless it’s on a chip.

Geez-O-Pete’s!!

The Media started calling the Dolphin Single Wing, Spread – whatever the WildCat right away – I have no idea where this came from because in Arkansas they called it the Wild Hog!!

On my blog “Fox Dolphin Page” I referred to it as the Wild Fin Formation or simply the Wild Fin – Why the fhwaulk would some one call it the Wild Pat; why are we associating this explosive offense with one guy, Pat White??

Let’s call it what it really is, the “Wild Fin” after all aren’t there 10 other Fins on the field??

NUFF SAID!!

Wild Pat is for girls!!!

Who here isn’t for wild ass!?

Think of it.

Announcers saying, “they’re in the wild ass formation.”

It just came to me this past weekend … 8-] woohoo!!

U ain’t right, but that would be funny. What’s up with all the dudes from other sites surfing The Phinsider?

Oh yeah, they know Matty is the s*#t!

we have have to play san francisco we should be okay

Come on guys lets enjoy this summer talk football and get ready for some interesting Football!