Texas WR/TE Passing Offense Talk

[LTtxfan 49,141]

Great stuff TARS...

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

Tight End help on the way... wonder if he gets a chance to play a little defense in passing situations ??

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

Special Thanks to TARS for this...

(Joe Cook) Quick notes from Sarkisian’s presentation at San Angelo

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian made plenty of social rounds on Thursday in Austin, speaking at a Boys and Girls Club luncheon at the Fairmont hotel and revealing he had COVID at the beginning of his UT tenure. Before speaking at the posh hotel, Sarkisian talked ball (virtually) at the Angelo Football Clinic held on the campus of Angelo State University in San Angelo.

Sarkisian’s presentation was focused on his passing offense, but before getting into the X’s and O’s he made sure to mention how he supported the idea of Straight Line Recruiting, which advocates for college coaches to go through the high school coaches during recruiting as opposed to through a trainer or 7on7 coach.

“I’m a huge proponent of this,” Sarkisian said.

X’s and O’s wise, Sarkisian laid out the philosophy behind his offense. He explained how his offenses strive to be attack-oriented, fast and aggressive (he emphasized All Gas No Brakes here), physical, and with amazing energy (“Nothing we want to do is half-ass”). He explained how he wants his players to execute assignments with a belief, and wants them to know what to do, how to do it, and why it’s important to do it that way.

He laid out what he looks for in QB traits, stressing competitiveness, decision-making ability, accuracy, mechanics, quick hands, athletic ability, pocket awareness, and finally arm strength. As has been mentioned before, he identified the running back as the runner and the quarterback as the passer. “We don’t run our QB necessarily with designed runs,” he said. He also mentioned that throughout his career as a playcaller, he has always had a 1000-yard rusher.

He explained a couple of key concepts, including a staple RPO. Sarkisian said Texas is an RPO team and he believes in RPOs, and explained one of the popular iterations — GOO.

Ian has broken down GOO here. Sarkisian offered examples of GOO in both 11 and 12 personnel.

Following a look at the RPO, he explained some of the core philosophies of his play-action pass schemes, known in the industry now as “play pass.”

“When we call play-action passes, we are a three-level stretch team,” Sarkisian said. The quarterback is supposed to work from touchdown to checkdown. The first read is deep. The second read is medium range. The third read is a checkdown (and it isn’t always the RB). Those three-level reads, at least on play action, cut the field in half. Each of the reads is on one side of the field, giving the quarterback the ability to keep his eyes in one general direction.

He showed multiple schemes including “spear” and “thumb,” and explained how his designs intend to put safeties into difficult situations. He showed clips of Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones running the Crimson Tide offense and Matt Ryan under center with the Atlanta Falcons.

Here’s a look at spear.

He also showed how he runs mesh.

In the handful of Texas clips he showed, mostly from spring practices, the quarterback in all but one of clips was Hudson Card. The lone exception was a clip with Charles Wright.

Sark was the first speaker of the event, and had to cut his question and answer session short. Quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee fielded a few more questions and explained some of the finer mechanical points he has for his quarterbacks while Sarkisian headed to the Fairmont for the charity event.

[TotallyLegit 3,051]

I've heard "thumb" mentioned a couple of times but haven't seen a diagram of it. Anyone know what it looks like?

[LTtxfan 49,141]

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

HornSports...  Jameson McCausland, Tues July 6th

 

Position Preview: Wide Receiver 

Quote

Pre-season camp is right around the corner, and it is only appropriate to start looking ahead to the 2021 season. HornSports will go position group by position group as we break down what to expect in Steve Sarkisian's first season. Let's start with the wide receivers:

Departures (2020 stats)

Brennan Eagles (NFL)- 28 receptions, 469 yards, 5 TD's 

Tarik Black (NFL)- 10 receptions, 240 yards, 1 TD 

Jake Smith (portal)- 23 receptions, 294 yards, 3 TD's 

Semi Departure: Brenden Schooler (moved to Safety)- 12 receptions, 140 yards, 2 TD's

One of the first things Steve Sarkisian mentioned when he arrived on campus was that the Longhorns had way too many wide receivers on the roster. Even with Brennan Eagles and Tarik Black moving onto the NFL, the Longhorns entered spring ball with 14 scholarship WR's. Brenden Schooler quickly made the move back to safety, a position he played at the beginning on his career at Oregon. Some unexpected attrition occurred this summer when Jake Smith entered the transfer portal and 2021 signee Keithron Lee was arrested, putting his status with the team in limbo. Lee is no longer listed on the Texas roster. The loss of Smith was mildly surprising, but the junior had been battling injuries his entire career and missed all of spring practice with a broken foot.

The loss of Eagles and Black to the NFL can be looked at a few different ways. Both are 6'3 and profile as big body possession receivers. Sarkisian has made it known he wants to get as much speed on the field as possible. Regardless of their potential fit if they would have returned, the loss of Eagles in particular hurts the Longhorns from an experience standpoint and leaves the Longhorns thin on returning production.

Additions

Casey Cain- #842 ranked player in the 2021 class, 129th ranked WR

Jaden Alexis- #349 ranked player in the 2021 class, 56th ranked WR

Xavier Worthy- #61 ranked player in the 2021 class, 8th ranked WR

Neither Cain or Alexis are expected to make major contributions in their first year on campus, but Worthy will likely be in the rotation right away and could see an expanded role depending on how quickly he adapts to the college game. The former Michigan signee was able to get out of his letter of intent earlier this year and quickly signed with Texas. He has elite speed and could take on an even bigger role with Jake Smith departing.

Returning Production (2020 stats)

Joshua Moore- 30 receptions, 472 yards, 9 TD's

Jordan Whittington- 21 receptions, 206 yards, 1 TD (rushing)

Kelvontay Dixon- 3 receptions, 76 yards, 1 TD 

Kai Money- 10 receptions, 76 yards, 1 TD 

Marcus Washington- 4 receptions, 56 yards, 1 TD

Al'Vonte Woodard- 4 receptions, 34 yards

Troy Omeire- DNP; knee injury

Moore, Whittington and Money are the only Texas receivers returning who recorded double digit catches last season. Moore and Whittington will be leaned on heavily, but both are still looking for consistency. Moore disappeared for long stretches after a hot start to 2020 and Whittington has battled injuries throughout his career so far. Speaking of injuries, Troy Omeire will be fully healthy when fall camp opens after tearing his ACL last August. The redshirt freshman dominated fall camp a season ago and was set to log plenty of snaps before getting hurt. Omeire, who stands at 6'3, is one of the few big body receivers Texas has on the roster.

Outlook

Texas has a lot of bodies and a lot of question marks with camp set to open up next month. If the Longhorns had to play a game tomorrow, 2 of the 3 starting receiver spots would likely go to Whittington and Moore. Dixon, Omeire, Washington, Money and Worthy will have opportunities to cement their spot in the receiver rotation. The big question will be how snaps are allocated. Tom Herman loved to rotate receivers, which is likely part of the reason Texas had so many scholarship players at the position. Sarkisian wants to his best receivers to receive as many snaps as possible, meaning the Longhorns will likely only have 4 or 5 guys they play regularly. The big x-factors will be the development of Worthy and how Troy Omeire performs. If both prove to be reliable targets, the floor for the position group rises significantly. If not, it would be another rollercoaster season for Andre Coleman's position group. 

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

Really need some young Texas WR's to step up this season...

 

[markstanco 12,570]

That window 15-30 years ago with wide receivers that kicked ass falling out of trees like acorns was awesome. WTF happened? BJ, Wane, Jordan, limas, Roy…. Good times.

[LTtxfan 49,141]

Just adding to this thread... Thx for this @Butch Had Not 

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

 

Edited July 17, 2021 by LTtxfan

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

SIAP...  IT

"He’s been very explosive for our offense’: Xavier Worthy is already drawing praise, and could see plenty of snaps in 2021"

Joe Cook    Jul 16, 2021 

The final high school addition to the Texas Longhorns’ 2021 recruiting class could make an early impact on the field in UT’s first season under Steve Sarkisian. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to two of his teammates, who likened him to two of the game’s elite receivers.

Throughout June, freshman wide receiver Xavier Worthy drew praise from Inside Texas sources. Worthy, a product of Central East High School in Fresno, Calif. and a one-time Michigan signee, committed to Texas in April less than 10 days after he was released from his national letter of intent.

When asked about the near five-star prospect at Big 12 Media Days, Worthy’s teammate Bijan Robinson likened him to one of Sarkisian’s best Alabama receivers.  

“I know he’s probably being compared to Jerry Jeudy, but I see a little bit of uniqueness in him when it comes to running routes, when it comes to exploding after a catch, when it comes to creating space when he does catch the ball,” Robinson said Thursday. “He’s been very explosive for our offense.”

Keondre Coburn, who has to defend against “X” in practices, mentioned another NFL receiver known for turning on the afterburners.

“That dude right there is another Tyreek Hill in college,” Coburn said Thursday. “I have never seen somebody get into a second shift to go get a ball in my life the way he did a couple of days ago.”

Worthy went without a senior season as the COVID pandemic pushed the California high school football season into the spring of 2021.  In his most recent high school season in 2019, Worthy caught 54 balls for 992 yards and 16 touchdowns. The 6-foot-1, 160-pound speedster posted a 10.55 100m and a 21.41 200m during the 2019 outdoor season.

Michigan and Alabama were the two finalists in his recruitment, and he signed with the Wolverines even after Sarkisian hosted him at Nick Saban’s program in November of 2020. Worthy was set to enroll early at Michigan but did not arrive in Ann Arbor for the spring 2021 semester.

When released from his LOI in April, his previous relationship with Sarkisian made Texas the frontrunner for his services. Nine days later, he chose Austin as his next home.

At Texas, Worthy could play a key role as early as this season. His speed and route-running ability could open things up for Robinson, and Robinson’s elite talent could create space for Worthy.

“It’s a big component to what we do,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “Having speed at wideout and taking the top off is a big component. We’re trying to be a physical running football team that can take the top off the defense when you commit to the run. Xavier Worthy is a guy that provides that speed.”

Sarkisian also mentioned Joshua Moore and Kelvontay Dixon in that category, and both provided examples of their footspeed during the 2020 season. But neither drew those types of comparisons, especially as true freshmen.

With an offense centered around running the football, play-action pass is Sarkisian’s preferred method of attacking a defense that overcommits to the run. Worthy offers speed and other attributes that could see him play an important role for Texas’ offense.

“When we start running routes at a park or at a different stadium, he just makes it look really easy for us,” Robinson said of Worthy. “When I see him, I see a lot of real explosion coming out of him. I’m really excited to see what he can do for us this season.”

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[Octavian 1,025]

SIAP

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by LTtxfan

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[BurntOrange&White 39,930]

2 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

 

This is why i think we'll see Moore, Worthy, Whittington, Omeire, and Dixon the most.

[LTtxfan 49,141]

Paywall 

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[MichaelDicksonFanClub 2,904]

Probably the best of the player designs to his credit

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

Former Horns WR news...

Out for the season...  

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

Know this is old, but wanted to review in hopes of understanding  ways SARK may help the potential struggles of O-line and WRs... 

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"Breaking down six base plays in Steve Sarkisian’s offense"

Starting with two run-pass options and then building out to hard play-action fakes and the progression passing game, here’s how the new Texas head coach layers his offensive strategy.

By Wescott Eberts@SBN_Wescott       Jan 11, 2021

Before the 2020 season, new Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian appeared at a coaches clinic for an in-depth discussion of his offensive philosophy, how it’s changed over the years, and how he builds his offense around run-pass options.

During that clinic, Sarkisian described how he builds his offenses, illustrating two one-pass option plays, two play-action concepts, and two drop-back concepts.

With Sarkisian serving as the offensive coordinator for Alabama for the final time in Monday’s national championship game, it’s worth looking at some of those concepts to have a better understanding of what Sarkisian wants to accomplish and the plays he uses towards that goal.

“We’re an RPO team that runs the football. If you’re gonna let us run the ball, then we will continue to run the ball. The moment you say we’re gonna take away the run, our system is built to throw RPOs,” Sarkisian said during the clinic.

Three base running plays that Sarkisian mentioned shouldn’t come as a surprise — inside zone, outside zone, and power are all staples across football. At that core of the scheme, however, it’s tagging pass options onto those base runs that forms the foundation of Sarkisian’s current offense.

“When you think about Alabama, this is who we are,” Sarkisian said of RPOs. “This is what we do.”

Inside zone/speed out RPO

If the strong safety is low, the quarterback throws the six-yard speed out to the Z receiver. If the strong safety is high, the quarterback hands the ball off.

As Sarkisian put it, it’s the “simplest form of what we do,” sometimes dressed up with motions and shifts.

“If they’re gonna play single safety, they’re gonna put one more in the box,” Sarkisian said. “We’re gonna throw a ball off of a leveraged corner who’s playing high and inside and get a completion.”

Glance RPO

The second RPO that Sarkisian explained is the glance concept, one of the most popular RPOs in football.

Because Sarkisian wants the running game to maintain a high priority when running RPOs, he blocks with his receivers on the back side instead instead of running routes. This is a pure two-read play.

The read is the Z receiver — if the strong safety is down, the quarterback hits the Z receiver. If the strong safety is too high, then the quarterback hands the ball off. The teaching point for the wide receiver is to break to daylight on the fourth outside step. In other words, he has to win across the defender against man coverage.

Against Cover Three, he has to get into the window between zone defenders. Against Cover Two, the wide receiver has to wrap around the trapping cornerback.

To run the concept well, the Z receiver needs to make the right coverage read so he can adjust his route accordingly.

“We really give him an option to break to daylight,” Sarkisian said. “And I don’t want to make this too simplistic, but it is important to know.”

In Atlanta, Sarkisian also used his tight end as the target on the glance route, so it’s a play that he’ll use to find matchups that he likes for different players. Of the returning Texas receivers, redshirt junior Joshua Moore was the most effective running this run-pass option last season.

In recent years, Sarkisian has made that play an option for the quarterback to alert to based on his pre-snap coverage read.

“We have gotten more into signaling to that single receiver for route options, almost like you would in the quick game, but now we’re just totally doing it in RPO, so whether we’re signaling the exact route, or whether we’re alerting to a specific route that you don’t know what we’re alerting to, this stuff definitely comes into play,” Sarkisian said.

RPO illusion pass play — Pressure Ice

“Where we have made way more hay this year — as an offense we averaged eight yards per play at Alabama — has been the play pass with the illusion of RPO,” Sarkisian said. “Like to me if I’m a defensive coordinator, I’m going into the game and I’m saying, ‘I got to stop the RPO so I’m going to have my low hole player, I gotta defend the run.’”

Sarkisian believes that if opponents are going to play a middle-field safety at 10 yards in response, “you better to able to cover a post route. That’s a very big deal to us.”

In the bowl game against Michigan last year, Alabama scored an 85-yard touchdown to Jerry Jeudy on this play when the safety triggered on the illusion of Devonte Smith’s glance route.

Inside zone or a glance route might produce a big play like the glance route to Moore to open the UTEP game with a 78-yard touchdown, but the truly explosive plays are more likely to come from a concept like this when the defense is caught overreacting to the RPO game.

The key is selling it as a run-pass option effectively.

“I want the line, the tight end, the running back, the quarterback to make it look, feel, smell, sound like RPO,” Sarkisian said. “I want everybody in the stadium to think, ‘Here comes another break to daylight, here comes another out route.’”

On another play from Sarkisian’s time in Atlanta, the safety bit on the run and the cornerback didn’t carry the Z receiver for a big-play touchdown.

Deep crossers — Wave

If the safety is going to stay deep as a response getting beat on those play-action passes, Sarkisian wants to run deep crossing routes in front of him, bringing the single receiver behind two big post routes.

Because Sarkisian runs a pure progression passing game, the quarterback is going through his progressions instead of reading coverages. So he’s reading the X “pressure” route to the Z “Hi cross” and then checking down to the running back in the left flat.

This concept is how Sarkisian believes that he can create explosive plays against man coverage. The key coaching point with the Z is trusting their speed to create separation with the understanding that they aren’t going to get the football until they’ve crossed the opposite hash marks.

Sarkisian also alerts the inside post route by the H against man coverage.

The concept is effective to use as an RPO illusion play, too, with one Atlanta clip faking outside zone to produce a completion to Julio Jones on the Hi cross.

Drop-back game — Railroad

The next layer of passing concepts is the straight drop-back game.

Sarkisian used this play as an example because it features a quick read to the running back on the Rail route. Sarkisian believes that the running back is the least defended player on the field in the passing game, so he’s willing use Railroad frequently until the defense can stop that first read.

Thanks to plays like Railroad, Alabama’s Najee Harris has 63 catches for 650 yards and 10 touchdowns in the last two seasons — Sarkisian is emphatic that his quarterbacks get the ball out on time to the running back if he’s open.

The crossing routes are also a response to defenses choosing to play man to man — this is a base concept for Sarkisian to create those rubs he wants.

If the running back isn’t open, the quarterback looks the triangle created by the three crossing routes, first targeting the X receiver, who is also the hot receiver on the play, then the Z receiver, who is taught to sit in zone or work back outside if a defender walls them off.

One reason Sarkisian uses this concept so frequently is because he’s intent on getting his best athletes the ball on the move — this is a play that rewards running backs and X receivers who can make yards after the catch.

“If you’re gonna play man to man, I’m gonna run away from you, whether is down the field, or on crossing routes, over and over and over again,” Sarkisian said.

It should certainly suit continue to suit Bijan Robinson well, as it’s a concept that former Texas offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich also used.

However, Sarkisian acknowledged that if the RPO game isn’t working, the rest of the offenses struggles because everything builds from the RPO game in layers.

Boundary high-low — D-Bow Drive

Sarkisian considers this an important play because it serves as an answer for defenses playing Cover Two and trapping the cornerback.

“They’re gonna say we’re gonna make them not let the indicator — or the key defender in the RPO — be the extra helmet to play in the run game,” Sarkisian said.

So this concept uses two receivers into the boundary, with the first read the X receiver running a “Basic” route, a 12-to-14-yard out and then the Y receiver coming underneath into the flat for the second read. The H receiver serves as the hot read on a shallow cross towards the play side. Against man coverage, switching the H and X receivers produces a natural rub to open up the shallow cross.

So these six base concepts, starting from the RPOs, then layered with the play-action passing game, and then the drop-back passing game, form the basis for Sarkisian’s offense, which does not use the quarterback as a runner. 

https://www.burntorangenation.com/2021/1/11/22224185/steve-sarkisian-offense-base-play-run-pass-options 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

Yesterday...

(Josh)  Thompson has been very sticky in coverage and the feeling is Xavier Worthy is making the corners dial in their technique because he’s so athletic.

*****

• Worthy at slot with Jordan Whittington and Joshua Moore playing outside makes the most sense given the current issues. That’s what was worked a lot yesterday. 
• Drops have been contagious and Worthy has had his share too of late. 
• For all the talk about drops, though, Marcus Washington had a solid practice on Tuesday. 
• They need some guys to step up in a major way. If they don’t, it reduces the ceiling on offense by a good amount.

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[BurntOrange&White 39,930]

10 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

 

What does that mean

[LTtxfan 49,141]

Just now, BurntOrange&White said:

What does that mean

 

Xavier already like a 3rd year player in IQ 

[High Plains Drifter 11,024]

On 8/16/2021 at 10:50 AM, LTtxfan said:

e zone/speed out RPO

 

 

I hope that's not our 3rd and 10 go to play.

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

Gameplan: Steve Sarkisian offense 101

Ian Boyd•about 5 hours

While Texas is still sorting out its ideal offensive lineups at most every unit (particularly quarterback, but especially receiver, but don’t forget the O-line!), now is as good a time as any to go over the Steve Sarkisian offense.

How does this system work? What is Texas trying to do and what sort of personnel do they need to find on the roster to eventually attack teams in a fashion comparable to what we saw at Alabama last season?

RPO spread offense 101

The Steve Sarkisian offense is ultimately a RPO spread of the sort common to the modern college game. There is tremendous overlap between the RPO/play-action infused Air Raid offenses in the Big 12 and Sark’s approach.

The starting point is the inside zone/gap run game, usually featuring an off-ball tight end who functions as a fullback hybrid I like to refer to as an “ancillary.” By using an ancillary you can mix downhill inside zone schemes and iso/lead variations with gap schemes like power and counter.

There’s an upside and downside here as well. The tight end will often guide the defense to the ball, at least to where the point of attack will be where the offense is aiming to punch a hole through the front. So naturally defenses will send defenders there quickly to blow up the design. The upside is any rotation by the secondary to try and do so clears up the reads on RPOs and creates spacing for play-action.

Here’s a typical RPO scheme the Sarkisian offense will employ.

 For years and years, one of the most popular play-action schemes to accompany the inside run game with an off-ball tight end is “Y-cross.” Here’s Sark’s version:

 Sark has been calling this “spear” on the clinic trail, it’s basically the exact same Y-cross route combination which has torched the Big 12 since Oklahoma introduced the Air Raid to the league in the new century. You can use it to set up the backside post against two-high coverages or to throw the frontside post or the over (cross) route against one-high coverages.

It’s very hard to defend without getting fantastic drops from the linebackers, which is difficult if they are otherwise racing to fit the run downhill when they see the off-ball tight end hit the line of scrimmage for a power run concept.

Between the RPOs and play-action concepts generating run/pass conflicts in space for the defense, there are two inevitable responses from overstressed defenses. Response one is to drop everyone into coverage, like Iowa State, play as disciplined as possible and hope the offense can’t cut you to death underneath with short throws and runs. Response two is to play some sort of man or tight matching coverage.

The Sarkisian offense’s response to the second defensive response is the exact same as everyone else’s. He calls for the mesh play.

 Tight ends, running backs, and wide receivers all cross paths and trade off who is attacking which area of the field. The defense has to first make sure no one runs free and then successfully cover everyone, even if a linebacker has keep up with an outside receiver running across his zone or a corner has to close and tackle a running back or tight end.

That’s the basis of the entire offense summed up into three basic plays. Power run game with receivers running into space to keep defenses from concentrating at the point of attack, play-action to land big shots when defenses start to creep up or over commit, mesh (and other man-beaters) to get receivers open when teams start simplifying assignments to avoid run/pass conflicts. It’s a brilliant and efficient system and common to the Big 12. Dana Holgorsen, Lincoln Riley, Sonny Cumbie, Matt Rhule, Larry Fedora, Mike Gundy, they’ve all been at this for years now.

RPO spread personnel

There are certain types of players people tend to target when they want to run this system. Mike Gundy’s prospective 2021 offensive lineup gives insight into how a school with modest but not elite recruiting aims to fill the various needs.

 

Mike Gundy has been at this for a while now. He has a similar history as Sarkisian, coming from a pro-style background with an emphasis on play-action pass before integrating Air Raid passing, spread sets, and RPOs after hiring Dana Holgorsen at the turn of the decade.

The Cowboy offense tries to get as much speed at the skill positions as they can find, a sturdy off-ball tight end who was a good enough athlete (often found from the walk-on ranks), and then an O-line chosen for size. The Cowboys rely heavily on their strength program under Rob Glass. Their methodology has always involved recruiting big framed linemen and relying on Glass to physically transform them into a moving wall.

Quarterback is where things get tricky in the RPO spread. There’s a good case to be made that versatile, highly coordinated, and quick thinking players with moderate athleticism are better than powerful athletes with lightning speed and/or a rocket arm. Spencer Sanders’ struggles relative to guys like Clint Chelf or Taylor Cornelius tell the story here, although we’ll see if the blue chip has a breakthrough in 2021.

Anyway, size and power in the box, speed on the perimeter, and quick-thinking field generalship at quarterback are the key attributes for this system.

Sarkisian’s brand of RPO spread

There’s a big difference between running an offense of any sort at Oklahoma State and doing so at Alabama, USC, Texas, or honestly even at Washington. The schools Sarkisian has coached at can recruit a different caliber of athlete at a lot of positions than at Oklahoma State or most of the other schools in the Big 12.

The upshot is you can run the same sort of system but regularly mix in more difficult or athletically demanding features because your players can execute it.

One of Sark’s extra features is using a diversity of run game schemes. You will see this in some locales in the Big 12, but often it’s tricky to master multiple run game schemes for two reasons. One, it’s more to teach so you have to coach extremely well. Two, the more schemes you put on a line’s plate the more techniques and skills you’re asking them to master. Sometimes the mind is willing but the body is too slow or uncoordinated. Recruiting star athletes across the line is a huge boost if you want guards who can pull, drive block, reach block, etc.

Another Sarkisian offense feature is full field RPOs.

Defenses regularly teach their players two tricks for stopping the RPO, linebackers key the tight end and defenders react to which side of the quarterback the running back approaches for the handoff.

If the running back is on the slot side, the RPO is often for the slot receiver because pulling the ball to throw a bubble or slant doesn’t require much footwork. Throwing back to the receiver on the other side of the formation requires the quarterback to flip his hips and involve a lot more footwork and skill to deliver an accurate ball in a timely fashion.

But defenses know this, so they’ll have the defensive backs aligned to the running back’s side cover the receivers while the defensive back(s) opposite crash to stop the run.

 Now the defense can still send a safety to outnumber the run game without putting anyone in run/pass conflict against the RPO.

But Sark is all in on RPOs and he recruits quarterbacks with an eye for who has the footwork, coordination, and overall throwing skill to use his eyes and set his feet to throw the ball to the opposite side of the formation.

 Now you’re back to a 1-on-1 matchup between a receiver and a corner with high stakes for the defense if they lose. There’s no answer on defense save for taking a chance somewhere in man coverage or sitting back in two-deep coverage and finding a way to stop the run up front without sending help.

The biggest difference between the Sarkisian offense based on RPO spread concepts and that of most Big 12 schools is how he runs play-action. Before the 2020 Alabama Tide offense you didn’t see as much of this in college football.

Auburn is sitting in quarters coverage here and the safeties aren’t triggering downhill on the run, instead they’re waiting for those dreaded glance routes and trying to sit on those. If your safeties are athletic enough, you can have them sit on the RPO passes and then close on the run after the quarterback commits to handing off. Teams like TCU often have safeties who are disciplined and athletic enough to do so and still arrive in time to limit the run game.

Sark’s big addition to the world of RPO spread offense was to make the play-action look like RPOs. This play against Auburn looks like an RPO but then the quarterback is pump-faking the glance route and the offensive line is starting to step backwards in pass protection. The receiver fakes the glance and then flies up field past a safety for an easy score.

It’s brilliant, nasty stuff, but it obviously requires a certain level of commitment and overall skill and athleticism. Tons of teams would love to take as many double move shots as Alabama did last season, but they didn’t have blazing fast receivers worth taking shots to, or they couldn’t count on their offensive line to hold up long enough to complete the fake successfully.

Therein lies the trick for Texas in 2021. Will this offensive line and wide receiver corps be ready and able to allow the Sarkisian offense to take several double move deep shots every game? Will the quarterback have the skill to spray the ball around the field? At that point Texas won’t be just another RPO spread team in the Big 12.

 

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by LTtxfan

[LTtxfan 49,141]

WR – XAVIER WORTHY, TEXAS (NO. 62, NO. 8 WR)

Recording a 10.55 100m as a sophomore in high school, it should come as no surprise why there’s been such positive buzz about Xavier Worthy since arriving in Austin. If there’s one word to associate with Worthy, it’s speed. Not many have a better track record of utilizing that trait than Steve Sarkisian. Far from a finished product, Worthy will need to continue to develop in a few areas, but his ability to stretch the field will allow him to contribute in Year 1.

 

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

Nice find by @alphahorn 

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

Yeah, would be great if Washington could turn the corner and play well... 

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

"Do you feel momentum -- week by week getting better ??"

 

[BurntOrange&White 39,930]

On 8/25/2021 at 7:55 AM, LTtxfan said:

 

[LTtxfan 49,141]

Thx for this article from "The Athletic"  @NoName 

Texas’ offensive recipe under Steve Sarkisian: From RPOs and RBs to play calling and window dressing

By Sam Khan Jr. 23m ago 

Quote

Texas hired Steve Sarkisian as its head coach, in large part, for his offensive prowess.

In two seasons coordinating the offense at Alabama, including a stellar 2020 in which the Crimson Tide averaged 48.5 points per game, 7.8 yards per play and produced three top-five vote-getters in the Heisman Trophy balloting, Sarkisian enhanced his reputation as one of the nation’s top offensive coaches.

Texas offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Kyle Flood, who was with Sarkisian at Alabama and with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, called Sarkisian “the best play caller in football.”

When asked on Monday, ahead of the No. 21 Longhorns’ Top 25 clash with No. 23 Louisiana on Saturday, how he approaches his offensive scripts, Sarkisian compared it to baking.

“You guys remember when you grew up and you’d go to your grandma’s house and she’d make the best cookies?” Sarkisian said. “Well, we try not to screw up grandma’s cookie recipe. We try to make sure that we’re putting everything in that cookie that makes it taste the best, and we try not to overthink ourselves or outsmart ourselves.”

So what exactly is Sarkisian cooking up, and how will it look different from the Longhorns’ previous chef, who was also known for his offensive mind? Here are some key elements of Sarkisian’s offensive attack that fans will see during the 2021 season.

More RPOs

Run-pass option plays (RPOs) were part of former coach Tom Herman’s offense at Texas, but if Sarkisian’s Alabama offense is any indication, the Longhorns will use them even more under their new coach.

Under Sarkisian in 2019 and 2020, 21.1 percent of the Crimson Tide’s pass attempts were on RPOs, the 10th-highest rate in the FBS, according to Sports Info Solutions, and the second-highest in the SEC behind Auburn (24.8 percent).

By comparison, 15.6 percent of Texas’ pass attempts were on RPOs in the same time span, third in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma State (20.1 percent) and Texas Tech (17.7 percent).

During a lecture at the 47th annual Angelo Football Clinic in San Angelo, Texas, in June, a popular stop for college and high school coaches on the yearly clinic circuit, Sarkisian emphasized the importance of RPOs to his scheme.

“We are an RPO team,” Sarkisian said. “I believe in RPOs, because we don’t run our quarterbacks, so we have to have a way to handle that extra element that might come into the box to help defend the run, because we believe in running the football.”

RPOs have grown in popularity because of how they can stress a defense. A quarterback can make a pre-snap or post-snap decision on whether to hand off or throw depending on defensive alignment, and with offensive linemen run blocking at the snap, it can force defenders to show their hand.

At the clinic, Sarkisian stressed that his quarterback’s eyes at the snap are important to read defenders’ intentions and that the team practices proper timing with the running back in instances where the quarterback needs to hand off.

Pre-snap decisions are made based on defensive secondary alignment or how many defenders are in the box. If the defense has seven players in the box and the offense has only six to block, the quarterback will look to throw and signal appropriately. The signals can be as subtle as a nod of the head or a tap of the helmet.

Here’s an example of how Sarkisian used an RPO at Alabama in 2019:

 

(ESPN screenshot)

Alabama is lined up in 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, three receivers). The Crimson Tide have six blockers and Arkansas has six defenders in the box. The attached run play is an inside zone. Quarterback Mac Jones and receiver DeVonta Smith (top of the screen) are reading the boundary safety. If the safety comes up in run support, it’s a trigger to throw. Sarkisian added that some defenses will use the corner in run support and have the safety drop into coverage, so Jones and Smith must read that, too, and adjust accordingly.

 

(ESPN screenshot)

 

 

(ESPN screenshot)

At the snap, the boundary safety runs toward the line of scrimmage. The line sells the run and Jones quickly fakes the handoff. The linebackers flow with the line to fill gaps, Smith fills the open space left by the blitzing safety. Jones hits him in stride and Smith is off to the races for a 47-yard catch-and-run.

“We have an opportunity to take advantage of the defense,” Sarkisian said at the clinic. “If they want to commit to the run, we can generate an explosive play.”

“Coach Sark loves to utilize space and take advantage of the space that we have on the field,” running back Bijan Robinson said Tuesday.

Sarkisian also builds play-action passes off of his RPO concepts. As teams have become better at defending RPOs, he tries to counter by making the plays look the same but executing them differently. Play-action passes are pure passes with no run element, just a run fake, and the linemen look more like traditional pass blockers.

When installing the offense, Sarkisian said he doesn’t teach players one position, he teaches concepts. For example, outside receivers aren’t just outside receivers, they train at every receiver spot. The expectation is that players understand those concepts and carry that understanding into game-planning.

“To expect our players to memorize 80 new plays every week, that probably wouldn’t be fair to them,” Sarkisian said in July. “There’s personnel groupings, shifts, motions, formations into the boundary, unbalanced looks. Ultimately, we’re still kind of running the same plays.

“You can call it window dressing, you can call it a new play, either way, it should appear different to the defense, and that allows us to hopefully play fast.”

Heavy running back usage

This summer, Sarkisian stated multiple times that Robinson will be the focal point of the offense. The former five-star running back recruit averaged more yards per touch from scrimmage (8.9) than all but two players (Alabama’s Smith, Ole Miss’ Elijah Moore) who had at least 100 touches in 2020. Sarkisian wants to maximize that by giving Robinson around 18-20 touches per game.

That aligns with how Sarkisian used running backs at Alabama. In 2019, Najee Harris averaged 18.1 touches per game from scrimmage (16 rushes, 2.1 receptions). In 2020, Harris averaged 22.6 touches (19.3 rushes, 3.3 receptions).

“I believe in running the football first,” Sarkisian said in May. “I think there’s a mentality for your football team that you win up front. You’ve got to stop the run on defense, and you’ve got to run the football on offense.”

Even in the passing game, the running back rarely leaves the field in Sarkisian’s offense. In 2019-20, 96.6 percent of Alabama’s offensive formations had one running back, according to Pro Football Focus. That’s a significant increase from the Longhorns’ last two years under Herman, when they had one running back on the field 74.8 percent of the time.

Two-back formations were a rarity at Alabama under Sarkisian: The Tide used two backs on only 50 snaps (2.9 percent of the time), according to PFF. The Longhorns haven’t done it much, either, deploying two backs on only 0.9 percent of formations.

Quarterback runs are rare

Sarkisian said it himself, he rarely uses designed quarterback runs. That will be the most evident offensive philosophy shift that Longhorns fans notice.

Herman leaned heavily on quarterback Sam Ehlinger as a factor in the running game. Ehlinger led the team in rushing attempts in three of his four seasons on campus, averaging 11.3 attempts in his 49 games. He never had a season in which he ran the ball fewer than 113 times.

Texas quarterbacks Hudson Card, the starter for Saturday, and Casey Thompson won’t be taking off nearly that much. In Sarkisian’s two seasons at Alabama, quarterbacks averaged only 2.7 non-sack rush attempts per game, according to PFF. That was the lowest average in the FBS.

Even when narrowing the data to that same two-year window (2019-20), Texas ran the quarterback at more than four times the rate, averaging 10.9 non-sack rushes per game (second most in the Big 12, 22nd most in the FBS).

Slower tempo

Don’t expect Sarkisian’s offense to consistently operate at a fast pace. Though hurry-up offenses have been common throughout the Big 12, and he will use it occasionally, Sarkisian’s offense will be slower overall than his predecessor’s and much of the conference.

Under Herman, Texas averaged 74.3 offensive snaps per game from 2017 to 2020, according to TruMedia. At Alabama, Sarkisian’s offenses averaged just 67 offensive snaps per game from 2019 to ’20.

Sarkisian’s Alabama offense was even slower than the average SEC unit. In 2019-20, SEC teams averaged 68.5 offensive snaps per game, the second-lowest conference rate above only Conference USA, according to PFF. By contrast, Big 12 teams averaged 70.1 snaps per game in 2019-20.

According to PFF, Texas averaged 24.9 seconds per play in the last two seasons under Herman (36th fastest in the FBS), while Sarkisian’s Alabama offenses averaged 27.3 seconds per play (91st).

“Compared to other offenses, this one is more methodical,” running back Roschon Johnson said in the spring. “It’s more strategic (instead of) going fast and just trying to get a play after a play after a play.”

Different personnel groups

Sarkisian will shift between two- and three-receiver formations often.

In his two seasons at Alabama, the Tide used three receivers 54.1 percent of the time and two receivers 38.5 percent of the time, according to PFF. That matches with Sarkisian’s stated desire to use a mix of 11 personnel and 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends, two receivers).

Herman’s Texas offenses relied heavily on 11 personnel. In 2019-20, the Longhorns used three-receiver sets in 81.3 percent of offensive snaps, while using two receivers only 9.5 percent of the time, according to PFF.

Herman’s teams used four receivers more often, though. The Longhorns had 8.2 percent of their snaps in four-receiver sets in 2019-20, while Sarkisian’s Alabama offenses lined up with four wide just 3.5 percent of the time.

During the Longhorns’ open training camp practice, it was clear how much Sarkisian’s offense uses tight ends. Jeff Banks, the team’s tight ends coach, estimated that the offense used two tight ends on “somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 to 40 percent of our snaps.”

He was right: According to PFF, Sarkisian’s Alabama offense used two tight ends exactly 30 percent of the time. That’s a slight uptick from Texas’ rate the last two years (28.5 percent). The Longhorns used one tight end slightly more often (65.5 percent) under Herman the last two seasons than the Tide did under Sarkisian (61.8 percent).

But Sarkisian’s offense was more successful in connecting with tight ends in the passing game. Crimson Tide tight ends had a better reception rate (79.7 percent) than Texas’ tight ends (67.7 percent) in the last two seasons, according to PFF.

When asked what fans should expect to see from Sarkisian’s Texas offense on Saturday, Texas receiver Joshua Moore put it simply:

“A lot of explosive plays,” he said. “Everybody will make plays in this offense.”

(

 

[Tex Long 4,382]

So, lemme see what we got here... we've gone from being Tree  Fiddy versus the Nine ninety fivers to embracing the largely unsung heroes of tight endery with a NIL deal. 

Yes, I realize this thread is for WRs, as well, but there's no good reason not to subsume WR's into the title topic. Think of them as just smaller, faster TEs, who need to learn to block.

All well and good, but let's keep the words and pics on the front page.

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