I stumbled upon this guy named Pete Smith when I was seeking out draft information. He knows his sh!t and he's been pimping that we will see some Baylor-type spread formations this season.
http://nflspinzone.com/2016/05/04/cleveland-browns-may-like-just-baylors-players/
After signing Robert Griffin III in free agency and then adding both Corey Coleman and Spencer Drango in the NFL Draft, the Browns may have eyes on Baylor’s offense too.
With the 2016 NFL Draft only a few days old, it seem as though many look at how the Cleveland Browns drafted and are confused on how to evaluate it. This seems to be due to the fact that teams aren’t sure what this team is doing on offense or assume they are going to be running the same offense Hue Jackson did in Cincinnati. Going into the draft, I was working under the same assumption and I was wrong. Jackson and the Browns are going in a completely different direction.
Based on the draft results, how the roster is currently constructed and what Jackson has said, the Browns are going to run a spread offense taking inspiration from Baylor’s offense under Art Briles. Spreading teams out with wide receivers to create space and having a big, powerful offensive line mow down the opponent with the running game.
Baylor’s offense is built on the running game first, then takes full advantage of speed and athletes on the outside and uses tempo to make it that much more difficult to defend. The athletes Baylor has been able to recruit have made the offense that much more challenging to defend, but it provides substantial schematic advantages as well.
First, some people want to understand what the Baylor offense is and does. When most people say spread, this is usually what they think of:
http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/136/files/2016/05/Spread.jpg
A simple twins formation with weapons lined up outside with a quarterback in shotgun and a tailback. Certainly, there are any number of ways to vary on this concept, but this is the basic idea. It allows offenses to play smaller and use more athletes since talented 300lb football players aren’t common, especially in high school and college. Wide receivers are easier to find.
This also forces the defense to play smaller, using more nickel and dime packages to compensate. Most teams feel they have a much better chance of beating a team when they are making them use their third and fourth corners as opposed to having their starting SAM and WILL linebackers. So, that’s the basic spread.
When I think of Baylor’s Spread under Art Briles, this is what comes to mind:
http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/136/files/2016/05/BaylorSpread.jpg
They still have the same twins look with receivers, but they push them further out and force defenses to really decide where they want to put their numbers. In particular, it forces the linebackers and safeties to cover way more ground.
Baylor forces teams to cover the outside more and then uses a power running game inside to punish them for it, taking advantage of their numbers. Chip Kelly’s offense is focused on creating numbers advantages. Briles’ offense works on the same
If the defensive backs slide out wide, the offensive line potentially finds themselves in a five on five situation where if they simple get bodies on blocks, their running back gets a lot of free yardage before running into contact. Play too tight and the quarterback can throw a screen pass, quick hitch or go route to punish the opponent.
In order to really stop this offense, the defense needs athletes with range that are very smart and be able to hold up when Baylor ramps up the tempo. If a defense can cover the outside receivers and control the running game, putting them in predictable situations, it really short circuits what Baylor wants to do.
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