Here more about the 2TE offense I've been spouting off about.
Make your own conclusions:
Dream scheme -- Pats bring back two tight end set
By John Tomase
Boston Herald Sports Writer
Thursday, July 27, 2006 - Updated: 05:59 AM EST
The NFL is about gaining an edge, no matter how fleeting. The 49ers popularized the West Coast offense, and everyone copied it. The Steelers thrived on the zone blitz, and everyone copied it. Win a title, imitation ensues.
During the Bill Belichick era, the Patriots have consistently stayed ahead of the curve. They invented the strong middle-class style of salary cap management, employed the 3-4 defense when it was unfashionable, and game-planned better than anyone in the league.
The rest of the NFL catches on, however, so the Patriots must continually adapt. And heading into the 2006 season, they’re on the forefront of another trend that could subtly alter the balance of power in the league - the two tight end offense.
We’re not talking about your father’s formations from the days of John Mackey and Mike Ditka. Today’s top-flight tight end is built like a linebacker, but runs like a receiver.
Ben Watson certainly applies, along with San Diego’s Antonio Gates, Kansas City’s Tony Gonzalez, and San Francisco rookie Vernon Davis, to name three.
What separates the Patriots from just about everybody else is the presence of Daniel Graham, a punishing blocker and dangerous open-field runner. When the Patriots put the two first-round picks on the field simultaneously this year - which should be quite often - they’ll create mismatches in the passing and running games.
And if all goes according to plan, the rest of the league will once again be playing catch-up.
“Does Bill Belichick understand the matchup game in the NFL? Absolutely,” former personnel man and current Sirius radio host Pat Kirwan said. “Did he go find himself two tight ends who can attack the field vertically? Absolutely.
“To me, he’s figured it out, and I think he figured it out from the defensive side, where he saw the problems Tony Gonzalez and the other tight end could cause. He was going to get himself his own version of that, even though taking tight ends in the first round was not popular. That’s a strong statement on what Bill thought he could do.”
So while Patriots fans fret over Deion Branch’s holdout and a lack of depth at wide receiver, the Pats know they have pass-catching options not only in Watson and Graham, but draftees Dave Thomas and Garrett Mills, too.
“Our coaches have been on the leading edge of a lot of things and I don’t think this year is going to be any different,” Watson said. “It’s always our goal and our coaches’ goal to prepare us to play the best we can on Sunday, and that’s never going to change.”
Focusing on the tight ends seems to represent a step backward in today’s game, which is all about spread formations, shrinking linebackers and speed, speed, speed.
But it’s in part this newfound emphasis that the Patriots, Cowboys and 49ers seek to exploit.
“Bill Parcells made a strong comment about the matchups available to him when he comes out in two tight end sets,” Kirwan said. “I ran this by a lot of people and it holds up. If you come out in three wides, one running back and one tight end, a traditional third-down package, the defense can have an advantage. Most nickel backs are starting-caliber corners and they’re as savvy or more savvy than your third wide receiver.
“But when you come out with two tight ends, the nickel back stays off the field and you’re going against a base defense.”
That places some form of linebacker or safety coverage on the tight end, and that means favorable matchups if you boast a big, fast, athlete like Watson (6-foot-3, 253, sub-4.4 40) and a powerful blocker like Graham (6-3, 257) on the other side.
“You don’t want to be dictated to,” Bills coach #### Jauron said. “But by and large, the offense does have final say and you’re kind of waiting to see what they do. The two-tight offense can be pretty balanced, and that makes you balance up defensively, which takes away some of the things you like to do.”
Let the mismatches begin. Safeties have to respect both the top receiver on one side and Watson on the other.
“Now you’re forcing defenses to do what everyone hates,” Kirwan said. “All Tom Brady has to do is look at the linebacker on Watson’s side. If he walks halfway out to help against Watson, you’re going to run Corey (Dillon) or (Laurence) Maroney to Graham’s side and you’re going to be able to block everyone. Kansas City has made a living doing this. If the defense tries to stop the run, you’ve got Watson singled up on a safety and you’re going to have a field day.”
Scot McCloughan, personnel chief of the 49ers, used the sixth pick in the draft on Maryland tight end Vernon Davis, a 6-3, 256-pound monster with 4.4 speed. He’ll be paired at tight end with Needham’s Eric Johnson, who caught 82 passes in 2004 but missed last season to injury.
“If we come out in a two tight end set or put Vernon in the backfield with Eric at tight end, now there aren’t enough DBs to cover these guys,” McCloughan said. “With offenses nowadays, you’re always looking for mismatches, especially on downs when you know you’re throwing the ball.”
Having a blocker like Graham makes defense even tougher, because now the run is a viable option.
“The one thing it does is when you’re out there in a certain set, the defense can’t say 80 percent of the time in this formation they throw,” McCloughan said. “If you’ve got two athletic tight ends and one of them can block, the defense has no clue. They’re guessing trying to figure out what the offense is going to do.”
Ray Rychleski recruited Davis at Maryland as a 6-3, 215-pound receiver that the Terrapins expected would fill out. He started as a receiver, shifted to H-back, then became a powerhouse tight end who tossed defensive backs, Rychleski said, “like the old Reggie White hump move.”
“There used to be a standing joke that the best tight ends were playing power forward in the NBA,” Rychleski said. “Now the tight end has become a little bit of the glory position. They’re catching more passes, they’re more athletic, and they’ve become a weapon in the everyday offense.”
The Chiefs started the trend with Gonzalez, who literally played power forward at Cal but was too short at 6-5 to make the NBA. He joined Jason Dunn, an old-style road paver at 6-6, 274 pounds.
“If you have a slow, plodding, in-line blocker - the Anthony Becht types - they provide a service as basically an extra tackle, but they’re no threat in vertical football,” Kirwan said.
The Chiefs took advantage of Dunn’s blocking skills to churn out record rushing seasons from Priest Holmes and 1,750 yards last year from Larry Johnson. The Patriots have tweaked the Kansas City formula with Graham, an outstanding blocker who also has receiving skills and can be a tank in the open field, as the Falcons learned last October when he careened 45 yards with a screen for a touchdown.
“The thing we’ve really seen the last five to eight years is how much tight ends have improved their speed,” Titans general manager Floyd Reese said. “You’re getting guys who may not be 6-7, 280 pounds anymore, but they’re 6-5, 250 and can run so darn well. When they match up against a linebacker or a slow safety, it’s no contest.”
McCloughan surveyed a recent scene involving Davis at minicamp and had all he could do not to drool.
“We’ve got a couple of linebackers who can run pretty good and they didn’t have a chance,” he said. “They walk up on Vernon and heck, five yards downfield he’s already a step past them and all he’s doing is gaining speed. The defense can’t account for all of these different options.”
There’s one name that has barely come up in this discussion, but he’s crucial - Tom Brady.
The 49ers, for instance, believe high-percentage throws to two pass-catching tight ends will aid the development of quarterback Alex Smith.
“Tight ends play a lot in the middle of the field,” Jauron said. “That’s a pretty effective area for a passer, who can squeeze the ball into a tighter area when he’s got a big target. It’s a shorter throw and the ball isn’t in the air for a long time.”
Brady, however, needs no such safety valve.
“I would think with Brady being able to survey the field so well, the tight end might even be his second option,” McCloughan said. “Give one or two tight ends to a quarterback like that and that’s almost unstoppable at times.”
A key will be health. Watson missed all but one game in 2004 and Graham spent basically eight games on the sideline last year. He underwent offseason shoulder surgery, but was not placed on the physically unable to perform list entering training camp, which is a good sign.
With those two in the mix along with Thomas and Mills, the Patriots may very well feature the tight end more than any team in the league. And that’s music to Watson’s ears.
“There are plenty of tight ends already making noise across the league,” he said. “The past few years the position has definitely had a kind of rebirth, a revolution. It’s good to be a part of that.
“You had guys like Shannon Sharpe and Kellen Winslow back in the day. Then there was a lull, and now it’s picking back up again. It’s kind of a cycle, but I’m glad we’re on the up end of it. Hopefully Dan and David and I can all contribute.”
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The double tight end: Why it works
By Herald sports staff
Thursday, July 27, 2006 - Updated: 06:05 AM EST
The double tight end offense may not be new, but today’s tight end is. Bigger, stronger, faster and more athletic than the stars of prior decades -- “Guys who used to play power forward now play tight end,” notes 49ers GM Scot McCloughan -- today’s tight ends can change a game, particularly on a team like the Patriots, who boast standouts in Ben Watson and Daniel Graham.
With assistance from Pat Kirwan, a former player personnel man turned Sirius satellite radio host, here’s how a two tight end set can flummox a defense. We’ll use the Patriots -- with Ben Watson split out wide to one side, and Daniel Graham tight on the other side, along with two wide receivers to the other side, and a single running back behind Tom Brady -- as an example.
TE-LT-LG-C-RG-RT-TE
(Watson)--QB---(Graham)-WR-WR
---RB
Against such personnel, an opponent typically responds with its base defense (4-3 or 3-4) and four defensive backs. With Watson split out wide on one side of the formation and Graham tight on the other, the Patriots can let Brady decide whether to run or pass. If he sees an undersized safety on Watson, he’ll immediately exploit that matchup based on the size differential. If he sees a linebacker, even better -- Watson can run right by him.
If the defense sends a linebacker and safety toward Watson, Brady can run Laurence Maroney or Corey Dillon to Graham’s side, where the Patriots will have a blocker for every defender. The Chiefs have made a killing doing this with tight end Tony Gonzalez and All-Pro running backs Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson.
If a safety steps up to help against the run, outside receivers Deion Branch and Chad Jackson will face single coverage with no safety help.
“You’re forcing defenses to do what they hate,” Kirwan says. “They have to react and the offense dictates the game.”
C'mon guys, I agree let's just stick to FF and leave the venom for the Free for All forum.
with them.
