Unconventional thinking in today’s NFL

Unconventional thinking has always been an interesting part of the NFL. From the West Coast offence to the 3-4 defence, teams have always sought to get a leg up on their opponents with new ideas or new variations of old themes. With the parity imposed by revenue sharing and a tight salary cap, innovation has perhaps taken on an even greater role in recent decades. However, ideas are being copied as quickly as they’re produced, with schemes like the Tampa-2 defence and the Wildcat offence being rapidly implemented across the league after finding success with one franchise.

That doesn’t diminish the importance of a good innovation, though, and the Wildcat certainly is one. When the Miami Dolphins used it last year, it generally involved lining quarterback Chad Pennington up at wide receiver and snapping the ball to running back Ronnie Brown from the shotgun formation. Brown could then either run the ball himself, hand it off to Ricky Williams or throw a downfield pass. This wreaked havoc upon unprepared defences and led to several blowout wins. Steve Sheiner, the senior editor of Fanball.com and the author of the Dolphins’ site Blog With A Porpoise, said instituting the Wildcat was an important part of the Dolphins’ transition from having the NFL’s worst record in 2007 to claiming the AFC East title in 2008.

“I certainly think that played a role in their success,” Sheiner said. “They caught a lot of teams off-guard that were ill-prepared to defend against such an unfamiliar attack.”

Sheiner said the Wildcat wasn’t the only factor in the Dolphins’ turnaround, as a softer schedule and crucial injuries to division rivals also came into play. He said he expects it to be a big part of their offence going forward, though, especially since they drafted West Virginia quarterback Pat White in the second round this year.

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“The Dolphins have the players to utilize the Wildcat effectively, and with the addition of QB/WR Pat White, you can expect to see plenty more where that came from in 2009,” he said. “Local media have already dubbed the attack “The WildPat” as they anticipate seeing plenty of the dynamic White spearheading the offense. White will create passing lanes with his quick feet and is accurate on the move. White will offer a number of different options as a quarterback, running back or slot receiver, and he’ll make defenders pick their poison.”

Teams across the league have since looked at implementing some form of the Wildcat, but Sheiner said it isn’t a guaranteed success for every franchise.

“It’s become fairly common knowledge that the NFL is a copycat league,” he said. “When something works, other teams will adopt it. But the right personnel is crucial in implementing any new offensive scheme, particularly the Wildcat. Ronnie Brown was exceptional spearheading it last season, and you can bet there will be other teams looking to add it to their arsenal in the coming year. It takes the right players to make it work and an offensive mind to creatively design a new mix of formations and plays.”

Sheiner said the Dolphins’ version of the Wildcat can still be successful this season, despite teams having seen it before.

“You will still see the Dolphins run the Wildcat in 2009,” he said. “What you won’t see is the same plays and formations that you saw last season. Defences prepare for what they’ve seen before, and certainly for what they’ve been beaten by previously. As the old saying goes, ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me’. The Dolphins will have some new tricks up their sleeves this year and more often than not, the opposing defence won’t be ready for it.”

Sheiner said that kind of continuous innovation in both scheme creation and personnel selection is crucial to success in the NFL.

“In this era of the NFL, it’s vital for teams to constantly develop new and innovative ways to not only get the ball into the hands of their playmakers, but to catch opposing defences off guard,” he said. “The Wildcat did just that last year and you’ll see more of the same (though not quite the same) this year. The acquisition of Pat White is a perfect example of a team taking a player that fits their scheme. Receiver Percy Harvin is another example in Minnesota. Expect the Vikings to implement some Wildcat formations in their offensive game-plans this season … Harvin is another dynamic playmaker that will allow Minnesota to get creative with their play-calling and find ways to get him the ball.”

Brandon Peterson, who runs the Fanball blog Vikings’ Throne, said Harvin will be crucial to any Wildcat attempts by the team.

“The Wildcat will be used this year by the Vikings,” he said. “With the drafting of WR/RB Percy Harvin, the Vikings have already inserted a few new formations to the playbook including the Wildcat with Harvin lining up in the backfield. I’m not sure, considering the conservative nature of coach Brad Childress’ play-calling, that it will be used in games, but it has been shown in mini-camps and OTAs (organized team activities). It may just be a tool to make defences prepare for it just in case.”

Peterson said the Vikings didn’t necessarily have the Wildcat in mind when they drafted Harvin, though.

“They picked Harvin because he was the most talented offensive player available at that point in the draft,” he said. “He came gift-wrapped at 22 and they had no choice but to take him. Their other need was OT, but the top tier of OTs had been taken already so they wouldn’t get as much value at the 22 pick if they grabbed an OT in that spot. They needed another playmaker to take attention off of Adrian Peterson. No longer will defences be able to load the box to try and stop Peterson. They will have to account for Harvin at all times. He may not have the ball in his hands as much as people expect this year, but it’s the threat of him having the ball in his hands that will help keep defences honest.”

Peterson said the Dolphins’ success last season shows the importance of unconventional thinking in the NFL.

“It is hugely important and that answer is apparent when you look at last year’s Miami Dolphins,” he said. “They brought in Bill Parcells and he totally re-structured that team and the front office. He instituted a new philosophy and the coaches had a new attitude that ‘Hey, we’ll try anything to win, because we can’t do much worse than last year.’ So they bring in a bunch of hybrid WR/RBs to run the Wildcat and look where it got them: 11-5 from 1-15 the previous season.”

Peterson said not every unconventional strategy is automatically good, though.

“Obviously there are cases for the opposite as well, mainly the Oakland Raiders,” he said. “Al Davis has run that franchise into the ground by trying to be unconventional and he’s showed that, when taken to extremes, it can be a negative philosophy as well.”

One case where being unconventional thinking has worked out brilliantly can be found in Pittsburgh, where defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau’s zone blitz tactics have helped make the Steelers a consistently strong team for most of the past two decades. The zone blitz involves rushing linebackers and defensive backs who would normally be in pass coverage and dropping linemen into coverage to fill their roles. It often confuses quarterbacks as to where the pressure is coming from, leading to sacks and interceptions. Frank Mineo, who writes for the Steelers’ blog Behind the Steel Curtain under the pseudonym “drinkyourmilkshake”, said LeBeau’s innovations have been crucial to the team’s success.

“LeBeau’s knowledge and propensity for innovation took the Steelers’ defence and, within a few short years, turned them into a dominant force,” he said. “(He) has kept the defence relevant and exceptional. Even when LeBeau left the Steelers to become head coach of the Bengals, the entire time his schemes remained along with his coaching disciples and allowed the Steelers’ defence to remain one of the top units in the league. LeBeau is referred to as ‘Coach Dad’ by his players and it’s clear that the respect they have for him is immense.”

Mineo said gimmicks aren’t necessary for NFL success, but unconventional thinking is.

“I don’t think teams need to rely on trick plays and cheap gimmicks to be successful, but it is extremely important to take risks and think outside the box,” he said. “The Steelers are clearly a team who do that and I think it would be foolish to ignore that as part of the reason for their sustained success over the years … The Steelers used Wildcat-type formations long before it was popular, go against the grain in terms of spending lots of money on high priced free agents, and also trust their coaches like no other franchise over the past few decades. The teams who are successful run their teams how they want and stay away from following the trends of other teams.”

Many innovations have a short shelf life in the NFL before opposing teams figure out how to crack them, but LeBeau’s zone blitz is still going strong almost two decades after its inception. Mineo said that’s likely because it was a refinement of an established idea, rather than something completely new.

“I think part of the reason why it has been able to sustain its relevance is because the zone blitz was less of an innovation and more of an improvement on the 3-4 defensive scheme that has been effective for many years,” he said. “LeBeau designed the scheme to cut down on risks by disguising defenders to increase the efficiency of his blitzes without committing additional men and therefore creating pressure without exposing weaknesses. He has basically perfected the 3-4 defence, and perfection rarely goes out of style.”

Perfection is oft-imitated, though. The 3-4, which features three defensive linemen and four linebackers in base schemes, used to be a rare defensive alignment. Prompted by the success of teams like the Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots, more and more teams are switching to 3-4 schemes all the time, though, most recently Kansas City and Green Bay.

Mineo said having more 3-4 teams in the league will increase the competition for players who fit those schemes, perhaps making the scheme more difficult to run.

“Teams like the Ravens, Steelers, and Patriots have had their pick of the litter when it comes to finding the right players to fit their mold partially because there were so few teams running the 3-4 scheme in the past,” he said. “As more teams start to use the system, it is only natural to assume that teams will have a harder time finding the right players to continue their defensive dominance.”

Mineo said the wrinkles each team adds will help, though, and the next big defensive trend may lure teams away from the 3-4.

“There are a few caveats to that,” he said. “Each team who use the 3-4 runs it with a little bit of a different style, and the personnel each system requires is different from team to team.”

In Kansas City, the switch to the 3-4 comes largely at the behest of new general manager Scott Pioli. Pioli comes from the Bill Belichick school of thought after working with him in Cleveland, New York and New England, most recently as the Patriots’ director of player personnel. Adam Best, the senior editor of the Fansided blog network and the co-founder and senior editor of the Chiefs’ blog Arrowhead Addict, said Pioli seems to be trying to build the Chiefs’ defence in the model Belichick used so successfully in New England.

“I think it is very similar to what they did in New England, down to Pioli drafting Tyson Jackson to be his Richard Seymour, and bringing in Mike Vrabel to be his, well, Mike Vrabel,” Best said. “I think the defence will be very linebacker-centric. You have two vets that are all-time greats – Zach Thomas and Vrabel – paired with two great, young athletes – Demorrio Williams, presumably, and Derrick Johnson. That’s very reminiscent of what the Patriots have done, as they always seem to mix crafty veterans with young, athletic studs. At the same time, (new defensive coordinator) Clancy Pendergast seemed to focus more on his defensive line and secondary while in Arizona, but that could just be because that’s where his defence had most of its talent.”

Best said we may see a full-blown 3-4 in Kansas City sooner than many think.

“It’s a big part of the Patriot Way, so it has to happen,” he said. “My biggest worry is that we wasted the No. 5 pick on Glenn Dorsey, because I don’t see him as a natural fit in the scheme. Most people seem to think they’ll run a 4-3/3-4 hybrid this year and ease into the 3-4 scheme over the course of the next several years. I think they’ll make a quicker transition. The Chiefs’ young secondary is very talented, and both the pass rush and run defence can’t get much worse. I think the young bucks back in the defensive backfield can hang in there while we get everything sorted out up front. I also think having Mike Vrabel and Zach Thomas on the field will expedite the process.”

Best said just a basic 3-4 is no longer good enough, though.

“The game of football is always changing, always evolving,” he said. “Coaches like Belichick and Mike Tomlin don’t get paid what they do because they can figure things out and adapt. The best coaches think ahead of the curve, and are always one step ahead of the competition. Thing is, the 3-4 isn’t exactly new. At worst, I think it can be part of an effective mix. That’s the future, I believe — hybrid defences. And what better way to keep the offence honest? Guys in the defensive backfield are stronger than ever before, and the big boys up front can move like never before. That means parts that can be shifted around, camouflaged and used in a lot of ways. Three techniques dropping back into pass coverage, corners blitzing, linebackers playing as glorified linemen, safeties playing as glorified linebackers, etc. So, I think you are going to see more of the 3-4 in the immediate future, but in the long run, I think you are going to see hybrid defences with a lot of versatile pieces.”

Best said thinking outside of the box can be the great equalizer if teams lack the talent to win in more conventional fashion.

“I think it’s very important,” he said. “Not necessarily just for the direct results, although both unconventional personnel moves and plays can net results: the main focus here is to always keep your opponents guessing, both during the preparation stage and during the game. Additionally, if one team has inferior talent, reaching deep into your top hat and pulling out all the magic tricks can equalize things. For example, last year the 2-14 Chiefs damn near beat the 9-7 Bucs, in large part to a trick play. Running back Jamaal Charles was in the Wildcat, he took the snap, ran the option and pitched a reverse to receiver Mark Bradley. Bradley hit (quarterback) Tyler Thigpen, who was spread out as a receiver, with a bomb for a touchdown. Also, if you’re a contending team and can save those trick plays for the right moments, that can pay off, too. Just look at Bill Cowher’s final Super Bowl.”

Unconventional thinking can be quite powerful, as the success of teams like the Dolphins, Steelers and Patriots demonstrates. Their schemes may or may not translate to success for other teams, but that doesn’t diminish their accomplishments. Perhaps even more interesting to contemplate is what will come next, though. A harebrained scheme in the mind of a coach one day may well become the next Wildcat or 3-4 the next day, and copied by the rest of the league the day after that. The NFL is an ongoing struggle to out-think and out-scheme everyone else, and it will be fascinating to see what the next great innovation will be.

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