Death of a wildcat....

[Inspecta]

So if you look back through history in the NFL you'll see that it's littered with offensive schemes that bounced on the scene with much fanfare that steamrolled defenses and seemed unstoppable only to watch said scheme to go the way of the do-do a few years down the line after defensive coordinators caught up up and dismantled what once was considered a full proof offense.

I bring this up because we're going into year 3 (perhaps 4?) of the Wildcat offense. Miami had just as much success with it last year as they did when they rolled it out. Other teams mimicked Miami's offense with some level of success (Cleveland anybody?).

So this thread's purpose is to pose the question.....is this the year we see the LB spy shadowing wildcat RB's? What does it truly take to stop this offense dead in it's tracks, and can defenses do it?

[Tobalaz]

You've got to know the history of football if you want to understand the roots of the wildcat.
The wildcat was technically the second offense ran, back in the day the players lined up in a V formation and didn't pass the ball, so this was really a direct snap to the running back.
The game soon evolved allowing for forward passes with a penalty of 15 yards for an incompletion, this is basically what we call the wildcat today.
As time moved on the 15 yard penalty for an incompletion of the forward pass was removed because the passing game was more entertaining than the line up and run the ball every play offense that was commonplace. There was potential, so the game started then and there to evolve into a passing league.
Fans loved the forward pass so the NFL started gearing the rules to favor the pass, resulting in more and more complicated offenses evolving which in turn called on a specific skill set for a qb (more focused on his ability to read the field and pass over his mobility, which was the prime requisite at the time), which was, at the time, the death kneel (or so we thought) for the wildcat.
We saw the birth of the west coast offense, here in Ohio (short passes, mobile qb), which in turn lead to the development of more and more complicated offenses, most of which didn't require a mobile qb.
.....
Which brings up back to the birth (or should we say rebirth?) of the wildcat.
Miami didn't have a qb that could throw the ball, so why not go old school?
Let the rb take the snap, make a forward pass every now and then. Run heavy, pass light, like I said, old school.
It worked then, it works now, it'll come and go but it's going to be a part of the game for a long time.

[Inspecta]

Yeah but Tob we're talking about a 50+ year absence of the "wildcat".

I was aware that this how offenses were ran back in the day, However this version is much different in the fact that the blocking schemes are infinitely more complex than back in the day's "man on man" blocking schemes.

So how does one stop it? If it's so old and so simple, then one would think that Miami would of been shut down quite some time ago, however that's not the case. They keep running wild over a number of teams and keeping their potent offenses off the field.

[Tobalaz]

Originally Posted by Inspecta

Yeah but Tob we're talking about a 50+ year absence of the "wildcat".

I was aware that this how offenses were ran back in the day, However this version is much different in the fact that the blocking schemes are infinitely more complex than back in the day's "man on man" blocking schemes.

So how does one stop it? If it's so old and so simple, then one would think that Miami would of been shut down quite some time ago, however that's not the case. They keep running wild over a number of teams and keeping their potent offenses off the field.

It's because they could find a rb that had a skillset much along the lines of the first WCO qbs.
It takes a special qb or rb whose packaged skillset can blur the line between the two.
So if you want to wildcat, you're going to need a rb that played a lot of qb or a decent qb that ran alot and those guys don't just show up out of the blue, they're rare.

[hammertime]

hey, you still see the flea flicker once and awhile

no ones bread and butter though.

[Rich4eagle]

Originally Posted by Inspecta

So if you look back through history in the NFL you'll see that it's littered with offensive schemes that bounced on the scene with much fanfare that steamrolled defenses and seemed unstoppable only to watch said scheme to go the way of the do-do a few years down the line after defensive coordinators caught up up and dismantled what once was considered a full proof offense.

I bring this up because we're going into year 3 (perhaps 4?) of the Wildcat offense. Miami had just as much success with it last year as they did when they rolled it out. Other teams mimicked Miami's offense with some level of success (Cleveland anybody?).

So this thread's purpose is to pose the question.....is this the year we see the LB spy shadowing wildcat RB's? What does it truly take to stop this offense dead in it's tracks, and can defenses do it?

The Wildcat was the Single Wing in the 30's...............oh boy that is brilliant......died for half a century brought back and now NOVEL.............

for a year or two

[Thaak]

Originally Posted by Tobalaz

It's because they could find a rb that had a skillset much along the lines of the first WCO qbs.
It takes a special qb or rb whose packaged skillset can blur the line between the two.
So if you want to wildcat, you're going to need a rb that played a lot of qb or a decent qb that ran alot and those guys don't just show up out of the blue, they're rare.

Actually I think the college game is producing more and more QB's that are ok to decent QB's that can run. Kinda like Vick, Young, Tebow, Cribbs, et al. It is actually rare, in my mind, that you find a college QB who needs to produce like an NFL QB while still in college.

[King of Kings]

Originally Posted by Rich4eagle

The Wildcat was the Single Wing in the 30's...............oh boy that is brilliant......died for half a century brought back and now NOVEL.............

for a year or two

Who was your "favorite" teams in the 1930's?