Success of Pro-Style O Likely Depends on the Trenches

Mavric

Mavric

Yoda
Staff member
PSU scored two more touchdowns per game in 2016 than it did in 2015, when it had pro-style passer Christian Hackenberg. Hackenberg wasn’t terrible in 2015, throwing for 2,525 yards, 16 touchdowns and just six interceptions before being drafted by the Jets. But Penn State’s porous offensive line allowed 39 sacks. So Franklin, who’s well versed in the pro-style system, made a switch.

“I love the pro-style offense — what we ran in Green Bay, what we ran when we were at Kansas State, what we ran when I was at Maryland,” Franklin said Tuesday at Big Ten media days, describing his various coaching stops. “But, the reality is, it’s a great offense if you’re good up front and you’re good at tight end. That offense is dependent on being good up front. Most offenses are, but (pro-style) magnifies it.”

Two days later on The World-Herald’s “The Bottom Line,” Sports Illustrated writer Andy Staples echoed those thoughts.

“I’m of the belief that you really can’t succeed running a pro-style offense unless you can get the best linemen,” Staples said. He then delved into offenses that cropped up in the past 15 years — Mike Leach’s “Air Raid” or the system Urban Meyer developed — that were designed to close talent gaps.

“Pro-style — whether it’s two backs and a tight end or two tight ends and two backs — that’s used to enforce an athletic advantage,” Staples said. “When Nebraska plays Ohio State, they’re going to be (at) an athletic disadvantage, so I don’t know if that’s going to work.”
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OWH

 
Is there any offense that works with a poor OL? And the article suggests that pro-style needs a better OL than other offenses, which I find unlikely.

 
This is what concerns me most about Langsdorf & Riley's offense. All the talk for the past few months is that Riley will have "his QB" running his offense. But, without a great offensive line, the offense isn't going to do much. The run game gets very limited when the defense doesn't have to account for the QB run game. I know that the passing game will improve with Lee and the other QB's being brought in, but I don't know if the overall offense will significantly improve without a huge improvement from the offensive line.

 
RedDenver said:
Is there any offense that works with a poor OL? And the article suggests that pro-style needs a better OL than other offenses, which I find unlikely.
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I don't think any offense can succeed with a "poor" OL. The spread offenses which utilize the QB run game and play uptempo are able to be effective with "average" O-lines.

 
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From my uneducated point of view, it's more difficult to discuss the Offensive Line vs the skill positions because it's a unit, rather than an individual. Ideally, the line unit is greater than the sum of its parts but that is a difficult concept to predict when looking at the parts. The Offensive Line seems to have a lot of intangibles involved that only become visible when the unit is running full speed under the stress of game conditions.

I couldn't begin to predict the performance of a unit like that, but feel like I can at least make a sort of educated guess on the performance of skilled individuals who perform individually.

 
Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Illinois all run Pro-Style offenses --- and I think in that order of how good their Offensive Lines have been the past 5 years. I still believe this year (barring injuries) will be the best our line has looked for sure in the Riley era. Wisconsin has had the most success out of those teams, and the reason Michigan is better than Iowa is skilled players which they lack a lot of.

 
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BIG ERN said:
Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Illinois all run Pro-Style offenses --- and I think in that order of how good their Offensive Lines have been the past 5 years. I still believe this year (barring injuries) will be the best our line has looked for sure in the Riley era. Wisconsin has had the most success out of those teams, and the reason Michigan is better than Iowa is skilled players which they lack a lot of.
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PJ Fleck ran a lot of spread at Central Michigan, so I wouldn't be surprised if Minnesota heads to that type of offense, and Michigan State tried to incorporate more spread principles last year after their offense was sputtered for most of the season.

 
If I am going to bring up any issues for the Nebraska football team, they're going to be related to depth and experience issues roster wide.

Is there a place on there a place on the team where somebody won't have to step up their game in order for us to succeed? The QB is new. We are replacing Newby. We are replacing Westy. We are replacing Cethan. We are replacing Maurice. We are replacing Banderas. We are replacing Gerry. And this list could go on for a while.

 
RedDenver said:
Is there any offense that works with a poor OL? And the article suggests that pro-style needs a better OL than other offenses, which I find unlikely.
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That's not what it's saying. Just because it's not the best OL doesn't mean they are poor.

What the article suggests....is true. You can do a lot of things to help close the gap talent wise up front. But no, there is no scheme that can work miracles.

I'm gunna be curious to see how well Lee is protected. Armstrong had the ability to escape. Will they run as much rollout stuff with Lee?

 
Coach Power'T said:
RedDenver said:
Is there any offense that works with a poor OL? And the article suggests that pro-style needs a better OL than other offenses, which I find unlikely.
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That's not what it's saying. Just because it's not the best OL doesn't mean they are poor.

What the article suggests....is true. You can do a lot of things to help close the gap talent wise up front. But no, there is no scheme that can work miracles.

I'm gunna be curious to see how well Lee is protected. Armstrong had the ability to escape. Will they run as much rollout stuff with Lee?
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I'm not as concerned with protecting Lee. I think he will do a good job of getting the ball out quickly on pass plays. I am more concerned about how NU's run game will be. Without the threat of the QB run game, this gives a free defender that the offense can't account for.

 
tmfr15 said:
If I am going to bring up any issues for the Nebraska football team, they're going to be related to depth and experience issues roster wide.

Is there a place on there a place on the team where somebody won't have to step up their game in order for us to succeed? The QB is new. We are replacing Newby. We are replacing Westy. We are replacing Cethan. We are replacing Maurice. We are replacing Banderas. We are replacing Gerry. And this list could go on for a while.
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Was there a huge drop off in production on either side when any of those players were missing from games except maybe QB because the back up isn't even the same. I like Cethan but he was way under utilized so you aren't really going to miss him. Not much drop off when Newby was out of the game. Weber filled in pretty well for Banderas. Gerry might be your biggest loss outside of Westy. But It seems those filling those gaps are pretty good. Do I see the new guys making behind the back grabs or laying completely out for balls like Westerkamp? No, but I think there will be a slight increase in YAC. I don't really know what to think of the O line they aren't missing anyone
 
ColoradoHusk said:
Coach Power'T said:
RedDenver said:
Is there any offense that works with a poor OL? And the article suggests that pro-style needs a better OL than other offenses, which I find unlikely.
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That's not what it's saying. Just because it's not the best OL doesn't mean they are poor.

What the article suggests....is true. You can do a lot of things to help close the gap talent wise up front. But no, there is no scheme that can work miracles.

I'm gunna be curious to see how well Lee is protected. Armstrong had the ability to escape. Will they run as much rollout stuff with Lee?
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I'm not as concerned with protecting Lee. I think he will do a good job of getting the ball out quickly on pass plays. I am more concerned about how NU's run game will be. Without the threat of the QB run game, this gives a free defender that the offense can't account for.
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I agree. I think the run game production will go down by 50/60 yards or so. Maybe more...

 
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