Question in the comments section of a BC article:
Q. I was hoping you could elaborate on Gilbert’s use of the TE, and how he might expand his system to take advantage of a pretty athletic player like Bluiett. I feel like with all the spacing the [new offensive] system provides, a 6’3" 260 lb dude running through the middle seems like a guaranteed 7 yards.
A. Gilbert’s use of the TE in the passing game hasn’t been extensive, and neither has Briles’ or Dino Babers’ or anyone else in the (still very small) coaching tree. Some of that is by necessity – truly stud two-way TEs have become very rare anywhere and particularly in spread-happy Texas where the offense has its roots – but more is by the simple design philosophy of spread them as wide and as deep as you can.
An attached TE by definition doesn’t split too wide, and even a guy like Gronk or Antonio Gates in his prime can’t run up the seam the way slot guys like Kendall Wright or KD Cannon can. That combo tends to mean that the O goes 4 wide or deploys 3 wide with more of a moveable bludgeon at TE, and it’s worked very well so far – but this offense hasn’t had anything near the iterations and deployments that the Mumme/Leach-style Air Raid has enjoyed, so it’s hard to say that the final book has been written.
Blueitt is a guy with good-not-crazy straight line speed and not necessarily much in the way of quicks out of his breaks. He can be used to attack the seams, and his versatility as a blocker means they can move him around the formation and potentially create extra gaps in a lot of spots to aid the running game. As far as specifically deploying him in the passing game, it’s usually a matter of thinking about how he could replace one of the routes that’s often run by a receiver in this O and how well he could do it.
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Last edited: Jul 26, 2016