My hunch is that not attracting the secondary to the short middle of the field with passing routes is a natural part of Gilbert's offensive strategy; and you will not see that change unless there is some weakness in the middle in the opponent's defense to exploit. So that will be the general nature of Gilbert's offense. The "spear" of his running strategy is between the ends and off-tackle and is dependent upon the RB finding a slight crease to break through. That is more difficult if the pass routes are pulling the secondary into the middle of the field within a short distance ahead of the OL. He does not want the LBs in the middle of the field covering the passing routes. The stress is on the DBs to cover outside or deep. If they choose to cheat up in the middle to stop the run --- BAM!! The WR slips past the DB because of the threat of the run up the middle. He is trying to pull the DB into the middle because of the run threat -- not because of the passing threat there.
The analogy is similar to how OCs use the reverse. You cannot use it that much, otherwise it will not be as effective. The threat of the reverse is as effective as actually running it. The veer-n-shoot is a smashmouth spread that depends upon the run to open up vertical pass plays. The running plays are generally up the middle. So, why bring in the secondary to the short middle of the field with short-middle passing routes that will decrease the success of the run?
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Last edited: Oct 20, 2016