3/19/07 Coaches' Corner

[Eaglesfan27]

Today, we break with tradition. I'm not going to highlight a thread, but discuss a common sense strategy that I've noticed via experience and testing which can have a significant effect. Jim has mentioned this before which is what had me experimenting with it. Formations can have significant effects on rushing and passing. For example, I ran one test with the same team where I had only 5% of the I-Formation in situations where I expected to run and 20% pro form, and another where I had it at 20% for the I-Form and 5% for the pro form. This equated to over a yard per carry increase in average with the I-Form heavier offense. Also, my FB key blocks went up significantly. Formations clearly matter for more than just avoiding the dreaded defense is familiar with that play message.

[Leonidas]

The biggest thing I found in all my testing with formations is it will alter your playcalling. Yes, you may have run set to 80% of the time on certain situations and all that, but a QB with a diverse assortment of formations will run more pass plays than a guy calling fewer formations. I never noticed and qualitative changes though. The yards per play and completion percentages were pretty consistent.

[Passacaglia]

but a QB with a diverse assortment of formations will run more pass plays than a guy calling fewer formations

Are you sure?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Leonidas

The biggest thing I found in all my testing with formations is it will alter your playcalling. Yes, you may have run set to 80% of the time on certain situations and all that, but a QB with a diverse assortment of formations will run more pass plays than a guy calling fewer formations. I never noticed and qualitative changes though. The yards per play and completion percentages were pretty consistent.

I'm fairly confident that isn't true. If I set it to run 60% in every situation over the course of a season, I get close to 60% runs. If I did that in multiple tests, I'm sure I'd get even closer. I've also seen significant differences in YPC depending upon what formations I use on those 60% run plays.