Football Formations and U (As in lsU)

Now that we have that all taken care of, let’s get to some sports talk.

I’ve been looking at different formations that football offenses use to fit their talent level and there’s one that I keep going back to because I like it so much. That’s the pistol formation. Granted, there’s a time and place to use more different formations but I just like the options that you can run out of it. It starts with a front box of 5 with a WR on either side of the ball. You then have a TE lined up on the LOS. Between the TE and WR you put another WR off the LOS in the Slot back position. You then line your QB off the ball (but not as deep as in the shotgun hence the name pistol) with a RB behind him.

To be able to run this offense well however you need a few things. Good WR’s, Good RB’s, and a good RB that can catch the ball (Slot receiver).

All this got me thinking. What team would benefit from this formation. A team that wants to take the pressure off its QB. You’re not asking him to make a deep pass, only put the ball in the hands of someone that can make a play. That’s why I think this is one of the main formations that LSU will use in the coming year. Or, they should if they’re smart.

We already know that Crowton (the Offensive Coordinator for LSU) uses the pistol formation and it worked really well for him. I think the problem was however, that they didn’t use our TE enough, we had too many WR’s last year to use an as-of-then unproven TE. But with the loss of Early Doucet, and a true power back in Jacob Hester (that is needed in the original pistol formation for running) I think we’re going to see some adjustments in Crowton’s offensive use of the pistol.

The reason I like that formation so much is you can tweak it just a little and show completely different looks to the defense. You can either put the Slot WR or the RB in motion, or line up the TE off the line and use him as a receiver, you can swap out the Slot WR with a Full back and put either back in motion.

What becomes really interesting however is if you have a good pass catching TE. That’s what gives the defenses a ton of trouble. If you line your TE off the ball making him an eligible receiver then the defense has to account for him too. Put a TE in motion and that pulls a defender to your weak side. (Stick with me. I do have a point.) If you have another back that can catch the ball, that gives you the option to put him in motion to the weak side instead of the TE.

LSU has that tight end with Richard Dickson. He proved he was a good pass catching TE in the BCS NCG last January.

With him, LSU can now do all the above mentioned things.

Now, If you haven’t heard, LSU is stacked at RB. In fact, that’s one of the reasons that the pistol formation could be useful two fold for them. Gives the QB options without asking him to do too much and gets LSU’s most skilled players on the field. A variation of the pistol that I've been discussing with a few people that might work is take out the weak side WR and replace him with a FB.

Why does this work? One of LSU's Running backs Charles Scott has bulked up to a nice 230~ lbs. But while he's gained size, he's still clocking in at a 4.5 40-yard time. That's more than enough speed to go with his power to play the full back position. As a matter-o-fact Les Miles was noted as saying recently that one of the reasons for Charles Scott bulking up was because he wanted his best players and leaders on the field all the time.

Keiland Williams has shown flashes of being a big player maker and as such his speed to the outside and size makes his ability to fill the traditional RB position quite well. One of the few things to watch with KW however, is how well he holds onto the ball (reports are saying he's better at it than last year). Also, according to Fall Camp reports, he's still having trouble hitting the inside hole well, for two-fold reasons. 1) He seems to not have very good vision of where holes are opening up and 2) He hits full speed as soon as he touches the ball and runs up the back of his blockers instead of waiting for a hole to open up.

Richard Murphy is the Barry Sanders style running back. He's the lightest of the crew but with that comes the best quickness and cutting ability. He's super dangerous and can catch the ball quite well making him the perfect slot WR for the pistol formation.

This makes LSU's backfield absolutely dangerous when in this pistol formation. Put Byrd and Murphy on the line and let Dickson line-up right off the LOS and put him, Scott, or Williams in motion to the weak side and you'll have a very confused defense.

Is there some worry at the QB position? You bet. But here's one formation that Crowton can use to counter a lack of experience at QB.

Want to learn more about football formations?

Football Formations