[washingtonismoney]

Well, so there are some nuances here. Stanford runs a lot in shotgun with three receivers, one in-line TE, and one RB. That doesn't work well, because the QB isn't really a running threat. (Chip Kelly himself admitted this: 

Kelly once said that the shotgun inside zone “is not a great play if the quarterback hands off to the running back and everyone in the stadium knows who has the ball.” He was right, and his NFL offense is now proof.

https://www.theringer.com/2016/9/9/16036...32f053870e) 

The Rams, on the other hand, run out of 11 personnel (generally) from an under-center formation. What's more, as far as I can tell, they virtually always have motion from the wideout accompanying the play. Sometimes that morphs into a jet sweep, sometimes a play-action. That has the spreading effect the 538 article describes. 

By contrast, Stanford -- even in shotgun -- doesn't really stress the defense and cause it to stretch out. Defenders play downhill. At first I thought this problem would be solved simply by gashing the defense enough over the top. I'm still confused as to why it's not working -- it does occasionally, obviously -- and I bet Shaw is too. 

Anyway, we may be shifting more towards an 11 formation by default. Shaw has been recruiting wideouts like crazy these past few years. Tight end recruiting, on the other hand, has been more subdued.

[washingtonismoney]

Well, so there are some nuances here. Stanford runs a lot in shotgun with three receivers, one in-line TE, and one RB. That doesn't work well, because the QB isn't really a running threat. (Chip Kelly himself admitted this: 

Kelly once said that the shotgun inside zone “is not a great play if the quarterback hands off to the running back and everyone in the stadium knows who has the ball.” He was right, and his NFL offense is now proof.

https://www.theringer.com/2016/9/9/16036...32f053870e) 

The Rams, on the other hand, run out of 11 personnel (generally) from an under-center formation. What's more, as far as I can tell, they virtually always have motion from the wideout accompanying the play. Sometimes that morphs into a jet sweep, sometimes a play-action. That has the spreading effect the 538 article describes. 

By contrast, Stanford -- even in shotgun -- doesn't really stress the defense and cause it to stretch out. Defenders play downhill. At first I thought this problem would be solved simply by gashing the defense enough over the top. I'm still confused as to why it's not working -- it does occasionally, obviously -- and I bet Shaw is too. 

Anyway, we may be shifting more towards an 11 formation by default. Shaw has been recruiting wideouts like crazy these past few years. Tight end recruiting, on the other hand, has been more subdued.