Creating A Mismatch

INformative breakdown BarrNone55. Thanks for the breakdown. I look forward to what Shurmur can put together on the field. Hopefully having a QB from training camp to end of season helps get the ship going in the right direction.

While the concept of 22 personnel is intriguing, its use in the NFL has largely gone by the wayside. The last team to rely heavily on 22 personnel (off the top of my head) was the 49ers since they could motion a FB to either side in an attempt to create a running lane for Kap. With Vernon Davis being a capable blocker (being big) and a good receiver across the formation, it created a 3-read option attack. More recently teams have moved away from 22 personnel and simply go heavy by putting 6+ O-lineman on the field due to the lack of creativity you can have within the formation. As teams have moved away from the run, 22 personnel has followed. 

I agree that the Vikings will want to utilize their RB's but that is likely going to be best used in a committee out of your most common 11/12 men personnel and possibly implementing a 21 personnel package that will operate primarily out of the gun. In 21 personnel you'd have the ability to run off-tackle on the TE's side of the field and with larger WR's the Vikings could potentially squeeze the DB to the sideline allowing backs room to work. Alternatively you'd have the ability to block the backside of plays (Murray in the gun) to work the ball downfield on the outside or inside with the TE while having a built-in check down with Cook/McKinnon. If you have your heart set on having 2 TE's on the field, which I wouldn't blame you for, 12 personnel gives you more legal formations to run out of. The issue with 22 personnel as stated in your article is that you're going to have trouble keeping the formation legal. Your TE's are going to have to be kept in-line to keep 7 on the LOS and motioning a back into the slot forces them onto the LOS by rule and would be an illegal formation. 

Definitely valid points. 

While the  majority of the NFL is moving more towards a pass oriented look, I believe Zimmer is going to still want to be a run first team. That seems to be hardwired into his DNA. Looking back to the 2015, we were more run centric. I think we return to that attack with more versatile back(s) behind Bradford. 

In addition, with the majority of the NFL NOT using 22 personnel, we show defenses a unique formation they haven't necessarily faced prior. This would be akin to what Sparano did as a head coach in Miami with the Wildcat. 

There's definitely a lot of merit to the 6 ol look. With our inability to pass or run block last year, I'm surprised we didn't incorporate that more last year. Could have been a lack of healthy bodies. Regardless, aside from potential formation challenges,  I prefer having a potentially dynamic hybrid TE on the field over additional OLinemen. 

Nice first article Barr, job well done

Is there any history of it with Shurmur though I wonder? I mean I get that he may get input from sporano but wondering if Shurmur has a tie to it. 

@"Mike Olson" said: Is there any history of it with Shurmur though I wonder? I mean I get that he may get input from sporano but wondering if Shurmur has a tie to it. 

Pure speculation on my part. There's another article breaking down 10 teams and their signature formations. It was the inspiration behind the article.

That's the first time I've heard BarrNone called a personailty!  B)
Mismatches in the red zone, coming to a Vikings game near you...

@"Kentis" said: That's the first time I've heard BarrNone called a personailty!  B) Mismatches in the red zone, coming to a Vikings game near you...

There's supposed to be "air quotes" around that...

Nice article.  I'd be surprised if we see a 2 back look very often.  I'm expecting us to use single back a lot, and trying to gain the advantage by having a deep receiving group that can pick on the weakest defenders.  I expect us to pass to setup the run, and to open up chunks of the field to get Cook room in space.  I'd love for us to use motion more often this year to give Bradford clearer reads, but I've been saying that for several years and it hasn't panned out.  I'd also love to see us bring in an the 6th OLine instead of a TE when we want to go physical, but that too was rare.

Nice Barr!

At the end of the day, this game is all about personnel match-up's aint it? I don't know what we got in Hodges to be honest?  Add it to a very big heap of some great storylines that'll begin to unfold in just a couple weeks now!

With a girlfriend who had two kids who graduated from VaTech, I saw the Hokies a few times...Hodges has a shot to work his way into the lineup... I'd prefer if they left him at WR, which for all intents and purposes what he was in college, but the guys who get paid to make these decisions seem to think otherwise... We are starting at square one with his hand in the dirt...hopefully he picks that up quickly...

What I like most about Hodges is his
deep threat capability, in the sense that I think he will frequently require
some safety attention that will open up the field for our other
receivers/RBs.  If you have a LB on him,
I think you have to send him deep a lot of the times, just because it will
force the S to have to shade over towards him. 
I would just audible that all the time. 
I really like the idea of leaving him as a TE to try and encourage that
LB matchup or to put him at the X outside to isolate him on a smaller DB,
anywhere that you can dictate who he is going to be matching up with.  I’d probably try to avoid him going against
some of the bigger DBs.

I like the idea of Hodges being the second coming of Harold Carmichael...him playing TE at this level is basically tantamount to a position switch...

@"System" said:

Creating A Mismatch BarrNone55 is a discussion forum personality that can be found on our Vikings Discussions The Vikings have added several pieces to their offense that could lead to matchup dilemmas for opponents de…

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This sounds intriguing: TE David Morgan expects he will be used in a variety of ways. The Vikings seem intent on mixing up their offensive packages, not only with personnel, but also with how certain players are used. In Morgan’s case, he expects a role in the running game and passing game. “A little bit of both. We’ve been running a lot of two-tight end sets and we’ve been doing a lot of different things out of it,” he said. “We’ve been doing where I’m in the backfield playing fullback and Rudy’s out at wide receiver and we’ve been doing a lot of double-tight end stuff. We’ve been honestly mixing it up a lot and I feel it’s going to be a big mismatch come game days.”

Awesome take Barr. Nice to have detailed analysis especially this time of year. I agree with medaille that I wouldn't expect Murray and Cook simultaneously but I think it's great food for thought. We have a lot of talent for Shurmer I am expecting a big leap in our O this year. So much so I expect us to win our division and make a deep run if Bradford stays healthy.