Bring back the Tazer!

by OkayJay81 on Nov 17, 2011 2:08 PM PST

So, after another week of Tebow overload I've been thinking about how his befuddling success while being largely terrible at throwing the ball could relate to our beloved 49ers. The first thing I noticed is how teams are struggling to maintain gap discipline against the read option play. Now I'm not one who thinks the Broncos can have success long term with an option offense but in small doses the read option is a play that defenses can struggle to stop and needed to prepare for. This got me thinking about why wildcat plays have largely disappeared from the league and if the 49ers should consider bringing our version of it back.

Now, if you've made it this far without going to the comments to tell me what an idiot I am for wanting to bring this formation back after it was so disastrous in the past I'm just going to ask for a few more paragraphs to explain why I think it could be effective in a return engagement.

1.) No more Michael Robinson. Now this is not meant to take shots at MRob who by all accounts appeared to be a good guy, an extremely hard worker, and an outstanding special teamer, but he was not a good runner. This is why he bounced around between 4th string RB and back-up FB in his time with the 49ers. Trying to design a package of runs revolving around putting the ball in his hands was just a horrible mistake.

Singletary wasn't the only coach to make this mistake, and I think it is one of the main reason that the Wildcat was mostly written of as a passing fad. Other coaches tried to copy the Dolphins without really knowing what they were doing. Digging through the depth charts to find some player who was once a QB back in high school or college to run the Wildcat is a big mistake. The Wildcat should be viewed as a power running formation similar to a jumbo package, don't try to trick the other team into thinking you're going to pass, just line up and get it in the hands of your best runner quickly.

2.) The 49ers actually have more than one good RB now. The gimmick that allows the Wildcat to be successful is not in getting the other team to think your special teams gunner might throw the ball against them, it's presenting the defense with two dangerous runners and forcing them to make a decision on who to stop. Now that the 49ers have both Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter, they are capable of running a Wildcat formation that actually presents two legitimate threats to run the ball.

3.) Frank Gore is a very smart runner. Now this isn't anything new compared to the last time the Tazer was around, but in the new reincarnation I'm proposing Frank Gore should be the guy taking the snap. Gore has been praised up and down by coaches and team mates for having off the charts football IQ and his ability to read the defense pre-snap and understand blocking schemes. He is also a very patient runner with an almost preternatural ability to sense where the hole in the line is going to open up. To me, this sounds like the perfect guy to run a read option play.

OK, so that's what I got. It seems like if we can suppress the initial gag reflex that arises upon first mention of the terrible Tazer formation, there are enough good reasons to trot it back out a couple of times a game and give the other teams something to think about.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.

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Got to figure it's something our mad scientists would try

...and then Singletary opened His Book and it said "thou shalt NOT pass"

Coaches FEAR the "Harbshake"

by jimisoursavior on Nov 17, 2011 9:48 PM PST reply actions

Props, my man!

“The Wildcat should be viewed as a power running formation similar to a jumbo package, don’t try to trick the other team into thinking you’re going to pass, just line up and get it in the hands of your best runner quickly.”

That’s some great analysis right there. Spot on.

And a huge, resounding “NO” from me as to the 49ers employing any Wildcat stuff. No need… We’ve got a QB displaying GREAT COMMAND of a complex, mulit-dimensional, multi-formational system and MULTIPLE PLAYMAKERS at WR, RB and TE.

Aboslutely ZERO need to add just one more gimmick to an offense that doesn’t NEED gimmicks.

I have many leather-bound books.

by I'm Friends With Merlin Olsen on Nov 17, 2011 9:59 PM PST reply actions

...and aren't we already doing it every now and then?

Am I high (very possible, though not literally) or haven’t we been direct snapping it to Gore every now and again? Isn’t that Wildcat stuff already?

I have many leather-bound books.

by I'm Friends With Merlin Olsen on Nov 17, 2011 10:01 PM PST up reply actions

I haven't noticed it, but I missed a few games early in the season.

I guess we don’t NEED gimmicks, but providing one more weapon for other teams to have to prepare for seems like it couldn’t hurt. I just feel like once or twice the Niners could let Gore run the read option with Hunter to get some yards on the ground. Maybe similar to how they use the super jumbo package with Sopoaga.

by OkayJay81 on Nov 17, 2011 10:18 PM PST up reply actions

whoops... reply below

I have many leather-bound books.

by I'm Friends With Merlin Olsen on Nov 17, 2011 10:41 PM PST up reply actions

I hear you...

But taking the ball out of your QBs hands… It takes away the passing threat coming from your MOST DANGEROUS PASSER.

I know all the “experts” who talk about the difficulty in having to “account” for the Wildcat… How you have to “gameplan” for it, etc, etc. And when it works, it looks different, it looks clever, it looks cool.

But honestly, 12 yards gained on some clever gadget play… Why not just put the ball Alex’s hands and give him one more chance to do something simple? I’ve never seen anything that tells me the Wildcat is an effective tool unless you committ to it like the Dolphins did for a SIGNIFICANT number of snaps every game.

I have many leather-bound books.

by I'm Friends With Merlin Olsen on Nov 17, 2011 10:40 PM PST reply actions

I mean by that thinking any running play takes the ball out of Alex's hands

The Niners are gonna try and run the ball 20-30 times a game anyway, why can’t a couple of the runs come out of the wildcat formation?

I guess I just feel like if the wildcat is used correctly you shouldn’t think of it as some clever gadget play, just an effective running play.

by OkayJay81 on Nov 17, 2011 11:09 PM PST up reply actions

You take the THREAT of the PASS...

…off the table when you take the ball out of Alex’s hands. You can go Cover 0, load the Box, and simply remind your guys in coverage NOT to get fooled on any option passes. I can’t remember the last time I saw a big passing play coming out of a Wildcat formation for any NFL team…

Ougadas’s comment below is correct: unless you’ve got someone like Tebow running it, the D’s ADVANTAGES in not having to account for an effective passer outweigh the disadvantages in having to defend it. I think it’s — AT BEST — just another running play, not an “effective” running play.

I have many leather-bound books.

by I'm Friends With Merlin Olsen on Nov 18, 2011 8:56 AM PST up reply actions

Well, teams already load the box against us just like the Giants did

Teams still need to use a corner to cover up the QB and a wide receiver in the wildcat because so at worst your facing 9 in the box, and now the guy taking the snap needs to be accounted for by the defense unlike in traditional running plays so now your playing 9 on 9 instead of 8 on 9. Plus, allowing a d lineman to come free and beating him on the read allows you to get more of your big O-lineman to the second level.

It’s similar to when we use the personal package with Sopoaga. Teams load up the box because they know the Niners are going to run but the Niners still have the size advantage and can run effectively.

Ougadas’s comment below is correct: unless you’ve got someone like Tebow running it, the D’s ADVANTAGES in not having to account for an effective passer outweigh the disadvantages in having to defend it.

How do you know that not having to account for the pass outweighs the advantages? Have you looked at the effectiveness of Wildcat style running plays versus regular running plays, or did you just kind of make it up because it’s what you think and it sounds better if you state it as a fact?

by OkayJay81 on Nov 18, 2011 11:07 AM PST up reply actions

Don't be a big baby!

“or did you just kind of make it up because it’s what you think and it sounds better if you state it as a fact?”

Are you serious? I typed what I typed in about 9 seconds… I’m shooting the bull talking football on an internet blog? WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Is this life and death? Do you cut and export your comments to WORD to proof before submitting… Sorry if I’ve ever OFFENDED w/typos…

So back to talking football if you don’t mind. I was actually enjoying the Wildcat Discussion until you pu$$ied up that last sentence…

How ‘bout this… Why don’t teams run the Wildcat more? If it was effective, I’d think they would run it a lot. Then again, football’s not exactly coached by the smartest collection of men ever assembled on the planet. I DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER. I"m just throwing some stream of consciousness thoughts out there into the wind…

Hope I didn’t OFFEND w/this latest effort…

I have many leather-bound books.

by I'm Friends With Merlin Olsen on Nov 18, 2011 12:25 PM PST up reply actions

"Have you looked at the effectiveness of Wildcat style running plays versus regular running plays"

No… I haven’t. And I won’t. I don’t care enough to do that.

That being said, that’s a GREAT question.

My GUESS is that the Wildcat is LESS effective. If it were more effective, teams would run it more. That’s my most BASIC thought… I think you give away more by taking the ball out of the hands of a potentially dangerous passer, rather than causing more problems by forcing someone to account for the QB as a runner.

But I don’t know… I’d be curious to know the answer if you find any way to get it.

I have many leather-bound books.

by I'm Friends With Merlin Olsen on Nov 18, 2011 12:30 PM PST up reply actions

"Wildcat" is old school

Take the QB out and you can run the ball 11 on 11 instead of with 1 man short. Add in the unbalanced line and the adjustments you can force the D-line to make and you have created a good environment for outnumbering the defense at the point of attack — and you’ve opened them up to all kinds of traps, counter plays, and jet sweeps.

But defensive coordinators have chalk too, and the down side for the offense is that if you unbalance too far to gain an advantage in on place, you limit your abilities elsewhere and that simplifies a metric crap ton of reads for the defense.

You simplify reads, and guys can fly to the ball with much more reckless abandon. Now maybe you’re counting on that if you have a guy like Tebow running the wildcat except maybe he can throw like Ronnie Brown and you can make the defense pay. But that’s still a whole lot to hang on a guy that’s going to be running into the strength of 8-9 in the box 20+ times a game.

by Ougadas on Nov 18, 2011 12:48 AM PST reply actions