Do We Need More Mixon?

[KillerGoose]

(10-24-2021, 11:40 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: Players are responsible for gaps but they don't pay as much attention to them if they know that there's less of a chance that it's going to be a run. It's also easier to identify if it's going to be a run because they know that the offensive linemen move differently at the snap.

The play action is much more effective with a successful run game and if the defense acknowledges that the possibility of a run is more likely.

None of this is true, specifically play action being more effective with a successful run game. It has been studied in-depth and there is zero data to support this. Play-action is effective due to the basic threat of a run game. That’s it. Players have to play their gaps, and if they don’t, they get gashed in the run game. Here’s the study on it.

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2018/rushing-success-and-play-action-passing

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2018/further-research-play-action-passing

If you want a TL;DR of the articles, here it is…

“ We have an ever-growing body of evidence that teams don't need to run often -- or run well -- to set up play-action. Play-action works for teams that run frequently, infrequently, well, or poorly. For the vast majority of teams, it just works.”