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One thing I've been wondering a lot about lately and am hoping the Rats can explain/expound/soapbox/etc is regarding the players on the Packers who have the ability to play multiple positions well.
McCarthy's offense is predicated on the ability to play out of any formation. One year it was a reverse wishbone, another year it was a slew of five wides. Whatever he does, he finds ways to out-maneuver the defense just by having too many offenses for the defense to study.
Having all that as a background, he also prefers players who can start in one position and then switch to a completely different position as to throw off the defense. For example, Finley can start inline and get a linebacker who's not quite as good at covering and then motion out wide.
What I'm wondering is about all the other players who have been reported to have that ability (by reporters, Rats, whomever) but haven't had a full opportunity much:
Randall Cobb: It looks like this will be the year where he becomes the "something of everything" player, so no need to go into this one.
John Kuhn: We've seen him sharing lead back roles, but a fullback running the ball isn't exactly uncommon.
Jermichael Finley: Probably the best example of having multiple positions, he exemplifies the advantage of mismatches.
Various TEs: Start inline and motion to the FB spot. It isn't much, but it's still something.
But what about the ones that seem untapped?
James Starks: I remember someone somewhere saying that Starks had near-WR hands and splitting him out wide wouldn't just be a gimmick. I haven't seen any of that yet, but I'm still curious about the possibility as it seems like it'd be a significant advantage to get a run defending LB on the field only to make him cover someone like a receiver.
DJ Williams: I keep hearing about his "H-Back" potential, but all I'm getting out of reports is his ability to catch the ball as a receiving TE. First, I'm not sure what "H-Back potential" means, but it implies to me that it's significantly different from TE. How would that create mismatches?
Andrew Quarless: He was supposed to be a catching TE in college, but was primarily a blocker last year. He's no Finley, but isn't he supposed to be just as multi-dimensional? I think someone was saying how he actually measured better at the combine than Finley (which I'm not questioning). When will that athleticism be tapped?
Are there any other players I've missed?
Is Finley so effective in his multidimensional role that splitting Starks wide or splitting other TEs wide with Finley or using DJ Williams as an H-Back don't add any extra benefit?
It's a topic that's been a lot of interest to me. I hope there's some Rat insight to post so I can learn more.
McCarthy's offense is predicated on the ability to play out of any formation. One year it was a reverse wishbone, another year it was a slew of five wides. Whatever he does, he finds ways to out-maneuver the defense just by having too many offenses for the defense to study.
Having all that as a background, he also prefers players who can start in one position and then switch to a completely different position as to throw off the defense. For example, Finley can start inline and get a linebacker who's not quite as good at covering and then motion out wide.
What I'm wondering is about all the other players who have been reported to have that ability (by reporters, Rats, whomever) but haven't had a full opportunity much:
Randall Cobb: It looks like this will be the year where he becomes the "something of everything" player, so no need to go into this one.
John Kuhn: We've seen him sharing lead back roles, but a fullback running the ball isn't exactly uncommon.
Jermichael Finley: Probably the best example of having multiple positions, he exemplifies the advantage of mismatches.
Various TEs: Start inline and motion to the FB spot. It isn't much, but it's still something.
But what about the ones that seem untapped?
James Starks: I remember someone somewhere saying that Starks had near-WR hands and splitting him out wide wouldn't just be a gimmick. I haven't seen any of that yet, but I'm still curious about the possibility as it seems like it'd be a significant advantage to get a run defending LB on the field only to make him cover someone like a receiver.
DJ Williams: I keep hearing about his "H-Back" potential, but all I'm getting out of reports is his ability to catch the ball as a receiving TE. First, I'm not sure what "H-Back potential" means, but it implies to me that it's significantly different from TE. How would that create mismatches?
Andrew Quarless: He was supposed to be a catching TE in college, but was primarily a blocker last year. He's no Finley, but isn't he supposed to be just as multi-dimensional? I think someone was saying how he actually measured better at the combine than Finley (which I'm not questioning). When will that athleticism be tapped?
Are there any other players I've missed?
Is Finley so effective in his multidimensional role that splitting Starks wide or splitting other TEs wide with Finley or using DJ Williams as an H-Back don't add any extra benefit?
It's a topic that's been a lot of interest to me. I hope there's some Rat insight to post so I can learn more.
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