The A-11 Offense

I got sent this interesting tidbit of information a couple of days ago, and I thought I should share this with you guys before I go down the shore this weekend (to quote Nelson from The Simpsons: "HA HA!"). Now, I know baseball is hitting its home stretch of the season, but I can't help but love football all throughout the year, so when I read about this, I knew I had to talk (blog) about it.

In some high schools, coaches are preparing to use the highly unusual formation known as the A-11 Offense. At first, this formation seems to be just plain retarded, but actually if you think about this formation as how the defense has to block against it, it's quite unique (in a good way). Here's how it breaks down:

• One Center -- obviously, to hike the football
• Two Tight Ends -- one positioned to the left of center, one positioned to the right of center
• Six Wide Receivers -- three positioned to the left and three positioned to the right
• Two Quarterbacks -- both positioned in the shotgun, with one to the left and one to the right

Now, when I first read this, I thought just like you guys did -- whoever actually uses this in a football game isn't going to have a coaching job anytime soon. But, think about this strategy in terms of how the defense has to control this unusual formation:

• The defense must cover all 6 wide receivers, or else risk giving up big yardage.
• Sure, only the center and the tight ends are protecting the quarterbacks, but with 6 guys covering the receivers (and for the conservative defensive coordinator, possibly adding one safety for zone support), the maximum number of guys the defense can send is four or five blitzers, at the most.
• Remember, there are two quarterbacks in this, so not only can either one of them throw the ball, they can throw the ball to each other if they get stuck in a tight situation. Also, when they start the play, they are in the shotgun, so they have a good look at the field in case they feel a blitz is coming.
  
• The biggest advantage to this formation: Every man on the offense is an eligible receiver. The quarterbacks, the wide receivers, the tight ends, and the center all can catch the ball if a play breaks down and they need to make a play with the football. No other formation in football lets an offense get away with this.

Now, obviously, this formation is only for the pass-heavy offenses. No running backs need apply in this A-11 Offense. With that in mind, consider that in the NFL:

• Most of the time, running backs are only as spectacular as their offensive line is, and most NFL teams usually don't have the complete 1-2 package of both offensive line and running back.
• The career span of a running back has shortened considerably. By the time a running back is 28 or 29 years old, they're nothing but old, injury-prone broken engines (see Shaun Alexander if you think that's not true).
• Most elusive running backs often catch the ball now in addition to running the ball (see Brian Westbrook).

Now, I'm not saying that there will be no running offense in the future. Far from it, I still believe establishing the run is one of the most important factors to success in football. But its importance has deteriorated somewhat in the NFL (see Andy Reid, who's willing to pass the ball 80% of the time during a game if he feels like it). With this crack in the foundation of the running game, maybe we will see new formations with more wide receivers than before. I'm not saying the A-11 Offense is the offense of the future; it hasn't even been tried out on the collegiate level yet. But, nevertheless, this A-11 Offense is a sign that football is evolving, and that this era might be the crucial intermediary period where we could be on the verge of a different football unlike anything fans have ever seen before. Keep your eyes open.