A week or two ago I wrote extensively about MSU and the Disappearing Fullback however, upon further review that writing was incomplete. What I had truly described was Michigan State's usage of Linthicum as an H-Back or rather Roushar's increased usage of the H-Back throughout the season. First, a little H-BackGround!
"The modern two-tight end set was developed by Joe Gibbs and his Redskins staff in the early 1980s. It was created as a countermeasure against 3-4 defenses in general and Lawrence Taylor in particular. Gibbs discovered that an extra tight end on the line of scrimmage was in better position than a fullback to stop Taylor and other elite blitzers. It also forced Taylor to align wider, thus lengthening the distance between him and the quarterback. Gibbs soon learned to use the second tight end as an all-purpose blocker: that extra tight end (usually Don Warren, back in the day) might go in motion before the snap to unbalance the offensive line, or he might slip into the backfield as a fullback or sneak into pass patterns. The modern H-back was born." via Tomahawk Nation
The thing is if you google about the H-Back, you won't really find very much. The H-back is not very common in the pros because it requires someone who is capable of receiving, run blocking and pass blocking. It's rare to find someone who has that set of abilities at a competent NFL level. An easy reference to know whether a Tight End is being used as an H-Back is this handy dandy cheat sheet.
1.) Are there two Tight Ends on the field?
- If Yes, Proceed to Step 2.
- If No, then no, there is no H-back.
2.) Has this person gone into motion?
- No. They are still like the statue of David. The Second Tight End is being used as a TE.
- Yes. Bingo, this is an H-Back Usage.
Still, the original post correctly described an increased reliance on the H-Back. Given Roushar's success with it late in the season and the staff's penchant for picking up 6'6" 240 lb TE's out of high school, I don't see this going away. The mismatch created by putting a 6'5" 250 lb TE out in the slot a second before the snap is going to occasionally give any defense a hard time. Next week, I'll be doing a film review of the Outback Bowl, I suspect what we'll find is that Linthicum started getting used more as an H-Back as part of the Second Half Adjustments.
To me this raises the question of why Paul Chryst(one of CFB's most widely regarded minds as an OC) and Dan Roushar(the most reviled MSU Coordinator since Narduzzi in 2009 LOLOLOLOL) are two of the only people using this position when it allows the type of flexibility it does. I'm not saying that Roushar == Chryst, just an observation.
"The modern two-tight end set was developed by Joe Gibbs and his Redskins staff in the early 1980s. It was created as a countermeasure against 3-4 defenses in general and Lawrence Taylor in particular. Gibbs discovered that an extra tight end on the line of scrimmage was in better position than a fullback to stop Taylor and other elite blitzers. It also forced Taylor to align wider, thus lengthening the distance between him and the quarterback. Gibbs soon learned to use the second tight end as an all-purpose blocker: that extra tight end (usually Don Warren, back in the day) might go in motion before the snap to unbalance the offensive line, or he might slip into the backfield as a fullback or sneak into pass patterns. The modern H-back was born." via Tomahawk Nation
The thing is if you google about the H-Back, you won't really find very much. The H-back is not very common in the pros because it requires someone who is capable of receiving, run blocking and pass blocking. It's rare to find someone who has that set of abilities at a competent NFL level. An easy reference to know whether a Tight End is being used as an H-Back is this handy dandy cheat sheet.
1.) Are there two Tight Ends on the field?
- If Yes, Proceed to Step 2.
- If No, then no, there is no H-back.
2.) Has this person gone into motion?
- No. They are still like the statue of David. The Second Tight End is being used as a TE.
- Yes. Bingo, this is an H-Back Usage.
Still, the original post correctly described an increased reliance on the H-Back. Given Roushar's success with it late in the season and the staff's penchant for picking up 6'6" 240 lb TE's out of high school, I don't see this going away. The mismatch created by putting a 6'5" 250 lb TE out in the slot a second before the snap is going to occasionally give any defense a hard time. Next week, I'll be doing a film review of the Outback Bowl, I suspect what we'll find is that Linthicum started getting used more as an H-Back as part of the Second Half Adjustments.
To me this raises the question of why Paul Chryst(one of CFB's most widely regarded minds as an OC) and Dan Roushar(the most reviled MSU Coordinator since Narduzzi in 2009 LOLOLOLOL) are two of the only people using this position when it allows the type of flexibility it does. I'm not saying that Roushar == Chryst, just an observation.
I am not sure it will apply as much next year. This year we had 3 excellent multipurpose tight ends, I am not sure we will have as many next year. Aside from Sims I am not sure we have anyone defenses will be scared of.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think you're right. Sims didn't have the same grace in this H-Back role as Linthicum. We can hope one of the freshmen is ready, but the knowledge needed of our offense is a bit too much. There will definitely be less of this next year.
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