RB/Wildcat Evolution

[Gophergrandpa]

While our OL certainly has a lot to do with our running game's success this year, I am fairly amazed at how deep PJ's program is at RB. That depth has made me sometimes forget what has been lost since the 2020 season. We ended 2020 with the expectation that our 2021 "pair and a spare" at RB would be Mo, Potts and Wiley. All three are now out for 2021 or gone. Some of us also expected Owatonna stud Jason Williamson and swiss army knife Preston Jelen to perhaps play roles in the 2021 offense. Williamson has medically retired and Jelen is out for the season. Most teams hit by this kind of seasonal attrition at RB would simply have to move away from the running game. But we just put up over 300 rushing yards on Nebraska with our three healthy, remaining scholarship running backs. We do also have a true Frosh w/o, Kendall Moore, who I don't know much about.

Given how easy it is to lose 5 RBs in a single year to injuries or transfer, and the fact that we have only three healthy scholarship RBs left, all of whom are playing meaningful minutes, I think that, for this season at least, our Wildcat is kind of morphing from the prototype short yardage power play into something that, among other things, allows Cole Kramer opportunities to get on the field as a true running QB, taking some pressure off of the remaining healthy RBs ... and Tanner (who just isn't a runner). And giving defenses another scenario to worry about. I watched Kramer's 19-yard TD run again. He is pretty fast; he outran a LB and DB. And at 6'1" (6'0"?), 205, he is pretty typical size for a RB. And PJ says that Kramer is working with the RB coach as well as the QB coach. I think as the season wears on, we will see (continue to see?) the 2021 Wildcat employed in more situations than just at the goal line or when need 2 yards for a first down.

We can have academic discussions over whether it is a true wildcat (rather than simply a QB substitution) when Kramer rather than a RB lines up to take the snap, but whatever we call this year's version, I like it and feel that it is uniquely suited to our OL strength and running game needs for the balance of 2021.

 

[stocker08]

Ky Thomas and "Bucky" Irving were both highly regarded recruits. Bryce Williams had some P5 offers too.

I didn't expect the ground game to be this prolific.....losing the top two backs.....but I'm not super surprised.

 

[Gophergrandpa]

I love Thomas, Irving and Williams ... but they did start off 2021 as the 4th, 5th and 6th backs on the depth chart. Not many teams can lose their 1, 2 and 3 RBs and still have the powerful, dominant running game we have. My comment is simply how amazing it is for a non-helmet school team to have this caliber of depth at RB. It is a credit to PJ's relentless recruiting efforts. But I do think that Kramer will be joining the party a bit--selectively, out of the "wildcat" formation--as well, because we've also lost the 7th and 8th RBs and could really use another effective body for our running game to finish the season as a still-dominant force.

 

[hungan1]

PJ - People can give him slack. But, he is doing what he was hired to do

He can recruit. He sells the Gopher Brand Nationally. He is bringing the program to greater heights.

He may just win a few titles along the journey.

 

[Dakota2]

While our OL certainly has a lot to do with our running game's success this year, I am fairly amazed at how deep PJ's program is at RB. That depth has made me sometimes forget what has been lost since the 2020 season. We ended 2020 with the expectation that our 2021 "pair and a spare" at RB would be Mo, Potts and Wiley. All three are now out for 2021 or gone. Some of us also expected Owatonna stud Jason Williamson and swiss army knife Preston Jelen to perhaps play roles in the 2021 offense. Williamson has medically retired and Jelen is out for the season. Most teams hit by this kind of seasonal attrition at RB would simply have to move away from the running game. But we just put up over 300 rushing yards on Nebraska with our three healthy, remaining scholarship running backs. We do also have a true Frosh w/o, Kendall Moore, who I don't know much about.

Given how easy it is to lose 5 RBs in a single year to injuries or transfer, and the fact that we have only three healthy scholarship RBs left, all of whom are playing meaningful minutes, I think that, for this season at least, our Wildcat is kind of morphing from the prototype short yardage power play into something that, among other things, allows Cole Kramer opportunities to get on the field as a true running QB, taking some pressure off of the remaining healthy RBs ... and Tanner (who just isn't a runner). And giving defenses another scenario to worry about. I watched Kramer's 12-yard run against Purdue again. He is pretty fast; he outran a LB and DB. And at 6'1" (6'0"?), 205, he is pretty typical size r for a RB. And PJ says that Kramer is working with the RB coach as well as the QB coach. I think as the season wears on, we will see (continue to see?) the 2021 Wildcat employed in more situations than just at the goal line or when need 2 yards for a first down.

We can have academic discussions over whether it is a true wildcat (rather than simply a QB substitution) when Kramer rather than a RB lines up to take the snap, but whatever we call this year's version, I like it and feel that it is uniquely suited to our OL strength and running game needs for the balance of 2021.

If you're on the other sideline best be careful of Fleck. Dude can flat fake you out of your jock. You bet Kramer is working with RB coaches. Don't doubt it a bit.

But is that all he's working on at practice? Don't sleep on PJ.

 

[Dakota2]

I love Thomas, Irving and Williams ... but they did start off 2021 as the 4th, 5th and 6th backs on the depth chart. Not many teams can lose their 1, 2 and 3 RBs and still have the powerful, dominant running game we have. My comment is simply how amazing it is for a non-helmet school team to have this caliber of depth at RB. It is a credit to PJ's relentless recruiting efforts. But I do think that Kramer will be joining the party a bit--selectively, out of the "wildcat" formation--as well, because we've also lost the 7th and 8th RBs and could really use another effective body for our running game to finish the season as a still-dominant force.

Mo was an All American. Trey was great. Ky, Bucky, and Williams are just fine and will get better every week. But none of them is the biggest reason for the relentless ground game. It's the big boys in front.

We will never again have five and spares averaging 22 years in age and more than one hundred combined starts. This is like one team having both Brady and Rogers and all the others having guys named Peters, Mertz, and Petros.

And Lord forbid and we were down to handing the ball to Kendal Moore, we will be ok.

 

[MNVCGUY]

In our 4 Big Ten games to date Morgan has been sacked 3 times. In those same 4 games we have had 5 different backs gain over 100 yards.
Mo - Ohio State
Trey - Purdue
Williams - Nebraska
Bucko - Maryland
Thomas - Maryland

Our offensive line is simply dominating and seems to be getting better as the season goes on. They go unnoticed much of the time unless they mess up, but that unit is killing it right now and if they can keep up this level of play for the remainder of the season we have a great shot of winning all 5 games left on our regular season schedule.

Combine that with a D-Line that is super disruptive and this is far and away the most dominant line play we have had here in a long long time.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

There may already be a thread about this - but I do not consider Kramer a "wildcat." He is a backup QB who primarily runs the ball. maybe not a direct comparison, but a little like the Saints used to use Taysom Hill.

I consider a "wildcat" formation to be when a RB lines up in a pistol or shotgun set and takes a direct snap from center.

reminds me of my college days. Our FB team at Augsburg went into the season with only 2 QB on the roster and both of them got hurt. We took our starting tailback, put him in the shotgun, and he mostly ran the ball but occasionally would try to throw a short pass to a TE. So I maintain Augsburg invented the Wildcat in (I think) 1976.

 

[Gopher 461]

Kramer is a cold weather QB, having grown up and played @EP. It's the WI/MN game for the axe and for all the marbles, and Morgan goes down with a calf cramp in the first quarter. Guess who is going to get the call. It's not the ghostbusters or the howitzer QB's. It's the guy who doesn't make mistakes, cold weather ball handler/runner, who has shown to be effective in the passing game (remember quarterfinals EP vs Lakeville @Chanhassen HS in the brutal cold). Gophers beat WI, take the axe, take the title, and move on. Morgan starts the title game in Indy. You heard it here first.

 

[noamfromm]

Kramer is a cold weather QB, having grown up and played @EP. It's the WI/MN game for the axe and for all the marbles, and Morgan goes down with a calf cramp in the first quarter. Guess who is going to get the call. It's not the ghostbusters or the howitzer QB's. It's the guy who doesn't make mistakes, cold weather ball handler/runner, who has shown to be effective in the passing game (remember quarterfinals EP vs Lakeville @Chanhassen HS in the brutal cold). Gophers beat WI, take the axe, take the title, and move on. Morgan starts the title game in Indy. You heard it here first.

Annexstad is a cold wealther QB in the same way. Tom Brady and Brett Favre seemed to do fine playing outside despite their warm weather backgrounds. What makes you think that Kramer makes less mistakes than Annexstad?

 

[Gophergrandpa]

If you're on the other sideline best be careful of Fleck. Dude can flat fake you out of your jock. You bet Kramer is working with RB coaches. Don't doubt it a bit.

But is that all he's working on at practice? Don't sleep on PJ.

Kramer is, of course, still working with the QB coach, too. What you and others are hinting at, I suspect, is that the 2021 “wildcat” is in actually a true, game-planned QB substitution situation, forcing the defense to face a change-of-pace QB who runs a different style offense than Tanner. If we use this QB substitution in several different situations during a game, it could lead to some confusion for opposing defenses. In most years, I don’t think the running QB substitution would add a lot for the Gophers, but with this year’s dominant OL, it makes great sense … and might open a few TE pass situations where LBs are forced to respect the QB run possibility.

 

[Gophergrandpa]

Kramer is a cold weather QB, having grown up and played @EP. It's the WI/MN game for the axe and for all the marbles, and Morgan goes down with a calf cramp in the first quarter. Guess who is going to get the call. It's not the ghostbusters or the howitzer QB's. It's the guy who doesn't make mistakes, cold weather ball handler/runner, who has shown to be effective in the passing game (remember quarterfinals EP vs Lakeville @Chanhassen HS in the brutal cold). Gophers beat WI, take the axe, take the title, and move on. Morgan starts the title game in Indy. You heard it here first.

If Morgan goes down, I bet that Annexstad comes in and runs the full offensive package, and that Kramer continues to episodically run the “wildcat” (or whatever we want to call it) as the “change-of-pace” QB. Love Tanner, but with this OL I could certainly live with an Annexstad/Kramer combo platter as an alternative.

 

[Dakota2]

In our 4 Big Ten games to date Morgan has been sacked 3 times. In those same 4 games we have had 5 different backs gain over 100 yards.
Mo - Ohio State
Trey - Purdue
Williams - Nebraska
Bucko - Maryland
Thomas - Maryland

Our offensive line is simply dominating and seems to be getting better as the season goes on. They go unnoticed much of the time unless they mess up, but that unit is killing it right now and if they can keep up this level of play for the remainder of the season we have a great shot of winning all 5 games left on our regular season schedule.

Combine that with a D-Line that is super disruptive and this is far and away the most dominant line play we have had here in a long long time.

The best anyone has seen on both sides of ball same year ever.

 

[hungan1]

Don't even think of Morgan going down. Annexstad will be just fine as a substitute. They may tweak the offense to fit Annestad's skillset. The Wildcat is Kramer's.

Are we recruiting more OLs who will turn into nasty beefcakes.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

There may already be a thread about this - but I do not consider Kramer a "wildcat." He is a backup QB who primarily runs the ball. maybe not a direct comparison, but a little like the Saints used to use Taysom Hill.

I consider a "wildcat" formation to be when a RB lines up in a pistol or shotgun set and takes a direct snap from center.

reminds me of my college days. Our FB team at Augsburg went into the season with only 2 QB on the roster and both of them got hurt. We took our starting tailback, put him in the shotgun, and he mostly ran the ball but occasionally would try to throw a short pass to a TE. So I maintain Augsburg invented the Wildcat in (I think) 1976.

Uh, kind of like the single wing that Pop Warner used in the early 1900's?