I've been yelling into the internet void about Allen in this offense all offseason. My main concern is how effective he can be running out of the shotgun. To your point, I feel like shotgun runs tend to favor smaller, nimbler backs. Handing off to a bigger back when he's flat-footed feels sub-optimal to me, especially with how indecisive Allen was last year. I feel like he'd be at his best going down-hill at the point of the handoff (but what do I know?). Also, remember a few years ago (can't remember if it was under Andersen or Chryst) when they introduced more shotgun runs and the fanbase went berserk?
I got a pretty good response from someone who knows more than me that I thought was helpful. It doesn't change any of my reservations that I wrote above but I at least see a path where it could look different/better:
"the biggest difference in my mind in Longo's run system is there's very little reading of the defense. Obviously Allen will have to make cuts on zone plays depending on the defense's reaction, but a whole lot of it is "this this power, you're running to the left B gap" or whatever. I think that's where you're going to see better first gear runs because Allen tried to dance and make big plays way way too much last year."
This explanation makes a TON more sense to me than the "fewer guys in the box, duh" line of thinking
"He'd be at his best going downhill at the point of the handoff." To put it briefly...he will. Longo has used pistol alignments in the past but even his basic gun alignment offsets the back deeper than the QB. The benefit of a lighter box is there are less moving parts in front of the back making it easier for him to read his gap. Also with more zone schemes in front of him Braelon will have more options and no longer has to wait for slow developing plays to create a gap for him.
I've been yelling into the internet void about Allen in this offense all offseason. My main concern is how effective he can be running out of the shotgun. To your point, I feel like shotgun runs tend to favor smaller, nimbler backs. Handing off to a bigger back when he's flat-footed feels sub-optimal to me, especially with how indecisive Allen was last year. I feel like he'd be at his best going down-hill at the point of the handoff (but what do I know?). Also, remember a few years ago (can't remember if it was under Andersen or Chryst) when they introduced more shotgun runs and the fanbase went berserk?
I got a pretty good response from someone who knows more than me that I thought was helpful. It doesn't change any of my reservations that I wrote above but I at least see a path where it could look different/better:
"the biggest difference in my mind in Longo's run system is there's very little reading of the defense. Obviously Allen will have to make cuts on zone plays depending on the defense's reaction, but a whole lot of it is "this this power, you're running to the left B gap" or whatever. I think that's where you're going to see better first gear runs because Allen tried to dance and make big plays way way too much last year."
This explanation makes a TON more sense to me than the "fewer guys in the box, duh" line of thinking
"He'd be at his best going downhill at the point of the handoff." To put it briefly...he will. Longo has used pistol alignments in the past but even his basic gun alignment offsets the back deeper than the QB. The benefit of a lighter box is there are less moving parts in front of the back making it easier for him to read his gap. Also with more zone schemes in front of him Braelon will have more options and no longer has to wait for slow developing plays to create a gap for him.