I was chatting with a coach not too long ago and admitted that I had a dumb question to ask him. I told him I understand how motion helps in the passing game because it can indicate whether a defense is in man or zone coverage. But, what I didn’t quite grasp is what motion tells you when you’re running the ball. Is answer was pretty simple – the gist of it was, “anything you can do to get the eyes of the linebackers off the ball.”
I started seeing instances of that showing up on tape. Linebackers would be following the motion, communicating an adjustment, and by the time the ball was snapped, the defense was a little off balance. No, it’s not to say motion is a cheat code in the run game. It doesn’t work every time, but when it does work, it’s beautiful. As I was studying Jam Miller tape back in the spring, I came across this play against Missouri that highlights how effective motion can be in running the ball. It ain’t always a big play, but hot damn, it can be an efficient chain mover.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, second on Football & Other F Words, analyst for Stacking The Inbox, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, the NFL Draft, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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