[oneijoe]

^^^
Oneijoe

Disagree slightly about the screen pass

Inherently YES a screen is often used the most for negating a team who is pinning their ears on a pass rush.. because where you most often see it is with teams who pass the ball. Yes... a traditional HB screen for Belfry is not going to work whatsoever.

From a principle standpoint though what a screen is doing in it's purest since is taking advantage of a defense that is getting deep penetration and committing Linebackers or Safeties.

Screens rarely work when a team is rushing 4 down linemen only... they typically work when one or more LB's or DB's have committed to a play. The screen is designed to get behind that surge and then allow Linemen to block ahead creating a mis-match.

Same thing with a WR screen. You purposely choose to allow penetration in return for having that blocker being able to get up field and make a key block ahead of the play.

I think bucs is referring to more of this WR screen situation. Last year Belfry completely changed the Bourbon game by hitting Taylor on the bubble and putting a hat on the DB and hoping Taylor could beat the aggressive LB to the gap after he had over committed to the run.

A HB screen will rarely work for Belfry because most defenses aren't concerned with penetrating the middle of the LOS as much as they are concerned with creating a mess of bodies and closing holes. The WR screen where you have man coverage, only one Safety (usually 15-20 yards away), and a LB pushing to the LOS on the other hand is an excellent play call and one Belfry hasn't been able to execute this year.

Even then...as I posted in the Belfry/SC thread...I would love to see the Wildcat as a surprise formation using Belfry's existing personnel. Out of the Wildcat I think the screen game definitely comes into play..both with Ends and even w/ your FB/HBack. The second Belfry lines up out of the gun or pistol defensive mindsets do a complete 180. Then it is all about getting to the QB... I actually then love the idea of Hatfield as an HBack being able to chip a pass rusher and then taking a screen.

Well... the WR screens are a very different animal, for sure. The bubble screen is indeed about pulling blockers, though the straight flanker screen is an isolation play.

But for Belfry, it isn't as if it can do either effectively out of their typical two-tight, one-wide (or no wide, 3 back) set. If Belfry changes formations, though, it sort of telegraphs intentions.

It's important to see the game from Coach Haywood's perspective here. If Belfry begins splitting out a TE using a RB in the slot, it sacrifices strength on one or more gaps vs. his closed sets. Coach is ALL about utilizing his advantages in personnel (esp. the bigs) to maximum effect - his advantage is NOT in quality of his personnel on a 1-to-1 basis, it's with quantity of quality players (once again, especially bigs) in depth. Belfry is built to grind - with an occasional outside run or on a deep pass set up by that grind inside.