Hey everyone, Logan Paulson here to let you know that The Command Center Podcast has been selected to be a part of this year's People's Choice Podcast Awards. It's because of you, our Washington football family, that we do this show, and it's because of you that this podcast has skyrocket the past year. I speak for both Tanna and Fred when I say we are so grateful and appreciative of the love and support. That being said, let's win this
People's Choice Award for the month of July. Go to www dot podcast Awards dot com and register to vote. Then vote for this podcast in the Sports category. The more votes we get, the better chance we have of winning. And with a fan base like ours, I believe we can show the Podcast Awards and the NFL The Commander's Football and The Command Center Podcasts are ready to shock the world. For more information, check out the description for details.
Thank you for your support and vote, and now on with the show.
On today's episode The Command Center Podcast, we're talking all offense and we're talking about what the air rate actually is. Yeah, everyone says Cliff Kingsbury's air rate guy. Yeah, what does that mean? Then? How is he going to change that to fit the personnel here in Washington and what our guys be Rob Terry looked like with this It all starts right now. Welcome Command Center Podcast. I'm looking at Paulson here with Friendswood and Santana Moss. Guys, super juice
to be here for this show. That's something going.
Hey man, everything's good man, life is great, life is great, summer hair lips. He come on, miss some of all the new shows out. You're relax and you get ready and.
Ain't quite from ball was coming? But what you know is there almost here? Absolutely, this is almost here. What was it was the Dragon?
It's already here. Yeah no, no, it's already here.
Brother, You're so late, so late, But I thought, But you know what I'm excited about is that this new podcast, Hall's Tales.
Oh right, what a name?
What a name?
Who named it?
Probably Jason?
It probably would was it.
Hearing that Hannah came out with it.
I don't know it was Jason.
Hannah's doing an awesome job. So last week we did the hiring of Joe Gibbs, which is a great episode. All good nuggets from that one that you like.
Uh yeah, yeah, no, no, I do. I like when Joe Gibbs got the call to meet Jack Can Cook and they went to New York called him to his office in New York and when he was there, Jack and Cook pointed out the window of the building to Joe Gibbs and said, see that building over there. He pointed, dear christis building because I own that. So anything you want you tell me, I can get it.
That's a crazy flex. That is the craziest flex you imagine.
Not really like, are you going to do the re hiring of Joe Gibbs? No irresponsible for the Joseph even answering the call to say Contex our fact checkers would be all first.
First of all, coach already said it in his own words, did not.
Coach Gibbs said, I was sitting at home with my wife watching TV and and some youngster gets on TV and say they were like.
What happened? Spur to quit on you? Who year? What y'all gonna do?
Now?
Like the on the person can save us, it's Coach Gibbs.
If he come back, you did actually call him?
No, He sitting there with his wife and he said, I have been, I've been, hadn't been wanting to coach for like three months. But I didn't know how to ask my wife and you asked the fundy. So then she turned to me and said, Joe, what you want to do? He said, I want to go back and coach. The next day he called in and gets what everything is history.
And Joe and Joe's son wanted to get in the football.
Okay, this is all This is all true, ish, because we interviewed We interviewed Joe Gibbs and and this is true ish, Right, he had already what Fred did was started the conversation between him and his wife. Yes, the decision to coach again was already there. No, he wanted, but he didn't know how to bring it up to his wife. And then they saw Fred say this on TV. This mentioned it to his wife. But it wasn't like Fred started this. It You helped their relationship.
Like know what I did was you gotta realize, Spur you was our coach, all right, We had a coach. Our coach retires one day after the season is over with He's through, all right, I'm put.
Right there on the spot, Mike, in my face, who you want?
Joe ain't told me he been talking about this because he show ain't talked to it about with miss gil to this.
What you're gonna talk to it about?
You just said some stuff.
I freed the story up, they said, you know. Two days later, Coach Gilb is here. Indeed, he Hey, I want to talk to him. Guess what here I go on the phone.
What up, coach? He gonna coach it. Yeah, I'm back in the building. Can't wait to meet you in person. Don't worry.
I'd be back from Missippi and today that come here, met to Joseph and we've been tight ever since.
So I was held right there an that hell TiAl.
So that's last week's episode. This week's episode is the art of Special Teams. And basically that's how George Allen put the special in special teams.
All right, that's that's what it's all about, making special teams something that other teams had to account for. And yeah, yeah, Tanner makes a little appearance, and that's we interviewed Tanner.
I love it.
I chime in a little bit.
Anything good, any any good nuggets that should look out for.
No, I mean, not necessarily. I just talked about you know, I mean, you gotta think I was drafted because I was a great punt you know what I mean, a first round Have you ever thought of that? You wrap your head around that, Well, they knew you, but they didn't want me to be in four years of playing great receive, being a great receiver, they were still was mad at me because they wanted me to be more of a part returner. So that just that just strange
to me. But that's how you know I came here because you know, this team really needed a wide out and so another team didn't want me to be fully a wide out.
So I'm not one hundred percent. Like in terms of timeline, is that like B Mitch's era of stuff.
Just before her two years that guy we got here, he was at one of the death and then his last year was at the Giants with the Giant O two. So I got to play two years against B Mitch and list he's a hit bull off the hit bull on the field, and he was by the time I was there, he had really made special teams like you gotta watch out for us, like we ain't just a dude that is third on the depth chart, Like we can break games open.
So we we made plans to stop be Mitch when we played there.
You played against mit I just told you that's crazy.
One played against Man, that's wild.
I was.
In that green net Philly uniform and big old shower pass. And then the next year he's with the Giants and it was crazy because you know, now we talk about that stuff and I'm like, that's crazy. How you just did them a little two little stints and came back in So love here.
Ye absolutely, And this is.
In the seventies when Georgia Allen but b Mitch is interviewed in this because the ripple effect of it works, what happened comes to be Mitch's favorite and he talks about that.
Yeah. All right, So that those are awesome podcasts again, Commanders fans, make sure you check it out. Those are great. I'm gonna I can't wait to listen every week. I'm waiting with baited breath to check them out. All right. So the next thing is training camp. Right, we don't have the dates yet, but you can go to the website Commanders dot com reserve tickets. It's free. Come on out watch practice. We Santana, Fred, myself, Jesse, Guy, Jason will be out there. London will be out there watching
training camp. Come by the show. We have free merch get that Hawk outside shirt, some other shirts we can give out for free. We'll sign that stuff. Make sure you come out and see where the team's at and see what all the excitements about really is what we're trying to do.
If you're not excited about this, you need.
To check your posts, check your po If you're a fan of this team and you've endured with this franchise, it's been through and you're not excited about this, but that's every year.
Every year you get a new leash on to whatever you're trying to be. You know what I'm saying, Like every guy come in here with a new outlook of this is what we can be. And as a fan year, every different fan base feel like they're gonna win a Super Bowl. Two teams now, every different fan base. So I'm sure it's gonna be a lot of excitement. I'm sure it's gonna be a lot of people out there. I just can't wait because you know, we get bombard like we're still playing.
That is cool, but also you go to man, man, it's a little bit exciting.
So I loved it.
I don't look I don't take it for granted, for the simple fact one day you're gonna be old and gray and nobody's gonna know nothing about you. So enjoy it now. Embrace it now, because I feel that it comes to territory. If you was a guy that was worth something and you went out there and do what you had.
To do, you know they'll show you appreciation through time.
MO doubt.
Yeah, So in kind of preparation training camp, I think we should start. We did our defensive show last week, talked about Joe Whitt Junior's defense, the evolution of Dan's defense. That was a really fun conversation, and so we figured why not do the same thing this week with the offense. Specifically, we're gonna talk high level offense. We're gonna be a really similar format high level offense Cliff Kingsbury and the Air Raid, and then we're gonna talk about how our
guys could potentially fit in the system. So let's start off, and I guess Tanny you can answer this first question because you are kind of our offensive expert. Here is what makes a good offensive scheme. You've played a lot of them, played for a long time.
Played in some bad ones, played in some okay ones, and I played in some good ones.
So what's a good one?
Think a good offense? Taylor's their style to play around their skills, love that around their playmakers. They're guys. Let me give you an example. Twenty ten, Shany come here, love this story, by the way, and he comes in and we have Donovan mcnow and we knew that the style of play from where they ran this in Denver. You know where they ran this over in Philly, you know with the Texans. You know, that same offense was the offense. Now we're going to be running, and the run scheme is dynamic.
You know.
The passing game is dynamic also, but you have to understand it and be able to be fishing enough to be productive in it. And that season was okay, twenty ten wasn't a bad year. And then we go to twenty eleven. We fell off like a bad bag of you know what. And then all our twenty twelve comes and here go, I'm rolling in RG three and everything we did with that offense in twenty ten and twenty
eleven was basically thrown out the window. We still had the same you know scheme when it came to you know, sun sets and all that stuff. But we changed the offense to fit who we had at the quarterback position. And I feel like that made those that coaching staff
because we already thought highly of that offense. If you watch Koviak when he ran it, When you watch how kyleedom did in the Texans, you know, when he was in Houston, and you watch how they did in Denver winning super Bowls and going to Super Bowls with that offense. We knew the offense can be dynamic, but to change it up and make it suitable for your running style quarterback,
I thought it was brilliant. So to me, I think when you talk about good offenses, man, you talk about that coaching staff or that offensive coordinator that mind to be able to say, this is what I have talent wise, and I need to make it efficient enough that these guys can be affected.
How about you, Fred, When you're playing against an offense, you're like, man, this offense is good because of.
What it's unique.
I would say unique, because usually offensives, especially NFL, they kind of all look the same until you find these Baltimore Ravens. Because of Lamar Jackson. They don't run you like so when we had to practice for them the week of it's like no other We're getting out of our own disciplines. We're finna have to be attacked a different way than everybody else's attacking us, and we're finna have to play a ball game not used to how
we're used to playing it. So I think when a team is unique, you got first of all, you got to have a unique talent, let's be honest. But when you have a unique offense a Cam new Nick Carolina, I can only it's hard to figure how to play them out. And then all of a sudden next week we go back to our We're from the player like
we've been playing everybody else. So I think once you get a unique offense, with a unique player, with a unique caller, somebody that doesn't call by disciplines, I have some guy that they wouldn't dare run certain reverse on thirty five and to redid it all the time. So because Andy said, I'm not going by you'll disciplines, I'm gonna think outside the box. It makes it unique and almost unstoppable. Because deep football is a job of discipline guessing.
Now we're guessing it. Guess what you guess long you gets wrong, you're gonna get beat in this league. So I would say one thing is unique talent and unique caller. I think give you a unique chance and a unique offense to be different. You know, I think differently sometimes if you make us, we're going lit harder than another team to study you and prepare for you. You've got us on our heels a Libya before the gaming start.
Yeah, I'm with that on hundred percent. I think it just he even distilled down more. I think Tanne, you know you want to maximize your offensive personnel. Fredd, you want to be unique. I think the core tenant of good offenses. You want to stress defenses, stress their rules,
just put them into situations where they're in conflict. I think when you look at even like high school offenses, like the triple option, for example, it stresses rules like you got to take the dive, I pull it if you don't, If you take the quarterback, I'm going to pitch it and route the gay for Rady eight. You know what I'm saying. It's just I've stressed your defensive rules with the triple option, with the single wing, with the bone, with the spread, with the air raid wing
team whatever. Yeah, and it's just about finding ways to stress. And then to your point, Tanna like, I'm not going to run the triple option if I've got Drew Brees, Peyton Manning or right, I want to find something that fits my offensive personnel. But my base point is to stress you. Defensive show, we talked a little bit about how like there's coverages, right, you got cover four. I'm not gonna line up in two by two. If you're playing a lot of quarters, I'm gonna getting overloads. So
I'm gonna get in three by one. I'm gonn getting four by one.
I'm gonna get bunchies. I want bunches.
I'm gonna say, figure this out, communicate this. We're gonna find your stress.
Right.
That was the whole thing with Kyle Shanahan and Mike Shanahan really before him in Denver when they're running all this outside zone and then they run the boots off of it, right, because the way to stop outside zone was have the backside defensive end tackle the running back, and Mike was like, well, let's just have the quarterback keep it and throw it.
Take the snake plumb.
And they couldn't deal with it. So again, there's different ways of skinning a cat, so to speak. But ultimately we're just trying to stress you, you know, and Tanny, you've already alluded to kind of this second question, which I think is really good. Is offense, much like defense, comes alive when you got the playmakers, but unlike defense, I think it can be tailored to your offensive personnel. Right.
I love the story used to tell where the guy was just basically copying the offensive stuff from the week before because he knew you could run it.
Yeah. Well, you know, I got here No. Five and I told you, you know, that's what's when I got a chance to play with coach Gibbs. And after the first game, he sat there and said, man, we're not really being that efficient in the passing game. He's like, you know, but the run game was solid. You know, Porters was hitting on all cylinders and we could run the ball with the best of them. But passing, he
just wasn't happy. And it was only one game. And then you got to think when we played that next week in Dallas, we didn't do nothing that whole first three four quarters until the last two minutes when I banged, banging, you know, and won the game. So I believe that when they saw that the plays that I actually told him about that week was successful enough for us to win that game. The third game, we was getting ready before we even got to the to the whole game plan.
Coach Broke said, Hey, can you come in here six o'clock in the morning. I want to run some stuff by you. Coach Gibbs went on here and say, you know what in on it for me to be good, I have to adapt to what's what's being productive today.
Now.
I can't sit here and try to force feed you guys with what I did in my SUPERPII. Our running game is still being able to you know, hold up, but this passing game, you guys are different on the outside now. And then the quarterback wise no longer Ramsey, So now we have Mark Brunell. He's a different style of quarter He's a left handed guy. So I have to change things how I want to do it. So you know what I'm finna do. I'm finna do with
most of these guys. It's a copycat lead. If these guys couldn't stop something last week, we're gonna run it this week. And they basically went out there and gave me. I mean, we would literally watch the film. They'll watch the film before we come in and watch it and just pencil down everything that was successful in the passing game and say, Tannic, can you run this? And we basically, I mean, it got to the point to where even when they didn't do that, Mark was one of those
kind of guys. He's a throwback quarterback. Markin said run. Mark will put his hand in the dirt and say, hey, run this backside, Yeah, run this backside.
Really like, he was that type of I love practice to get Mark.
You know what I mean. He was like, hey, tennem, you know that post, you got stop. Sit down on that post. Don't even go in a wiggle, just sit down. He's gonna throw you the ball. So when our quarterbacks, when our staff knew that we had that type of offense, when it came to skill guys skill set that they can bake and just say do something and these guys are gonna do it. They said, they scrapped everything that they had scheme wise when it came to our passing game and just ran what was effective.
Yeah, and I look at you know offense, and I say like when you're trying to design offensive plays talk with Kyle Sean and you know, designing plays at the high school, you want to give quarterbacks answers, so like, you know, like with defenses, you're like, I want to make sure that I can cover too. If you run an out and a go, right, I got you, they say it, I got you, Yeah, yeah right, it's it's fine, right,
there's no answer there. But if I run the out converts to a stop and the go throttles in the honey hole, all of a sudden, we're balling and it's the same call. And so I think it's about, you know, kind of your point. Like offenses, much like defenses come to life when the ball players are good. You know, like Fred, you've had tough matchups, right, and it's just like what do I do?
You know, like, what is my courtinate going to do to help me in this matchup?
Like physically, I feel like the matchup is there, but if the offensive player coach is giving him a level above me with their pen now feeling defeated, not because he's better, because my guy couldn't come up with something to stop how they was attacking us.
Right, And so I look at that, and I say, like, as an offensive guy, like obviously you want to exploit matchups, but also you want the all five eligible, especially in the past game, to see the coverage the same. Because Mark Brunell is telling Tanner to run that post stop because they're probably in some type of cover three and that's where the whole us.
And they also saying he is number one. So when we alert stuff, we alert him out the huddle. Once we alert him at the huddle, whose side is he on? Is he on minor blues? Once we know he on blues, you will see learn Landry and Sean switch all right. He was gonna switch because he's the threat, he's not the threat. And it's a respect level there. Hey man, we got two of the hottest guys over here.
You handled their body back in the back. So it's the relationship.
I think offense have a relationship too, because I've seen receivers come out there not say a word to the quarterback, just look just a little bit.
And changed the whole route.
Yeah.
Absolutely, And I think that's what again, like if on the offense, you have to see it the same, you know what I mean, You have to see it the same. You have to see the coverages the same and it's much more. I think defense is extremely cohesive. But like if you see if intend like, it's been fun watching you run choices and stuff over the course of your career because it's like, if you see the coverage correctly and you see it the same way as the quarterback, the defense can't stop you.
Prime example, that a good time. Jason Kelsey, Kelsey and your boy they see it like the same. Like Kelsey has a quarterback mentality when he run his routes, he knowing what the quarterback see with his back to He played quarterback in college. Bingo. Jordan Reed too, so Jordan Reed was like that. And another guy justin Jefferson and
your boy Logan I mean Savante Adams. Although they see coverages like that, you know, the quarterback they can see it and while they enter the route running the route, they feel and see it the way the quarterbacks see it in the pocket. See what I'm saying. And everyone don't have their gifts, you know what I mean. Everyone will have their gift. Now I will say I have the feel of knowing that Okay, this is zone, so I need to sit here, you know, what I'm saying,
or this is man, I need to keep running. You feel what I'm saying. You get the feel. All us have that feel. But these guys some are reasons they see it the same way, because it's almost like effortlessly the quarterback and them on the same page.
They themself, if I was throwing this thing right now, what would I want my person to do?
I think that's what they accident.
They did a repetition to the years of just saying, hey, Luke.
McCaffrey play quarterbacks. So that's why he probably got that touch already to ooh, this is a zone I'm not finna go run to. I'm finna curl up right now. I think it's like I said, if that timing is to the t, we will have problems, but we can find ways to kind.
Of moved it.
But once two guys got a connection, and they don't run stuff by the rule no more. This slam route supposed to be broken at sam Yaard's too tight.
I'm running them at five.
You see Kelsey all the time, run his route and then just leak out.
We got going, all right. I'm not going to just know like.
Here, I don't I don't got them all to come here because I sat down. Now, I'm not going there, but I'm not giving them a knowing Pattistan on a run, he gonna hit him.
Yeah, And I think that's a that's also an interesting point. It's like, even though a route's drawing a certain way on paper, you got to run it to make it come to life. Yes, you know what I'm saying. Like, let's say I'm the backside dig and it's cover three and I've got a little five yard underneath me, right, so we're gonna space it. I'm not gonna I don't want to run a straight stem dig because I'm never gonna show up in that guard tackle bubble. I need
to inside stem, push vertical and then get in. But that comes from instinct and feel and like again, that's where it's like, if your high school kid watching this, you got to understand like the levels of the timing, because you can do what you want as long as you get to your spot. Like listen, I went down to tight end, I went to I went to tight end you and I heard Travis Kelsey talked about this.
He's like, as long as you get to where you're supposed to be to distribute the field and distribute the concept because ultimately we're trying to stress defenses. Right, So if there's two guys in one spot, we're not stretching, don't take conventional road. Yeah, but if I can get there and I'm stressing a high low on the corner or a highlow on the backer, like it's a win. Yeah, and I get and I get productive. So that's again
like we're really good offenses. Like it's the paper, it's the scheme on paper, but it's the players, the Jimmy's and Joe's and how they see it and feel it and make them really Chad.
Johnson and speak.
I'm telling you I have chased Chad justin be like, go back to the how to Dude, you know that ain't no route.
Like, dude, you know that ain't no route?
Right, make up some get this, but.
I got to my spot.
Is how you need to worry about in the timing of the play too.
And guess what costs a Palmer new Cha gonna take He might take a back row, but he gonna get exactly to the house he's supposed.
To get to.
A prime example, I got shoot out in a practice and it's crazy.
Man.
Big ups to a guy Wayinger Bet for letting me know that Tanner, you're not wrong. And I knew I wasn't wrong for the sake fath, I was just young. And I love telling this story because you know, I learned this in college. That's why I was able to do this. My receiver coach, Curtis Johnson, man, he's one of the best. He also coached in New Orleans when they won Super Bowl or he was the wide receiver coach there, turned that receiver group around, and now he's
the head coach in Houston with the UFL. But he told me, Tanna, you're different from everybody else. You can do all this stuff at the line of scrimmage because you fast. So when you run your route, I don't mind you putting a little twist to it because as long as you get you can make up that speed. You can make up that time and with your speed,
so I'm in practice. Paul Hackett. I never forget this, and it's probably one of the reason why I always looked at Paul Hackett differently, you know what I mean. I respect him, but I never understood him after this, because no coach should have that kind of say or input off or try to have that kind of input when the receiver is doing his job. Any player that's doing his job, you should never look at him and say, I don't want you doing this, because that's not how
I coach it. No, if he making a play, you should want him to make it a play every time. Long story. Sure, I'm running the dig rope. Back in the day we had that not that incut dig route, that one toteen the sixteen yards, sit down, dig and you know on paper they got this thing drawn up. You're gonna run fourteen to fifteen yards, make your and come back to the ball. Now, if a guy sitting back there in cover three, what you're gonna do. You're gonna get him off his spot right as a corner.
I can't just run that route in front of you. You're gonna be over with my back and I have no chance, especially if I know that I'm the guy that they trying to get the ball to. I need to get some separation. So what I did put a little twist to it. I run twelve yards. I put my foot in the inside of the corner. Knowing how he was sitting at like I was running a go route and turn his hips when he turned at fifteen, I sat down, came back, beautiful route easy. Everybody was
in practice. Who Paul Hackett throws his clipboard over there at me, don't run, and I.
Don't coach that.
I'm sitting there like, did I do wrong?
You know?
He had me please, but that's what I That's how I felt.
And I'm sitting there like what did I do?
And so he chewed me out.
And I'm a young guy. I'm probably my second year in the league. And Wayne Gerbat said, look here, that was a beautiful route. I can't do it. Coach said, I say, I can't do it either. He said, do it again, Tanner. That's how you run your route. And that's what he gonna do. Fast forward the same week, play the Miami Dolphins, Pat thirteen. I got the clip I got that it might be somewhere on my phone.
He sit identical in between fifteen and sixteen yards. Wasn't gonna move because he knew he had trusting those guys. Getting a feel. I did the same thing, turned his hips, came back, caught the ball, went eighty. He said, I can't coach, She's a kid, and I was shocked because I'm like, bro, I made the play.
It's coaches like we all have cut and not to just you.
Know, hey, maybe you coach are the guys that listen to you. I'm not trying to be all disopen. I'm just trying to do what's going to make me get separation. And how I was taught to run route.
You know it's wild, though, is that's how everyone runs around now, every single person. You want to burst the blinds first.
To the blind side and come and snap back down. And you saw me do this for years. You see what I'm saying. So I never changed. It was just a guy didn't like the way I did things.
So and I always tell by coaching success what happens after that.
But it bothered me to the point. It bothered me when when I when I actually left from there, I knew why I was really leaving. You can't you can't leave in the prime. I'm left. I love my prime A thousand yards one year. The next year I leave the team with eight hundred something yards because and y'all not trying to get me the ball and have the
most touchdowns. And ran a punt back in that same playoff and then I'm gone and I'm saying to myself, see, and I had a little birdie that that was on the other side of our defense that told me say, man, but he just don't like you. And I say, fine, that's because I'm gonna go where I'm loved that.
You know what I'm saying now, it's serious because I had coaches trying to change my game, like I've I had that before, and I'm like, no, I'm not doing it.
Like I'm like, I'm like this.
So, just getting back to what we was talking about, just the offensive, I think that what makes these offenses, especially when they're able to mold and say let's do what this guy, especially at you know what I mean, let's go, let's let's let's work and say, okay, let's use that because he has a skill set that can be.
Effective enough to make with other stuff that he ain't good. That's what I've always battled with when it comes to goads.
And I think that's a perfect segue, honestly, Tanna into the air raid. It's one of the things about the air raid. Let's just talk about it real quick. So that came around, you know, Basically, they said, we're gonna get more speed on the field. We're gonna horizontally distribute the field based on formation right at the gate right instead of being in this tight formation with the tight ends and the fullbacks run to get receivers out there, move them out.
We're gonna have more speed period and have.
Bad coverage players cover good route runners, yes, and force them to change their personnel. We're going to operate with up tempo to make them to regulate the defense from a coverage standpoint, from a front standpoint. So they run the same thing. But the thing that I think people sleep on when it comes to the air raid, it's like they run mesh. So basically the way they run meshes, imagine two by two. They cross the inside guys, the
two outside guys run big outs okay pre snap. Basically they allow a lot of flexibility on that big out stem and if the guys inside leverage, I'm throwing the big out pre snap on the quarterback right boom right there at the jump. Let's say I'm running the mesh and they're in zone, I can sit down. That's how we run mesh with Kyle everybody. But let's say the guy matches aggressively cuts the mesh. I can take it
over top of that one yea. And those are all the same play, running the same call effectively, And it's just they can adjust within the play because they only have like ten plays in the offense.
But morphs it it's like a tree.
It's similar to what it's similar to what RG Threedom ran in Baylor because if you watch it was basically they was running a go route or sit down or come back that.
So again this is like sorry, Nerdy, Nerdy's talking going So that's the deep option route that they're not running in Tennessee. Yeah, So there's not really that element. It's the it's the flexibility you're talking about within the route, you know what I'm saying. Like it's it's it's like, hey, I'm running a comeback, yeah, but I can get there how I want to.
Tennessee is so predeterminate simple.
So that's what I'm saying. It's it's a different offensive tree. And the air rate is like, hey, we got ten plays, but we've got hey, but if they run it, if they run two man, we're gonna run our mesh like this. Yeah, We're gonna run out like this. You know what I'm saying. Oh, if it's cover two and are running four verts like, that's where you get the benders and the vertical and how that self attack to. So I think when people hear air raid, they think, oh my gosh, it's so simple.
It is simple, but there's a lot of complexity in each play and the other thing I want to point out, just to make it perfect with here, every team in the NFL runs air raid concepts.
Thank you.
I'm about to say everything anything three four wide receivers plus uh, let me take this tight end out just running back out of substitute speed is everybody got an air raid package.
Let's just be honest from the.
Time all go and comebacks our first First, I.
Think air raid is anything with speed and tempo. When I say speed, I mean speed in uh the Jimmy and Joe's offenses area.
Think about the running shoe the Houston at that was air raid any Finally, think about Pete tom Brady.
All right, have you read that article about him? So I'm sorry to cut you out. They had Wes Welker there. Yeah, they said they took I think it was every single play from the from the air raid because they had Wes Welker and then we could run them all and we're just like, this is our hurry up offense.
I played against him, Listen, I played against how like dude? I have played Guess this office before three years ago, years ago. They're going to get the ball moving here.
But they I like they touched what they did on the air rate because they said, you know what, talk about New England because they said, you know what we're gonna do, speed and power. That's when they started with the double tight. And when they did with the double tight, we can miss with we can miss up with everything else.
But we didn't have that safety lineback of hybrid that we needed for grunk. We ain't had it.
Yeah, so again, what's what's the core tenet of offense? Like we just talked about, it's to find mismatches and stress the defense. So all they did is they said, hey, man, like everyone's running like triple option power. This is when michae Leach and what's the other guy's name? How mummy was Kentucky And they were like, shoot, man, we can't find all these big tight ends in full back.
We can't find his running back seed they're not coming to context.
So shoot, let's just find another receiver, yeah, and put him out there, find a quarterback and make it easy priests, because that's the other thing. When you dispersed the field and you can talk about this from yeah, you can't disguise coverages the same way.
No, we can't rock and roll. The safeties can't move. The offense paralyzes us. You got to get to your point, You got to get to your mesh point. And now the only thing you could do is what we did when I was at Missisp Mistake. It was all blitzing team, so we weren't trying to hide anything, Like you knew what a hot.
Read and you knew where everything was going. But what makes it hard, I think to me is the tempo.
Even if you stop and play, they right back up, like right back, right back, like they're gonna get you eventually.
That that what made their run game for the air RAI so efficient, because now you got these spread out offense that now they got everybody up in space and back. Then I'm not sure if they do that, and I'm sure they don't do it now. They had a lot they had wider spirits at the line of scrimmage. Crazy crazy now that can't get it. They can't get off, you know what I mean. So now you you're basically taking gaps or you're getting you're getting gas gas, trying
to find a word. You're getting gashed. Man five and six yards of run and you out there, you out there leaking because you're tied, you know what I mean, running up and down, can't can't get a break, can't get in the huddle.
And it's so easy again with those wide splits and the splits for the offensive line and the receivers to look at and be, like we talked about on the Defensive Show, how you want to make sure you're even in the run fit. You know what I'm saying. If I'm spread out and I got a back in the backfield, I got five gaps defensive, I got to negotiating. But I have the running back who's his own gap, Because you want you want to be plus ones, you need
six guys in the box. But if I got all this speed as the hooked player, I got.
To push to the speed I'm worried about him before I'm worried too.
And so if I'm the quarterback, I just look got and be like, oh, there's five dudes in the box, I'm gonna hand the ball of running back.
Yeah, because we have hats. Yeah.
And then this guy, this guy is wrong.
I'm on the backside of if they line back and go the wrong way, if they safety don't come down.
And this is why I think would always made it a step ahead of people. But I like, I like how people have morphed it, like and when when I when I hear it, now, the first thing don't come to my mind is just throw it out around your It's a mixture.
It's truly a mixture.
Yeah. I think when you look at kids did a great job with it too.
Who Cliff he was in Arizona, Arizona.
Well, I think let's sell real quick. But like, I think a team that Fred's talking about that did a great job of morphing it its Kansas City, Yeah, like Mmen Patrick. So they went from a team that was a twenty one twenty two twelve personnel West Coast, get the ball out and then all of a sudden, now you look at it and it's a air raid through the teeth, you know what I'm saying.
And that's why he looking for specialist.
He looked for nobody else can make Hartman work in the league besides enduring, because you know what, I need you for certain purposes.
We're gonna run you. I run threat. As much as you are a vertical of wide receiver, you I a run threat, all right.
So I think this is what makes especially without So he got special player Pat Mahomes.
Jason, is there any questions you got about the air raid real quick before we get going anything. You're like, oh, man, I don't understand X y Z, but it's a tempo, it's a space anything else from missing there?
Why is it more effective in college than the NFL?
I hear that a lot that like you can.
Run it in college dbs, but you can't do it in the NFL the same way the DB's.
And mean in the league you said it too, like think about it. In the league, we can say, oh, shoot, we need we need five pro pro level dbs. Yeah we got them, got them in college if you can match with your five pro one of.
Two special guys. And so it's gonna be got a bunch of third and fourth damn dbs on the field, and we're gonna keep We're gonna kill them, you know. Yeah, we're gonna make sure Mama.
Does have to face also, So it's that I think the pass rush is better, you know what I mean.
And the quarterbacking has a lot to do with it.
In college is like all our quarterbacks are okay, Like every every once in a while we'll run across a great quarterback. So I think it's so college is so scheme dependent. I think pro is a lot player depending.
I think two things. One, I think the hashes in college football, the wider hashes, it makes the space so much more extreme, but the ridiculous so you can't hide coverages the same way. You can't hide blitzers the same way. It's just like, oh, I can't do a ConA. Believe there's two dudes over here. There's two guys over there that playing man coverage on me. That the sucker that guy's blitzing right. But in the pros, because it's balanced up, I can hide stuff a little bit better. I got dogs.
You can blitz even if you're going up tempo. Think about how smart defenses are now in the NFL. Hey, shoot, we can get to cover too, we can get to quarters. We can just call that at the line of scrimmage.
And we through a lot of people through like rushing the air raid.
They rushed two yards and get your hands up now, so they are rib to knocked down, Like they say, if we play an air raid and we knocked down five bowles at the ladd of scrimmage, we've beating that team.
Yeah, in the same way college works, Like you know, Georgia Tech was running triple option. It's like, oh shit, we got to prepare for the triple option. It's like it's same as the air raid. It prevents its own problems, and college coaches college players aren't smart enough to develop the new one, yes, But in the NFL it's like, Okay, that ain't nothing.
I played against the Deveccotty, yes, and so I think.
That's why ultimately it doesn't work. But I do think when you look at Cliff in Arizona, you look at Andy Reid and what they've done with their West style West Coast offense and kind of adding uh odding air raid elements. Is the cool thing is they've now they've merged the two offenses and it's kind of become a high red offense. Right, So all the stuff that Kyle does so well with shifts and motions and different personnels to create mismatches. Now you're seeing clift to the Yeah.
And it's so funny you brought there up. Because let's talk about everybody think they air rate all looks the same.
It doesn't. Nothing looks the same.
Shanahan's offense in San Francisco don't look like the offense is installed in Miami, LA. But they are the basic, the same thing. Miami saying we just like a little bit more motion than y'all. We like to hit our motion running. But but but but what we It goes back to what we talked about earlier. It's about your skill set, what you have. We're gonna care to what we do best here.
So like when you look at San Fran, you know you're looking at a wide receiver that's really a running back. So we're not gonna put We're gonna put the ball in his hand. Now, we don't allow him to do things befittive. We're gonna use our running backs. Miami, we got a track team on the outside, so you can just mismatch you and let these guys just stretch the field. You know what I'm saying, so it's just bro, it's I love looking at them.
Rang like why receivers, I want you to dig get out.
Yeah.
I mean that's a great point. Like they've they've brought guys and like, think about it. They So it's the same offense in La as said in San Francisco, but they don't run as much outside zone. Yeah, they run gap skin more inside right. Yeah, And then you look at Miami and it's like, man, it looks like the single wing outside zone, gaps, steam pullers, all that kind of stuff. So wow, But I think to your point, friend, everywhere it goes, it's kind of shift and change, like defenses,
very race to kind of fix the personnel. But I think it's cool now to see the differences that that kind of prop up and say, oh, we can get into twelve personnel and run the same concept, or we can get into twelve and get to this run and still get some hurry up element, which is pretty cool.
So yes, Jason, what are some of the negatives of the air raid and why do some teams not incorporate it as much in the NFL level? And I think you were talking if I can guess a little bit and maybe tell me if I'm right or wrong. You were talking about put your hands up. You're not going to ball down slowing, Like if you can slow their pace down and get a quick two and out so or three and out, then like that's exactly what you want.
This area is.
Remember we had a patche with Kyle, remember that, and it was like it was like we use it to get out of ruts and stuff. And I remember going in and be like, hey man, we should do it all the time. Actually, remember that we should. We should do it all the time because it's really good for us and it simplifies the defense. He goes, it's fast three out in football. Yeah, And when you say that, like you're stressing the defense like no other. Right, it's
the same thing that happened with Chip Kelly. Like Chip Kelly doesn't run the air raid, he runs a spread. So the difference between spread and air raid is you're spreading out to run the ball with quarterback, zone read all that kind of stuff, and the tempo's there, but it's it was too fast two phase and so and so then you say, oh, we're going to slow it down.
But the advantage of the air raid is that it is nice, you know what I mean, Because then now the defense can change stuff, right, they can be like, oh the line of scrimmage, you guys are chilling shot. We'll get into whatever call we want.
It's just like I love whooped cream, but I don't eat buckets, you know what I'm saying.
I use it as a topping. And I think every playbook has an air raid. Six you called third down. I think third down turns third down. Hurry up, yeah, yeah, jes hurry up for three minute, two minutes.
Like so it's there like.
Pay Man ran air raid to a stint, like like raging. Them won't even come.
Off the field.
They were staying right and they would run the same place depending on you know, to the coverage. And I mean it's not it wasn't air.
Raid, but the principal was just like it.
And I used to actually, REGI like why you used to stay out theys Like, bro, we got five plays Py gonna look at his his things and say he's gonna call a book color and we're gonna know which one we're running. So I'm like, well, damn, that's like hurry up all over again.
Everybody got it.
And I think that's the other thing that gives you because there's a lot of play volume. You can do stuff like that. Yeah, where it's like, hey, I'm at the line of scrimmage. It's like I don't like that concept versus the show. Yeah, that's okay whatever.
That's why Peyton would wait us out. This is what the line.
Get your hard count? Yeah, oh omaha, omaha, they changing it.
You won't ever go inside seven sick because you know he can time you up. After see him said we can time him up. We can time the build up so he won't hit snip right in between ten and seven sick anything else.
We can time you up a bliss and then we're digressing here. But that's what made Peyton so special is that he had he had the offense at his disposal. Yeah, and it wasn't as it wasn't as complicated as people think. But he basically say, I have a man beater, I have his own beater, I have a screen, I have a run.
Let's go use a coach.
Yeah, playing quarterback now hard to stop for a conerback, Like you gotta be just, you gotta be ready.
So I think that leads us really nicely into the next section, which is what can we expect from Cliff's offense here in DC.
I think I think it's going to be similar to what he did and you know in Arizona, I think one of the things that you see already before they even get out there and passes h you have two dynamic running backs maybe three, you know, and a young
kid that we got in last year. So I mean, when you have that, you know, and it's been said, you know, he leaned on his run game way more than what people give him credits pecial, you know, and when you have a young quarterback, you're not trying to put so much on this plate, you know what I mean.
You want to simplify things to to a stint to where look, man, if we can take pressure off by letting these guys in the backfield eat and do what they do now, making things a little more simpler for him, because you got to think officers defense is gonna already have that in the back of his head he can take off. He has a good arm, and they got a good run game. When you have all three of those things going for you, you gotta play on your heels.
You can't, honest, you almost sitting out there, you know what I mean, scared to not know what's going to be expected of these guys when they line up. So to me, I'm just looking at it from from the outside right now. I haven't really just watched enough practice to see and I'm pretty sure they're not going to show us anything until it get closer to the time and we're not gonna probably be out there. But I would see him leaning on that run game a little more than what people might expect.
I think it's gonna be good because I always look at what did you do with a player when you was just getting into this league.
He had Kyler Murray, all right, I look at Jaye Dames.
I think they we could say they do the same exact speed both for the fast guys.
Uh, both of them can really wing it. But one happened to be six three sixty four.
Yeah.
When he called those plays for Kylub, most of those was roll louts and stuff, trying to get him clear looks even they the pocket was even how to set the pockets on all of that. He don't have to even address that with this quarterback. So he's gonna be on a more neutral u calling playing field, and he understands that.
As much as we love to see Jay runn, he's a throw first quarterback.
People need to understand that he's a oh everybody is checked, letting me take off a run.
So I think with Cliff, he's gonna understand.
Like Tanne, just especially for this young guy, I need to marry this this run game first, all right, passing game, I think, first couple of game. Look for a lot of running back screens, a lot of wide receiver screens, a lot of quick throws, a lot of throws that he got clear vision of.
Where he's going. He got a guess, no guessing. I think he gonna take all the things.
And we all can agree that we always thought he did a good job with Kyler coming out. I think he's gonna take all the things he felt like he failed with and make sure that he doesn't do that with this guy. And let's be honest, and let's say our guys are. I think their athletic ability is the same. But I think Jayden is a better student than Kyler.
Wells often to say no, let's not say he actually failed. The quarterback himself could have had some officials, some.
Some self initiative to this thing.
Yeah, one hundred percent. So I think you know you look at again, I think there's gonna be air raid principles. What does that mean. There's probably gonna be some tempo. We're gonna spread it out. We're gonna try and find easy pre slab books before practice, get them before for the ball snap, and get the defensive declare coverage. I
think that'll be there, but that's in every offense. I think you're going to see different personnel groupings, Like even in practice, you see him out there with multiple tight ends and running man beaters or run to all again ways to dictate to the defense, because if I'm in thirteen personnel, hypothetically, you can't be out there and nickel because I'm gonna run the ball down your right. So how do I again, how do I goes back to that core tenant? Yeah, how do I mismatch? Find mismatches
and stress the defense? And I think you see that. I think when you bring in a guy like Brian Johnson, who was part of, in my opinion, one of the more innovative offenses from a quarterback run game standpoint, I think it's part of it. But if you look at what made that great. They basically brought triple option to the NFL. Right, I think you're going to see a little bit of that. I think you'll see a touch of this. And basically what I'm saying is Cliff's a
smart guy. Yeah, he sees where NFL offenses are going. He knows how to get that done. So you're going to see a touch of that Philly run game, a touch of the outside zone. Yeah, touch it. Yeah, yes, that's exactly right.
Like we will have it with coach Van like we have. And I think he's good. It's saying, you know, what, what would y'all do in this situation where you just came from. So I still think he's stealing of them. Coaches ain't over his skis, like, nah, we're just gonna do it this one way. No I need I need all of these educations.
We see that even at practice, just in terms of the concepts are running, those aren't the concepts are running aren't traditional air raid concepts, but they are applied to the system that makes sense. We're going to operate with the signal, we're gonna operate with tempo. So it's just fun to see a smart guy innovating football. He's got his background, his backbone right, but he's got we got
multiple tight ends. We've got play action, we got motions, we got shifts, and it just it's it's blossomed out kind of what you're saying. The air raid's a piece, but there's other big building blocks that make this offense go because I need multiple ways to beat people. Yes, that's exactly right. So let's get to our last segment is how do our guys fitness thing? And let's start with the quarterback Jaye and Daniels. Fred you want to start us off?
Oh, yes, I will.
He fits well, fits well. I don't see an offense he doesn't fit well. Like his skill set says whatever you need me to do, I can do it.
Now.
The question is how fast do we refine him? Do we slow the game down for him? Do we speed the game up? Do we protect him with the run game? Do we protect them with quick passes? What are we going to expose him to? Like, it's just like a child, Whatever you expose him to, that's how they blossom to be. So the question is with Jaye names how much?
How soon?
Right?
I'm with Yeah, I'm dead on with it, and I think that's gonna be something that they probably get a get a good understanding that, you know, coming out of these practices into the training camp. They'll know how much we can give them and how much we can you know what I'm saying. But I think it's gonna be fine.
I think this offense is great for the you know, we actually went after a quarterback that was available for us that was that fit perfect for the offense that we had as you know, as far as our scheme and coordinator.
I totally agree. And just to see his growth maturation over the first couple of weeks so's a mini camp has been really exciting. You mentioned this Fred talking about him compared to Carlin Murray to me, not even I mean's he's an animal and that's great to see. And then you've got a guy like Terry talking about and this again speaks to Cliff's flexibility, how he's gonna be used at multiple receiver spots anything. And I think again,
like that just allows you another way to create mismatches. Tanner, right, what does that do for you as a receiver to be able to have multiple spots? You know, I loved it when I was able to play x Z and then play the slot. I think what it does for you is just it keeps it.
It keeps the defense now not knowing if you just because yeah, I think most of them times, if you see a guy line up on the side of the tight end, he's the Z you know what I mean, he's on that, he's not then he's a strong side, but he's disease, he's off the ball. If you got a guy like myself or Terry who can now you could just move or you can bake your your your offensive of set around him. You don't even have to move and say all right, we're gonna make this strong
and make it weak. Now that is that just makes it harder for them to like pinpoint him and say we're gonna cloud him or whatever, you know what I mean. Like I remember when Shanahan them in twenty eleven said, Tanna, we don't move you to X because they get more balls in his offense. They moved me to X and they took me out of the offense. Now you got you got, you got your bar gafy old eating there like bro. They just putting the cloud on me. Coach
backside I'm not doing anything. Now you have that that structure with this offense, like Terry just you know, alluded to. It's not necessarily going to be an X or Z or G. I'm just gonna line up and based on where I'm on the field, I'm going to be that you know that position.
Yeah, I think that's great. I also think you don't have to change the formation, be like, hey man, we want to get to the ball. Go to the f they're getting the Ball's make that happen, and.
It also makes it. It tells me that they're gonna treat Terry truly like a number one. I don't feel like he's been treated like a number one, like he's never been force fed the ball, like forever force fed
the ball. And I always say, and I always laugh and received because they all come out there thinking they finisa catch ten touchdowns on you in the single game, and I'm like, dude, they don't even move you around enough, Like always tell the dude, if you keep coming to this right corner, yeah, they really trying to get you the ball.
Well, I talked to my buddy who's the OC in Minnesota about Justin Jefferson. It's like It just gives you so much flexibility because he plays everything, because he got every spot. Yeah, so it's like, oh, you can play the accident, play the afric, can play the Z, you can crack, you can run, and we can get him the ball.
And what if this week he playing against a young Richard Sherman and this just ain't a good mashup for you. But Richard only plays left corn right, Like, yeah, I'm finna put him in the slot.
I'm not finna give your bitch chance to te off your chance and t off.
On my player one hundred percent. So I think that's a that's a great, great thing. And then let's talk about one more guy before he finish up, and that's Brian Robinson. Yeah. I think a lot of people are worried about him, you know, in the sense that like, hey, it's air r he's not getting a lot of touches. I think he's going to be awesome.
And Ekler.
I respect Eckler, but you know, the young bull is to start a running back, one is Brian Robinson. Do you understand that? And what he did catching the ball? All right, it's hard to hit little receive, I mean little running backs. You know, jittery you spros, they're hard to stop on third down, But is he hard to stop a big bet? They can catch a big beck and ktch and break tackles, and one or two broke tackles in the NFL usually equal a touchdown and just
the way it goes, and everybody cannot break tackles. I would not be shocked if this Brian Robinson's best year and everybody would say last year was I said he have a better year this year.
No, I'm with you, man. And the other thing is, like the last day Oks, they're running like I'll go special Tanna, But he's doing it from the backfield, working the seam, dude hitting back shoulder ball, you know what I'm saying. Like he's and he's such a big guy.
Yeah, you forget how big football play. Like you told me last year, I'm a football player. Anything they want me to do.
Do so.
Needless to say, we're all really excited about this this offense because Cliff Kingsbury coming in and see what it looks like. Much like the defense, we want to see how it changes to fit the personnel, which I think was Tanna's first point right out the gate, gott to fit your personnel. I got to maximize them. But that's gonna do it for today's show. Thank you so much for joining. Please make sure to like and subscribe ever to get your PODCAS Asks.
And that's it.
Defense.
The views and opinions expressed by our podcast guests and our hosts are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the Washington Commanders or any of their representatives