Pep’s Plays: A look at Pep Hamilton’s Offense

First I would like to say I don’t have any fancy programs to be able to show you some plays or pictures of them. All of the information I have gather came from the 2011 Stanford season, mainly two fu games and cuts from many others. That being said lets talk chalk.

The Run Game:

Pep seems to love the I form or two back sets with a TB and a FB. Sometimes they are off set, mostly its a traditional I form. He also loves to use two TE’s. This gives the look of a power form, especially in today’s NFL. The most common runs I saw were what I call; from my High School RB days, a power or power G. These runs are between the Guard and Tackle gaps or Tackle and Tight end Gaps. Both versions are ran out of the Traditional and off-set I form and consist of a Guard pulling, or both a Guard and a Tackle. The non pulling Guard and Tackle rub block or double team the defense in front of them based upon alignment as the TE tries to go one v one on the outside rusher or Backer. The pulling player or players then pull around and take on the ILB’s and others on the second level. The Full Back will either use counter action or lead block depending on one or two pulling players. I must say I LOVE this play. Not only because of how effectively Pep calls it but because of how many other plays can be ran off this play and the formation. This kind of play requires a one cut bowling ball type runner, Vick Ballard fits that mold to a T. The recent trade for  Havilli indicates to me they will bring this play among many other power type runs to the Indy offense, something that has lacked since the Edge days. Of course there are a 100 other runs not to mention formations, but this one tends to be seen the most. This will certainly help Luck along with being familiar with the playbook and the coach. Speaking of Mr. Luck lets look at the other part of Peps Offense.

The Passing Game:

The passing game is a thing of BEAUTY in the 2011 Stanford offense orchestrated by Luck and conducted by Pep Hamilton. Passing comes form several formations, some more common than others but rarely predictable unless its a predictable situation. Pep Hamilton did a great job of using one of Luck’s best skills: throwing on the run or while moving. Using play-action from the previous runs I talked about Pep moved Luck around on Boots and Roll outs, but also had a traditional pocket at times. The Tight Ends are very active in the passing game, Copy Fleener especially. Both of them were used frequently at Stanford making it a good thing we have Dwayne Allen also. Personally I think Allen will have the better career but both will be good to great players. Having a speed WR sure helped Stanford also in stretching the field, they didn’t have a possession type WR like a Reggie Wayne but I imagine that only helps. Having the added security blanket of Wayne will help when things break down on the line and he is forced to ad-lib or use hot reads. I expect a big season from T.Y. Hilton and Allen/Fleener this season. In play action off the Power and Power G plays the read progression varied but they always included a deep route intermediate route and a cross combo, we currently have the personel for this but adding another WR will make it much harder to defend. I also LOVE what Pep does with the passing game.

My conclusion? Well I expect Indy to bring in another back like a Stephen Taylor type (Stanford connection) to help with Ballard. I also expect another WR with speed and hopefully some size to add a dimension. They also need to add another athletic Guard to be able to pull and can hold up in Pass Protection. All that said I expect Luck’s drop backs to go down but his efficiency to climb to a 63%+ completion percentage and a much better TD:INT ratio. The run game production will improve, especially in the Red Zone and will also keep bodies off of Luck who should deal with less pressure this season. Fans of football and especially Indy should end up loving what they see on the field from this offense. It will have the down the field excitement you saw last season with more balance from the run game. The future is very bright on this side of the ball and the pillars for success have been set into the foundation of Lucas Oil Stadium to have another decade long era of contending for championships.

The Grigson Era

If you would have asked me in 2011 when the sky was falling for most Indy fans where I thought this team would be going into the 2013 season it certainly wouldnt have Included an 11-5 season, a coach who battled cancer, an interim coach who stepped in and won coach of the year and a General Manager who won the same award as an executive. I probably would have told you we would be picking in the top 10 for the second year in a row with a young stud QB who had just come off of a solid but not great year. I would say that in Free Agency and the draft we would be looking for offensive game changers and defensive starters to fit the scheme, and I would have only been half correct.

In 2012, much to the delight of all the fans, the Colts had a great season by any measurement. Making the Playoffs gave the fans, team and front office confidence in the future that is bright. As bright as it may be, it still had some massive holes. Holes that are now filled with names like Gosder Cherilus, Greg Toler, Eric Walden, LaRon Landry, Daniel Thomas and a “whopper WR” that has yet to be named, if it ever will be in the Free Agency Period. This after a 2012 draft that the Colts absolutely knocked out of the park by finding a Franchise Quarterback, budding stars in Dwayne Allen, Coby Fleener, TY Hilton, and a solid to good Running Back in Vick Ballard. Follow that up with looking like a genius in hiring the inspirational coach Chuck Pagano, a solid but not great OC in Bruce Arians, and a good pairing with Chuck at DC in Greg Manusky and you have the pillars of foundation towards another decade of dominance like the Manning Era provided. I believe he did over pay for a few Free Agents this year, and has to work magic with a limited amount of draft picks this year, but after what I have seen so far, I trust the man to get the job done. All in all, over the first year and a half of Grigson’s Era as a General Manager i would give him a grade of B+ with class still in session.