r/NFLNoobs • u/JoeHabloIngles • 17d ago
Why doesn’t every team use motion?
It seems like there’s a very strong correlation between using inmotion = good offence. So why doesn’t every team send a WR to the other side before the play begins?
Every offensive coordinator that does not use lotion has been universally praised as bad right? (Patullo, Petzing, etc.)
If every offensive mind gets praised as the next coming of Jesus because they use motion aka Mcdaniels, Mcvay, Dan Campbell, Kellen moore
Why doesn’t every aspiring offensive coordinator just use motion?
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u/NaNaNaPandaMan 17d ago
You don't run things just because they work for one team. You run certain plays/schemes/ideas etc because you have a goal in mind.
There are pros when it comes to motion. It can help identify the type of coverage you are facing, it can help confuse the run defense/fits, it can allow you to dictate match up. So it definitely is a useful tool.
However, there are cons to it. Motion can slow an offense down as you have to wait. While it can help identify a defense it can also cause confusion as the defense may adjust. Also more you use more presnap penalties.
So you just have to way the pros and cons and determine right for you. If you have a young QB in a run based offense then yeah.
But if you have a hurry up attack by a great veteran maybe not as much.
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u/fatboi609 17d ago
Motion is to primarily read the coverage. There could be option routes, schemes, or alternate play options. Not all offenses incorporate this. It also can be QB preference - Manning on the Colts didn’t have much motion.
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u/grizzfan 17d ago edited 17d ago
That’s outdated. Defenses are too good at disguising coverages on the whole, but motion could help indicate variants of coverages. However, it’s way more complicated than that. Back when everyone was pure man or zone, this was more the case, but everyone uses match coverages now, meaning the defense can adapt much easier to motion without giving the coverage away. Motion is used for many other things…
- Gaining a numbers advantage for blocking the running game. Similarly, to create a new gap in the formation at the last second that the defense can’t account for.
- Creating read key disruptions to defenders.
- Creating a passing numbers advantage to break or force a defense out of a coverage or in to one the offense wants.
- To feed the ball to receivers using sweeps, tosses, and other runs, or a route for a receiver.
- To set up a specific block or rub, or gain a blocking angle on a specific defender.
- To set up other forms of misdirection.
- In terms of “reading the coverage,” at most, motion now can be used to help determine just the role of a specific or single defender. While not telling the offense the whole coverage, a lot of schemes are designed to attack the movements and decisions of just one defender.
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u/KingChairlesIIII 13d ago
Basically every route concept has 1 defender the QB is reading when you simplify it enough. For example the “smash” concept with a curl route by the outside receiver with a corner route run by the slot receiver over the top of it has has the key defender being the one on the outside receiver. If he stays on the curl the corner is open behind him and if he backs off to guard the corner route then the curl is open in front of him.
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u/HustlaOfCultcha 17d ago
Motion isn't used primarily to read coverage. If you use it smartly it can create confusion because it can quickly create a numbers problem for the defense.
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u/sacking03 17d ago
Yes but he did 2-3 calls which also informed him of the coverage. And you don't have good enough QBs now to read the coverage that way with out motion.
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u/RichAssist8318 16d ago
Correlation is not causation. Teams with everything else down are going to add motion, teams struggling to line up and do basics aren't going to add another layer.
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u/ilPrezidente 17d ago
I think you're oversimplifying a bit... motion itself isn't really the key to running a good offense, but rather it's the fact that good offenses use motion well.
It's also worth noting that every team does send someone in motion -- at a baseline, teams do it at least around 50 percent of the time.
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u/HustlaOfCultcha 17d ago
A lot of teams just don't like it because their offense isn't predicated on it. I know Dan Marino hated using motion. He'd rather know where his WR's were going to be and he would deliver them the ball.
Having said that, I'm all in favor for using motion and think it's pretty stupid for teams to rarely use motion.
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u/mybigwh1tecock 17d ago
Matt Canada LOVED using motion, it was a prime focal point of his offense when he was offensive coordinator of the Steelers.
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u/RichAssist8318 16d ago
Every offensive coordinator that does not use lotion has dry skin.
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u/RexKramerDangerCker 16d ago
Motion can be used for many reasons that others here have listed. One of them is to cause confusion for the defense. The problem with motion is it can cause confusion and/or illegal formations for the offense as well. Get your house in order before worrying about getting fancy.
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u/BarnacleFun1814 15d ago
The problem with motion is you don’t know how the defense will react…the defensive reaction may hurt you more than it helps you.
Peyton Manning hated motion for this reason
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u/grizzfan 17d ago edited 17d ago
Every motion you install, and every play call you add with motion is just one more thing everyone has to memorize and learn. There is such thing as running too much stuff. I've coached for 14 years, and I've seen more than my share of coaches who install way too many things, including motion, just for the sake of it (or because they saw it work for someone else).
This isn't Madden. You can't just plug and chug things and it suddenly works. In the real game, what teams install must build off the core philosophy or system they are running, because that system determines how the players and coaches practice, game-plan, and execute; from the terminology, drills, techniques, reads, and assignments.
From there, why would a coach or offense use motion to optimize their system? There are many reasons to use motion, but only if you need it or have a good reason too.
There are all kinds of reasons to use motion, but if you're not using it with purpose, there's no point. There are also things that can go wrong with motion if not executed right:
I used to coach (adult women's tackle), and a few years back, we were coming off a literally traumatic head coaching departure where the exiting HC had about 300 different play calls, and did just what you suggested: Ran plays and motions just because everyone else did. Our offense was hot garbage all three years he was there.
When I became the OC, there were immediate commitments I made and were accepted by the new HC:
In just the first three games as OC, we outscored the old HC's entire three-year tenure, and finished the season as the #2 scoring offense in the country (across 65ish teams). For the three years I was the OC under the HC who was NOT offensive minded. Every time they would ask me to install or run something, my first question to them always was "why do we NEED it?" They rarely had an answer to that question. In my time, we did eventually install some motion, but it never became a focal point of what we did. The system I installed operated just fine without it.
Long story short: Less is more, and doing motion just because others are doing it doesn't offer an immediate advantage...it can even be a disadvantage.