MLP and the Forgotten Playbook

Here's what I learned yesterday talking to people who know more than I do.



#1 -- This coaching staff is committed to not making excuses and taking the blame wherever possible.



#2 -- As part of that, and for competitive advantage, Kalani insists that no one discuss injuries other than season-ending injuries. Keep other teams guessing, let the guys have privacy and not be second-guessed by weekend warriors who say "I pulled my quad last winter shoveling snow, and I was playing church ball the next week. Don't know why that guy has to sit 4 weeks"



#3 -- In Spring, it was apparent that MLP and Matt Bushman were both going to be studs. In looking to replace the production of Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams, Ty and his staff largely reinvented the playbook to center around double tight end sets. Think Patriots when they had Gronk and Hernandez (Bushman = Gronk, MLP = a non-murderous Hernandez). It was going to be a Y-Iso offense, with a few basic formations--the old Redskins H-Back set, Power I, Buffalo, etc.



#4 -- Also in Spring, it was apparent that Ula was going to be the premier back once he got his legs back after his mission, and his big body and style of running was/is a perfect fit for the double-tight end offense. So, the playbook was built around 4 feature players -- Mangum, Bushman, Tolutau, and MLP.



#5 -- During the Summer, Ula suffered an undisclosed injury that has hampered his return. His recent emergence isn't a revelation, it's him slowly coming back. He has been rep-limited, and his workload has been increasing per the medical professionals' timetable. If you doubt this, you can go find his dad's instagram account where he spelled it out for fans who were frustrated with the coaches after the Utah game.



#6 -- MLP went down for ~8 weeks during the very last practice of Fall camp.



#7 -- So, one week before the season opener, about 60% of the playbook, and the most emphasized part of the playbook became pretty much useless given the dropoff between MLP and Tanner Balderee. MLP was meant to be the flex-TE -- the one who could play in the slot with speed. And we've all seen the drop off from Ula to the rest of the backs. Add to that the additional responsibilities that got dumped on OTs and these 2nd+ string backs in pass protection who were practicing for double-TE sets that won't be happening.





So, we are seeing (especially now with Beau Hoge) an offense that no one was planning on in mid-August. Schematically It's not what Ty or any other coach on the offensive side of the ball envisioned. It's not the offense that was giving our defense fits. It's an offense that has been cobbled together on the fly over the course of 4 weeks in which we also had to prep for two top-10 teams.



This doesn't excuse all the failings -- a playbook should not be put together in a way that the loss of one or two players guts it, and you at least have to be competitive. What it does do is offer some context and understanding as to how a purported offensive genius could be failing so badly. It also explains why I think Detmer will get a pass on this season as long as we finish with a bowl game.

105 players, and we don't have 2 guys who can throw the ball, 2 guys who can catch the ball, 2 guys who can run the ball, 3 guys who can block, or 1 who can kick. And that's not even getting into the defense.

snoscythe wrote:

Here's what I learned yesterday talking to people who know more than I do.



#1 -- This coaching staff is committed to not making excuses and taking the blame wherever possible.



#2 -- As part of that, and for competitive advantage, Kalani insists that no one discuss injuries other than season-ending injuries. Keep other teams guessing, let the guys have privacy and not be second-guessed by weekend warriors who say "I pulled my quad last winter shoveling snow, and I was playing church ball the next week. Don't know why that guy has to sit 4 weeks"



#3 -- In Spring, it was apparent that MLP and Matt Bushman were both going to be studs. In looking to replace the production of Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams, Ty and his staff largely reinvented the playbook to center around double tight end sets. Think Patriots when they had Gronk and Hernandez (Bushman = Gronk, MLP = a non-murderous Hernandez). It was going to be a Y-Iso offense, with a few basic formations--the old Redskins H-Back set, Power I, Buffalo, etc.



#4 -- Also in Spring, it was apparent that Ula was going to be the premier back once he got his legs back after his mission, and his big body and style of running was/is a perfect fit for the double-tight end offense. So, the playbook was built around 4 feature players -- Mangum, Bushman, Tolutau, and MLP.



#5 -- During the Summer, Ula suffered an undisclosed injury that has hampered his return. His recent emergence isn't a revelation, it's him slowly coming back. He has been rep-limited, and his workload has been increasing per the medical professionals' timetable. If you doubt this, you can go find his dad's instagram account where he spelled it out for fans who were frustrated with the coaches after the Utah game.



#6 -- MLP went down for ~8 weeks during the very last practice of Fall camp.



#7 -- So, one week before the season opener, about 60% of the playbook, and the most emphasized part of the playbook became pretty much useless given the dropoff between MLP and Tanner Balderee. MLP was meant to be the flex-TE -- the one who could play in the slot with speed. And we've all seen the drop off from Ula to the rest of the backs. Add to that the additional responsibilities that got dumped on OTs and these 2nd+ string backs in pass protection who were practicing for double-TE sets that won't be happening.





So, we are seeing (especially now with Beau Hoge) an offense that no one was planning on in mid-August. Schematically It's not what Ty or any other coach on the offensive side of the ball envisioned. It's not the offense that was giving our defense fits. It's an offense that has been cobbled together on the fly over the course of 4 weeks in which we also had to prep for two top-10 teams.



This doesn't excuse all the failings -- a playbook should not be put together in a way that the loss of one or two players guts it, and you at least have to be competitive. What it does do is offer some context and understanding as to how a purported offensive genius could be failing so badly. It also explains why I think Detmer will get a pass on this season as long as we finish with a bowl game.

This is interesting and helpful in understanding what's going on. I'm willing to be patient. Some of this is recruiting to get depth which is hard to do in what 18 months. I'm willing to be patient.

This report is definitely consistent with our recent recruiting---a few stars and not much after that. So we're basically like a Wyoming or San Jose State this year; some potential to be awesome but not enough depth to keep it going if anyone goes down.

The premise that a 2 TE offense, like the Patriots with Gronkowski and Hernandez, would be a successful basis of the BYU offense, is based on false assumptions. The Patriots ran the 2 TE offense with Gronk and Hernandez for 2 seasons: 2011 and 2012 (Hernandez didn't start in his 2010 rookie season). Unfortunately, the 2 tight ends were not the primary pass catchers. The Pats had WRs including Wes Welker (122 catches in 2011 and 118 in 2012) and Brandon Lloyd (71 catches in 2012). The Pats had a great offensive line. And of course Tom Brady.



BYU doesn't have an impact wide receiver to take safeties deep and spread the field. The offensive line is pourous. And there is not much of a ground game to have credible play action. Sure, having MLP would be an improvement. But without (1) a receiver to spread the field and (2) an offensive line to open the ground game and take the pressure off Mangum or whoever the QB is, the offense probably wouldn't be improved enough to make an appreciable difference.

The odd thing is, Bushman looks great. Trinnaman has crazy speed. Micah Simon runs great routes. Talon Shumway seems to be plenty talented. You really have to wonder what scheme takes a bunch of B+ players and spits out a D- product.

I can forgive injury, I can turn the other way and allow inexperience to gain experience both in coaching and the players. What I can't tolerate is soft, timid play and BYU has gotten that this year on both sides of the ball. I am as disappointed in this team as I have ever been in a BYU football team and I was pretty disappointed in 2002 and 2003. This team looks as soft offensively and defensively as the team did in 2002 (in 03 Bronco had taken over the defense).

Woody3715 wrote:

The premise that a 2 TE offense, like the Patriots with Gronkowski and Hernandez, would be a successful basis of the BYU offense, is based on false assumptions. The Patriots ran the 2 TE offense with Gronk and Hernandez for 2 seasons: 2011 and 2012 (Hernandez didn't start in his 2010 rookie season). Unfortunately, the 2 tight ends were not the primary pass catchers. The Pats had WRs including Wes Welker (122 catches in 2011 and 118 in 2012) and Brandon Lloyd (71 catches in 2012). The Pats had a great offensive line. And of course Tom Brady.

You're welcome to your opinion, but I'll just leave some outside reading here:



Why the two-tight end offense is the best in the NFL (from 2013):

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1624948-breaking-down-why-the-two-tight-end-offense-is-the-best-in-the-nfl



Other NFL teams (including Jim Harbaugh) copying Patriots' two-tight end offense (John Clayton, 2012):

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/7914821/nfl-two-tight-end-set-latest-copycat-trend



Patriots returning to two-tight end sets in 2016 with Marcellus Bennett (how did they do in 2016?)

https://www.patspulpit.com/2016/3/21/11275174/two-tight-end-sets-how-the-patriots-will-use-tes-martellus-bennett



Here's a statistical analysis of all NFL teams running two-tight ends showing that while TE's in those systems have fewer receptions, they are more efficient than TE's in single sets (division of labor and all that):

https://www.numberfire.com/nfl/news/2587/how-does-the-two-tight-end-set-affect-tight-end-value



Here's another statistical analysis showing NFL offenses and quarterbacks tend to be more efficient out of two-tight end sets:

https://www.numberfire.com/nfl/news/2587/how-does-the-two-tight-end-set-affect-tight-end-value



Another article breaking down the Patriot's two tight-end recipe from 2010 to 2016 (it didn't end after Hernandez):

https://www.patspropaganda.com/bennett-brings-new-twist-pats-two-te-sets/

I'm not saying that the 2 TE offense isn't a good system. What I'm saying is that you need good WRs to spread the field and give the TEs room to get open, a good O-line and at least a decent running attack to make the 2 TE system work.

Woody3715 wrote:
What I'm saying is that you need good WRs to spread the field and give the TEs room to get open

That's pretty much the opposite of how the double-TE is intended to work....the two TE's forces the defense into personnel changes and pulls safeties up closer to the LOS which opens up the receivers.

I agree with your basic point; that's one reason Wes Welker averaged 120 catches for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.



But if your receivers can be easily covered one on one (as BYU's largely have been), it allows the opposing safeties to play the TEs man on man (after the LB have chipped the TEs at the line). Plus with the safeties up to cover the TEs, you end up with 9 in the box against the run. So you need good WRs and a credible O-line and run game (for play action) to make the offense effective.