NEWS NOW: A Look At The Green Bay Packers Offense From The Coach’s Seat
LWOS Thought It Would Be A Good Idea To Do The Same With Coach Clubb, This Time Examining The Packers’ High Power Offense. The Packers’ offense is their team’s engine and what propels them forward. From The Coach’s Box, Here’s A Look At The Green Bay Packers Offense.
Coach Clubb: It is great to be back speaking with LWOS and talking Packers football. As you know I’m a defensive coach, but do enjoy watching offense. I have to force myself to watch offensive tape at times so I can scheme against it. Rodgers makes watching Packers offensive tape very fun though. The first thing I really noticed about Rodgers is his footwork. He has some of the best footwork I have ever seen a quarterback possess. He has ability to extend plays with his feet. This is not to say that he is a scrambler type like Hall of Fame quarterbacks Steve Young and Kenny Stabler. He has tremendous pocket awareness and can use that to buy time until he has receivers open. We really saw this in the NFC Wild Card round game this past season.
Another great quality Rodgers has is his vision. He can see the whole field and makes tremendous reads. Vision is one of the most underrated attributes that many people often overlook. With the evolution of the run-pass option (RPO) it has really changed quarterbacks reads. The RPO is basically a run play with built-in pass play concepts. Basically, you are meshing with a running back while reading the defensive end. If the end plays the run, the quarterback will pull and look to throw to his four receivers running routes. We see this more at the college level, but NFL teams, like Green Bay, have started to incorporate this scheme.
LWOS: In recent history, the Packers standard offense has been three wide receivers, one tight end, and one running back. With the additions of tight ends Martellus Bennett and Lance Kendricks, it appears that will change. How do you see their standard offense changing, with these additions?
Coach Clubb: What I see from both Bennett and Kendricks are two big, physical guys who will really improve the running game. Tight end, in my mind, is one of the most difficult positions to play. It reminds me a lot of playing outside linebacker. Half the time you are blocking an outside linebacker or defensive end, other times you are running a rout. An outside linebacker, for example, is stunting half the time and dropping into coverage another time. I think with these two tight ends that it really opens up the playbook where the Packers can be more flexible in the run game. We might even see a few two tight end sets with these guys. I always admire a good tight end who is a physical blocker. Offenses must establish the running game if they want to be successful.
LWOS: Although most of the publicity goes to the passing attack of the Packers, it seems like every good NFL passing attack must have at least an adequate running game. Can converted wide receiver Ty Montgomery be the type of back that can make an opposing defenses honor the run game? What should Packers fans expect out of the Packers running game with Montgomery and the rookie running backs who are behind him?
