The QB Blast: Johnson Ideal For Dynamic Wildcat

November 12th, 2009
Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson

Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson writes the weekly QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson has TV gigs in the Bay area and trains quarterbacks of all ages via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

A hearty congratulations to all involved in getting the “W” Sunday for the Bucs, no doubt.

Some things of note that point to good things ahead: Raheem Morris is maturing. He did not dare the media to write a story about why the Bucs drafted Josh Freeman, unlike earlier in the year when he got worked up over a good game from Michael Clayton, only to see Clayton fade back once again.

Morris also kept the win in perspective, knowing his Bucs must go back out there Sunday and they might not get quite as much help from the defense or special teams in the scoring column.

Did you see Freeman rolling out and making positive plays — by design?

Josh Johnson is slightly more mobile than No. 5, but couldn’t get movement from the pocket unless he was chased out. Good to know that Greg Olson is evolving as a play designer.

And speaking of evolving this offense, the Bucs need to bring Josh Johnson back into it on a regular basis and develop the most dynamic form of the “Wildcat” that the NFL has seen thus far.

The Philadelphia Eagles are losing games by leaving Michael Vick out of their offense and Johnson could bring a dimension to the Bucs that could help everyone.

ESPN The Magazine’s current issue has a long story about the amazing New Orleans Saints offense, but suffice it to say the entire point of the article is to show that if you get the other team’s linebackers to take one step in the wrong direction, you have a chance at success.

When teams have equal talent, which is what the draft and salary cap are supposed to create, deception and personnel mismatches become the biggest determinants for success.

If the Bucs put Johnson in motion from a receiver position (i.e. Ricky Williams), Freeman then has the option to give it to him or fake it to him. Either way it makes the linebackers take a step that way because of Johnson’s running ability, but what he has that no other player has (except Vick) is real passing ability. This piece of the puzzle unleashes mayhem on the defense, not to mention if Freeman takes off in the opposite direction of the motion with the run/pass option as well.

I don’t know how long it will take Olson to read this blog for the idea, but look for it somewhere down the road as other teams get a feel for Freeman’s assets and liabilities and start to take advantage.

5 Responses to “The QB Blast: Johnson Ideal For Dynamic Wildcat”

  1. JerrJenn2 Says:

    Do you really think Olsen needs to read this article to think to use a wildcat formation? Our offense is barely capable of running whatever the offensive scheme happens to be, much less an unpracticed wildcat. I do agree, a few wildcat formations would make a defense think twice. We are not capable of running it on a regular basis. We need to focus on Freeman, and getting him as many snaps as possible.

  2. Cheeka Says:

    The dolphins only run the Wildcat like a few times a game. Sometimes more if it’s working. All for doing it on the Bucs since we have Johnson. And it’s not going to hurt Freeman to miss some snaps, if it gets him six yards a pop

  3. Kazi Says:

    Makes way too much sense to happen

  4. Jeff Carlson Says:

    I’m not talking about Freeman missing any snaps at all. Using Johnson as a receiver in motion across the formation and faking it to him or giving it to him will open up all kinds of possibilities without adding risk, but it will give the receivers more opportunities to create space and make the defense defend more of the field.

  5. JerrJenn2 Says:

    I agree with you, that would be a great play, but is that really “wildcat”? News lately is that they did try some wildcat plays in training camp, using Peanut and Caddy. Peanut fumbles way to much, Why wouldn’t they use JJ? But they fired Jags and Olsen decided to go with a modified Gruden offense and had no time for wildcat……