Breakdown Sports

Indiana Wheel Route Everyone knows about the Post-Wheel route concept. According to 2016 Twitter and beyond, it has been and continues to be undefeated. The legitimacy of this claim can be argued, as much as anything can legitimately be argued on Twitter. Admittedly, it’s a great concept that can be run effectively with a variety of personnel and from various formations. What I want to show today is a slight variation of it, that has tons of eye-candy on top of it to really maximize the effectiveness. This comes from Indiana OC Mike DeBord (as much as Michigan fans don’t want to believe it). It is the Cross-Wheel combo.

AP Photo/ Darron Cummings For nearly a half of play, the Indiana Hoosiers looked poised to make the Buckeyes sweat out a potential early season massive upset. It wouldn't be the first time a team came out with a great gameplan earlier in the year and caught an opponent looking ahead to the supposed bigger challenge. With the Ohio State on defense, the Buckeyes wanted to come out in a lot of single-high defensive looks, predominately Cover 1 , put bodies near the LOS, and out athlete Indiana. In the battle of the DL vs OL, OSU dominated. But on the outside, despite relatively good position from defensive backs, Indiana executed nearly perfectly. One could argue that the execution was bound to wane, but repeatedly throwing one of two throws - a fade or a back shoulder fade to the boundary - allowed IU QB Richard Lagow to find an easily repeatable rhythm, particularly with big bodied and sure-handed WR Simmie Cobbs. In this article (and the next) we will look at the basic gam...

Indiana, predominately, was an Inside Zone Read based team with Tevin Coleman. Coleman’s ability to pick through traffic and utilize his power allowed him to churn out a bunch of yards between the tackles, and his vision and cutback ability made him deadly to turn a modest frontside gain into an explosive cutback run. But what I enjoyed most about Indiana’s scheme when utilizing Coleman was their changeup plays for getting outside the tackles. When talking about Inside Zone, you’re looking for vertical displacement of the defense. You punish the first level defenders with powerful double teams and release into the second level defenders to form multiple run alleys along the LOS. To counter this, defenses are forced to start shooting down in an effort to form a wall at the LOS. This makes it so OL have to get off doubles earlier, and so doesn’t allow for that vertical displacement. But through Outside Zone, Pin and Pull Zone, and OG Sweeps, the Hoosiers were able to take advantage of t...

Introduction This is intended to be a look at the B1G players participating in the NFL combine (and a couple others that I think may get drafted). I include combine results, though that is only a small part of the equation for me. I put much more value into what I've seen on film rather than by how well someone has been taught to run the 40 yard dash. I try to give a basic overview of strengths, weaknesses, fit, and where I'd expect them to be drafted based on "norms". What that means is that I'm not really looking at mock drafts, I don't have my ear to the ground for what Mel Kiper is saying about a guy. It's just based on what I've seen on film. This will be five parts long, with teams coming in alphabetical order. Brian Spurlock, USA Today Sports

Iowa

Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images Indiana O: Shotgun, 11 and 10 personnel. Michigan D: Stayed almost always in 4-3 Over Base, Check Eagle vs Wildcat Michigan O: Mostly 11 or 12 personnel, mostly shotgun until later Indiana D: I think mostly 2-high zone schemes, not quite sure.

All coaches will admit that differentiating and controlling tempo are benefits of any modern offense. But then why are not all offenses running it in this day and age? In the modern B1G, you see some teams that utlize it heavily, others marginally, and others not at all. Why such a difference if it's known as an advantage for any offense using it. In this piece, we will discuss just that. Chris Howell - Herald-Times  [Indiana is known as being one of the fastest teams  in college football and have had a very successful offense in recent years. Some would say their struggles on defense are an effect of practicing with up-tempo offense, though]

Indiana heavily utilizes the screen game to act like a rushing attack. In fact, a lot of their success comes off of screen misdirection and screen action, both things that are commonly associated with the run game. By doing this, they create conditions exactly what the spread offenses was designed for: to stretch offenses laterally as well as vertically. For defenses, this means a couple things, they must be extremely disciplined with their eyes and they must tackle in space. Brief Screen Primer A brief background on screen blocking first. The lineman that release depend on who isn’t covered and which defenders present a risk to the ball in the air or the receiver. This means any defender that will try to get in an alley between the passer and receiver must be cut down or washed away. Preferably on any outside screen you’ll have at least one blocker sealing off the inside to outside pursuit, another acting as a lead blocker in the alley, and another acting as a support blocker, whic...

Ceiling: 8                 Ranking: 6                  Floor: 3.75 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Wheaton North (Wheaton, IL) Size: 6'4" - 195 lbs. Composite: 4 Star, 0.8973 ,  #15 Pro, #271 Overall 247 : 4 Star, 92, #11 Pro Rivals : 4 Star, 5.8, #7 Pro Scout : 3 Star, #43 Pro Favorites:  Northwestern (Commit) Other Notable Offers:  Boston College, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, NC State, Ole Miss, Penn St, Syracuse Strengths Strong arm on short passes, capable of firing ball in quickly Quick release and good at moving the pocket Underrated athlete that can keep defenses honest with his feet Strong arm, can really rocket a ball in there. Displays the ability to put some air on the ball and throw over top of defenses. Good height. Has a release point above his helmet, while still not with full arm extension, still gives him a high release point...

Ceiling: 8.25                 Ranking: 6.5                  Floor: 5 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Ursuline (Youngstown, OH) Size: 6'4" - 230 lbs. Composite: 3 Star, 0. 8877,  #16 Pro, #319 Overall 247 : 4 Star, 90, #17 Pro Rivals : 3 Star, 5.7, #15 Pro Scout : 4 Star, #14 Pro, #239 Overall Favorites:  Michigan State (Commit) Other Notable Offers:  Cal, Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern Strengths Ball velocity and rotation, putting the ball on receivers fast Very good running ability Capable of threatening every area of the field with arm Has the ability to make throws to every part of the field. Has good pure arm strength and releases the ball with good arm and wrist snap, giving the ball pretty good velocity and puts it on the receiver fast. Quick release allows him to get the ball out of his hands fast. Capable of putting the ball in all areas of t...

Ceiling: 6.5                 Ranking: 4.25                 Floor: 2 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Venice (Los Angeles, CA) Size: 6'1" - 170 lbs. Composite: 2 Star, 0.78 ,  #78 Pro 247 : 2 Star, 78, #89 Pro Rivals : 2 Star, 5.3 Scout : 2 Star Favorites:  Indiana (Commit) Strengths Can put the ball on a rope Gets good ball rotation to cut the ball through the air Can escape the pocket and threaten defenses with legs When set in the pocket, has a nice high release and tight arm snap, leading to good ball rotation, allowing the ball to cut through the air on deep passes. This allows him to fit the ball over the top at times to drop the ball over defenses. Has a fairly quick release so that he can threaten the short seam to TEs and slot WRs. Release and body rotation allows him to put the ball on a line and fight some tight passes when he's allowed to fully step i...

Ceiling: 9                 Ranking: 7.75                  Floor: 3.75 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Parkway (Bossier City, LA) Size: 6'2" - 235 lbs. Composite: 5 Star, #1 ILB, #14 Overall 247 : 5 Star, 98, #1 ILB, #13 Overall Rivals : 5 Star, 6.1, #1 ILB, #17 Overall Scout : 4 Star, #5 ILB, #41 Overall Favorites: Alabama, Clemson, Ohio St (assumed favorite), USC Other Notable Offers:  Auburn, Florida, FSU, Georgia, Indiana, Miami, Michigan St, Nebraska, ND, Ole Miss, Oregon, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, UCLA, Wisconsin Strengths Size Hits extremely hard Very aggressive down hill player/ Blitz ability Great athlete in pursuit Great instincts at the MIKE position. Reads plays extremely quickly, gets downhill with a lot of speed, and slices through the line well. Hits hard, accelerating through contact and finishing players backwards. Continues to...

Ceiling: 9                 Ranking: 7                  Floor: 4.5 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Parkway (Bossier City, LA) Size: 6'2" - 190 lbs. Composite: 4 Star, #3 Dual, #235 Overall 247 : 4 Star, 94, #1 Dual, #98 Overall Rivals : 4 Star, 5.8, #5 Dual, #186 Overall Scout : 3 Star, #24 Dual Favorites: LSU (Commit) Other Notable Offers:  Alabama, Auburn, LSU, OSU, South Carolina,   Arizona St, Arkansas, Baylor, Indiana, Miss St, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas A&M Strengths Has very good arm strength. When able to set his feet he gets get zip on the ball, very little hang, gets to the receiver fast. When able to step into clean pocket he can make any throw. Capable of putting touch on the pass, but again, needs to have clean pocket to step into. Can do a good job of keeping proper shoulder angle and ladder growth (this is when you see a QB do quick...

Ceiling: 9                 Ranking: 8.25                  Floor: 5 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: De La Salle Institute (Chicago, ILL) Size: 6'5" - 290 lbs. Composite: 4 Star, #4 OT, #49 Overall 247 : 4 Star, 97, #5 OT, #42 Overall Rivals : 4 Star, 5.9, #13 OT, #97 Overall Scout : 4 Star, #6 OT, #52 Overall Favorites: Ohio State (Commit) Other Notable Offers:  Michigan, Michigan St, Notre Dame,  Arizona St, Arkansas, Cal, Florida, FSU, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Miss St, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Purdue, Tennessee, UCLA, Vandy, Virginia, Wisconsin Strengths Mammoth body that moves well, especially forward. Can pull around the line as his straight speed is good for his size. Great, great down blocker. Gets under pads of kids that are much smaller than him, get into body, latches on, and drives. Very physical player...

Ceiling: 7.5                 Ranking: 4.5                  Floor: 3 ( Ranking Explanation ) School: Thomas Jefferson (Clairton, PA) Size: 5'8" - 175 lbs. Composite: 3 Star, #94 S 247 : UR Rivals : 3 Star, 5.5 Scout : 3 Star, #69 S Favorites: Indiana, Iowa St, Michigan St, Syracuse Strengths Very good athlete, very quick and has good top end speed. Quick first step and lateral movement. Reckless when tackling, not afraid to throw his body around. Good instincts when coming down in run support. Breaks down well when runners try to side-step him. Runs through QB or RB upon contact. Weaknesses Very, very small. Not only short, but does not possess long arms. Tends to leave feet and launch into ball carriers. When he doesn't launch, he tends to bend at the waste and put the crown of his helmet down; when he does this his feet stop and he typically gets run ove...