Canada's Offense

[NorthCoast]

Not sure if this was posted previously but some nice vids of Canada's offensive playbook. The playclips are free and in slo-mo so you can watch what everyone is doing. Gotta pay for the whole package though ($40).

I spent time focusing on QB and RB. The good news, there were plays that didn't require a lot of QB movement. The bad news, there were plenty of plays run from under center or were options. Just unclear how much he is going to be able to use with Roethlisberger as QB. Some of the pre-snap motion was eye-popping.
Also tried to get a sense on which RB Canada might favor in this draft and it's a tough call. Some runs were pure power runs that might favor Harris. Others would favor a speedier back. I don't think there is a wrong answer at RB (and it's not out of the question that he thinks Snell and McFly are good enough and they won't take a RB early). Another thing that is clear, the Steelers need to upgrade this OL. Need guys that can get push! And in passing game without strong blocking I think Roethlisberger resorts to quick passing and won't wait on the longer developing plays.

enjoy; https://coachtube.com/course_lesson/...clip-20/949067

maybe yinz can see some other stuff to highlight...

[steeler_george]

thanks for the post...

I was just thnking that RB might be seen as the biggest need and our first draft pick. BUT Canada loves to mix it up, like you said. Add in an extra game, 17 games, maybe RBC is not out of question and that is where drafting 3rd to 4th might have value.

Where as upgrading the OL might be a bigger priority.

And usually the Steelers follow their draft by what they addressed in FA as place holders.

FA>Draft
2018-Safety from GB>Edmunds
2019-Barron>Bush, Moncrief> DJ, Nelson> Sutton
2020- Ebron> Claypool ( not TE but BIG RECEIVER), Wisniewski>Dotson
2021- Finney, Haeg, Cower>?, Kilbrew>


If you notice, all OL and a hybrid safety/ILB

Keeping true to the post on Canada's offense..
Could the draft go,
Tackle early, Center in 2nd or 3rd, or vice versa, RB and hybrid-ILB like Deablo, Wallow in later rounds.

[NorthCoast]

thanks for the post...

I was just thnking that RB might be seen as the biggest need and our first draft pick. BUT Canada loves to mix it up, like you said. Add in an extra game, 17 games, maybe RBC is not out of question and that is where drafting 3rd to 4th might have value.

Where as upgrading the OL might be a bigger priority.

And usually the Steelers follow their draft by what they addressed in FA as place holders.

FA>Draft
2018-Safety from GB>Edmunds
2019-Barron>Bush, Moncrief> DJ, Nelson> Sutton
2020- Ebron> Claypool ( not TE but BIG RECEIVER), Wisniewski>Dotson
2021- Finney, Haeg, Cower>?, Kilbrew>


If you notice, all OL and a hybrid safety/ILB

Keeping true to the post on Canada's offense..
Could the draft go,
Tackle early, Center in 2nd or 3rd, or vice versa, RB and hybrid-ILB like Deablo, Wallow in later rounds.

Interesting observations s_g. I wouldn't be disappointed with that outcome. I am sensing more and more OL will be the pick at 24, and skill positions mid to late.

[Northern_Blitz]

thanks for the post...

I was just thnking that RB might be seen as the biggest need and our first draft pick. BUT Canada loves to mix it up, like you said. Add in an extra game, 17 games, maybe RBC is not out of question and that is where drafting 3rd to 4th might have value.

Where as upgrading the OL might be a bigger priority.

And usually the Steelers follow their draft by what they addressed in FA as place holders.

FA>Draft
2018-Safety from GB>Edmunds
2019-Barron>Bush, Moncrief> DJ, Nelson> Sutton
2020- Ebron> Claypool ( not TE but BIG RECEIVER), Wisniewski>Dotson
2021- Finney, Haeg, Cower>?, Kilbrew>


If you notice, all OL and a hybrid safety/ILB

Keeping true to the post on Canada's offense..
Could the draft go,
Tackle early, Center in 2nd or 3rd, or vice versa, RB and hybrid-ILB like Deablo, Wallow in later rounds.

I would not be opposed to this...and I think it kind of answers the question about Werner I had in your "out of the box" thread.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Also tried to get a sense on which RB Canada might favor in this draft and it's a tough call. Some runs were pure power runs that might favor Harris. Others would favor a speedier back. I don't think there is a wrong answer at RB (and it's not out of the question that he thinks Snell and McFly are good enough and they won't take a RB early).

Sounds like an OC who would cater his offense to the talent he has on the field. Interesting concept.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

And usually the Steelers follow their draft by what they addressed in FA as place holders.

I think that this is because they like to address positions of need with place holders in FA. The place holders take away desperation but they don't eliminate the positions of need.

The Steelers entered the off-season with a gaping hole at Center. They signed a guy so they are not forced to do something stupid like sell the farm to grab a Center early because they have to. However, if they get to 24 and Creed Humphrey is their #1 guy then they draft him. If they love a guy like Meinerz or Myers, they can gamble that those guys will still be there in the second or third or wherever they have them pegged.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

I spent time focusing on QB and RB. The good news, there were plays that didn't require a lot of QB movement. The bad news, there were plenty of plays run from under center or were options. Just unclear how much he is going to be able to use with Roethlisberger as QB. Some of the pre-snap motion was eye-popping.
Also tried to get a sense on which RB Canada might favor in this draft and it's a tough call. Some runs were pure power runs that might favor Harris. Others would favor a speedier back. I don't think there is a wrong answer at RB (and it's not out of the question that he thinks Snell and McFly are good enough and they won't take a RB early). Another thing that is clear, the Steelers need to upgrade this OL. Need guys that can get push! And in passing game without strong blocking I think Roethlisberger resorts to quick passing and won't wait on the longer developing plays.

We also can't ignore the connection between Canada and McFarland. Canada was hired prior to the 2020 season. You have to think that the plan was to have him take over at OC once Coach Randy failed again, so I am sure that Canada had a big say on the drafting of McFarland. We were all surprised when they passed on guys like Dobbins and Dillon in the second. Instead they went with another receiver. In the third they again ignored the position. At some point we have to think that the plan all along was to get the guy who both Canada and Tomlin know very well. Shouldn't we think that he was the guy they wanted and not just the guy who happened to be there when they decided to go RB in the fourth?

He played in a Canada system in college. Canada wants the guy who he is comfortable with and who is comfortable in the system. My feeling is that they will not go Etienne in the first. He is not the same back as Baby Booger, but he is a homerun hitter with power and speed and McFarland is also a speed back but without the power. If the Steelers go back in the first I think they would prefer the more powerful Harris at the expense of Snell instead of Etienne.

[flippy]

We also can't ignore the connection between Canada and McFarland. Canada was hired prior to the 2020 season. You have to think that the plan was to have him take over at OC once Coach Randy failed again, so I am sure that Canada had a big say on the drafting of McFarland. We were all surprised when they passed on guys like Dobbins and Dillon in the second. Instead they went with another receiver. In the third they again ignored the position. At some point we have to think that the plan all along was to get the guy who both Canada and Tomlin know very well. Shouldn't we think that he was the guy they wanted and not just the guy who happened to be there when they decided to go RB in the fourth?

He played in a Canada system in college. Canada wants the guy who he is comfortable with and who is comfortable in the system. My feeling is that they will not go Etienne in the first. He is not the same back as Baby Booger, but he is a homerun hitter with power and speed and McFarland is also a speed back but without the power. If the Steelers go back in the first I think they would prefer the more powerful Harris at the expense of Snell instead of Etienne.

The more I consider the type of back that would fit what I think Canada is trying to do, the more I consider a guy like Kenneth Gainwell in the 3rd or 4th round.

There’s a risk with all of the top 3 backs. I love Najee and think he’s the special one of the 3, but at his age and given how RBs age, his football career could be over before Tom Brady’s.

I think we need to try and draft a guy that can potentially be an All Pro for the next 10 years and is a guy other teams have to game plan around.

[NorthCoast]

A couple of AFCN outliers here.... I think the Steelers are on the wrong side of it though. Less than 1.5 yds before contact...

Canada will need to work his magic;

[Northern_Blitz]

A couple of AFCN outliers here.... I think the Steelers are on the wrong side of it though. Less than 1.5 yds before contact...

Canada will need to work his magic;

That looks to be more strongly correlated than I would have guessed.

[Captain Lemming]

That looks to be more strongly correlated than I would have guessed.

Ravens are so far ahead of us...if they never broke a tackle and just fall forward...they'd almost match our ypc.

[steeler_george]

Great timing and post.

I was just listening to a pod cast with Dejan K and Ramon Foster on DKsportsPittsburg ( best steeler site). It was music to the ears.

https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2021/05/10/ramon-foster-show-dk-pittsburgh-sports-radio-ben-roethlisberger-run-the-ball-steelers

Ramon goes on and explains that the type( Athletic, able to move out in space and 2nd level) of OL ( Banner, Chucks, Haeg, Green, Finney) we have now are perfect for the outside zone blocking scheme ( did I word that right). So FA moves and draft on OL should be perfect for Canada.

And the 2 missing keys were a TE like Freiermuth and a one cut RB like Harris.

It should look like San Fran with misdirection and movement....
I can't wait till mini camp kicks in and we start getting a better picture.
This offense is going to crazy...

[Oviedo]

Great timing and post.

I was just listening to a pod cast with Dejan K and Ramon Foster on DKsportsPittsburg ( best steeler site). It was music to the ears.

https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2021/05/10/ramon-foster-show-dk-pittsburgh-sports-radio-ben-roethlisberger-run-the-ball-steelers

Ramon goes on and explains that the type( Athletic, able to move out in space and 2nd level) of OL ( Banner, Chucks, Haeg, Green, Finney) we have now are perfect for the outside zone blocking scheme ( did I word that right). So FA moves and draft on OL should be perfect for Canada.

And the 2 missing keys were a TE like Freiermuth and a one cut RB like Harris.

It should look like San Fran with misdirection and movement....
I can't wait till mini camp kicks in and we start getting a better picture.
This offense is going to crazy...

It can be crazy if Ben buys in. He is the variable that I worry about, not because of skillset, but because he sometimes can't resist his worse tendencies to force things.

[NorthCoast]

Play-action is the key to getting the Steelers offense going;

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2kY5vnD][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2kY5vnD]Capture[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/191750946@N04/]R W[/url], on Flickr



*reminder the Steelers ran PA just ~10% of offensive plays...

Independent of situation, across the entire league, play-action throws had an EPA of .17, with a 47.6 SPP.

My impression of play-action passing has been the QB going under center and faking a handoff to the back. This is only one type of play-action. As it turns out a pass out of RPO is considered a 'play-action' pass, as is a fake hand-off followed by a pass in shotgun. This explains BAL's high PA% in the previous plot. So it's not the case that Roethlisberger needs to be under center or turn his back to the defense for play action.

Play-action throws from the typically pass-happy shotgun produced an EPA/play of .21 last year, making play-action from the shotgun even more effective than it was from all formations

And finally there is this bit of info that is a little counter-intuitive.

Running more does not improve play-action success...... In fact, there is stronger evidence suggesting that the reverse is true: That running more play-action passes gives the running game a slight boost.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2kY5CP7][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2kY5CP7]run-epa-pa-perc-1[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/191750946@N04/]R W[/url], on Flickr

So it seems that Canada will need to figure out how to get Roethlisberger more comfortable with the modern NFL offense. But it's not necessarily the case that he needs to run plays that have publicly been acknowledged he is uncomfortable running.

EDIT: for those that might not be familiar; EPA = Expected Points Added. This is ESPN's metric of independently valuing each individual play on it's success rate in producing points. Example, if you have a play that is 0.1 EPA and ran that play 10X, you would expect to add 1 pt to the scoring total.

[feltdizz]

Play-action is the key to getting the Steelers offense going;

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2kY5vnD][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2kY5vnD]Capture[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/191750946@N04/]R W[/url], on Flickr



*reminder the Steelers ran PA just ~10% of offensive plays...


My impression of play-action passing has been the QB going under center and faking a handoff to the back. This is only one type of play-action. As it turns out a pass out of RPO is considered a 'play-action' pass, as is a fake hand-off followed by a pass in shotgun. This explains BAL's high PA% in the previous plot. So it's not the case that Roethlisberger needs to be under center or turn his back to the defense for play action.



And finally there is this bit of info that is a little counter-intuitive.



[url=https://flic.kr/p/2kY5CP7][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2kY5CP7]run-epa-pa-perc-1[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/191750946@N04/]R W[/url], on Flickr

So it seems that Canada will need to figure out how to get Roethlisberger more comfortable with the modern NFL offense. But it's not necessarily the case that he needs to run plays that have publicly been acknowledged he is uncomfortable running.

EDIT: for those that might not be familiar; EPA = Expected Points Added. This is ESPN's metric of independently valuing each individual play on it's success rate in producing points. Example, if you have a play that is 0.1 EPA and ran that play 10X, you would expect to add 1 pt to the scoring total.

BAL play action works because of the threat to run with LJ.

RPO isn’t nearly as effective with a QB who never takes off running. It actually forces Ben to pass much faster because it usually means there is a DE or LB crashing down on the RB or going directly at Ben.