Positionless football and college-style offense
The term is catching hold in football thanks to versatile schemes and the rising value of tight ends, but how does it work in college football?
Recently the Athletic posted an article by X’s and O’s analyst Mike Kuchar about “positionless football” in regards to Tommy Rees’ love of tight ends and likely deployment of them at Alabama.
I wrote about positionless football multiple times at Football Study Hall a while back with the following pieces:
When will we see positionless football in the college game? Part I
When will we see positionless football? Part II
Here’s the thing about “positionless football,” it really only applies to select positions. You still see major specialization along the offensive line and many defensive positions. Even on offense, there’s typically at least one guy who specializes in inside running, one who specializes in throwing the ball, and the outside receivers typically specialize in getting open to catch the ball outside and down the field.
“Positionless football” on offense really boils down to “anyone can be a receiver.” It’s most deadly when all five (or even six) non-linemen on offense are capable of flexing out and running routes. And in the college game where the run game is still king, anyone becoming a receiver is not really a primary strategy for most teams. Tommy Rees’ does have some methods for blurring the positional designations to create matchups in the run game, mostly involving tight ends.
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