Introduction
I see posts all over social media saying that Billy Napier’s offense is antiquated, which is highly inaccurate. Approximately half the NFL teams use a version of Napier’s offense, which looks like the Mike Shanahan or Kyle Shanahan offense underneath the hood. Admittedly, without the right personnel and with a disrupted game flow due to penalties the Napier offense is easy to make fun of or mistake for an old, broken offense. Some could argue that Napier needs a dedicated offensive coordinator, but that is a discussion for another day. Today we are dispelling the myth that the Billy Napier “Scared Money Don’t Make Money” offense is antiquated.
Overview
The Napier offense uses pre-snap motion and out of the 12 and 11 personnel groupings with the QB operating out of the pistol or shotgun primarily. Plays are designed to establish a strong line of scrimmage with a strong running game and play action to open up the vertical passing game. Napier does sprinkle in modern elements of the RPO and spread option when the personnel allow it. The play action is a mix of front facing and traditional style with the QB turning his back to the defense. This entire paragraph describes half of the NFL and a quarter of all the top 100 offenses in college.
12 Personnel - 1 RB, 2 TE
The "12 personnel" grouping is a staple of the Napier offensive scheme that operates with one RB and two TEs on the field together with two WRs. This grouping successfully accomplishes two of Napier's main concepts: create open gaps for the running attack and/or create an immediate vertical passing threat. The 12 grouping dares defenses to stack the box with eight run stoppers— the four defensive linemen, three linebackers, and a “conflicted defender” who can be a STAR, JACK, strong safety, or at best, a larger cornerback. This formation can be stopped with a stout defense that has sound gap coverage, moderate penetration up front, and a flexible linebacker corps and secondary.
11 Personnel - 1 RB, 1 TE
The 11 personnel package is one of the most common groupings in modern football— one RB, one TE, three WRs. Last year package looked very similar to the 2018-2021 Dan Mullen offense with the slight difference in the way motion is used by Napier to deceive the defense. Critics of this Napier offense will decry the use of deception, which is a foolish statement considering the fact that all offenses use misdirection and deception. If anything, Napier’s version of misdirection plays has looked pedestrian due to a lack of NFL quality QBs at Clemson, Arizona, and Louisiana. Certain plays simply do not work well without a willing runner at QB who is also willing to turn his back to the defense in half the play action calls.
I see posts all over social media saying that Billy Napier’s offense is antiquated, which is highly inaccurate. Approximately half the NFL teams use a version of Napier’s offense, which looks like the Mike Shanahan or Kyle Shanahan offense underneath the hood. Admittedly, without the right personnel and with a disrupted game flow due to penalties the Napier offense is easy to make fun of or mistake for an old, broken offense. Some could argue that Napier needs a dedicated offensive coordinator, but that is a discussion for another day. Today we are dispelling the myth that the Billy Napier “Scared Money Don’t Make Money” offense is antiquated.
Overview
The Napier offense uses pre-snap motion and out of the 12 and 11 personnel groupings with the QB operating out of the pistol or shotgun primarily. Plays are designed to establish a strong line of scrimmage with a strong running game and play action to open up the vertical passing game. Napier does sprinkle in modern elements of the RPO and spread option when the personnel allow it. The play action is a mix of front facing and traditional style with the QB turning his back to the defense. This entire paragraph describes half of the NFL and a quarter of all the top 100 offenses in college.
12 Personnel - 1 RB, 2 TE
The "12 personnel" grouping is a staple of the Napier offensive scheme that operates with one RB and two TEs on the field together with two WRs. This grouping successfully accomplishes two of Napier's main concepts: create open gaps for the running attack and/or create an immediate vertical passing threat. The 12 grouping dares defenses to stack the box with eight run stoppers— the four defensive linemen, three linebackers, and a “conflicted defender” who can be a STAR, JACK, strong safety, or at best, a larger cornerback. This formation can be stopped with a stout defense that has sound gap coverage, moderate penetration up front, and a flexible linebacker corps and secondary.
11 Personnel - 1 RB, 1 TE
The 11 personnel package is one of the most common groupings in modern football— one RB, one TE, three WRs. Last year package looked very similar to the 2018-2021 Dan Mullen offense with the slight difference in the way motion is used by Napier to deceive the defense. Critics of this Napier offense will decry the use of deception, which is a foolish statement considering the fact that all offenses use misdirection and deception. If anything, Napier’s version of misdirection plays has looked pedestrian due to a lack of NFL quality QBs at Clemson, Arizona, and Louisiana. Certain plays simply do not work well without a willing runner at QB who is also willing to turn his back to the defense in half the play action calls.
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