Positives and negatives of shotgun vs under center ?

[ShotgunDawg]

Can someone with advanced knowledge of Xs and Os answer this question. I don't want an amateur answer here.

This is what I understand thus far:

Shotgun pros.

1. Better against pressure because the QB has greater vision of the field
2. Better for a duel threat QB because he and the running back have equal ability to run the ball.


Under center pros.

1. Better for throwing short quick passes, because the QB can take a 1 step drop
2. Better for downhill running game. Why? I'm not totally sure. Would love someone who understands defense to tell me why its hard to run downhill out of the shotgun
3. Better for play action. Again, not totally sure why and would love a detailed explanation of the Xs and Os at play in this. Is because the QB can turn his back and the defense can't see the ball?

This question is a coaches dream. No amateur answers or Monday morning QB answers. Please

[BulldogDX55]

It is better for the downhill running game because the rb lines up behind the QB, as opposed to beside him, which gives him a few extra steps of a running start by the time he hits the line, making him harder to tackle.

It is superior for play action for a similar reason. The QB has to turn around in order to hand off the ball when under center, completely obscuring the ball from the defense for a split second, forcing them to wait longer to read and react, making for more effective play action.

[Political Hack]

RBs have more leeway to move laterally when running out of the shotgun. When moving forward to take a handoff, their direction is already chosen because they have to go downhill to get the ball. Takes "happy feet" out of the equation for most backs.

The biggest thing to me is it allows the QB to see the defense more easily pre-snap and right at the snap. The biggest draw back to me is that the QBs drop is more or less already determined. The DEs don't have to figure out of its a one step, three step, or five step drop during the course of the play so it's a little easier for them to pin their ears back.

for full disclosure, I'm not an expert, but I've talked football enough with people who are to have a decent understanding of the basic crap.

[Todd4State]

I think it depends on the QB too. I think most guys that come out of high school now are in the shotgun, so they are more comfortable in the gun. See Tyler. There are probably some QB's out in California that may be more comfortable under center- I have seen some Mississippi HS run a lot of things from under center like Jackson Prep, Tupelo, Oxford, Madison Central etc.

If a guy is under center, they are going to have to know or learn how to take a snap, and then do either a 3, 5, or 7 step drop or play action, or a roll out pass. There's a lot of timing and rhythm with it, and I guess some guys do really well with that and are comfortable with that.

Bill Walsh's offense almost never had the QB in the shotgun. That actually surprised me when I read it.

QB's in the shotgun- they have to be able to catch the ball from the center. I think the advantage is the QB is further back from the pass rush and he doesn't have to worry about dropping back while he reads the defense. One less thing to think about I guess. Of course, you can do a lot of the modern option stuff from the gun a lot easier than you can from under center.

[Coach34]

Can someone with advanced knowledge of Xs and Os answer this question. I don't want an amateur answer here.

This is what I understand thus far:

Shotgun pros.

1. Better against pressure because the QB has greater vision of the field
2. Better for a duel threat QB because he and the running back have equal ability to run the ball.


3. Also allows QB to see where outside pressure may be coming from
4. Gives QB running start to run the ball while using other back as a lead blocker- allowing offense to outnumber the defense in the box

Negatives:

1. Offense has to run on a silent count- not on QB's call
2. Harder for Center to fire out when snapping shotgun instead of QB under Center- making it tougher to block NG in 3 man fronts
3. offensive line doesnt have hand on the ground to fire out and attack DL- OL's are more physical with hand on ground.
4. OT's lose advantage vs DE's because of silent count- when QB is barking cadence they know when the snap is and DE doesnt. Silent count puts OT's at disadvantage

[Coach34]

Under center pros.

1. Better for throwing short quick passes, because the QB can take a 1 step drop
2. Better for downhill running game. Why? I'm not totally sure. Would love someone who understands defense to tell me why its hard to run downhill out of the shotgun
3. Better for play action. Again, not totally sure why and would love a detailed explanation of the Xs and Os at play in this. Is because the QB can turn his back and the defense can't see the ball?

This question is a coaches dream. No amateur answers or Monday morning QB answers. Please

Downhill running is better because OL has hand on the ground so they can fire out and get some push vs DL. You can get downhill running out of the Pistol in the shotgun- but the OL push is the difference. The OL has that hand on the ground to fire out- and they also get to hear QB cadence to have advantage over DL that they dont have in the shotgun. You can't fire out and punch someone in the mouth as well out of that croutch the OL guys get in for the shotgun

Playaction is better because of the QB being able to turn his back and hide the ball. It's slower developing, so it's harder for the Secondary and LB's to read. Especially when teams are real physical like Bama and LSU- and you have to have secondary support to control their running games- they are more easily fooled and pulled out of position.

[gravedigger]

I'd say the defense while the qb is under center, has to prioritize against the run and that can leave defenses vulnerable to the quick pass to a wide out, running back or a qb that rolls out and hits the receiver dragging across the middle.

Just like Dak puts pressure on defenses to stay at home IF HE CAN THROW DOWN FIELD, so does playing under center.

Dak really needs to play from the shotgun on most plays so he can better see th defense to adjust and Russell needs to be under center more often to keep pass defenders at home to stop the run. Otherwise, I'd suggest we are in th shotgun all of the time.

[Coach34]

I'd say the defense while the qb is under center, has to prioritize against the run and that can leave defenses vulnerable to the quick pass to a wide out, running back or a qb that rolls out and hits the receiver dragging across the middle.

Just like Dak puts pressure on defenses to stay at home IF HE CAN THROW DOWN FIELD, so does playing under center.

Dak really needs to play from the shotgun on most plays so he can better see th defense to adjust and Russell needs to be under center more often to keep pass defenders at home to stop the run. Otherwise, I'd suggest we are in th shotgun all of the time.

I agree with that completely

[Jack Lambert]

No blind side in the shot gun.