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The term “copycat league” gets thrown around a lot these days. That is when one NFL team steals plays or ideas from another team. What do you call it when an NFL team steals from a college team? I don’t know but it has happened a lot the last ten years.
It is why I think the Patriots need to steal some concepts from the Alabama offense the last two years to help Mac Jones transition to the NFL easier.
By all accounts, Jones looked the part last week at Patriots mini camp. He is smooth in his mechanics, accurate, throws a catchable ball and exudes confidence in the huddle with his teammates.
Like with any rookie, it will be important for the Patriots to make Jones’ transition to the NFL as easy as possible. One of the ways to do that is by running concepts and plays he is familiar with.
Former Alabama offensive coordinator and current Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian ran one of the most multiple and diverse offenses in all of football last year. Like the Patriots, Sarkisian believes in being game plan specific and using all of his skill in different ways. Sarkisian also believes in using motion and formations to create conflict for the defense.
Here are some examples of plays that Jones ran at Alabama that the Patriots could incorporate in their offense.
Orbit Motion: Alabama uses orbit motion to recognize defensive adjustments and create conflict. They uses orbit motion as part of their running game, RPO package and their play action passing game.
The Patriots used orbit motion a lot last season with Cam Newton to set up their read option running game. Look for them to continue to use orbit motion when Jones is under center as part of their RPO game and their play action and screen game.
Compressed formations: The Patriots use compressed formations a fair amount so Jones will be familiar with the formations. He will have to learn the pass concepts they run out of them but compressed formations create conflict and they create separation for receivers which makes the reads easier for the quarterback.
Play Action/RPO: The Patriots didn’t run as many RPO’s as we thought they would last season. Jones ran a ton of them at Alabama so don’t be surprised to some of these Crimson RPO concepts in the Patriots offense this season. They are simple and Jones is so good with his reads and fakes that it would make too much sense not to incorporate them.
Perimeter screens: The Patriots ran more wide receiver perimeter screens than any other team in the NFL but have seemingly gone away from them in recent years.
Alabama runs a lot of different perimeter screens including double screens like this. Look for the Patriots to get back to their wide receiver screens if Jones ends up being the quarterback.
The Patriots drafted Jones because they believed he would be good fit in their system as a pure pocket passer. By incorporating some of the stuff he did at Alabama, the Patriots will make easier for Jones to learn the offense and get comfortable in it.