Breaking Down the Kevin Stefanski Offense Part I: Wide Zone Runby Jake Burns
Jan 16, 2020
(Photo: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Kevin Stefanski took over as the Vikings offensive coordinator in late 2018 upon the firing of John DeFilippo from the same role. The Vikings front office and coaching staff made it clear they weren't getting enough done in the run game to offset, and balance, Kirk Cousins. From the minute he took the role, the Vikings offense changed.
In Stefanski's first two games the Vikings ran for a total of 320 yards - by far their best two-week stretch in the 2018 season. They found the comfort they needed in honing their perimeter rushing attack to let Dalvin Cook become the important factor many knew he could be. The groundwork was laid for the 2019 season.
Then Gary Kubiak arrived and his presence helped Stefanski put his full plan in action.
Stefanski remembered watching Kubiak's offense with the Texans from 2006-2013 and loving the way he married the run and pass, and he mentioned this past year that when he finally got his chance to design and call his own offense, this was the way he wanted to do it.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer mentioned just how important Kubiak's impression has been on Stefanski dating back years before the two worked together. "I just love Gary's demeanor and the way that he and Kevin [Stefanski] can communicate during the games and also during the week on game plans.” Zimmer continued, "For him to be able to come in and mentor a young coordinator was really important. To me, that’s about talking about your particular scheme and making sure that carries on in the future. I think that part was as important to me as anything.”
The duo worked into action what became one of the league's better offense despite some clear deficiencies up front. But how does it all work? Why is the scheme so quarterback and run game friendly? Well, it starts and ends with the wide (or outside) zone. Some call it a different name, but the teaching is pretty much the same.
Stefanski has been very vocal about his passion for the scheme and it manifested itself fully in 2019. The Vikings prep from day one of install all the way through weekly practices during the season. It was truly their bread and butter. The offense's identity.
Former NFL quarterback Sage Rosenfels played in the system and he noted just how important the scheme is to the offenses success.
“The outside zone [run] is what makes the whole thing happen,” Rosenfels said. “There’s what you call a ‘stretch’ play and as the linemen work down the line, they are trying to cut people off. Center and guard cutting people off as one of them works up to the linebacker. If you can get somebody out of a gap…there can be a big hole there if everyone else gets blocked. It’s about forcing defenses to stay in their gaps…so they have to play the run first. On top of that those plays create great movement from the defense laterally and it basically creates this wall and pass protection off of it…if the defense has all come into their gaps it creates these big spots down the field because everyone is so close to the line of scrimmage.”
The scheme puts pressure on all eleven defenders, and it does so with as much eye manipulation as you can find. The challenge is being able to establish it and run it the right way. The Vikings did just that and it helped result in over 2,000 team rushing yards.
So let's dig in on how the scheme works.
Responsibilities of the Offensive Line (and tight ends)
The outside zone concept is simple enough. When running the outside zone, rather than engage a defender at the snap, offensive linemen are taught to take a step to the play side. This allows them to achieve proper leverage, and, if possible, puts them in position to turn the defender back to the inside. If this proves impossible, the lineman (or tight end) should push their defender toward the play-side sideline.
The responsibilities of each individual lineman depend largely on whether or not they’re covered (a defensive linemen directly across from them, or close to it) at the snap of the ball. If they are covered, the offensive lineman’s job is straightforward – achieve proper leverage and block that defender. If they are not covered, the offensive lineman’s job is less straightforward – they must either help double team one of the defenders before disengaging and getting up to the second level of the defense, or they must go to the second level immediately.
The scheme does exactly what the name indicates: puts pressure on the defense laterally. Whereas the inside zone is about creating vertical movement, wide zone is all about moving laterally to outflank the defense and pin them inside or run them to the sideline letting your ball carrier's vision do the work.
Here's how the scheme is taught and instructed by coaches: Offensive linemen begin the play by stepping laterally to the play side and attempting to reach the outside shoulder of their designated defender. If the lineman is successful in getting to the outside shoulder, he pins the defender inside (rip). If the lineman has not reached the defender by the third step, he switches gears and looks to run the defender all the way to the sideline (run). Often times common sense of alignment tells a lineman he can't reach his defender so he works to create the wall and makes his work pushing the defender wide to create an alley.
The coaching points tend to be:
Short 45 degree lead step
Rip to run on second step by driving back shoulder through defender - this provides for a cutoff scenario
Get stomach up field on third step - this ensures the defender is cut-off from his gap responsibility.
(Photo: X&Olabs.com)
Here is some example play art of what the scheme looks like.
What you will see here is an excellent "rip" from right guard on the 3-technique defensive tackle, and an excellent "run" from right tackle on the box safety and the tight end on the 7-technique to create this massive void for the running back. Look at this alley.
When it hits correctly, it is a thing of beauty as you will see here.
Responsibilities of the Running Back
Just as important to the successful technique and teaching of the offensive line is the teaching and applied vision of the running back. With wide zone it takes a tremendous amount of patience and anticipation to feel where the defense is running and how the scheme is setting up in front of you.
On each rep of the scheme, the back has three read options: bounce, bang, or bend.
Let's look at all three with some examples from the 2019 Vikings.
Bounce Course
The bounce read means exactly how it sounds: bouncing the run outside. The goal of the play-side tackle, or tight end, is to hook the defender and then being able to bounce the ball outside for success. Rarely do these bounce paths hit home runs, but it is the easiest read for the running back and usually means cheap yards and first downs.
The Vikings were able to hit the perimeter plenty using wide zone in 2019 and this was in large part due to tackles who moved well and tight ends who cared about the quality of their blocking. The play-side tight end eats the defensive end’s crash and the full back leads to seal the edge. Cheap and easy yards.
Just enough seal from the in-line tight end to let the running back turn the corner and then the wing tight end helps hook the second level. Again, cheap and easy yards just using effective blocking and speed to turn the corner.
Bang Course
Now, defenses eventually get smart. They get annoyed with those easy outside run in their direction and they themselves start running laterally to push the aiming point and run the back to the sideline. The thought process is about turning the run back inside to the pursuit. The counter to this is running the bang course. The frontside defensive line and linebackers get zealous with poor pursuit down the line and you can make this scheme work beautifully.
The running back is deciding that the defense has taken away the bounce path to the frontside, and your line has decided to push the defense toward the sideline hoping to open up that frontside alley.
Cook, much like Nick Chubb, has that ability to make one cut and accelerate through alleys created in this scheme. When the backside cuts off, or runs their man by, the bang course can open up some big plays for the running game.
The tackle and tight end to the play-side use the wide leverage of the end and linebacker to push them outside. The right guard and center work to reach and wall off the 3-technique and MIKE linebacker. This is textbook blocking and big chunk play on the bang read.
The Vikings got sneaky good at running wide zone out the weakside of the formation under Stefanski last year. Watch here as they use the Saints tendency to slant strong side and it makes for and easy hook by the right guard on the crashing defensive end. Then the right tackle runs the WILL linebacker outside to open up the bang course for a big gain.
Bend Course
Lastly, we have the home run hitter. Defenses get so tired of being reach blocked and gashed, or watch so much film of the wide scheme that they determine they are going to be hyper-aggressive at the point of attack. They aim to beat the offensive line down the line to take away those gaps. When this happens, it has the propensity to open up the cutback, or bend course, that springs these plays out the backside of the run course.
The bend occurs when the first and second read are both stretching and running outside.
The Vikings hit some big plays when the bend course presented itself as more teams tried to push lateral on them. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline from the defense. Once Cook feels the Packers pushing four defenders to seal the edge, he bends it back inside and the tackle, all the way back on the right side, makes the key block. Then it's about open-field athleticism, something Cook and Chubb both have.
(Alex Rollins)
Watch Cook observe his two frontside lineman drive outside, then feel with patience his backside guard and tackle run by as well. He bends it all the way back off the opposite hash to spring this open for an 85-yard touchdown. The bend course takes elite vision and patience to set-up the blocks and explode out the opposite side of the initial run course.
They won't all be home runs on the bend, but it takes just one man missing or one extra downfield block to spring a big play. Cook reads the front side, including the backside guard, run the Lions defensive line outside and bends it back perfectly inside his tackle. The scheme works as it should and the only man who can make the play is the backside corner being aggressive chasing inside. He misses the tackle and it's a touchdown. This is also where you start noticing play-action shot opportunities with aggressive defensive backs playing run game near the box.
Final Thoughts
The wide zone scheme is taking over the NFL and for good reason. Although Stefanski is well-regarded as a leader-of-men and the type of analytically driven mind the Browns wanted, make no mistake they saw an ideal fit with this scheme. It played a key role in Stefanski getting the job, and his offensive success starts and ends with wide zone.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Vikings ran the most outside zone type concepts in the NFL (279 rushes) and were successful on 38.7 percent of the time – 13th in the NFL. The Browns ran similar concepts 181 times (5th most) and were successful 43.6 percent of the time – 6th best in the NFL. The good news: the Browns already have a feel for the scheme and they have the right running back to carry his offensive line within the scheme. They ran a good amount of the scheme from the gun, with some sprinkled in under-center, but they found success with the play. You can see the two different paths here.
What makes Chubb so special is his ability to see the second level almost a beat ahead. Like a gifted point guard in a sense. He confuses linebackers with his ability to press holes and then make those impactful one-cut moves that leave defenders guessing. The fit for the third-year back, who finished second in the league in rushing yards in 2019, is more than ideal.
The difference for the Vikings commitment to the scheme. Above all else, they made it their identity. Something their entire offense built from. It doesn't take a trained eye to notice the commitment from all eleven offensive players, how well-coached the timing and technique is across the line, and just how punishing the Vikings offense was when using their comfortable base play.
(Matt Bowen)
Something you will also notice in 2020 is an uptick in "12" personnel (one running back, two tight ends) and "21" personnel with a true full back (two running backs, one tight end) and even some "22" personnel (two running backs, two tight ends) on occasion. Pro Football Focus tells us the Vikings utilized a lead blocker the 4th most times in the NFL (150 rushes) and were successful 42.7 percent of the time (7th). The Browns utilized a lead blocker the 17th most in the NFL (64 rushes) and were successful 40.6 percent of the time (11th). Another marriage of something the Browns do well with a play-caller who will use it more often. A grand idea indeed.
The commitment also helped the offense build deception off the scheme. It was so drastic that it opened up several options off the scheme down to down. It did wonders for marrying their run/pass looks and helped Cousins find efficient success like never before in his career. They will hope it does the same for Baker Mayfield. More to come on that in Part II.
Don't just take my word for it, take Nick Ferguson's who played safety during the scheme's heavy use in the Broncos title run.
“I played against the scheme, I practiced against the scheme and I coached against the scheme, they give you different things to worry about,” Ferguson said. “They attack you on all three levels, they attack you horizontally and vertically. Watching the Cowboys game I was blown out of my mind how many ways they use Cook. They use him as a decoy, they use him in the screen game, they gave him toss plays. The idea is that they get everyone involved in the offense so you can’t key on one particular player.
“When they think they’ve figured out the run then you go play-pass and throw the ball down field. They give you so many personnel groupings and you think you’re getting the same play with the personnel grouping and they give you something else.”
Stefanski is close with the Quarterback Collective and that group of coaches is heavy on identity football. The likes of Mike and Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, Matt LaFleur, Rich Scangarello, and Mike McDaniel among others. Tweaks here and there, but the groups believe in similar principles and aligning their offense to their talent.
The scheme isn’t perfect, as no scheme truly is. It’s at its most successful level when used deceptively. Fall behind by large amounts like we saw from last week’s loss to the 49ers and that deadly deception is gone in predictable pass situations. It’s not the lone ingredient for a successful offense, but it plays a massive role, and that role can, and will, help win plenty of football games at the NFL level.
We won't know how the final product will end with this offense, and we obviously won't know what type of head coach Kevin Stefanski is for a long time into the future. There won't be any promises from me with his ability to lead the franchise as a whole. But I can promise the offense will be coached at a high-quality level, with more attention to detail, and for the first time in a while they will have a real identity.
**For even more detailed resources on the wide zone run play, follow this link to X&O’s Lab.**
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