In this article, I will break down how Mike Denbrock has used several similar passing concepts successfully. These concepts have traces to the West Coast offense and Air Raid offense and are popularized by nearly every college and NFL team. But first, I would like to share this youtube video and site I found where an SEC-fanatic broke down LSU’s 2022 offense.

Shallow

Now onto the Shallow concept. Shallow is one of the most popular passing concepts and one variation is called the NCAA pass because “everyone in the NCAA runs it”. It involves ~10 yard in route, opposite of the in is a shallow. The outside receivers can run a variety of routes, but the most common is some sort of vertical route. The running back can check-block and release to the flat. Shallow is effective versus man coverage if the slot receivers can generate separation. This concept is effective versus tampa-2 and cover 4 as there are fewer defenders in the underneath zones. On the other hand, cover 3 has 4 defenders in the flat/hook zones which makes this concept more difficult to execute, but not impossible.

In the lone example from the 2023 LSU-Alabama game, LSU dialed up a wheel from the Tight End and the in from the outside receiver. Daniels or the tight end, misinterpreted each other and Daniels throw the ball 15 yards past the tight end who had stopped his route.

Shallow Resources (1), (2), (3).

Drive

Drive is another very popular concept. It consists of an ~10-12 yard in route with a shallow route coming in from the same side. Considering the route is only a two-man concept, Mike can and has tinkered with the rest of the play for degrees of success.

Denbrock drew up a jet motion away from a bunch formation hoping to outleverage the defense to the field side of the formation. Alabama did not correctly account for the motion, and LSU threw for a nice first down.

In this play, the Tiger offense came out in an empty quad formation. The spacing of this formation forces the Crimson Tide defense to declare their lack of pressure. The four receivers on one side greatly reduces the fundamentally sound defenses that Alabama can draw up. Daniels buys some time from the rush and then completes a nice gain.

Drive Resources: (1), (2).

Dagger

Dagger is a slot seam paired with a deep in. The idea is either the safety will jump the in or the in will be breaking open unopposed. In the drawn up play below, Jayden is flushed from the pocket and scrambles for a large gain.

In this play LSU drew up a Drive-Dagger concept. . In this play Jayden had his deep shot covered and came back to his in route late. With time to throw, Daniels misses the receiver causing an incomplete pass.

Dagger Resources (1).

Conclusion

Denbrock is bringing a high flying and far throwing offense from the Bayeux. Notre Dame fans can expect an offense that utilizes NFL concepts that utilize the entire field and forces the opposition to defend in space.

General pass concepts (1).