Jim Harbaugh Needs To Implement This Right Now
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With the Super Bowl in the rearview mirror, football season is now officially over. The Kansas City Chiefs won the whole thing, but it was something that the Philadelphia Eagles did — repeatedly — that caught my attention. I hope it caught Jim Harbaugh's attention as well.
Even though Philly didn't win the game, they did win at the line of scrimmage, over and over and over, and we all know that is music to Harbaugh's ear. What I'm specifically referring to, is the way the Eagles run the quarterback sneak. I think Michigan has the perfect personnel to copy what the Eagles do on that specific play.
Whether it was at the goal line, on 3rd and 2 in plus territory or 4th and 1 at or near midfield, the Eagles were completely comfortable with going for it and converted with regularity in the Super Bowl. In fact, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts converted an impressive 36 of 40 quarterback sneaks this season utilizing the new and improved "push" method, and I think Harbaugh and U-M should copy it exactly and use it on the field next year.
Here's how the play looks:
When you first look at this snapshot, it's obviously nothing complicated and there's no deception involved, which is right up Harbaugh's alley. We've all seen him line up and run right at the defense on first down, second down, third down and fourth down. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't. So that's the first part of this play — it's totally fine if the defense knows what's coming.
The second thing to notice is the formation. The linemen up front are completely normal. The Eagles haven't gone jumbo or brought in extra offensive linemen, but Harbaugh could if he wanted to. Philly's No. 2 tight end is No. 89 Jack Stoll on the left side of the formation. He's not even considered a jumbo tight end at 6-4, 247 pounds. Harbaugh has a couple of tight ends he could use there or he could easily bring another athletic lineman. On the right side of the formation, you can see No. 3, wide receiver Zach Pascal, who goes 6-2, 214 pounds — not exactly a monster wide receiver either. Darrius Clemons and Cornelius Johnson are both about that size. In the backfield, you Eagles starting tight end, No. 88 Dallas Goedert and running back Boston Scott. Goedert is 6-5, 256 pounds and Scott is 5-6, 203 pounds. Across the board, this is not some huge, jumbo set. It simply doesn't need to be for two reasons — quarterback Jalen Hurts and the overall physics of the play.
Hurts is special as an athlete and as a runner and he moonlights as a powerlifter. There are video clips of him out there squatting 600 pounds, bench pressing 335 pounds and deadlifting 620 pounds. Those are extremely impressive numbers for a 6-1, 223-pound quarterback and make him perfect for running this type of quarterback sneak. When you throw in the fact that two of his strong, able-bodied teammates get their hands on him and starting pushing him forward well before any defenders can really counter, you have the making for the almost unstoppable new push QB sneak.
I think Michigan should do the exact same things with its version of Jalen Hurts.
Alex Orji.
Sure, JJ McCarthy is an exceptional runner and athlete, and he's going to be Michigan's extremely successful starting quarterback in 2023, but he's not 6-3, 235 pounds like Orji is. Throw in the fact that as a senior in high school, Orji was benching 275 pounds and squatting 550 pounds, and you start to think he could be the second coming of Jalen Hurts, at least in terms of athleticism and strength at the quarterback position.
We saw Harbaugh use a true freshman McCarthy in a specialized role as a runner often in 2021, even while then-starter Cade McNamara was having plenty of success. It's not far fetched to think about Orji coming in to run the push QB sneak on all short-yardage situations. And if it works at a 90% clip like it does for the Eagles, it would be pretty dumb not to. If I were Harbaugh, I'd trot this exact formation out there:
We'll obviously see who wins the starting jobs at left tackle, center and right tackle, but the rest of this formation you could pencil in and work on immediately. There's also on player missing, which would be a wide receiver split out on either side. I think this works best if you keep the parts as normal as possible. With tight end Colston Loveland in the game, he can flare out, or sit down in a zone or run a whip route if you wanted to get cute and throw out of this formation. The same thing is true with Cornelius Johnson. He's big and strong, so you can start him out wide, motion him down tight and use him as a blocker, or he could turn into a receiver out in a pattern as well.
I love the idea of a 6-2, 232-pound Kalel Mullings and a 5-8, 210-pound Blake Corum pushing Orji in from behind. Both of them are incredibly strong and are familiar with the leg drive required to push a pile as backs. This type of play requires no real ball handling and doesn't go backwards at any point. With the backs tucked right up against Orji, as soon as the ball is snapped, they are pushing him forward well before any defender can counter. There's a reason it worked 90% of the time for Hurts and the Eagles in 2022. Even in the Super Bowl, Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones, who goes 6-6, 310 pounds, went for several rides while trying to defend this play. It would work like a charm in the Big Ten with what U-M has at its disposal.
