Empty Theory: Running Out of Empty Personnel
Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Anthony Richardson is young passer with sky high potential, but he needs to take a major step forward this next season in the short passing game. Luckily, Head Coach Shane Steichen could use empty personnel sets to make life easier for his new franchise passer.
The primary focus of this series has been on the passing game, but now let's shift over to the rushing attack. A common misconception about empty personnel is that it takes away the pass/run option from an offense and makes them more predictable pre-snap. While that may be true for teams with an immobile quarterback, that thought process doesn't really apply to the Colts.
Looking at the Philadelphia Eagles last season, quarterback Jalen Hurts rushed the ball 24 times for 241 yards and three touchdowns out of this personnel set. That is over 10 yards per carry on rush attempts alone, which essentially means the average rushing attempt out of this set produced an explosive play.
Today, I'm going to dive into a few ways the Eagles ran the ball out of empty last season and how this could benefit Anthony Richardson in 2023.
Motion Indicator
The Philadelphia Eagles were a dangerous rushing team the past two seasons under Shane Steichen, and the genius behind their attack was their multiplicity. Empty designed runs were an interesting wrinkle thrown in to keep defenses honest and to use the added threat that Jalen Hurts offered in the ground game.
The biggest way to expose a defense on the ground out of empty was by using pre-snap motion. It isn't impossible to run the ball against zone coverage out of empty, but it is far easier when a defense is spread out in man-to-man and having defenders with their eyes on a blocking receiver rather than eyes on the rushing quarterback.
One way that the Eagles would get a pre-snap indicator on man coverage was by starting with the running back in the backfield and then motioning them out to the flat. If the coverage call was man, then one of the two linebackers would follow that back and lessen the box.
Once that linebacker (or secondary player) vacates the box, the rush simply becomes a numbers game. The five offensive linemen are responsible for blocking the five defenders in the box. If the offensive lineman can handle their assignments for even half of a second, then the quarterback is bound to create a 5-6 yard gain at the absolute minimum.
While the play above, against the Detroit Lions, only produced a moderate gain of eight, there are opportunities for this run call to create huge gains. If the offensive linemen can hold their blocks up front, the quarterback should have a one on one with the safety out in space.
If the quarterback can make that safety miss (or that safety takes a bad angle like in the clip below), then this simplistic run out of empty can turn into a massive gain.
Keeping It Simple
Again, the beauty of the Philadelphia Eagles' rushing attack the past few seasons has been its complexity. They had the coaching and the personnel to make just about any style of ground game work, which is a true testament to their organization.
With how complex their attack generally is, sometimes the most dangerous plays on the ground for them came when they kept it simple. Spreading the field as wide as possible and then putting the ball in Jalen Hurts' hands as a rusher was a plenty dangerous option for the team.
It may feel too simplistic for a schematic breakdown, but this backyard style of just letting your playmakers make a play does work with the right personnel. Jalen Hurts, and Anthony Richardson, are guys that can thrive with this type of call:
Adding Layers
The key to rushing out of empty is creating a numbers game and allow your playmaker at quarterback to do their thing, but the Eagles also did add some complexity to this personnel set as well. It may not be as diverse as their other concepts, but they didn't just settle for constant QB draws out of empty.
One of their more common (and effective) calls came on QB power. Center Jason Kelce would often sell the pass before pulling around to the B gap to be the lead blocker for Jalen Hurts. Hurts would then turn into a rusher and choose to either follow his superstar through the hole or cutback if the hole opened up back side.
In the Super Bowl this past season, the Eagles went for it on 4th and 1 early in the game around midfield. In such a pivotal moment, the team relied on QB power out of empty to get the yard they needed. Kelce pulled around to the left side, while Jalen Hurts cut back to the open field and turned this short yardage call into a monster gain:
Sticking with that final game of the season, the Eagles whipped out a call that I don't believe they ran a single time during the regular season. The Eagles motioned out the running back to lessen the box and create a numbers advantage to the left side.
Rather than running power or draw out of this look, the Eagles actually dialed up a pin/pull run to that side. The left tackle and left guard pinned down the line while Kelce raced out to the edge to seal off the linebacker. This call worked perfectly for a walk in touchdown in the Super Bowl:
The Bottom Line
One of the major disadvantages of empty personnel, traditionally, is that it limits the run/pass option for an offense and commits the team to throwing the ball. When you have an athletic quarterback, like a Jalen Hurts or an Anthony Richardson, the shackles are broken loose from this personnel set.
Last season with the Eagles, Hurts averaged over 10 yards a carry rushing out of empty personnel. How many yards per carry does a 6'5" 244 pound Anthony Richardson (running a 4.48 as well) average with these light boxes? Empty personnel has a lot of benefits in the passing game for a player like Richardson, but it could also open up the explosive rushing game for the young player.
When the explosive running game starts hitting, then we get into the explosive pass... but that will be addressed in the next article of the series.
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