The Cleveland Browns have a tradition of innovation. That tradition will continue in 2016 as Hue Jackson will incorporate elements of the All-11 offense.
On December 19th, 2010, Colt McCoy threw a 20-yard touchdown pass against the Cincinnati Bengals. What made this play truly special was not that the Browns actually scored. Instead, it was the unusual formation the Browns employed. The unusual formation was the first appearance in NFL history of an All-11 offensive formation.
After its debut, the All-11 has basically disappeared from the NFL. However, under the Hue Jackson-led Cincinnati Bengals offense, the All-11 offense started to re-emerge.
John Gruden struggles to identify the All-11 offense Hue Jackson employed on the night shown in the video. Jackson was using classic All-11 formations by lining up ineligible players in three zones of the field.
The All-11 offense is not just about its unusual formation; it is also about how one uses ineligible players. As recent as 2015, the John Harbaugh-led Baltimore Ravens became the victim of another All-11 inspired play against the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Playoff game. The Patriots, who employ All-11 ideas in their offense, lined up Shane Vereen as an ineligible player. Vereen was then used as a decoy to confuse the Ravens’ defense into thinking he was eligible. The ploy worked as the Patriots were able to get needed first downs and ultimately win the game.
In response to the ineligible player lining up with an eligible number, the Baltimore Ravens proposed a rule change requiring all ineligible players to wear an ineligible number or a vest with an ineligible number not assigned to another player. With that, the All-11 offense had finally left a mark on the NFL.
The All-11 offense and formations will return to scene of the crime next season. The Cleveland Browns, under head coach Hue Jackson, will employ All-11 formations within its offense. This article will be a primer on the All-11 offense for Cleveland Browns fans. The goal is to help Browns fans understand the formations and basic concepts associated with the All-11 so they can enjoy watching the Browns outsmart their opponents.
Next: All-11 and the spread offense
The All-11 as a logical progression of the spread concept
The All-11 offense is a progression of the logic that brought the spread to football. In order to understand the All-11 it will be necessary to first review the principles that make up the spread offense.
The old saying is that football is all about the “Jimmy’s” and “Joe’s”. That is, football ultimately comes down to who has the more gifted and better athletes. But history has seen numerous occasions when the less gifted athlete defeats the more gifted better trained athlete. The United States was born of the spirit of the underdog. We are a country who supports David against Goliath.
In the football world, Goliath is the pro-style offense. The offense is predicated on having better athletes who can outplay the opponent’s athletes. The NFL will be a pro-style league for the foreseeable future. It will always have the best athletes and the salary cap works to diversify those athletes across the league. The National Freak League is primed to allow the pro-style offense to flourish.
The spread offense developed as a way for David to take on Goliath. The result is that it is effectively shifting the game away from gifted athletes as the driving force toward coaches as the main combatants.
The spread offense was an innovation designed to answer one question: how can a smaller, less athletically gifted team defeat better more physically gifted athletes? The answer: make the defense cover every square inch of grass on the field both vertically and horizontally. Make the defense run by getting the ball quickly to playmakers in space. In short, basketball on grass.
Spread style offenses put eligible receivers in open space to force defenses to “spread out” over the field. This allows those receivers to have winnable matchups on the edge. It also creates a numbers advantage in the box in the running game.
The All-11 offense expands on this idea by putting ineligible players in space.
Next: All-11 history
History of the A-11
The All-11 was originally created by Piedmont High School coaches Kurt Bryan and Steven Humphries as a means of taking advantage of scrimmage kick rules. As Matt Hinton of Yahoo Sports describes in his 2009 article:
"The goal of the A-11 is maximum unpredictability, achieved by putting 11 players wearing eligible receiving numbers on the field at once — only legal with one player at least seven yards behind the line of scrimmage and no one under center, as on a punt or field goal — then shifting them on or off the line of scrimmage at the last second. The result is an essentially random offense with endless combinations of possible receivers, leaving the defense with no idea which five or six players are eligible to go downfield for a pass until a moment before the ball is snapped and no time to react."
The point was confusion. By lining up a player seven yards off the line of scrimmage to receive the snap, the offense was able to put as many eligible number wearing players on the field it wanted as long as there continued to be seven people on the line of scrimmage. By having players step on the line of scrimmage at the last second, the All-11 created mass confusion for opposing teams and referees alike.
This version of the All-11 offense was quickly deemed illegal for various reasons. Besides the fact it was generally considered unsportsmanlike to exploit loopholes in rules (Patriots fans will obviously disagree), the most salient reason was that officials could not determine who was eligible and who was not.
The creators of the All-11 then worked to make the offense legal within the accepted NFHS rules. The focus shifted away from scrimmage kick rules to taking advantage of accepted ineligibility rules.
Next: The current version
New All-11 Offense
Shifting gears, the All-11 offense now looks to operate within and put a new interpretation upon the existing ineligible player rules.
The NFHS and NFL rules state there must be at least seven offensive players on the line of scrimmage. The two end players are eligible to go down field and receive passes. They must wear eligible numbers to be considered eligible. And thanks to a recent NFL rules change, the five ineligible players must wear ineligible numbers (see Ravens vs Patriots discussion above). The rule change is in line with the idea that exploiting loopholes in rules is unsportsmanlike.
According to the All-11 Ineligible Athletes Playbook an ineligible player can perform the following actions:
· Take a backwards pitch and advance the ball anywhere on the field
· Go downfield after a forward pass has crossed the neutral zone
· Catch a backward pass behind the line of scrimmage and throw the ball
· Catch a backward pass behind the line of scrimmage and advance with the ball
· Catch a backward snap and run (or) throw the ball
· Take a reverse behind the line of scrimmage and advance the ball
· Line up in the backfield and take a hand-off or lead block
· Line up on the line of scrimmage and block
The All-11 now emphasizes putting non-linemen in ineligible numbers and using them as offensive weapons. As the All-11 website describes, “With athletic skill players in both eligible and ineligible numbered jerseys, defenses are forced to account for every player on the field who might run, pass or throw the football.” Here is what this looks like in action:
Notice that in all plays the offense is divided into three zones. The zone to the formation’s left from the hash to the sideline the “red” zone. The zone between the hashes in the middle of the field is the “white” zone. And the zone to the formation’s right from the hash to the sideline is the “blue” zone.
The offense usually operates by taking two ineligible players (usually tackles) and places one in the “red” zone and the other in the “blue” zone on the line of scrimmage. They remain ineligible with ineligible numbers. The “white” zone keeps the center and two other ineligible players lined up on the line of scrimmage, usually linemen, but as long as ineligible numbers are used, it could be anybody. The play is executed to the zone in which the offense has a numbers advantage.
In the NFL so far, the All-11 style of lining up in three zones has been used by Hue Jackson. However, the idea of using ineligible players as offensive weapons has yet to catch on.
Next: The All-11 with Hue
All-11 in Hue Jackson’s offense
The Cleveland Browns will be incorporating All-11 formations in their offense this season under Hue Jackson.
Thus far, Jackson has only used the threefold formation. He will line up tackles in the “red” and “blue” zones leaving three linemen in the “white” zone. From there the offense has three different plays it can run depending on the numbers that defense decides to put in each zone.
John Gruden’s description of the “Star Wars” formation is actually a basic All-11 balanced formation.
Here we see a play ran into the “red” zone. Two offensive tackles lined up as ineligible players on the line of scrimmage with tight end Tyler Eifert as the eligible last man on the line of scrimmage. Behind the three players on the line of scrimmage is receiver Marvin Jones. Seeing the numbers advantage, Andy Dalton throws the screen to Jones in the “red” zone.
If the numbers were better in the “white” zone, Dalton could have handed the ball off or ran the read option. If the numbers were better in the “blue” zone, Dalton could have thrown wide receiver screen. Either way, the offense can catch a defense off guard by lining up in three zones and seeking a numbers advantage.
Jackson has yet, to my knowledge, to use the All-11 formation to involve ineligible players in a capacity other than blocking. Although I would expect to see this occur in the near future. Terrelle Pryor’s skill set raises some interesting possibilities when it comes to uses of ineligible players out of this formation.
If the past is an indicator of the future, the Browns will employ All-11 formations consistent with Hue Jackson’s usage in Cincinnati. If nothing changes, one can expect to see Joe Thomas line up outside the hash mark in a “red” or “blue” zone. Sadly, he may only be there to block. But what if Thomas were to step back, catch a backwards pass then rumble into the end zone for a touchdown? Then the All-11 would start to get exciting in the NFL.