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If you saw any highlights of Minnesota last year it was probably a long bomb to Rashod Bateman, or a 14-yard slant to Tyler Johnson. You probably kenned along the way that Tanner Morgan is one of the most efficient passers in the conference, with 10 YPC and a fantastic TD/INT ratio. It might surprise you to learn, then, that Minnesota last year was one of the most run-heavy teams with the most simplistic passing games in the country.

Mathlete and I recreated a lot of advanced stats over the offseason and Minnesota came out 13th in run rate and 14th in standard down run rate. They were also 48th in OL yards, 44th in run efficiency, and way down at 112th in run explosiveness, opposite a passing game that was 10th in efficiency and 5th in explosiveness. Of note they were also 98th in sack rate.

Usually that's the profile of a MANBALL team--an Iowa or Carr-era Michigan that runs until they see 8-man boxes and only then unleash their NFL arms and receivers. In PJ Fleck's case, however, it's not him choosing to run the ball but his opponents.

Minnesota's RPO offense is all about stretching linebackers' priorities and daring them to cheat towards one or the other. They have a big offensive line that doesn't pass protect very well, so the entire (effective) passing game is about throwing to covered receivers with just a little bit of leverage. That kind of passing offense works so long as the guy is truly in man and doesn't have help inside.

To take care of the help, they run RPOs. Lots of them. So much of them that you can almost force them into running the ball all game. Then they're running the ball so much you start cheating towards it and OPE, you let Bateman or Autman-Bell loose.

[After THE JUMP: How Minnesota throws it to the same three spots on the field and gets away with it]

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THE BASE PLAY

Minnesota has a relatively small playbook, and they'll flip between their various favorite things when they see the disposition of the defense. The rock of the playbook is outside zone one direction and a rollout flood with a QB run as an extra level the other way. The dude they're messing with is the backside linebacker. He's the unblocked run defender, the man on the running back, the guy who could mess your stretch run up if he can get through traffic and meet the ballcarrier on the line of scrimmage. He's also the guy whose zone is going to get stretched on the other side.

This is the run option:

This is the pass option:

Illegal formations are only illegal if they're called.

And this is it drawn up (specifically the latter):

I want to walk through this play to show you how Fleck uses his wide receivers' ability to create space for the running game.

THE PLAY DESIGN

1. The run play is Rich Rod's staple: "Stretch" or "Outside Zone" with a read of the backside edge defender. Outside zone works great against slow but heavy defensive lines, or against quick ones who over-penetrate. Their size becomes a drag as they attempt to move horizontally with the line, slowly widening the space to find a lane. Upfield attacks become momentum that can be used against you (see Michigan's 2015 Indiana game). Outside zone is all about agility and creating a wide front. Shutting it down is about keeping all of those gaps closed until they run out of room and unblocked help from the backside can arrive.

2. The pass play is an everybody staple: Banana, or America's Rollout Out as we call it. It's basically a big stretch on one side of the field with up to five levels: a fly route (Z), the "banana" route into the flat (the TE), and then deep crossers (X and H) at about 7 and 17 yards. By halving the field you halve your quarterback's field of responsibility, which is why so many teams with young quarterbacks will have this in their playbooks. By having all of these options (including the QB running) at various vertical levels you stretch any zone defense to the point where defenders have to choose to leave one open. If you catch man-to-man you've got dig routes with defenders running behind them. Shutting it down is all about having the discipline, speed, and agility to stay in passing lanes (or with your man), and cover your zone so that you can make a play on a ball to either side of it without breaking down.

3. As you can surmise, the backside linebacker is caught between two tough jobs: reducing the amount of time his DL have to hold up while getting stretched, and covering an underneath zone so the flat defender can take the flat and the trail defender has help inside. So of course, the run/pass option read is that backside linebacker, in this case the MIKE. If he's dropping into coverage that will take away the crossing route but also means he's nowhere near the run, and your back should be able to pick a lane behind all of those zone blocks.

THE MINNESOTA DIFFERENCE

The way Fleck runs this emphasizes the threat of his receivers.

The slot receiver (H) here is Tyler Johnson, his best receiver, best route-runner…basically the guy hardest to cover if he turns inside and you're trailing him. The defense can either trail him on these routes with their slot guy, or have the slot defender (the ★) and the playside linebacker (W) flip jobs, so that the hybrid is setting the edge of the defense and the ILB is backing out into a zone. If it's the ★ he's giving up inside leverage. If it's the WILL you've got a linebacker on Tyler Johnson.

The fly receiver (Z) on this play is Chris Autman-Bell, a bona fide Deep Threat™. Notice how Autman-Bell set up pretty far inside. All of that room is his to use to get a free release and beat a cornerback whose only help is the sideline. Sideline further away: more space. The fly route to is always a first read.

The deep crosser (X) is Rashod Bateman, the BIG PLAY THREAT. He's all the way towards the sideline (which in this game was a tell they were running this series), again to create spacing. When he turns inside, that cornerback has to stay with Bateman for the entire length of the field. Also the free safety, whose job is to provide inside leverage on both deep routes, is stretched that much further between Bateman and Autman-Bell.

The flat route (TE) by the tight end is what overstresses the defense. With the cornerback cleared out from that side and the MIKE gone because of the run action, the backside safety, the hole defender who's the only hope of inside leverage on the shorter crossing route, has to clear out to cover the flat, while also maintaining alley control in case the quarterback takes off.

SAME SHIT DIFFERENT DOWN

Let's watch the run option again. You'll note they ran this one out of a trips (three receivers to a side) formation. You should also note that Tyler Johnson (H) went to the same exact spot, as did everybody else. With the strength of the formation flipped the defense has also flipped their rotation, keeping more guys on the right side. But it's still a question of what the backside linebacker (in this case the ★ because they're in dime personnel) wants this to be.

He stays back in coverage, and Tanner Morgan hands it off. Now the run game has the numbers. The left tackle whiffs on the WILL but RB Mo Ibrahim accelerates past that attempt to make a play. The thing I want you to note here though, other than Minnesota's ability to reproduce the same play from a different formation, is the reaction of the free safety and the cornerback at the top of the screen.

The safety is the curl/flat defender on this (Man 2) rotation but he's loathe to come down until he's sure the ball's out of Morgan's hands. The cornerback is turning his head and going with Rashod Bateman. Again, this is because of the danger of Minnesota's receivers. Bateman is a major threat to break loose so they have him bracketed by doubles coverage. And I'm pretty sure the Gophers know it before the snap. When they asked Morgan last year if he's making all of these reads he said he's pretty sure pre-snap where the ball's going, and is just looking for surprises that might change his mind.

Note too that they checked into this call twice when shown a Tite front with two-high.

LESSONS

Minnesota's passing game is extremely simplified. The idea is to have so many RPOs that you get sick of letting their running game churn you down the field, start diving after it, and open up leverage for those dangerous receivers. Here's a play run in between them. The run play is Inverted Veer, which basically flips the RB/QB jobs and plays havoc with defenses trying to swing outside on zone and cut off the RB. But notice anything about the routes?

Guys, the receivers are all in the exact same spot again. Here's another from that drive where Autman-Bell is the flat option, Bateman is the high crosser, and two more receivers at the bottom are clearing out space.

This is how PJ Fleck can run an extremely simple offense from lots of different looks: everything's in the same place—just getting there from different places—and the guy a defense would want to use to punish that is getting pulled in opposite directions by the RPO. If you sit back underneath anyways you're playing a man down in the run game against that big offensive line and tough running back. The ball's out too fast to blitz it to death. And the minute you stop covering those receivers with the respect they command, they're going to arrive to a spot Morgan's practiced throwing to 100,000 times. It's really effective.