With a little less than two weeks left in spring ball, there are a couple more details about the offense that we wanted to get to. Darrin Hicks' playbook contains a variety of looks, but we've listed the two-deep depth chart as featuring three wide receivers during every update. That allows for the the tailback and the new H-Back to be listed.
Obviously, not every drill features that combination, and today was no exception. The Colonials can go to four wide receivers or bring in a second H-Back. I'm sure there's a set of plays for five wide receivers or perhaps even two true tailbacks. Even the three wide receiver set can be lined up in different ways to create different looks.
The key word around this offense is versatility. There's a lot of other stuff going on around it, what Hicks has referred to as
"window dressing", but the core philosophy is generally the same. By doing a lot of the same things out of multiple formations, the defense is less likely to settle in. When you include the tempo at which Robert Morris wants to run the offense, and can see some defenses struggling from the opening kickoff.
But it also means there are a lot of key components that have to go right. Every offense starts up front, and the early indication is that the blocking scheme is a little simple for the offensive line. But there are additional responsibilities for
others on the field. Motion has to be run properly, routes have to be run precisely and quarterbacks have to execute handoffs expertly. If that doesn't happen, it won't matter which formation Robert Morris runs or how fast the tempo is.
TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART
QB - Paul Jones, Luke Brumbaugh
RB - Kenny Davis, Forrest Barnes
H-Back - Justin Kempka, Nick Sponyoe
WR - Duane Mitchell, Chaq Nettles
WR - Sean Gavin, Luke Centofanti
WR - Jordan Blackmon, Warren Fields
LT - Dylan Knight, Riley Feenan
LG - Max Robertson, Blake Chambliss
C - Nick Faraci, Anthony Lucian
RG - Josh Thiel, Carlton Watson
RT - Jon Hill, Chris O'Connor
DE - Austin Trgovich, Zac Bennett
DT - Max Onyenwe, Zack Zamiska
DE - Forrest Mason, Austin Trgovcich
OLB - Nic Lamica, Zach Cooper
MLB - Jake Tkach, T.J. Waters
MLB - Jimmy Masson, T.J Waters
OLB - Luke Mueller, Zach Cooper
CB - Antwan Eddie, Jones Twenefor
S - Logan Kelleher, Davone Swain
S - Andy Smigiera, Sam Woods
CB - David Taylor, Keith O'Kelly
DEPTH CHART NOTES
OL Jonah Tyus, OL Drew Garbenis, DL Henry Jartu, DL Steve Fiadewornu, RB Caleb Stennis, LB Mike Stojkovic, DL Ryan Lewis, WR Chad Dawgiello, S Codi Casper, and LB Nelson Lucas-Murphy did not participate
RB Ryan Thermil, WR Kyle Buss and WR Uni Akpan participated but were limited in drills
A little shake-up today. Paul Jones still led off all the offensive drills and took a large portion of the snaps, but it was redshirt freshman Luke Brumbaugh - not Marcus Prather or Derik Abbott - taking the majority of the snaps behind Jones. Prior to today, Brumbaugh and Joe Carroll had received significantly less work behind the older trio. Our initial impression, which will be checked at the next practice on Tuesday, is that they might be spreading the snaps around to make sure everyone gets familiar with the offense. Regardless, I wouldn't read too much into the depth chart or snap counts in spring. Any real position battles will be handled in August with a full roster. You never know which freshmen will emerge, which could dictate things at several
positions. Still, since he took the second most snaps, Brumbaugh is listed behind Jones today on our depth chart. I believe today was one of the first practices since the pads went on that Robert Morris was able to go a full two-deep across the offensive line. INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Some additional items of note....Today featured the return of the Oklahoma Drill. Things were pretty normal, but there were a couple moments of note. Corner David Taylor gave Duane Mitchell a pretty good pop to separate himself, and then rebounded to submarine Kenny Davis with a nice tackle. Zack Zamiska executed a perfect swim move past Carlton Watson to take down Travis Gregg. And to cap it all off, T.J. Waters completely bulldozed Mike Woltz to strip Erich Maine. Building off our previous thought that Kenny Davis could be a dangerous weapon out of the backfield....he snagged a short pass from Paul Jones during 11-on-11 drills and sped a good 25 yards down the sideline before running out of real estate. Plays like that are almost as good as a running game.Luke Brumbaugh hit Jordan Blackmon for the longest play of the day, a 40-odd something streak down one of
the hash marks. Blackmon got behind his man, sped down the field and Brumbaugh hit him in stride perfectly. Forrest Mason and the defensive ends don't get much relief with so few defensive linemen dressed, but Mason still found a way to make the defensive play of the day. Mason read Paul Jones perfectly, and when Jones tried to hit
a checkdown, Mason leaped up and picked off the pass.
That's all for today. We'll have more from tomorrow's session.
This post was edited on 3/31 9:20 PM by Andrew_Chiappazzi
Obviously, not every drill features that combination, and today was no exception. The Colonials can go to four wide receivers or bring in a second H-Back. I'm sure there's a set of plays for five wide receivers or perhaps even two true tailbacks. Even the three wide receiver set can be lined up in different ways to create different looks.
The key word around this offense is versatility. There's a lot of other stuff going on around it, what Hicks has referred to as
"window dressing", but the core philosophy is generally the same. By doing a lot of the same things out of multiple formations, the defense is less likely to settle in. When you include the tempo at which Robert Morris wants to run the offense, and can see some defenses struggling from the opening kickoff.
But it also means there are a lot of key components that have to go right. Every offense starts up front, and the early indication is that the blocking scheme is a little simple for the offensive line. But there are additional responsibilities for
others on the field. Motion has to be run properly, routes have to be run precisely and quarterbacks have to execute handoffs expertly. If that doesn't happen, it won't matter which formation Robert Morris runs or how fast the tempo is.
TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART
QB - Paul Jones, Luke Brumbaugh
RB - Kenny Davis, Forrest Barnes
H-Back - Justin Kempka, Nick Sponyoe
WR - Duane Mitchell, Chaq Nettles
WR - Sean Gavin, Luke Centofanti
WR - Jordan Blackmon, Warren Fields
LT - Dylan Knight, Riley Feenan
LG - Max Robertson, Blake Chambliss
C - Nick Faraci, Anthony Lucian
RG - Josh Thiel, Carlton Watson
RT - Jon Hill, Chris O'Connor
DE - Austin Trgovich, Zac Bennett
DT - Max Onyenwe, Zack Zamiska
DE - Forrest Mason, Austin Trgovcich
OLB - Nic Lamica, Zach Cooper
MLB - Jake Tkach, T.J. Waters
MLB - Jimmy Masson, T.J Waters
OLB - Luke Mueller, Zach Cooper
CB - Antwan Eddie, Jones Twenefor
S - Logan Kelleher, Davone Swain
S - Andy Smigiera, Sam Woods
CB - David Taylor, Keith O'Kelly
DEPTH CHART NOTES
OL Jonah Tyus, OL Drew Garbenis, DL Henry Jartu, DL Steve Fiadewornu, RB Caleb Stennis, LB Mike Stojkovic, DL Ryan Lewis, WR Chad Dawgiello, S Codi Casper, and LB Nelson Lucas-Murphy did not participate
RB Ryan Thermil, WR Kyle Buss and WR Uni Akpan participated but were limited in drills
A little shake-up today. Paul Jones still led off all the offensive drills and took a large portion of the snaps, but it was redshirt freshman Luke Brumbaugh - not Marcus Prather or Derik Abbott - taking the majority of the snaps behind Jones. Prior to today, Brumbaugh and Joe Carroll had received significantly less work behind the older trio. Our initial impression, which will be checked at the next practice on Tuesday, is that they might be spreading the snaps around to make sure everyone gets familiar with the offense. Regardless, I wouldn't read too much into the depth chart or snap counts in spring. Any real position battles will be handled in August with a full roster. You never know which freshmen will emerge, which could dictate things at several
positions. Still, since he took the second most snaps, Brumbaugh is listed behind Jones today on our depth chart. I believe today was one of the first practices since the pads went on that Robert Morris was able to go a full two-deep across the offensive line. INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Some additional items of note....Today featured the return of the Oklahoma Drill. Things were pretty normal, but there were a couple moments of note. Corner David Taylor gave Duane Mitchell a pretty good pop to separate himself, and then rebounded to submarine Kenny Davis with a nice tackle. Zack Zamiska executed a perfect swim move past Carlton Watson to take down Travis Gregg. And to cap it all off, T.J. Waters completely bulldozed Mike Woltz to strip Erich Maine. Building off our previous thought that Kenny Davis could be a dangerous weapon out of the backfield....he snagged a short pass from Paul Jones during 11-on-11 drills and sped a good 25 yards down the sideline before running out of real estate. Plays like that are almost as good as a running game.Luke Brumbaugh hit Jordan Blackmon for the longest play of the day, a 40-odd something streak down one of
the hash marks. Blackmon got behind his man, sped down the field and Brumbaugh hit him in stride perfectly. Forrest Mason and the defensive ends don't get much relief with so few defensive linemen dressed, but Mason still found a way to make the defensive play of the day. Mason read Paul Jones perfectly, and when Jones tried to hit
a checkdown, Mason leaped up and picked off the pass.
That's all for today. We'll have more from tomorrow's session.
This post was edited on 3/31 9:20 PM by Andrew_Chiappazzi
