It is time to move Dak under center!

Cowboyny said:
Dak like many college QB's came from a spread offense that used him strictly out of the shotgun. They have used him sparingly under center throughout his career. Matter of fact, we saw Cooper Rush far more under center in his limited games.

Why is it important to be under center? It makes a defense play honest as they don't know if a run or a pass is coming. You see teams like the Lions, Rams, 49ers, who exclusively have their QB under Center. They use a ton of pre-snap motions to dicate their match-ups across the board. Schott has stated that he wants to run a similar scheme, it starts with having his QB under center.
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Cowboyny said:
Why is it important to be under center? It makes a defense play honest as they don't know if a run or a pass is coming. You see teams like the Lions, Rams, 49ers, who exclusively have their QB under Center. They use a ton of pre-snap motions to dicate their match-ups across the board. Schott has stated that he wants to run a similar scheme, it starts with having his QB under center.
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I don't think that word means what you think it means ...

Rams & Lions run about 43-44% from shotgun. 49ers run about 57% from shotgun
 
Good article I found about moving Murray more under center. Remember, Adams was the OL coach there.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- When Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray returned for the final eight games of the season after ACL surgery, a new coach and a new offensive coordinator weren't the only things waiting for him.

The fifth-year quarterback was also asked to change where he lined up.

Murray spent 25% of his snaps under center in 2023, more than double his second-highest rate (12%) in his rookie season in 2019. Between then and last season, Murray never spent more than 8% of his snaps under center.

That all changed in 2023 when new coach Jonathan Gannon hired Drew Petzing as his offensive coordinator. Petzing's plan in placing him under center was, according to Gannon, was to put opposing defenses in "conflict" -- allowing Murray to cause a defense to be unsure of whether it was about to face a run or pass, leading a unit to be on its heels.

"It just gives the defense a different look," Murray said. "I think [with] my ability to be able to move, run, throw outside the pocket and inside the pocket -- why not? [We] can be as versatile as possible and give the defense different looks and allow the running backs to run downhill."

Murray going under center, however, may end up being a tell. When Murray lined up under center, Arizona had a 71% designed rush rate compared to 33% when he's in shotgun.

Gannon said the decision of when to put Murray under center was on a game-by-game basis.

"You have all kinds of different play types from under center," Gannon said. " ... Some of the things that he's capable of seeing the defense do under center, the look that that gives the defense gives him an advantage and it gives us an advantage, so that'll be a part of who we are moving forward."

Murray said he enjoyed lining up right behind new center Hjalte Froholdt. One area that he found as an advantage was running bootlegs.

"We've really stressed the sell of the run, the body language, the communication at the line of scrimmage," Petzing said. "It has to all look the same, feel the same, and if he's not, then he's not going to have the time, but he's not going to get those clean edges."

The majority of Murray's snaps under center (74%) were runs for the Cardinals. Being under center allowed him to hide the ball more during bootlegs and play-action plays, making it harder for a defense to diagnose.

"You can't really see the ball as far as play fakes in that split second and play-action," Murray said. "It affects the defense, so I enjoy it."

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When he threw the ball from under center -- which Murray did 33 times last season -- he completed 73% of his passes, threw one interception and averaged 10 yards per attempt, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Of those 33 attempts, 31 utilized play-action.

Out of shotgun, Murray completed 65% of his 235 attempts with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions, while averaging 6.3 yards per attempt.

Murray's 35 dropbacks from under center accounted for 11% of his total of his dropbacks last season. It tied the amount of under-center dropbacks he had as a rookie in 2019, though he played every games that season. Going under center has accounted for just 5% of his career dropbacks; all 121 of them were either play-action or a designed screen pass.


Where Petzing lines Murray up -- and will continue to line him up -- doesn't have to do with whether the 26-year-old is better at one spot or the other, he said. It'll continue to be a strategic decision based on opponents. Petzing made sure to say last season that Murray "does a lot of things really well out of the gun."

It may be different than how Murray has played in the past, but heading into his second season in Petzing's offense and his first full offseason in it, he has embraced playing under center knowing there's more to come.

"As long as Kyler's the quarterback, we're going to stress out the defense because of his skillset," Gannon said. "And that's on us coaches to put him in position to do that."
 
Cowboyny said:
Dak like many college QB's came from a spread offense that used him strictly out of the shotgun. They have used him sparingly under center throughout his career. Matter of fact, we saw Cooper Rush far more under center in his limited games.

Why is it important to be under center? It makes a defense play honest as they don't know if a run or a pass is coming. You see teams like the Lions, Rams, 49ers, who exclusively have their QB under Center. They use a ton of pre-snap motions to dicate their match-ups across the board. Schott has stated that he wants to run a similar scheme, it starts with having his QB under center.
Click to expand...
I like the play action more under center. But one factor is the oline. It has to hold up another second or two. I woukd certainly mix it in more because it works better with plsy action. Getting the run game going is impirtant for this offense abd makes plsy action more effective. If you can’t run safeties and LB aren’t effected as much by ghe fake
 
Cowboyny said:
He reportedly wants to run a similar scheme as the Rams/49ers. We need to see it, to believe it, but if they do, QB under center is a staple.
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Honestly I think we have seen it. Just rewatch some of the games the back half of the season last year with Rush in at QB. We ran a ton under center, a ton of 2 TE sets, lots of WRs in close hugging the tackle box, a ton of motion, etc. I'm not expecting a huge change offensively from what we saw the back half of the 24' season, but hopefully we see it with some better players in there.
 
Cowboyny said:
Dak like many college QB's came from a spread offense that used him strictly out of the shotgun. They have used him sparingly under center throughout his career. Matter of fact, we saw Cooper Rush far more under center in his limited games.

Why is it important to be under center? It makes a defense play honest as they don't know if a run or a pass is coming. You see teams like the Lions, Rams, 49ers, who exclusively have their QB under Center. They use a ton of pre-snap motions to dicate their match-ups across the board. Schott has stated that he wants to run a similar scheme, it starts with having his QB under center.
Click to expand...
It hasn't happened because Dak cant do it

Once he turns his back and defense shifts, hes lost
 
conner01 said:
I like the play action more under center. But one factor is the oline. It has to hold up another second or two. I woukd certainly mix it in more because it works better with plsy action. Getting the run game going is impirtant for this offense abd makes plsy action more effective. If you can’t run safeties and LB aren’t effected as much by ghe fake
Click to expand...
With the addition of Booker to go with Smith/Beebe, Dak should be confident to have a good pocket
 
thunderpimp91 said:
Honestly I think we have seen it. Just rewatch some of the games the back half of the season last year with Rush in at QB. We ran a ton under center, a ton of 2 TE sets, lots of WRs in close hugging the tackle box, a ton of motion, etc. I'm not expecting a huge change offensively from what we saw the back half of the 24' season, but hopefully we see it with some better players in there.
Click to expand...
That was With Cooper Rush
 
blueblood70 said:
?? You trying to tell me they never line up in shotgun I don't know about that... Show me some real statistics now that I'm not against it happening say 50% of the time but it can get as defendable if you're in the same formation always so you got to mix it up....
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Back during our super bowl frenzy, from '92 through '95, the Cowboys ran every play from under center. Were we passing or running? The only thing the defense had to go by was down and distance. How many different formations can you run out of 21 personnel? I think they had an 11 as well. It doesn't have to be fancy, just unpredictable.
 
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