I love the I formation, to me it's one of the best formatinos, because of it's versialty, you have the FB leading the RB, on running plays, and then you have 5 opitions as passes. (FB,RB,TE,2WR)
I went back and looked at The Hotstepper highlight video and a good portion of JJ best runs came out of lone back formation. Now I wouldnt mind seeing some split back formations with JJ and Barber since both can be threats and gain us good chunks of yardage.
I think the max protect is bringing more people down into the box and making it more difficult to figure out who to block on pass protection and/or allowing the other team to drop 8 into coverage forcing Drew to hold onto the ball longer. Clogging running lanes, etc.
I would rather spread out a little more and allow the line calls to become a little more obvious and let the back pick up anyone coming free.