The first play of the Eli Drinkwitz era at Missouri didn’t gain a yard, but it did provide a glimpse of one of the unique aspects of the Tigers’ new offense. Wide receiver Damon Hazelton, one of two graduate transfers added to the position group during the offseason, motioned from the left side of the formation toward the right. The snap came just before Hazelton reached starting quarterback Shawn Robinson, who gave him a quick handoff. Hazelton tried to get around the right edge but was stopped by Alabama safety Jordan Battle for no gain.
Missouri’s 2020 season-opener revealed a number of differences between Drinkwitz’s offensive scheme and that of former offensive coordinator Derek Dooley, but the position group that looks the most different is the receivers — and not just because of the two new starters added to the roster. Drinkwitz’s offense moved the pass-catchers around in the formation and sent them in motion more frequently before the snap, then got the ball to them in different ways afterward. Specifically, the offense frequently utilized the receivers in the running game, both in traditional ways — handoffs and tosses — and on plays like quick screens or swing passes to the flat that technically went down in the box score as passes.
“Just getting easy throws and just getting our guys in space and just letting them do what they do best with the ball in their hands,” Robinson said of the philosophy. “That’s kind of what we like to do.”
Missouri didn’t exactly torch opposing defenses with its vertical passing attack in 2019, especially during the second half of the year, when the entire offense struggled. But the numbers show that the Tigers still threw quite a few more short, quick-hitting passes against Alabama than they did a season ago. Missouri’s wide receivers and tight ends combined to catch just three passes that traveled more than 10 yards downfield, and none further than 12, according to Pro Football Focus. The team’s average depth of target on its 39 passing plays was 5.74 yards, per SECstatcat.com. It was even lower — 4.12 yards — when Robinson, who took the vast majority of meaningful snaps, lined up behind center.
Last season, Missouri’s average depth of target clocked in at 7.64 yards. The season prior, with Drew Lock at the helm, it was 8.94.
Even more striking is the frequency with which Drinkwitz looked to get the ball to pass-catchers with blockers in front of them. Missouri’s wide receivers and tight ends combined for seven catches on eight targets behind the line of scrimmage against Alabama. Add in Hazelton’s rushing attempt, two rushes for Jalen Knox and one for Kris Abrams-Draine, and that’s 11 touches for pass-catchers behind the line of scrimmage. In all 12 games a season ago, the wideouts and tight ends combined for 21 such touches.
There are several advantages to all the quick-hitting plays for players used to getting the ball downfield. For one, doing so allows the quarterbacks to get into a rhythm. It also makes it easier to get the ball into the hands of wide receivers, who Drinkwitz noted have a different skillset than running backs. Instead of depending on a receiver to beat a defensive back downfield, the offensive line to hold up in pass protection (perhaps the biggest reason Missouri rarely looked deep in the season-opener) and an accurate throw from a quarterback, the Tigers are essentially incorporating more players into the running game.
“It’s just about getting guys with speed and quickness the ball in their hands,” Drinkwitz said. “They have a different skillset in the open field than maybe a running back does. Running backs usually run behind traffic. We try to get those guys out on the perimeter and go from there.”
No pass-catcher embodies the philosophical change more than Knox. The junior, who played all over the field for his Timberview high school team in Texas, spent nearly all of his first two years at Missouri lining up out wide. His average depth of target of 12.87 yards last season was the highest on the team for any player with more than two catches. After the additions of Hazelton and Keke Chism this offseason, he transitioned to the slot, where he has been given a more creative role in the offense.
Asked about his usage during fall camp, Knox said “just about any way you can imagine, I’ll probably get it,” and Saturday bore that out. For his first touch, he lined up tight to the line of scrimmage on the left side of the formation, then ran behind the line of scrimmage to the right flat. After Robinson faked a handoff and rolled left, he threw back to Knox, who turned the completion into a 23-yard gain. He also got the ball on a couple jet sweeps and was supposed to be the recipient of a speed-option pitch, although Robinson’s delivery was errant, resulting in a lost fumble. He caught all five of his targets, his average depth of target down to 5.20 yards. His 72 scrimmage yards led the team and represented more than he gained in all but one game last season, when the Tigers beat Southeast Missouri.
“I’m fast, I’m more comfortable on the inside anyways, so it’s just a plus for me and the rest of the team,” Knox said of his new role.
The receivers aren’t the only beneficiaries of their new role, either. Senior running back Larry Rountree III said all the quick passes to the perimeter spread out a defense, giving him more room to run, and force defenders in the secondary to tackle more, which makes them easier to wear down over the course of a game. The Tigers also use pre-snap motion and quick routes as misdirection; for instance, sending a receiver in motion and tossing him a swing pass in the flat on one play, then incorporating the same movement into a later play. Knox called the pre-snap motion “eye candy.” Fellow slot receiver Dominic Gicinto compared the action to how the Kansas City Chiefs use players like Tyreek Hill.
“I think this year, when it comes to how we use our speed, we use it in a different way,” Gicinto explained. “We use it more of how you see the Chiefs, they use their speed as misdirection, they use their people behind, in the backfield, to where they can make the linebackers move, they can move the safeties and do what they want to do. They don’t have to react and do what the defense gives them. We can make the defense do something to where we’re in a better position.”
It’s important to note that Drinkwitz’s single-game tenure represents a small sample size. Plus, during his postgame press conference Saturday, Drinkwitz said he probably should have called more downfield passing plays, so that could start to be a bigger part of the game plan moving forward.
But don’t expect the pre-snap motion, handoffs and quick passes behind the line of scrimmage to wide receivers to suddenly go away. Since the start of camp, Drinkwitz has stressed the importance of getting playmakers the ball in space. And the wideouts who experienced Dooley’s offense seem to relish their new role. Gicinto said he’d rather catch a quick slant or a screen pass than a go route any day.
“Now, instead of having to run a route and waiting for the timing to be right, waiting for the o-line to make a better block, wait for the quarterback to make a good throw, now it’s pitch and catch,” Gicinto said, “and go to work.”
