Cracking the offensive code in the world of football can be viewed along similar lines to breaking into the vault of a bank. Once you get in, unlimited riches await, but getting through the door is no easy task.
We’ve seen people be successful before. Chip Kelly famously did it with the Oregon Ducks a decade ago, and coaches like Kyle Shanahan and Mike McDaniel have blown up in the NFL ranks for their offensive wizardry.
It’s a complicated feat that has become rare over the years, with many trying to be innovative but failing to get the desired results. But after the 2023 season, Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein seems to believe that he has the ability to crack that code.
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His secret? Simplicity.
“Take the easy money,” Stein said. “Everybody wants these 50-yard bombs every single play, but it’s not reality.”
Those 50-yard bombs certainly make for highlight-reel-worthy plays, but they often lead to turnovers and mishaps, as well. In the reality that Stein is living in — one where he draws up an offense designed around a Heisman contender and several preseason All-Americans — keeping things simple and letting the playmakers do what they do best often leads to the best results.
For proof of this, look no further than what former Oregon quarterback Bo Nix did in 2023 — throwing for 4,507 yards, 45 TDs, and 3 INTs, with an ADOT (average depth of target) of 7.0 yards — and what he is continuing to do at the NFL level.
“Everybody watched Bo [Nix] last night. Sean Payton, right?” Stein said, referencing Nix’s second preseason game on Sunday. “Dink, dunk, curl, shot, run it in. Like, it’s not rocket science.”
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Through two preseason games, Nix has completed 23-of-30 passes for 205 yards, 2 TDs, and zero interceptions. It hasn’t been flashy, but it’s been efficient enough to set him up to secure the QB1 job for the Denver Broncos and convince much of the NFL world that he has what it takes to succeed at a high level.
Stein hopes that his quarterbacks in Eugene see this as well.
“Everybody wants air yards and all this BS crap. Let’s score touchdowns,” Stein continued. “How do you score touchdowns? Get it to your playmakers fast. That’s it.”
For Dillon Gabriel, that means choosing to hit Terrance Ferguson over the middle on a curl pattern rather than forcing it into double coverage down the sideline to Evan Stewart. For Dante Moore, it means dumping it off to Jordan James on a swing pattern when the pressure starts to close the pocket.
In either instance, it calls back to those three code-cracking words that Stein has been harping on all offseason — easy-money throws.
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“It’s not rocket science, and everybody confuses that,” Stein said. “When our quarterbacks figure that out like Bo did last year, you throw for 45 touchdowns and 4,500 yards, and you score a ton of points. That’s where we’ve got to get to, and we’re nearing that. I feel really good with our first group and some immediate backups, but we’ve got to continue to lean on trusting the scheme, trusting the system, and taking the easy money.”
If the Ducks can do that again in 2024, their offense may reach the same heights it did a year ago when it finished the season ranked No. 1 in passing offense, and No. 2 in both scoring offense and total offense.
As Stein says, it’s not rocket science. It’s just the three-word code to offensive success.
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