Why I Like The... I Formation Offense

By

Darrin Sheffer

7/6/2017

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steelers_1-15-2005_I_Formation.jpg)

As a football player and a video game lover I was naturally drawn to one game in particular growing up: NCAA Football (sorry Madden fans).  My favorite thing to do over summer break was to play Dynasty Mode and try to take a terrible team and turn them into a perennial powerhouse.  I have always had a soft spot for Army West Point Black Knights and their old school flex-bone triple option offense.  There was just one tiny problem with that, I suck at running the flex-bone on NCAA Football.  So my problem was to try and find a new offense that I was good at running.  I could have sold out and gone to the pass happy spread (which can be fun) but for some reason I never really liked that offense on the video game (except for the spread option offense, it's a killer).  I chose an offense I was familiar with, and believe it or not I actually broke Armys' school rushing record with something other than the option: The I Formation.  

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Football-Formation-RB.svg)

If you call yourself a football fan, you know what the I formation is.  Every single Pro team runs some form of the I Formation.  Many Colleges such as Stanford, Michigan State, Georgia and LSU still use a heavy dose of the I formation in their offenses.  Besides the Spread, it is one of the most commonly seen offenses in football at all levels from youth to the Pros.  So why do I like the I formation? 

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_University_of_Texas_college_football_team_in_the_I_formation.JPG)

Easy to add to your current offense

Are you an offensive coordinator looking for a new wrinkle for your offense to throw off defenses?  If you don't already run it, I would suggest throwing in an I formation.  My high school coach ran a Wing-T offense (Buck Sweep, Guard Trap, Down and Waggle) and we had a good base of about 10-15 plays.  Now in my view that is quite a few plays for a 15-18 year old to remember, especially if you don't have enough players to be a two platoon team.  However, he still found a way to add in the I formation which we would run around 10% of the time, mostly 3rd and short or goal line situations. I have also seen many college teams who are hard core, no huddle spread teams suddenly line up in the I formation and the defenses would freak out.  

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Strong_I_formation.png)

It's versatile

Do you like double TE formations?  You can do that in the I.  Do you like pro style offense?  You can do that in the I.  Do you like to have three receivers?  You can do that in the I.  In my opinion, no matter if you want a ball control rushing offense or a no huddle passing attack, you can do it in the I.  Do me a favor, when college football season comes back, watch Michigan play and see how many different versions of the I formation they throw at a defense.  

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_formations_in_American_football)

Tons of Potential 

I saw on Twitter one night where an offensive coordinator asked a bunch of defensive coordinators what offenses they thought were harder to defend (sorry spread guys, none of them mentioned the spread).  Besides the Wing-T, many other coaches posted that they hated defending against I formation teams, especially teams that run double TE sets.  Why?  You can potentially hit every gap with multiple run plays.  If you look at the Double TE set above you can count, including outside of the TE 8 possible running lanes the offense could attack.  No offense to the spread coaches, but if I were calling the defense I would rather defend Inside Zone all night.  

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eight-man_football_%22I-Formation%22.jpeg)

Your thoughts?

So what are your thoughts on the I formation?  Do you agree with what I have said?  Do you disagree?  Comment below and let me know.

Stay Obsessed.