The UCLA Bruins had an uncharacteristically poor season in 2016, going just 4-8 with a 2-7 Pac-12 record for their first losing season under head coach Jim Mora. Star quarterback Josh Rosen appeared in just six games before an injury against Arizona State ended his season. Rosen has been the Bruins offense through his two…
The Utah Utes have been one of the most consistent college football programs across the country in the last few years, and are consistently underrated by national outlets, as they have begun each of the last three season unranked and finished all three seasons in the Top 25. The Utah Utes offense is heavily based…
The Arizona State Sun Devils have been one of the most blitz heavy teams in college football under head coach Todd Graham . According to ESPN Insider Phil Steele, author of the best college football preview on the market, Arizona State “blitzes more than any other school.” While they blitz more than other teams, and…
The South Dakota State University Jackrabbits are not exactly known as a team that churns out NFL players, as they only have three players league wide (Adam Vinatieri, Bryan Witzmann, and Zach Zenner). However, the Jacks have a tight end that has already begun turning heads in the pre-draft process, and that’s Dallas Goedert. The…
The Colorado Buffaloes experienced a resurgence in 2016, as they won the PAC-12 South and had their first 10-win season since 2001. There are, obviously, multiple reasons for the return of the Buffs to national prominence. Head coach Mike MacIntyre entered his fifth season in Boulder after steady improvements each season, the defense had four…
Every spring, NFL teams meet with prospects for the upcoming draft in the months leading up to the draft itself. There are many opportunities for players and teams to meet with one another, including all-star games, pro days, the NFL Scouting Combine, workouts, and private visits. Each type of meeting has different rules that govern…
Iowa defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson is one of the top (if not the top) defensive lineman prospects who attended the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, last week. Since I’ll be covering DL here at Inside the Pylon for the 2017 Draft I wanted to get acclimated to a top prospect like Johnson before diving in full…
Under first year offensive coordinator Jake Spavital, the Cal Golden Bears have found some success in the passing game by utilizing elements of the scheme he ran from the previous three years at Texas A&M. With stability at quarterback following the departure of Jared Goff, Spavital has found success using the short side of the…
Before the Buffalo Bills were outgained by Le’Veon Bell and the Pittsburgh Steelers, they lost to the Oakland Raiders. Badly. The loss raised questions about where this team goes in the future, who was to blame for the loss, and what the biggest needs on this team are. One thing I noticed watching the game live and have…
During what head coach Rich Rodriguez termed an “awful year” the Arizona Wildcats have struggled on both sides of the football, ranking 75th and 113th in total offense and defense, respectively. While injuries at the quarterback position and a lack of continuity across the team have contributed to the team’s dismal 2-9 record through 11…
The defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos have one of the most feared defenses in the entire NFL. With high caliber players at all three levels of the defense, their game plan for the last year and a half has been to rely on their defense to win games, and it has certainly worked. In…
The wishbone formation. A throwback to days of football when 3 yards and a cloud of dust was far better than the dreaded… forward pass. The San Diego Chargers and second year running back Melvin Gordon used a variation of the wishbone, the inverted wishbone (also known as a diamond formation) to run all over…
With the rise of spread offenses, teams have begun to incorporate more wrinkles into their schemes. The Utah Utes are no different, as Ryan Dukarm shows with a break down of their Run-Pass-Option game. The Utah Utes are off to an impressive start to the 2016 college football season, and one of the main reasons for their…
Although the BYU Cougars stand at 4-4 this season, they have been involved in a ton of close games, partly due to their defensive prowess using creative blitzing schemes. Ryan Dukarm takes a closer look at the BYU stunts and defensive line schemes utilized this year. The BYU Cougars have given fans their fair share of suspense in 2016,…
Using route combinations effectively can create mismatches in the secondary and lead to racking up big yardage. Ryan Dukarm explains how the Buffalo Bills smash concept was used successfully two different ways on the same drive against the San Francisco 49ers. The Buffalo Bills offense has relied heavily on the ground game, led by running back LeSean…
There are encouraging signs that the Oregon State Beavers are starting to climb back into Pac-12 relevance after a tough couple of years. One sign is their commitment to the ground game with creative formations and concepts. Ryan Dukarm looks at how the Beavers are utilizing a jet sweep read option play to boost their…