The Two Offensive Formations Army West Point Ran in 2017
December 30, 2017
In 2017, Army West Point had their best season in 22 seasons, and they were based out of two formations–Double Flex and Heavy.
They were aligned in one of these formations, or a combination thereof, 95% of the time in their bowl win versus San Diego State.
Double Flex compresses the Receivers as they are six feet from the Offensive Tackle with their inside foot up. The benefit is that this formation puts the cornerbacks in an automatic run support situation, which is often a better perimeter matchup for the offense. In addition, it eliminates the Playside Receiver and Playside A-Back having to read the Deep Defender and #3. This is because the Corner is now #3 and the Safety is the Deep Defender. If the Safety is in the middle of the field, the Receiver will load and block the Mike to the Free Safety. He has a better angle to load as if the Mike runs over the top, he is two yards wider than the A-Back to wall off the Mike.
The Heavy Formations brings the Backside Tackle to the formation side to create an extra blocker 3.5 feet away from the Formation-side Tackle. Then, the Backside Receiver replaces the Backside Tackle and aligns 3.5 feet away from the Backside Guard in a 3-point stance. At times, Army would utilize a sixth Offensive Lineman as the Backside Tackle. The benefit of utilizing a Receiver is that he is eligible and must be covered in the passing game. In addition, Army would move their Playside A-Back’s alignment to behind the Heavy Tackle in certain situations. This is especially true when they ran the Down (Belly-G) as to give the Playside A-Back a better angle to cancel the Mike.
