Last year I looked into how much Shaw and his offensive coaches have adjusted the playing time mix based on personnel. I wanted to update the information with the 2020 data. Here's what I found in terms of the percentage of the overall snaps for the offense were accounted for by each group (anything that doesn't add to 100 is due to rounding for simplicity):
2011: 30 percent of snaps to TEs (Fleener, Toilolo, Ertz, Dudchock, Gottfried), 28 percent of snaps to WRs (Whalen, Montgomery, C. Owusu, Terrell, Patterson, Roberts), 22 percent of snaps to RBs (Taylor, Stewart, Gaffney, Wilkerson, Seale), 20 percent of snaps to FBs (Hewitt, Meinken, Ward) - 342 snaps per game total
2012: data not available
2013: data not available
2014: 43 percent of snaps to WRs (Cajuste, Montgomery, Rector, F. Owusu, Pratt, Trojan, Stallworth, Crane, Jordan, G. Krishnamurthi), 25 percent of snaps to TEs snaps (Hooper, Cotton, Taboada, Hopkins), 20 percent of snaps to RBs (Wright, Young, McCaffrey, Sanders, Seale), 11 percent of snaps to FBs snaps (Ward, Skov, Marx, Plantaric) - 324 snaps per game total
2015: 38 percent of snaps to WRs (Rector, Cajuste, F. Owusu, Stallworth, Irwin, Brandt-Sims, Jordan, Crane), 27 percent of snaps to TEs (Hooper, Schultz, Taboada), 25 percent of snaps to RBs (McCaffrey, Wright, Love, Sanders, McFadden), 10 percent of snaps to FBs (Marx, Harrell) - 316 snaps per game total
2016: 46 percent of snaps to WRs (Irwin, Rector, Arcega-Whiteside, F. Owusu, Thomas, Stewart, Tyler, Brandt-Sims, Foster), 23 percent of snaps to RBs (McCaffrey, Love, Scarlett, McFadden), 21 percent of snaps to TEs (Schultz, Taboada, Snyder), 10 percent of snaps to FBs (Marx, Williams, Harrell) - 313 snaps per game total
2017: 38 percent of snaps to WRs (Arcega-Whiteside, Irwin, Wedington, Stewart, Tyler, Brandt-Sims, Schwartz, S. Krishnamurthi), 34 percent of snaps to TEs (Schultz, Smith, Harrington, Parkinson), 20 percent of snaps to RBs (Love, Scarlett, Speights, Maddox), 9 percent of snaps to FBs (Marx, Williams, Snyder) [Note: PFF classified Parkinson as a WR but I reclassified for our purposes] - 301 snaps per game total
2018: 39 percent of snaps to WRs (Arcega-Whiteside, Irwin, Wilson, St. Brown, Wedington, Fehoko, Stewart, Schwartz, S. Krishnamurthi, Buzzell), 37 percent of snaps to TEs (Smith, Parkinson, Harrington, Fisk, McCombs), 21 percent of snaps to RBs (Love, Speights, Scarlett, Maddox, Woods, McFarlane), 3 percent of snaps to FBs (Williams, Heimuli, Snyder) - 324 snaps per game total
2019: 47 percent of snaps to WRs (Wilson, Wedington, Fehoko, St. Brown, Tremayne, Higgins, Stewart, Schwartz, Brandt-Sims), 30 percent of snaps to TEs (Parkinson, Fisk, Harrington, McCombs, Archer, Le), 20 percent of snaps to RBs (Scarlett, Jones, Maddox, Peat), 2 percent of snaps to FBs (Heimuli, Symonds) [Note: PFF classified Heimuli and Symonds as RBs but I reclassified four our purposes] - 342 snaps per game total
2020: 48 percent of snaps to WRs (Fehoko, Tremayne, Wilson, Higgins, Wedington, Humphreys, Farrell, St. Brown), 25 percent of snaps to TEs (Harrington, Fisk, Yurosek, Archer, McCombs), 21 percent of snaps to RBs (Jones, Peat, Woods, Smith, Filkins), 6 percent of snaps to FBs (Heimuli, Symonds) - 354 snaps per game total
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I kind of want to just throw that data out there and see how people react/what you all observe but there are so many thoughts I have about all this. A few of those:
* The offense has become more and more WR-centric for three consecutive years and I think it's a near certainty that the two most recent seasons were the two most WR-centric years in 113 seasons of Stanford football. That's a pretty notable thing we maybe should talk more about. What I wonder is how much of this is evolution of the Shawfense (maybe reflecting more Pritchard influence over time) and how much of it is a function of having a particularly talented group of WRs the last two years (coinciding with a less acclaimed group of TEs).
* The offense got slower and slower and slower for years on end before we realized the lunacy and happily reversed the trend and snapped out of it (get it, snapped out of it!) - we got more snaps for folks in 2019 than in any prior year since Luck was on the team and then 2020 saw even more than when Luck ran the offense. Notably, the incredible offense of 2015 and the eventually very good offense of 2017 were low snap operations, suggesting that Shaw's preference then was to impose his will and then grind out clock. This data point on 2019 and 2020 snap counts is a big reason why I perceive evolution in Shawfense and, perhaps, more of Pritchard's influence. What I hope it wasn't was just a reflection of Davis Mills that we'll now see revert with less comfortable quarterbacks. But losing Mills and having an offense that will rely more on the ground game are two factors that make me think we're going to go in the other direction on overall snaps in 2021.
* The big step forward Heimuli took last season may portend a return to the days of 9-10 percent of skill position snaps going to fullbacks.
* The 2016 breakdown looks like a fair guess of what 2021 will look like. Maybe a tick higher for TEs and a tick lower for FBs.
2011: 30 percent of snaps to TEs (Fleener, Toilolo, Ertz, Dudchock, Gottfried), 28 percent of snaps to WRs (Whalen, Montgomery, C. Owusu, Terrell, Patterson, Roberts), 22 percent of snaps to RBs (Taylor, Stewart, Gaffney, Wilkerson, Seale), 20 percent of snaps to FBs (Hewitt, Meinken, Ward) - 342 snaps per game total
2012: data not available
2013: data not available
2014: 43 percent of snaps to WRs (Cajuste, Montgomery, Rector, F. Owusu, Pratt, Trojan, Stallworth, Crane, Jordan, G. Krishnamurthi), 25 percent of snaps to TEs snaps (Hooper, Cotton, Taboada, Hopkins), 20 percent of snaps to RBs (Wright, Young, McCaffrey, Sanders, Seale), 11 percent of snaps to FBs snaps (Ward, Skov, Marx, Plantaric) - 324 snaps per game total
2015: 38 percent of snaps to WRs (Rector, Cajuste, F. Owusu, Stallworth, Irwin, Brandt-Sims, Jordan, Crane), 27 percent of snaps to TEs (Hooper, Schultz, Taboada), 25 percent of snaps to RBs (McCaffrey, Wright, Love, Sanders, McFadden), 10 percent of snaps to FBs (Marx, Harrell) - 316 snaps per game total
2016: 46 percent of snaps to WRs (Irwin, Rector, Arcega-Whiteside, F. Owusu, Thomas, Stewart, Tyler, Brandt-Sims, Foster), 23 percent of snaps to RBs (McCaffrey, Love, Scarlett, McFadden), 21 percent of snaps to TEs (Schultz, Taboada, Snyder), 10 percent of snaps to FBs (Marx, Williams, Harrell) - 313 snaps per game total
2017: 38 percent of snaps to WRs (Arcega-Whiteside, Irwin, Wedington, Stewart, Tyler, Brandt-Sims, Schwartz, S. Krishnamurthi), 34 percent of snaps to TEs (Schultz, Smith, Harrington, Parkinson), 20 percent of snaps to RBs (Love, Scarlett, Speights, Maddox), 9 percent of snaps to FBs (Marx, Williams, Snyder) [Note: PFF classified Parkinson as a WR but I reclassified for our purposes] - 301 snaps per game total
2018: 39 percent of snaps to WRs (Arcega-Whiteside, Irwin, Wilson, St. Brown, Wedington, Fehoko, Stewart, Schwartz, S. Krishnamurthi, Buzzell), 37 percent of snaps to TEs (Smith, Parkinson, Harrington, Fisk, McCombs), 21 percent of snaps to RBs (Love, Speights, Scarlett, Maddox, Woods, McFarlane), 3 percent of snaps to FBs (Williams, Heimuli, Snyder) - 324 snaps per game total
2019: 47 percent of snaps to WRs (Wilson, Wedington, Fehoko, St. Brown, Tremayne, Higgins, Stewart, Schwartz, Brandt-Sims), 30 percent of snaps to TEs (Parkinson, Fisk, Harrington, McCombs, Archer, Le), 20 percent of snaps to RBs (Scarlett, Jones, Maddox, Peat), 2 percent of snaps to FBs (Heimuli, Symonds) [Note: PFF classified Heimuli and Symonds as RBs but I reclassified four our purposes] - 342 snaps per game total
2020: 48 percent of snaps to WRs (Fehoko, Tremayne, Wilson, Higgins, Wedington, Humphreys, Farrell, St. Brown), 25 percent of snaps to TEs (Harrington, Fisk, Yurosek, Archer, McCombs), 21 percent of snaps to RBs (Jones, Peat, Woods, Smith, Filkins), 6 percent of snaps to FBs (Heimuli, Symonds) - 354 snaps per game total
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I kind of want to just throw that data out there and see how people react/what you all observe but there are so many thoughts I have about all this. A few of those:
* The offense has become more and more WR-centric for three consecutive years and I think it's a near certainty that the two most recent seasons were the two most WR-centric years in 113 seasons of Stanford football. That's a pretty notable thing we maybe should talk more about. What I wonder is how much of this is evolution of the Shawfense (maybe reflecting more Pritchard influence over time) and how much of it is a function of having a particularly talented group of WRs the last two years (coinciding with a less acclaimed group of TEs).
* The offense got slower and slower and slower for years on end before we realized the lunacy and happily reversed the trend and snapped out of it (get it, snapped out of it!) - we got more snaps for folks in 2019 than in any prior year since Luck was on the team and then 2020 saw even more than when Luck ran the offense. Notably, the incredible offense of 2015 and the eventually very good offense of 2017 were low snap operations, suggesting that Shaw's preference then was to impose his will and then grind out clock. This data point on 2019 and 2020 snap counts is a big reason why I perceive evolution in Shawfense and, perhaps, more of Pritchard's influence. What I hope it wasn't was just a reflection of Davis Mills that we'll now see revert with less comfortable quarterbacks. But losing Mills and having an offense that will rely more on the ground game are two factors that make me think we're going to go in the other direction on overall snaps in 2021.
* The big step forward Heimuli took last season may portend a return to the days of 9-10 percent of skill position snaps going to fullbacks.
* The 2016 breakdown looks like a fair guess of what 2021 will look like. Maybe a tick higher for TEs and a tick lower for FBs.
